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Benevolence, Book 3

From the publisher:

From the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of Things We Never Got Over comes a second-chance romance with a heartwarming emotional journal and a vibrant small-town cast.

Healing isn’t easy―unless you find someone who refuses to let you go. Welcome to Benevolence: where scars fade, hope grows, and every love story is hard-won.

When burned-out trauma surgeon Mackenzie O’Neil escapes to a small town for a fresh start, romance is the last thing on her mind. But her neighbor, the town’s fiercely loyal and impossibly attractive fire chief, refuses to let her hide behind her walls. Can Linc be her hero when she needs him the most or will their scars ruin everything?

Their slow-burn attraction is electric, but the true heat is in how they mend each other’s hearts. Together, they’ll face community meddling, playful banter, a disaster of a rescue dog who steals the spotlight, and the kind of danger that tests more than their courage.

One thing is certain: Someone is going to get burned.

Author’s Warning: This small-town happily ever after is smokin’ hot, sweetly hilarious, deliciously suspenseful, and a one-two punch to the feels. One-click for a disaster dog, precocious kids, a good ol’ fistfight, nosy neighbors, high-adrenaline first responder heroics, firefighter bromance, and kitchen sexytimes.

https://amzn.to/4bsNYuj

Fire Chief Lincoln Reed—known around town as “Chief Sexy Pants”—is a hometown hero and an all-around good guy. Charming, loyal, and quick-witted, Linc is great with kids, loves dogs, and isn’t afraid to jump headfirst into chaos when lives are on the line. During a horrific traffic accident, he does exactly that—and it’s there he catches his first glimpse of flight trauma surgeon Mackenzie O’Neil. One look at her, and the town’s most confident flirt is completely undone. For the first time in his life, Linc is left speechless as she flies off, taking his composure with her.

A lifelong ladies’ man who’s never considered settling down, Linc can’t stop thinking about the woman who literally dropped into his world. When Mack turns out to be the new doctor in town, fate seems determined to keep putting her in his path.

Fresh out of the military, flight trauma surgeon Mackenzie “Dr. Dreamy” O’Neil comes to Benevolence, Maryland, for a much-needed reset. Burned out and struggling with PTSD, she plans to spend six months working at a small family practice and embracing a slower pace of life. But slowing down proves difficult when she keeps running into the town’s charming fire chief—especially after they discover they’re next-door neighbors. Throw in Linc’s feisty yellow lab, Sunshine, and sparks are inevitable.

Guarded and carrying deep secrets, Mack excels in high-pressure emergencies but struggles with everyday connections. Watching her grow—both personally and emotionally—is deeply satisfying. Her chemistry with Linc is electric, fueled by sharp banter, shared purpose, and a mutual drive to save others. Though they seem like opposites, they understand each other in ways no one else does.

Mack may be determined to change her life, and Linc may not fit her carefully laid plans, but his warmth, persistence, and surprising vulnerability slowly break through her defenses. When they finally give in to their undeniable connection, the heat is off the charts—this dirty-talking firefighter absolutely delivers.

By the epilogue, it’s impossible not to feel joyful for the family Linc and Mack build together. Their story is one of healing, trust, respect, and passion—a love that’s hard-won and completely worth it. This book can be read as a standalone, but I think it’s better as the final book in a terrific series. I recommend reading them all in order:

Benevolence
1. Pretend You’re Mine
2. Finally Mine
3. Protecting What’s Mine

1/2026 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

PROTECTING WHAT’S MINE by Lucy Score. Bloom Books. (September 30, 2022). ISBN: 978-1728282589. 464p.

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Benevolence, Book 1

From the publisher:

What if the love you’re faking becomes the home you’ve always needed?

From New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Lucy Score comes an emotional small-town romance overflowing with healing, hope, and irresistible slow-burn chemistry.

Harper’s on the run from heartbreak, desperate to find a place where she finally feels safe. Luke Garrison is a soldier, a local legend―guarding his secrets, his family, and his battered heart. When Harper agrees to play the part of his girlfriend to protect him from town gossip, it seems like the perfect arrangement: No feelings. No risk. Just pretend.

But sometimes pretending leads to the most real love of all.

As their fake relationship becomes dangerously real, both must decide if they’re brave enough to claim a second chance at happiness―or risk losing it all.

Start the Benevolence series now and fall for the book readers can’t stop recommending.

https://amzn.to/4sntHwg

Harper’s life implodes when she catches her cheating boyfriend—who also happens to be her boss—in the act. She bolts with nothing but her car keys, leaving her phone, money, and dignity behind. Stranded and running on empty, she pulls into a small-town bar only to witness a man assaulting a woman. Without a second thought, Harper launches herself into the fray, ending up bruised but hailed as a hero.

The man who comes to her rescue is Luke Garrison, a brooding hometown hero shattered by the loss of his pregnant wife years ago. When Luke’s sister realizes Harper is broke and homeless, she brokers a deal: Harper will play Luke’s fake girlfriend for one month to get his meddling parents off his back before his next deployment. In exchange, Harper gets a paycheck and a place to stay.

What starts as a convenient arrangement quickly turns electric. Despite Luke’s vow to never love again, Harper’s fierce resilience cracks his armor. Their connection spans continents through a deployment, but the peace is shattered when the man Harper fought in the parking lot returns for revenge. A terrifying home invasion leaves Harper scarred and Luke consumed by a guilt he can’t escape.

As Luke’s tragic past collides with his present, he lashes out, pushing Harper away to protect himself from more grief. Harper, a former foster child who has spent her life rescuing others, finally stops fighting for a man who won’t fight for himself and disappears. It’s only when Luke realizes Harper is being hunted by the criminal she helped put away that he finally wakes up. He lost his first love to tragedy; he won’t lose Harper to his own fear.

Lucy Score delivers a masterclass in small-town romance, balancing gut-wrenching emotional depth with sharp, witty banter. Harper is a powerhouse of a protagonist—intelligent, sharp-tongued, and deeply compassionate. Luke’s journey from a man “dead inside” to a protective partner is raw and earned. With a vibrant cast of secondary characters and high-stakes tension, this story is a beautiful, sizzling reminder that even the most broken hearts are worthy of a happy ending.

1/2026 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

PRETEND YOU’RE MINE by Lucy Score. Bloom Books. (September 30, 2022). ISBN: 978-1728282565. 480p.

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Rome, Kentucky, Book 4

From the publisher:

A homecoming to Rome, Kentucky, sparks a new romance—and lots of drama—between two old family friends, from the New York Times bestselling author of When in Rome, Practice Makes Perfect, and Beg, Borrow, or Steal.

Madison Walker left Rome, Kentucky, determined to make it in the culinary world. But after years of chasing success in New York, all she has to show for it is her shattered confidence and a desperate need for a fresh start. Coming home isn’t part of the plan—until an unexpected job offer lands in her lap: the head chef position at a new farm-to-table restaurant in her hometown. The only catch? It comes from James Huxley, owner of Huxley Farm, her brother’s best friend.

James has always played it safe, keeping his head down and running the family business. But when Madison’s happiness is on the line, he’s willing to take up his estranged brother’s offer to launch a restaurant. James has loved her quietly for years, knowing she’s never seen him as more than an annoyance, but now that she’s back, he’s determined to change that.

Madison and James are tasked with launching the dreamy restaurant in record time, but keeping things strictly professional soon becomes impossible, and the town can’t help but meddle in their relationship. As opening night looms closer, Madison’s fears threaten to hold her back.

When an unexpected disaster collides with a long-simmering sibling feud, both Madison and James will have to face their biggest insecurities—and decide if love is worth the risk or if some dreams are safer left untouched.

“Adams concludes her “Rome, Kentucky” series with…this heartfelt, slow-burn romance [that] will leave readers reminiscing and wanting to start the whole series over again.”—Library Journal

https://amzn.to/4sntHwg

I’d forgotten how much I adore visiting Rome, Kentucky—the kind of small town that makes you want to stay forever. This final installment in the series centers on the last Walker sister, Madison, and it’s a deeply satisfying conclusion.

Madison is warm, spirited, and sensitive, but she’s also plagued by self-doubt. While her sisters are thriving, Madison feels like the odd one out. She dreams of becoming a chef, so she leaves her teaching job and moves to New York to attend culinary school. She scrapes by, convinced she would not have graduated without the extra credit earned by cleaning labs. Too embarrassed to celebrate what feels like a near-failure, she skips her graduation entirely and doesn’t tell her family.

She’s also been quietly crushing on her brother’s best friend, James, for as long as she can remember. After one too many drinks, she calls him—expecting awkwardness, not comfort. Instead, James listens. Then he throws her a lifeline: come home to Rome and be the chef for the restaurant he’s opening as part of revitalizing his family farm. For Madison, it’s the fresh start she needs—and a way to return home without admitting defeat.

What Madison doesn’t know is that James never planned to open a restaurant until that phone call. She also doesn’t know he’s been harboring feelings for her just as long. Determined to give her a reason to stay, James enlists his brother Tommy, a successful restaurateur in Los Angeles, to help get the restaurant off the ground. Things quickly become complicated when Tommy starts flirting with Madison, making James’s unspoken jealousy impossible to ignore.

Madison loves her new job, but her insecurities linger, and working so closely with James brings her long-buried feelings to the surface. He’s her brother’s best friend—and now her boss—which makes everything even more complicated.

James, meanwhile, is juggling big dreams for the farm, his father’s declining health, and the financial risk of the restaurant. If Madison fails, they could both lose everything. Still, James’s stubborn faith in her—and his own blind spot when it comes to Madison—keeps him believing she’ll succeed, even when doubts creep in.

As they work side by side, it becomes impossible to hide what they feel, and their love story unfolds into a well-earned happily ever after. This was the perfect conclusion to a terrific series, and I can’t wait to see what Adams does next. While longtime readers will appreciate the journey, the book also stands beautifully on its own—so new readers can easily start here. It was a wonderful way to kick off a new year of reading.

1/2026 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

IN YOUR DREAMS by Sarah Adams. Dell. (December 30, 2025). ISBN: 978-0593723715. 368p.

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