Reviews with content warning for War - Pretend You're Mine

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Pretend You're Mine by Lucy Score

11 reviews

cmab's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

So many parts of this book were 5* moments and you can definitely see how this book informs the Knockemout series! Her writing was a little clunkier in this, lots of info dumping and it felt like she started setting the scene all over again about a 3rd of the way through, which was noticeable enough to be jarring. The cast of background characters and setting are immersive and there are beautiful moments of connection throughout. However, at first I felt unconnected to the main relationship

which actually fits perfectly with Luke distancing himself from Harper

And then there’s the deployment and you fall in love with Harper’s near perfect character!

But Luke is just so frustrating and is such a dick throughout the majority of the book - he uses Harper, leaves her, blames her for his emotional immaturity and grief, threatens and shouts at her and then blames her for him using her!

All of this is more realistic to men than most men written by women are, so from the perspective of character realism, it worked, but it made the ending unsatisfactory. Whilst the HEA was expected in a book like this,

Singing a song and saying - sorry, I do love you actually, I just put you through hell and in danger because I couldn’t have a grown up conversation, please marry me- doesn’t really meet the necessary level of grovelling

The family, friendship and sub-plot were great, the FMC was too sweet and perfect to be true but definitely loveable. I will 100% be reading Aldo and Gloria’s story but also felt this book told a lot of their story too, so we’ll see how that impacts the enjoyment of the next book.

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vettechmama3's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I love a story that takes me on a rollercoaster of emotions. Between the back stories, romance, and supporting characters, I felt everything from sadness to giddiness to laughing out loud and even some anxiety. Harper is a pure ray of light that Luke needed in his dark world. The ending of this was such a beautiful touch, and as a whole, this book made my heart happy.

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kdscolley's review

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challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

This book came out swinging. I wavered between what rating to give this since I don't really do half star ratings, but ultimately settled on a 5 star because there's no alternative for this book. Lucy Score knew what she was doing when she wrote Luke and Harper.

I truly love this book the more I talk about it, so buckle up.

Luke's past and his own trauma means he's shut off and scared. His reactions directly reflect that of someone who is terrified of what's right in front of them and will do anything to keep it away.

Harper's past, while also terrifying and tragic, gave her an open heart and some extreme compassion. Her desire to have a place to belong was felt. She was a perfect character and I loved every minute. I felt her happiness and wallowed in her sadness right along with her.

*possible slight spoilers ahead*
-I do really wish that he'd groveled more, but I know that's from personal preference. With the kind of person Harper is, it makes sense that what happened was enough for her.
-I cannot wait to read more about this town/characters in the series because oh my word they all tugged on my heart.
-Harp finding what's inside the room and not resorting to anger is honestly the most mature thing a person can do. Her visiting with flowers and talking and being genuinely the most loving, caring, and kind humans made me want to be friends with her too.

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sami_leigh's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟/5
🌶️🌶️🌶️.5/5

She had called a lot of places home, but it was for the lack of a better word. She never really felt at home anywhere.

She laughed a lot. It was a sound that warmed him up. A sound that made him realise how quiet his life had become before. A sound that made him wonder why he had valued the silence so much.

“Fact is, I just don’t have room in my life for her.”
“You’ve got the room; you’re just too chickenshit to make it.”

“I wanted to be memorable.”
“Baby, it would take more than all the time in the world for me to forget you.”

“You can’t put your worth in someone else’s hands like that . . . Whether you mean something to him or not has nothing to do with how inherently valuable you are.”

🌅 Third person
🌅 Meet-disaster
🌅 Fake dating
🌅 Friends with benefits
🌅 National Guard; he deploys in a month
🌅 She’s starting fresh…again
🌅 Protective MMC
🌅 He has secrets
🌅 FMC who understands her worth makes the most of every day 🙌🏻
🌅 Insta-chemistry
🌅 Small town
🌅 Meddling townsfolk
🌅 Tension 🔥
🌅 Found family
🌅 Representation of foster care
🌅 Well established secondary characters: Claire & Charles, Sophie & Ty, Gloria, Aldo (Book 2), Linc (Book 3), Josh, James, Joni, Angry Frank.
🌅 MC growth: grief, communication, guilt, overcoming past trauma.
🌅 Epilogue
• MMC’s perception of the FMC is a klutz who need supervision isn’t fully resolved.

⚠️ Death of a parent (past), car accident (past), death (past), injury/injury detail (explicit), medical trauma (explicit), active duty (MMC deploys in National Guard), child abuse (past, moderate), domestic abuse (not MCs, explicit), violence (moderate), stalking (moderate).

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arwenaardbeienstruik's review

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sad

1.0

The whole book is basicly the mmc saying he doesn't love the fmc and getting mad at her for 'taking over his life'. While the fmc just accepts that without groveling one bit from the mmc.

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meganashlee27's review

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emotional hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Harper is on her way to stay with a friend, looking to make a fresh start. When she stops at small town restaurant to get a bite to eat, she stumbles across more than she bargains for, and ends up needing a place to stay for the night. Enter Luke, the handsome soldier, ready to save the day. But Harper’s need for a temporary place to stay night just fit with Luke’s need to get his family off his back. If she can pretend to be his girlfriend for the next month before he deploys, then he’ll provide her a job and a place to stay while she gets back on her feet.

I recently read the first two books in the Knockemout series by Lucy Score and adored them, so I was excited to pick up something else by her. At first it felt like the same kind of story…girl stumbles into a small town, gets picked up by a handsome stranger, and ends up finding love and family. Despite that first impression, there were some different twists and turns this time around. I loved Luke and Harper, the dogs, and the friends. I felt invested in how their relationship would turn out, through the good and the bad. Looking forward to reading the next book to get more of Aldo and Georgia’s story!

Thank you to NetGalley and Bloom Books for an advanced copy of this book!

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lololovesthings's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

Are you looking for a book featuring fake dating and insta-love that's set in a small town with forced proximity, raucous and fun side characters, with a hefty dose of "I'm the only one allowed to touch you" possessive alpha energy? Then "Pretend You're Mine" by Lucy Score is the book for you. In fact, most of Lucy Score's books are probably for you because she loves making books that have these same plot devices and tropes. When Harper and Luke meet, sparks fly super fast, but he doesn't want to get attached because he's about to deploy again and has *~emotional damage*~ aplenty. Harper and Luke start fake dating so he can save face with his family who have been nagging him about dating again, but their desire burns for one another quickly and brightly despite the practicalities of their situation. One thing Lucy Score knows how to do well is banter. There is some good, funny dialogue here. I really enjoyed getting to know Harper and Luke and the respective stories, but Luke was such an grumpy idiot that I wanted to smack the crap out of him. I also thought Harper was a little too perfect and it got on my nerves. Typically, I don't like books involving the military, but this one didn't bother me as much because it doesn't focus on American jingoism. Unfortunately, I found this book to be way, way too long at times. It's slow to start and it drags quite a bit in the middle. At one point, I felt myself losing interest at times. Also, the ending wraps up shockingly quickly, which is strange since this book is over 400 pages long! It almost feels like a very loose plot written around a lot of spicy scenes... and I mean A LOT of spicy scenes (not a complaint!). Speaking of such, Lucy Score loves to talk about the heft and heaviness of b4LLs and milking waaaay too much. 😂 Overall, this book is fine, but it's not Score's best. I wasn't ever bored, but I likely won't remember this come year's end.

Thank you to NetGalley, Lucy Score, and Sourcebooks Bloom Books for the ARC of this book. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated for my review.

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hopecobblepotworld's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

"...it’s not easy to be friends with someone who keeps making the wrong decision over and over again. Eventually everyone has to decide whether it’s worth it to keep trying.” ~ Gloria

New to me author Lucy Score wrote Pretend Your Mine in 2015. Bloom Books, an imprint of Source Books, re-released it with a new cover. Lucy Score has made quite a name for herself and gathered loyal fans in Bookstagram and Booktok.

Pretend You're Mine focuses on brokenness in individuals and how that effects relationships. Some of the tropes in this books includes:

-Fake Dating
-One Bed
-Abuse
-Violence
-Psychological Abuse
-Dead Spouse

Harper Lee Wilde cruises into Benevolence on fumes and immediately launches into action when she sees a man choking his girlfriend in the parking lot she landed in. Even though she gets knock around pretty good, she finds herself staring into the eyes of a handsome stranger, Luke Garrison. And that is how the story starts.

What did I like about this story?

First, I loved the town of Benevolence itself. It reminded me so much of the town I grew up in. Everyone knows everyone. For the good, the bad, and the ugly. Benevolence may have been the setting but it many ways it was a character in and of itself.

The strong, healing relationships between the women. Harper is a stranger in Benevolence and she immediately comes to the aid of Gloria. Sophie comes to her aid. The whole town welcomes her. But she has a group of women who cluster around her to gird her up.

Harper's relationship with Mrs. Agosta, Robbie, Henry, and Ava. As a former foster kid, she understands what it is like and she is able to connect with them on a level that is unique because of her experiences.

Claire and Joni - I loved their relationship to Harper. It was absolutely beautiful. Especially Joni. She really was able to overtime so much.

Luke standing up to Harper's abuser. I'm not going to elaborate on this so it isn't a spoiler.

What was OK.

I liked that Luke gave Harper a job in his office. It sounds like it was right up her alley and she was truly able to help him and Beth with updating his systems.

Luke's doing things to show he cares for Harper. Luke maintains he isn't in love with Harper. But he does things to make sure she is cared for. Fixing her car. Making sure she is OK after the attack. Furnishing the house.

What didn't float my boat.

Luke. Luke Garrison is so flawed I cannot believe Harper didn't get the heck out of Benevolence. Then again she is flawed. But his flaws are horrid. The way he treats Harper - a sex object to be used, an office manager to be praised, but let anyone else touch her and they are trounced immediately. She is his property.

The sex scenes - I don't know if these are just Lucy Score learning to write sex scenes or if this is what she thought was good. It wasn't. In fact, the scenes described talk about the violence of the act and it was a turn off. I began skipping over them because after you've read it 6 times, it becomes the same. And I didn't need to read acts of sex making in violence again. It started to feel like this author was trying to write kink without calling it kink.

Overall, I'm giving this book a 3 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bloom Books for an Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for an honest review of this book.

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nickypizarro's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

I'm not ashamed to say that I've happily joined the Lucy Score hype/bandwagon.

Luke Garrison may be the hometown hero but even the best of us can't get away from our parent's nagging and concerns. In comes Harper, knocking him and the small town off-kilter... almost quite literally. He's only got a few more weeks left before deploying and his scheming sister suggests he fake dates the new firecracker in town to ease his parents and hold them at bay.

If I'm honest, I think I wanted to throttle Luke more times than I can count while reading this book. He was soo in denial and it was staring him right in the face. I'm usually good at figuring out what's holding some characters back but I wasn't expecting Luke's dark past. Let alone throwing Harper's in the mix as well. The way things ended up connecting was smart and I enjoyed the way the book's timeline is so easily intertwined with the second book in the series Finally Mine.

4.5/5 stars
3/5 Twice Level
TWs: Mind to moderate mentions of domestic abuse, physical abuse, death, war, miscarriage, medical trauma, medical content, injury/injury details, car accident, blood, child death, and grief
While I have received an arc of this book, my thoughts are all my own.

Content Warnings

nicolewanttie's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

3.5

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