Protecting What's Mine

Fire Chief Lincoln Reed is well known and liked for for his heroics in the fire department and the smile he has left on the faces if women he has dated, but now his feeling the itch to settle down and when he meets flight trauma surgeon Mackenzie (Mack) O’Neil he finds himself unable to keep away and determined to get through the barriers she has up. <br /><br />A really enjoyable read, the banter between Linc and Mack had me smiling a fair bit. I liked the fact that Mack wasn't positioned as some sort of slut simply because like Linc she had enjoyed her share of none serious relationships. The author uses a tone in her writing that ensures there is not any unnecessary or annoying judgment imposed on Mack.<br /><br />At times I wanted a bit more tension and heat, considering what was happening but this was a small niggle. <br /><br />The kids (Linc's nephews and nieces) in this book also added a good layer of humour and cuteness to more than one scene. The shenanigans of the small town and their nosiness was funny to see, although I think it would drive me batty if I lived their. <br /><br />Potential Triggers: <b>Child neglect, assault (more than once), and attempted murder.</b><br /><br />Acquired via KU.

Lucy Score's books remind me so much of <a href="https://goodreads.com/author/show/19830324.Kate_Canterbury" title="Kate Canterbury" rel="noopener">Kate Canterbury</a>. It is a very very slow burn romance with many effort on building the character and the chemistry. It is a tough to swallow for someone who likes fast and quick romance. <br /><br />Protecting What's Mine is rom com with a dash of drama. The angst is minimum and the whole book is very playful with the help of Linc and McKinsey. What makes me take down 1 star from this book is the climax regarding McKinsey 's family. I was holding my breath for something dramatic. When it was revealed, my jaw dropped open and then... disappointment hit. That's all is all about? Where is the climax, the drama, the angst? I need it more. <br /><br />Overall this is an funny cute read to start my weekend. <br /><br />4 stars

5 shooting stars! <br />From the first heart pounding chapter to the last sweet words, this book captured my attention, and my heart. When Fire Chief Lincoln Reed first sees Doctor Mackenzie O’Neill step off a helicopter at a horrific crash scene he is smitten, and so was I! Chief Sexy Pants and Doc Dreamy are two of my favorite characters ever. They are both smart, complicated, strong, confident, scarred, and vulnerable. They both know what they want, but will they end up wanting the same thing? Transient Mack and hometown hero Linc are so much more than I expected, I loved their rocky road to love! <br />This book is exciting, funny, sweet, heart pounding, and incredibly sexy! I loved going on the ride-along that is Protecting What’s Mine!<br />The audiobook is amazing! Natalie Duke is an outstanding narrator who imparts so much excitement to the story!

Linc and Mack....Dr. Dreamy and Chief Sexy Pants. In my opinion, out of all Ms. Scores series, Benelovence would be my dream place. To go back to Benelovence and see Harper and Luke, Aldo and Gloria, Ty and Sopie and all the kids! So while I loved catching up on everyone the adrenaline and emotion that come with Linc and Mack is swoon worthy. Both have careers where life and death is in their hands each and every day. Linc and Mack both deal with feeling inadequate for the love of another. Throw in sunshine....a crazy family....fire (not just in the bedroom) and you have heroes in the making. <br /><br />If you haven't read Ms. Score or Pretend Your Mine, Finally Mine and now Protecting What's Mine (The Benelovence Books) why?!?!?

Get it here:<br><a href="https://amzn.to/2VNBxB7" rel="nofollow noopener">Amazon US</a> * <a href="https://amzn.to/2zhDbmR" rel="nofollow noopener">Amazon UK</a><br><br><img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1587410668ra/29327131.gif" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy">

<img src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1530300825i/25888638.png" width="400" height="150" alt="description" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br>Lucy Score has moved up into my top 5 comfort read authors. If I want a romance covers the Hs - humor, heat and heart - Ms. Score usually has me covered. Now I’d read the first book in the series, Pretend You’re Mine, which I struggled with, but Lincoln Reed was one of those characters that I wanted to know more about, so when I heard he was getting his own HEA, I said sign me up. I’m happy I did, because it was a happy escape of a read.<br><br>Lincoln and Mack, two first responders (he’s a firefighter and she’s a doc on medevac flights, both in the military and civilian), so I liked their connection right off the bat. Mack doesn’t swoon, and I LOVED that she’s not the innocent virgin, but a woman who’s seen alot and lived through it, and not afraid of her sexuality. She may have commitment issues, but I appreciated that this was a character-driven romance. Lincoln’s wooing is well done and hard won, but by the end I thought the big-time flirt had more than earned his HEA. I’d also like to give props to Ms. Score for really working on keeping her small town romances diverse, which is appreciated, though there is a phrase used a couple of times that I realized is probably common for someone from my generation, but is actually a slur against the disabled, and it bothered me enough to edit this review. It’s unnecessary and at first I thought it was a typo, but I re-checked it and nope, it’s there. The difference of one letter would have rendered this sentence unnecessary and that's a shame for an author who's made an effort for diversity to include it. Other than that, my small quibble about the cover? The heroine looks in no way like Mack, and I wish that it did.<br><br>Anyway, at the end of the day, if character driven small town romances filled with sweet heat and humor are your jam, you may really enjoy this. <br><br><br>**ARC provided by author for review**<br><br><br>For more reviews, visit<br><br><br><a href="http://afterdarkbooklovers.com/" rel="nofollow noopener"> <img src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1499991196i/23287625.jpg" width="409" height="100" alt="description" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"> </a><br><a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/After-Dark-Book-Lovers/290327777811010?ref_type=bookmark" rel="nofollow noopener"> <img src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1453918230i/17891087.png" width="34" height="34" alt="description" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"> </a><a href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/113109434312544905742/posts" rel="nofollow noopener"> <img src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1453918230i/17891089.png" width="34" height="34" alt="description" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"> </a><a href="https://www.instagram.com/afterdarkbooklovers/" rel="nofollow noopener"> <img src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1453918230i/17891088.png" width="34" height="34" alt="description" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"> </a><a href="https://twitter.com/AftDarkBkLovers" rel="nofollow noopener"> <img src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1453918230i/17891086.png" width="34" height="34" alt="description" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"> </a>

Confident Hot Firefighter - Check <br />Mysterious New Doctor in town - Check <br />Adorable scene stealing dog - Check <br />All your past Benevolence favourites - Check <br />A Linc &amp; Luke fist fight - Check <br />Unexpected danger- Check<br />Well delivered HEA - CHECK, CHECK, CHECK!!!<br /><br />Lucy Score has put all of this into this book and so much more. The highly anticipated 3rd visit to Benevolence definitely delivers and stands on its own with the previous two instalments. This can be read as a stand-alone however if, like me, you prefer to read in order I highly recommend grabbing Pretend Your Mine and then Finally Mine before diving into Protecting What’s Mine. <br /><br />I really enjoyed Linc. Like, a lot. We already knew that he was a ladies man however the author has done a fine job in delivering a confident, slightly cocky and sweet leading man without it leaning into arrogance. His dedication to his job, his family and his town are central to his character. Then there’s the flowers and dirty talk, also central to his character. <br /><br />Mack is a strong and somewhat mysterious character. A flight trauma surgeon, she’s come to Benevolence for a change of pace, to reset before getting on with her life. Working in a family practice is how she intends to achieve this. There’s no room in the plan for her sexy neighbour. Watching her grow was one of the best parts of this story. <br /><br />And of course there’s Sunshine. The goodest of good girls. The four legged best friend we all deserve. <br /><br />I really enjoyed Linc wearing Mack down. I found I couldn’t leave this story alone. I just wanted more of Linc’s charming ways and Mack doing her best to resist. <br /><br />The author also has taken great care to be respectful of and get as much as possible correct in regards to the two main characters professions and I am always grateful when an author does this. It creates such an authenticity to the story that keeps you glued to the page. <br /><br />Highly recommended. It left me feeling very satisfied and knowing this will go on the reread rotation!

A second book from this author I DNF. But this time it took me much longer, up to 50% maybe? But guess what, basically nothing interesting happened in that first 50%.<br /><br />The start was really good, but from there it dragged sooooo much. Moreover, I didn’t feel the chemistry among the MC’s. Also, why am I supposed to read about a bunch of other random people and an even bigger bunch of their kids whose names I forgot immediately after I read them? <br /><br />Well, life’s too short to read boring books even though I believe this one could be really good after some proper editing. Which unfortunately didn’t happen.

3.5 stars.<br /><br />I appreciate Ms. Score effort to bring diversity and lgbt community voice in her book.<br />But she need an editor who will help her to make those voice blended in the story smoothly.<br />Dropping, this guy have a bf, that girl have gf or those kids adopted from this or that country or the brother in law came from this country is not enough to make it believable. You just need to turn it down those things a little bit. Less character perhaps but give them more pages and blend it in the story better, okay ?<br /><br />Also, the kids in here are ‘supercalifragilisticexpialidocious’ clever! Hm, please no!<br /><br />However, this is still an interesting and fun story and free on KU!:)<br /><br />❤️

If you are looking for a book that makes you feel from beginning to end, this is the book for you. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not over the top angsty, but it is the perfect combination of community, love, everyday heroes, and overcoming adversity. Mix that with a dirty talking firefighter and an elusive trauma surgeon, and you have perfection.<br /><br />With each and every book Lucy releases, I feel like I’ve found a new favorite, but this book definitely earns a spot in my top five favorites! It is one I know I will come back to and reread over and over. It is action packed, full of all the good vibes a strong community can bring, and has a love story for the ages. Linc is epic book boyfriend material. I also loved Mack. I love that they are both deeply layered characters. While Linc may seem like a playboy for life, I loved seeing so much depth beneath that surface. I also loved learning more about Mack throughout the story and understanding why she made the choices she did. There was so much about both of them that brought all the feels.<br /><br />As with all Lucy books, the writing in this book is fantastic. Once you start reading, you will be glued to your chair forgetting the world around you exists. At least that was my experience. It had a fantastic conclusion, but I still wanted more, because I love them so much. It truly has all the hallmark characteristics of a Lucy book with love, laughter, and all the feels.<br /><br />While I loved popping back into Benevolence and touching base with some of my other favorite characters, this is a complete standalone. However, I don’t know how you could finish and not want everything you could get from this town.