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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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pregnancy, Car accident, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Violence, War, Child death, Child abuse, Death, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Murder
sami_leigh's review against another edition
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
🌶️🌶️🌶️.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).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Death, Car accident, and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Violence, Child abuse, War, and Stalking
lyshbish's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I was surprised how much I liked this book! I found Harper very lovable. Don't let the G-rated cover fool you, this is one of the filfthiest books I've ever read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Car accident, Domestic abuse, Violence, Child abuse, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death of parent and Alcohol
Minor: Fire/Fire injury
arwenaardbeienstruik's review
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Emotional abuse, Stalking, Violence, Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Physical abuse, and Sexual content
Moderate: Miscarriage, Pregnancy, War, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Fire/Fire injury
ecravens's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Murder, Blood, Car accident, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Violence, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, and Sexual content
meganashlee27's review
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!
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!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Domestic abuse, and War
roseyposeyreads's review
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Sexual content
Moderate: Child abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Car accident
nickypizarro's review against another edition
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.
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
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Medical trauma, Car accident, Blood, Child death, Domestic abuse, War, Miscarriage, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Death, and Medical content
kb33's review against another edition
lighthearted
tense
fast-paced
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I’m not sure how to feel about this book. Luke needed therapy. And it felt like Harper forgave him too easily. The third act breakup dragged on and felt more heart wrenching than necessary. She wanted to leave town, but she decided to drag it out a few weeks to torture herself some more?
I liked the characters (mostly. Luke pissed me off too frequently, and the rest of the time was sex scenes). Yeah, this one wasn’t my favorite.
Additional TW/CW:
Graphic: Separation during deployment (if you don’t think this could be a trigger then you’ve never been with someone who was away on a rough deployment).
Moderate: Grief over death of spouse; the grief isn’t written in a very graphic way, but it is a frequent topic/main theme. IED explosion, loss of limb and recovery, unrealistic journey adjusting to prosthetic.
I liked the characters (mostly. Luke pissed me off too frequently, and the rest of the time was sex scenes). Yeah, this one wasn’t my favorite.
Additional TW/CW:
Graphic: Separation during deployment (if you don’t think this could be a trigger then you’ve never been with someone who was away on a rough deployment).
Moderate: Grief over death of spouse; the grief isn’t written in a very graphic way, but it is a frequent topic/main theme. IED explosion, loss of limb and recovery, unrealistic journey adjusting to prosthetic.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Grief, and Sexual content
Moderate: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
Minor: Ableism, Death of parent, Car accident, Child abuse, and Death
sdemo08's review against another edition
hopeful
lighthearted
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Medical content, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, and Blood