Pretend You're Mine
Benevolence
Contemporary Romance
Bloom Books
May 9, 2023
Paperback, Ebook, Audiobook
480
From the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of Things We Never Got Over I only wanted to protect you… Luke Garrison is a hometown hero, a member of the National Guard ready to deploy again. He's strong, sexy, broody. The last thing he's looking for is a woman to ruin his solitude. When the wildly beautiful Harper stumbles into his life, though, he realizes that she's the perfect decoy. A fake girlfriend to keep his family off his back until he's deployed. So what if kissing her sends his mind to wicked places? He can control himself. Can't he? Harper was on her way to starting a new life… again. But something about Luke makes her want to settle down in this small town and make his house a home. When she's in his arms, she finally knows what it's like to feel safe. Protected. One night of sharing a bed turns into something much, much more… and soon Luke can't keep his mind off Harper's wide gray eyes or his hands off her luscious curves. He never thought he'd feel this way about a woman again. But he knows that he can't tell her the truth about his dark past. And she can't reveal what she's running from. At least this isn't a real relationship. It's only for a month. It's only pretend. Until it isn't…
Lucy Score had me at the first word in the title: Pretend.
It can’t be a coincidence that this book that starts with ‘Pretend’ just so happens to us the fake dating trope. Nope. No way.
In case you didn’t know from any of my other reviews, let me make one thing clear: I AM HERE FOR FAKE DATING. There’s nothing I enjoy in my books more than watching two people pretending to be in a relationship while ALSO pretending to not have feelings for each other. The drama and tension and ‘will they or won’t they’ gives me such joy. The combination becomes the perfect recipe for a Happily Ever After in my humble opinion. Harper and Luke were especially easy to fall in love with, and I’m sad that the book wasn’t double the size.
Luke
Luke is caring and protective, but his heart is closed off. He’s been through the wringer, that one. A military man who lost his wife in an accident, he’s intent to focus on himself and his career and nothing more. But, life doesn’t work that way. He meets Harper, coming to the rescue of someone else in need, and can’t stand by while she’s in jeopardy.
Harper needs a place to crash. Luke needs a fake girlfriend so that his family will ease up on him and give him space to life his life. Family pressure – I’m sure we’ve all been there a time or two, right? These two end up crashing together for a mutually beneficial outcome that’s strictly business and has an expiration date.
Should be easy.
“You deserve someone who’s going to fall head over heels in love with you. Marry you and spend the rest of his life giving you everything you’ve ever wanted. I can’t love you. I can’t love anyone again. But I want you. I want you so bad that it feels like any moment without you is empty.”
Harper
“What am I supposed to do, be all ‘woe is me’ for the rest of my life? I still get access to the same sunrises everyone else does, the same twenty-four hours in a day. And if I don’t take advantage of those things, it’s my own fault.”
Harper is spunky, driven, and stubborn and not one to sit around and wait for things to happen for her. She is resilient and willing to make her own destiny. I absolutely LOVE her character. It’s not easy to focus on the good and to choose optimism. There are so many bad things happening in the world, whether it be big picture or small scale petty problems that either way you spin it, it’s enough to drag someone down. Harper’s attitude throughout this novel drives home that idea that we can reset ourselves, restart every day with a blank slate, and choose to look on the brighter side of life. Her character inspires me to choose positivity.
I love love
“He was her dream come true.”
Sometimes I just want to shout at my book and tell them, ‘you’re being STUPID! Can’t you see you love each other already?! Stop fighting it!’ Thank goodness Luke finally comes to his senses, of course right at the very end when it’s almost too late, and tells Harper that he loves her.
At karaoke.
In front of everyone.
A glorious grand gesture.
I love love. I love romance, and grand gestures, and happy ever after’s. This book is quite large with 50+ chapters, but I really do wish it could have kept going for twice as long. I’ve already purchased another from Score’s backlist, and a side character in this novel will be getting their own story released in June, so I’m calling it now I’ll be a Lucy Score super-fan before you know it.
If you’d another Bee’s thoughts on Lucy Score, please check out this review from Jes for Maggie Moves On. It was a 5 star read for her!
I’m Val, and I’m excited to share my love of books with you! I’m a sassy Sour Patch kid from New Jersey, dog mom to Chance the beagle, and much like the rest of the Hive, I’m a coffee lover (I think it’s a requirement to be here). The first book I remember reading voluntarily involved a boy wizard who lived in the cupboard under the stairs, and I’ve been chasing magic ever since. I love Happily Ever Afters, and I love love. My favorite genres are romance and rom-coms, fantasy, and young adult/new adult. If I’m not reading, I’m probably kayaking, watching the Great British Baking Show, or discovering a new craft beer.
