Finally Mine: A Small Town Love Story (Benevolence Book 2)

Lucy Score is one of my favorite authors; I will one click her everyday of the week! The first book I read of Lucy’s was Pretend Your Mine when it was first released in 2015. I was going through a particularly hard time in my personal life and those few hours helped me tremendously. Pretend Your Mine featuring Luke and Harper is one of the few books I have read more than once. To say I was super surprised and excited to read a follow-up is an understatement. I even stayed awake the night it released so I could download it at midnight. Over the years I created many scenarios in my head that weren’t in the book and one of them was Aldo and Gloria’s backstory and falling in love. THANK YOU LUCY SCORE! Finally Mine takes place during the same time period as Pretend Your Mine and gives the reader a different perspective as to what was going on when Harper and Luke weren’t together. This book is about Aldo, a hot, handsome, handy around the house, witty, and thoughtful army reservist who is also a talented engineer. He’s the whole package and he’s been in love with Gloria from afar since high school. Gloria’s character is written so beautifully that I had to keep a box of tissues nearby. As a victim of domestic abuse for nearly a decade, she finally found the courage to break free, and the journey of how she comes to terms with all that happened and all that she deserves is truly inspirational. Aldo is so patient and in no uncertain terms lets her know how special she truly is. He encourages her, supports her, and lifts her spirits every time they meet. Gloria is a beautiful kind soul, and it’s so heartbreaking to read all that she went through. They didn’t have much time to get to know one other because he is deployed for a six-month tour in Afghanistan, and he tells her he wants her to use this time to heal. He is so selfless and a great friend which is so important in any relationship. I don’t want to spoil what happens to him, but in his eyes it redefines who he is as a man. He, too, needs to learn to love himself and feel worthy and Gloria is just the one to love him through it. I love both of their transformations and how with the love of their moms, friends, and townspeople, they forgive, accept each other flaws and all, and commit to a future together. They are survivors and the end of this book is everything I hoped it would be and more. (Thank you Lucy for the bonus scene–I love seeing into the future!) Some of my favorites scenes are of Aldo and his Italian mom. I cracked up because I have relatives that talk just like that and hold nothing back! I also loved all the scenes between Aldo and Harper and enjoyed all of his nicknames for her. Harper is so cool and such a great friend to them both. Lucy did an amazing job bringing in the characters from Benevolence into this story. Loved them in the park, in the bar, the police station, in his office, in the florist, going to the diner, and all of the places that make a small town love story make me smile until my cheeks hurt. Lucy told this story so beautifully and obviously did a lot of background work when she talked about the abuse, being in therapy, life on active duty, and when members of our military are injured. It was so very real to me that there were times I had to remind myself it was fiction. I did read Finally Mine to the very last page of the Author’s Notes and saw that there is a future story featuring Lincoln Reed in the works! Yay! Lucy, I am also hoping Luke’s younger brother, James, and the good Doc get a future book (they need love, too). I liked her since she first patched up Harper in Pretend Your Mine!

I loved this secret crush, small town, healing romance with a side of big secrets. It is a heartwarming and spicy story as seen through the eyes of two intense, strong and passionate characters. I was feeling some big feels with this one - wounded characters always draw me in. I just wanna reach into the story and hug them to help them heal. After being physically abused for a decade, Gloria finally decides to leave her abuser. Now that he’s in jail for attempted murder and assault on her new friend (Harper from Pretend You’re Mine), she has to figure out how to be the new Gloria. Aldo is a structural engineer in small town Benevolence and in the national guard. He’s had a crush on Gloria since HS. He is about to leave on a six month deployment and before leaving asks Gloria for a date when he gets back. Life changes their trajectory when a terrible injury brings Aldo back early and Gloria might need to be the hero for both of them. I have such a soft spot for the people who are a bit uncomfortable in their skin because they don’t feel like they fit in or are worthy, like Gloria and the Aldo post-injury. So I love when they finally see their truth and they get swoon worthy HEAs. To get to there, they’ll both having to work on healing, baggage unpacking and life course correction. This heartwarming story was well written and included witty dialogue, three dimensional characters, and an engaging storyline. Note, this story parallels a large part of book one in the series so at times it felt like I had already read the book.

I loved the story of Luke and Harper in “Pretend You’re Mine”, but Aldo is my hero! I loved that both books have intersecting chapters as we get the story of Gloria and Aldo that begins in the first book. The journey from abused to survivor is handled with frankness and grace. For Gloria, understanding that she was not alone in her struggle to overcome the effects of a relationship that almost killed her was a constant effort. The love and support from Aldo, her Mom and her friends was inspiring. The journey was heart wrenching and joyful. Aldo’s story is written with frankness and tenderness. His strength shines through, even in his dark days and he and Gloria bring out the best in one another, even in the worst of times. Openness, tenderness and abiding love are a part of success in any relationship. So thankful this book shines a light on the reality and destructive nature of the cycle of abuse and gives avenues to address it early. One of my favorite books!!

Overall I liked this book. However, I only gave 3 stars for a couple reasons. 1: there was a lot of repeat (exact same scenes) from the first book. Which I know they had to do that in order to tell the story but it just seemed like most of this book was retelling things we already knew from the first book. I wish we had gotten to see more of Gloria and Aldo. The ended right after they convinced Harper to stay in town. I wish they had made it just a bit longer so we could’ve seen some of Gloria & Aldo that we didn’t already know happens. 2: I didn’t care for the breakup right before the end of the book. I know they got back together and I get that she would have a hard time after what she went through. However, it shouldn’t have taken just luke saying something for her to be scared away from Aldo. He’d already proven that she could trust him & that he’d love her even with her baggage. Otherwise the book was sweet, swoon worthy, and had a little bit of spice thrown in.

Three years ago Lucy Score published her first book, Pretend You’re Mine, a bestseller about a couple, Harper and Luke, who meet during crossroads in their lives. Harper has no family, no job, and is essentially homeless. Luke has a thriving business and military career but is suffering emotionally from a devastating loss. Their story is one of learning to overcome the past and creating a future filled with family, happiness, and love. Ms. Score has just gifted her readers with the long anticipated sequel to Pretend You’re Mine. Finally Mine is the story of Gloria and Aldo, Harper and Luke's best friends, who have known each other since high school but have never been able to connect even though they both live in the small, charming town of Benevolence. Gloria is coming out of a horrendous ten year relationship and trying to build a life for herself while recovering from physical and emotional abuse. Aldo has done well, financially and career-wise. However, he has silently loved Gloria for years and was forced to watch from the sidelines as Gloria struggled to free herself from a monster. He reluctantly bided his time and now he intends to make his move and claim Gloria as his own...make her his Finally Mine! Of course, that is assuming Aldo survives his own unexpected physical and emotional trauma. Can the two of them overcome their individual losses and create a life and future together? I am a devoted reader of all Lucy Score’s books and have impatiently anticipated this sequel. Finally Mine came as a total surprise to her readers since the author had to wait for the Pretend You’re Mine publisher rights to expire before releasing the next in what we fans have just learned is to be a series. Now a successful self-published author, she is once again returning to Benevolence and bringing joy to her clamoring fans. As with all Ms. Score’s other books, her character development, her storyline, her editing, and her attention to detail is outstanding. In addition, she has created a female heroine who is vulnerable, but strong and a hero who appreciates and values the heroine’s strengths, without being overbearing or diminishing. Finally Mine can be read as a standalone but I highly suggest you start with Pretend You’re Mine especially if you haven’t already experienced this wonderful book. You won’t be disappointed! To be honest, I have probably re-read Pretend You’re Mine ten plus times now and am on my third re-read of Finally Mine. It is not often that I am as impressed with a sequel to a beloved first book but Finally Mine is as phenomenal…if not better than its predecessor. Just like Pretend You’re Mine, I chose to purchase Finally Mine rather than simply read it via Kindle Unlimited or depend on my ARC copy. Both are worthy as treasured keepers on my virtual bookshelf...and soon as printed versions on my real bookshelf!

RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ SPICE: 🔥🔥🔥 Aldo Moretta has pined for Gloria all of his life, but she was off-limits, married to an abusive man. Now that she has broken free from her toxic marriage, she is trying to enjoy her freedom and singledom. Then Aldo comes along and ruins her plans for staying away from men for a long time. He promises her a date after his deployment, and then he comes home injured and broken. Now Gloria must lean on the steps she took to put herself together on Aldo. This was a good read. I had to suspend the belief that Aldo was not the type to put a kibosh on Gloria's toxic relationship. Putting that aside lets Aldo and Gloria go through this journey of finding peace amid the chaos and adversities life threw their way. I liked the chemistry between Aldo and Gloria. The flirting and the banter created a nice tension that has us yearning for their happily ever after. And the spicy pay-off? So worth it. I have adored the Benevolence book universe, because the ensemble cast has so much charisma. Their personalities and quirks are so relatable that it makes you wish that it existed. Out of the three books in this series, this was probably my least favorite, but it is still a good read nonetheless.

There are some books that touch you in such a way that it’s difficult to describe. Especially if you are trying to write a review for it. This was just such a book for me. It’s one of those books that will stay with you. It took me a few days to process it before I attempted this review. Some of the basics…this is a complete standalone. However, if you read Pretend Your Mine, you know and love this couple already. The story-line runs parallel with the story-line in Pretend Your Mine, so some scenes overlap but from a different perspective. If you haven’t read Pretend Your Mine, I promise you will not feel like you are missing anything, but I have a feeling you’ll run and read it once you are done with this one. I guess at the heart of this book I would call it a second chance book. Not just a second chance romance book but a second chance at life book. This book has so much in it. It’s got some military, small town, humor, tragedy, emotions, and more. This book is about fear, rebirth, acceptance, and finding your own strength. It’s about discovering who you are when faced with tragedy, and loving that person. It’s about friendship and letting people love you. If you’ve read Lucy Score before, you know she writes about these amazing kick-ass female characters that just jump off the page with strength, sass and intelligence that any woman would admire. Gloria is very different. She is unsure, timid and riddled with self-doubt. She’s one of those women that is easily overlooked. The most beautiful part of this book is seeing her blossom with a quite strength and learning to truly become herself. I think that her strength, one that is hard earned, is more admirable than most of the female characters I read from any author or genre. I connected with Gloria on many levels. Her journey gives me hope and is awe-inspiring. As amazing as Gloria is, Aldo is just as wonderful. He is in my top 10 favorite book boyfriends of all time. Aldo has so much going for him, but my favorite part of him is how much he believes in Gloria. No matter what, his belief in her never waivers. This book has ALL the feels and I think it is Lucy’s best book yet. Make this book the next one on your TBR list. Wait…no. Stop what you are reading and read this book now. Once you are done reading this book then tell all your friends about it. Or better yet…just give them a copy. The world needs more love, hope, and acceptance like in this book.

The first ever Lucy Score book I ever read was "Pretend You're Mine." I loved that book and have read every Lucy Score book since. I loved its protagonists, but I also fell in love with Gloria and Aldo, secondary characters within the story. I was thrilled when I found out that they would be the stars of "Finally Mine!" And that we would get to visit Harper and Luke again! "Finally Mine" made me cry quite a bit. Gloria is a seemingly broken woman trying to find herself after enduring years of abuse in a toxic relationship. Aldo, who had always been sweet on Gloria, wants her to find herself and then give them a chance. It all looked like it was heading in the right direction, but as always life happens. Aldo suddenly had to deal with his own demons and this jeopardized the promise of a relationship he had with Gloria. He was stubborn and a jerk, but the new Gloria was not going to take it. And, then of course her own demons came roaring back and it was Aldo's turn to fight them. I adored the romance aspect of "Finally Mine" - I mean I love love stories and Lucy Score always delivers, but this story was so much more. Reading about Gloria's story and her quest to find herself after someone had taken so much from her was heartbreaking and joyful. I know people in my personal life who have been impacted by domestic violence in the most tragic of ways and this story resonated strongly with me. I was happy to see that Gloria was able to find her happy ending, especially knowing often times women in these situations do not. Again, another beautiful story by Lucy Score.

O Luke consegue ser um cara tão ranzinza que até a história de amor dos outros ele atrapalhou. Enfim… Mais um livro muito gostoso e bem escrito da autora. Fiquei completamente apaixonada por esse casal. A força da Glória somada ao amor tão puro do Aldo formaram algo inesquecível, que me deixou de coração quentinho. É uma segunda chance com gosto de primeiro, com muita luta, resiliência e superação. Impossível não amar imensamente.

Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow. My heart broke and was put back together stronger over the course of this book. If I could find a comparison, it would be this: this book is the equivalent of kintsugi, the Japanese method of repairing ceramics using gold. (Look it up, it's beautiful). Gloria and Aldo have breaks and scars, but together they repair each other so they become golden together. Firstly, in order to get the fullest emotional impact from this book, read Pretend You're Mine first. It gives you a full build up to this story and is amazing in and of itself. Aldo is such a superbly written man. He has flaws, he is deeply human but his goodness can't ever be denied. He is like a wish fulfilment character, almost unbelievable but Lucy manages to keep him just on the right side of too perfect. My real moment of awe was Gloria's character. She is laid bare here. Her perceived weakness is dealt with unflinchingly. Her ultimate strength and humanity is written with such skill. Truly one of my all time favourite female characters. I loved her story on a deep level. Lucy Score calls this her best book and I completely agree with her. There is real understanding and sensitivity when tackling both domestic violence and disability issues that I applaud her for. It's a hard read but so uplifting that I felt the HEA was deserved on all levels.

Dessa tre böcker som en liten serie har gett mig både skratt och gråt.

I almost skipped this one because in pretending you're mine you follow Aldo and Gloria's story. And of course some scenes are "repeated", but they come from a diferent point of view. Now let's read Linc's story!

The much anticipated story of Gloria & Aldo is a beautiful, romantic and poignant story of love and triumph over ones self doubt and circumstance. I’m finding it hard to put into words how much I loved this story and how important I believe stories like this are to highlight the struggles and reality of women who find themselves in abusive relationships. The first book I read by Lucy Score was Pretend Your Mine. I fell hard for the story, the characters and the author. In this story we meet Harper & Luke and follow their journey. We also meet Aldo & Gloria and get a glimpse of their story. In Finally Mine we get to thoroughly immerse ourselves in their story which runs concurrently with Pretend Your Mine. Aldo is delicious perfection as the hero of this story. His bromance with Luke, his friendship with Harper and the hilarious relationship with his mother highlight the all round good guy but the way he respects and encourages Gloria’s journey is to die for. When Aldo is presented with his own challenge to his dreamed of life, we get to experience the highs and lows of finding a way to accept yourself and fighting for a new and better happily ever after. But it’s Gloria’s journey which floored me. The strength and determination to change her future was a joy to experience. I was rooting for her from the first page and getting to experience her taking her steps to independence and love was honest and heart warming. Both characters have to battle their scars and their own demons and it is wonderful to watch them overcome them and take a chance on each other. The respect and honesty the author has taken with both characters struggles is nothing short of amazing. Lucy Score has a special talent for creating small towns filled with wonderful and quirky characters that have her fans clambering for more stories and Benevolence is no different. This book has shot to one of my all time Top 5 reads and I can’t recommend it enough. I’d also highly recommend reading Pretend Your Mine.