This was a good small town romance. I really liked our h. She is probably one of the strongest and likeable h I've read in a while. I did struggle with her accepting less than the best at times because she was so accustomed to getting the short end of the stick, but I still really liked her. I think the main reason for my lower rating was that I felt like I needed a little more from the H at the end to make up for some of the stupid things he did towards the end. I wasn't so easily forgiving as our saintly h was, and I never felt like he fully redeemed himself. Maybe I needed more time with the couple together and happy after all the drama before it just cut off into the time jump epilogue. It was on the longer side, so I think that sort of thing could've been added and some other irrelevant parts could've been removed IMO

I think Lucy is now one of my new favorites. I loved the world building, the characters, and even the cover art of both of these books.. I definitely have to read more!

Harper lives life without a plan. She jumps from place to place without forming any long term attachments. She accidentally finds herself in Benevolence in as a pit stop on her way to her next adventure and ends up sharing a bed with the brooding hometown hero. He has no desire to form long term attachments and that's perfect for Harper's wanderlust lifestyle. But what's they find with each other won't just go away so easily.

This book brought everything I love in a romance. It's such a good book to curl up with and escape from reality. Lucy Score is the master of creating small towns I fall in love with. All the characters of Benevolence just captured my heart. I can't wait to read the next in the series!

Thank you to NetGalley and Bloom Books for the ARC of Pretend You're Mine.

Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and author for the copy of this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Lucy Score is a new fave of mine. I loved this story, the characters, everything!

This book took me completely by surprise. It was funny, emotional and best of all engaging. This book made it hard to put it down. The characters were fantastic and I didn’t want it to end.

Luke Garrison, a stoic member of the National Guard, finds himself unexpectedly drawn to the vibrant and enchanting Harper, who disrupts his carefully guarded solitude. Determined to keep his family at bay during his impending deployment, Luke enlists Harper as a fake girlfriend, never expecting the intense connection that ignites between them.

Despite their agreement to keep things casual, Harper finds herself falling for Luke and the sense of safety he provides. In his arms, she discovers a home she never knew she craved. As their bond deepens, Luke struggles to reconcile his growing feelings with his desire to shield Harper from the dark secrets of his past.

What begins as a temporary arrangement soon evolves into something far more profound, as Luke and Harper navigate the blurred lines between truth and fiction, love and deception. With each stolen moment together, they find solace and passion in each other's arms, even as the shadows of their pasts threaten to tear them apart.

As their fake relationship becomes all too real, Luke and Harper must confront their deepest fears and vulnerabilities, knowing that their love may be the one thing that can save them both. But will the truth ultimately shatter their fragile bond, or will they find strength in each other's arms to overcome the challenges that lie ahead?

I really liked the characters in this book for the most part. Harper was a great character who had a heart of gold. Luke however had some major issues that he didn't get help for after his wife passed away. How he treated Harper was awful. I enjoyed the plot in this book but I wasn't a huge fan of the mystery suspense that was included with her foster father being all creepy. I loved the found family and friendships in this book. How Harper took the worst situation and worked with it. However I really would have liked to see her struggle more on her own without Luke's help. I gave her such props for being able to put flowers on his wife's grave every week. I loved how she didn't want to replace his wife but still be loved. Overall better than the previous book I tried to read by Lucy Score

Great book by Score! I really enjoy her writing. Pretend You’re Mine is a great small town romance. It is book one in the Benevolence series. Harper & Luke characters instantly draw you in to their world.

Felt like a run of the mill romance that didn’t feel new or noteworthy. There’s nothing wrong with it but just not something I would go out of my way to recommend or reread.

This review contains spoilers: I have read a few other books by this author and enjoyed them, so I was excited to read Pretend You're Mine. I was SO into the first half of this book, I couldn't put it down. Luke and Harper's chemistry was HOT and I was here for it, however, I feel like the story line did go off the rails a bit with the side story lines. I really started to dislike this book when we discovered that Harper has been receiving letters. I was over Luke's BS, and maybe that is my personal preferences, I am not a fan of the dead wife trope, so I started to get tired of it. I think we could have done without the whole Clive Perry story line, it felt rushed and it didn't tie in with the rest of the book. Im glad there was finally a grand gesture in the end and everyone got their HEA. Thank you #NetGalley.

It's my opinion that if you've read one Lucy Score book, you've read them all. You know it's gonna be in a small town with at least one great family and a love interest who has tons of money. You know there's gonna be a thing about kids at the end of every book, whether the couple has their own or, more often than not, adopts random kids from the small town that happen to be running around orphaned. You know what the spice is gonna be, how it's gonna sound, what the guys are gonna say.

This isn't a bad thing though! I love that you know exactly what you're getting with a Lucy book. It's gonna give drama, and tears, and great characters, and you're gonna get a happy ending. Often with an epilogue!

So is this a typical Lucy book? Of course it is! Are you gonna have fun and love it anyway? Of course you are!

Lucy Score always writes the best love stories and this one was no different. Every time I see a new book from her I grab it and am immediately sucked in.

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book! The title and this beautiful cover drew me in and i was excited to read this book! I will be recommending this book to others for readers advisory.

Firstly let me apologize for being late to review. Life caught up with me and lost track of publish date, and I thought I downloaded the ARC but I apparently didn’t. I bought this book from Amazon to read to review… and it was worth it. Thank you (and apologies) to That’s What She Said Publiahing (😂) NetGalley and Lucy Score for the ARC opportunity I messed up
I’ve recently read a Lucy Score book (Riley Thorn) and enjoyed it. I love to hang with the crazy stubborn women like Riley and Harper that Lucy writes about!
As a veteran this book connected with me dealing with separation and deployments… although in my day we didn’t have email or cell phone and video chat. Luke was believable (and frustrating) dealing with grief and guilt. The last 1/3 of book really picks up, so much so I hate to stay up 2 hours lasts my bedtime to finish. Lucy Score has moved up my list of must reads and asap!

Overall Opinion: This was a good small town romance. I really liked our fmc. She is probably one of the strongest and likeable fmc I've read in a while. I did struggle with her accepting less than the best at times because she was so accustomed to getting the short end of the stick, but I still really liked her. I think the main reason for my lower rating was that I felt like I needed a little more from the mmc at the end to make up for some of the stupid things he did towards the end. I wasn't so easily forgiving as our saintly fmc was, and I never felt like he fully redeemed himself. Maybe I needed more time with the couple together and happy after all the drama before it just cut off into the time jump epilogue.

Storyline: This is Harper and Luke's story. Harper finds her live-in boyfriend/boss sleeping with another woman, and she gets in her car without her purse (so no phone with gps or money on her). She heads in the direction (she thinks) is towards the town her old college roommate lives, but then runs out of gas. She ends up in the parking lot at a bar in a small town which is a long way from where she was heading. After some drama goes down in the parking lot, she becomes a new town hero of sorts. She makes some new friends that offer to help her. She ends up accepting an odd proposal to act like a fake girlfriend, work as an office manager at his office, and live with Luke for a month until he is deployed for his national guard duty where they will then go their separate ways. Of course things don't run as smoothly as planned, and they end up developing feelings and act out on their strong attraction for each other. To avoid ruining it - I'll just say that there is some strong feelings developed, some strong friendships made, some big secrets being revealed, and two separations (1 valid and one drama filled)...but the couple get back together and find their HEA.

POV: This alternated between focusing on Harper and Luke in third person narrative.

Heat level: Moderate, the couple have some great chemistry when they heating things up.

This is an earlier Lucy Score book. About the first half of the book had writing that really wasn't anything special, but then Ms. Score seemed to hit her rhythm and the writing and the story got significantly better. Please don't read this and judge her books by the first half of this.

Thanks to NetGalley. All thoughts are my own.

Could not finish this book. The characters were irritating and the 'romance' didn't seem romantic to me at all. I read a lot of romance but I just didn't believe anything about either of these characters. I think this might be something that appeals to a younger audience or someone with more of a flair for the dramatic than I have. Thank you to NetGalley and Bloom Books for this ARC.

I liked the premise of this book, but at times I felt like I was dragging through mud to get to the heart of the book. And I felt like the last “plot twist” was thrown in there just for dramatics and it would have been fine without it.

I feel like the two books could have been interchangable. Lucy Score has become an author I am quickly auto reading but the two books didnt meet my expectations

Lucy Score never disappoints me! I love a good small town romance and this read was just that! Definitely recommend!