If you can’t stand the heat, don’t fall for a firefighter… Mackenzie O’Neil is on a crash course with burnout. She’s got a scar on her face and a shake in her hands. A temporary job as a small-town family physician is just the prescription. She’ll learn to meditate. Sleep more. Take up gardening.
She definitely won’t take her shirtless, firefighting neighbor’s hot body for a test drive.
But Linc and his tattoos are very persuasive. What’s a harmless little adrenaline-fueled fling between neighbors? It’s all naked fun and games until the shadows from Mack’s past find their way into her present. Can Linc be her hero when she needs him the most or will their scars ruin everything?
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.more
This was my first Lucy Score book and I really enjoyed it. I have over 30 highlights from the book if that’s any indication about how I felt about the story and the writing. Linc…..sigh. That’s it. Just sigh… I love a strong heroine and Mackenzie checked off all my boxes. I will definitely be reading more from this author….
….which brings me to the negative part. This book is not a standalone. There were a couple of scenes involving characters that I felt I should have known or something that I was missing. I read the blurbs for other books and they were about some of the characters that had popped up in this book. It just felt like there were holes in my knowledge. I’ll read the other books and hope I can get caught up.
2 people who always thought they wouldn’t find love:
Mackenzie, damaged, spending her life running from life, military career, but saving lives is what she does. When life get to be too much she decides that she needs a change of pace, moves to a small town thinking boring would be better. Linc, chief sexy pants as he’s known by the ladies, damaged too, figures love isn’t for him, it pasted him by. But when he sees Mack (Dr. Dreamy) something is different, and the challenge begins, it starts out as flirty banter, but moves from there. A little danger and A lot of flames and a community of people helping them to discover what can be. But these 2 will grow to love, trust and look forward to a future, family and LOVE!
Ladies man Linc has finally met a woman who had him speechless at first sight. I fell in love with Mack, or Doc Dreamy to some, when she saved Aldo’s life five years ago. The fact that she’s the new family physician in Benevolence guaranteed that Linc’s life was about to get just a little more interesting.
There’s not much better for an avid reader than finding a fictional town to fall in love with and then getting to go back to visit. Benevolence is one of those towns for me. The people are small town quirky and close. Life isn’t post card perfect but it feels real. The way Ms. Score writes gives life to the place that makes coming back feel like a coming home.
Book 3 in the Small Town Love Story series happens five years after both of the first two. I’m actually glad she time jumped a bit because Linc needed to develop personally and professionally and Mack needed to be ready for a change. Speaking of Linc’s personal development, wait until you see him with his nieces and nephews. If didn’t already love him, you will!
I thought Luke and Harper was the best couple. Very swoon worthy. And then I met Aldo and Gloria. So many ‘awww’ moments, I couldn’t help but love them and decide they were my new favorite. Along come Linc and Mack. I was only a fourth of the way through book and could tell they were going to steal ‘fan favorite’ right out from under all the others. Too cute and so much sexy, flirty fun!
Maybe one of the reasons I love this series so much is that Ms. Score has an element of kids in foster care and forever homes in each story. We live in a community where there is a large community of foster families. It touches our lives and these books celebrated loving kids who just want to loved in a beautiful way.
I couldn’t put this 400+ page book down until I’d read the last page. Ms. Score drew me in, made me feel like part of the community and the amazing families who live here. I don’t know here future plans for Benevolence but I hope there’s more life and love to come.
Everyone Deserves A Little “Sunshine” In Their Lives…
If you’ve read Lucy Score’s Pretend You’re Mine followed by Finally Mine, then Protecting What’s Mine will bring a little “sunshine” (pun intended) into your life! Even though this newest book can be enjoyed as a standalone, let me suggest you start with the series in order. The small town of Benevolence is packed with handsome heros, kick-a$$ heroines and charming, funny townspeople. In addition, readers can always count on Ms. Score to craft well-written and edited stories with a creative mix of humor, a little angst, and lots of hot romance to keep her readers enthralled.
Protecting What’s Mine delivers all the above (and more) with Fire Chief Linc Reed, surgeon MacKenzie O’Neil, and let’s not forget Linc’s furry, funny, four legged friend…Sunshine! The Chief is hotter than the fires he fights and the good doctor is about to get sizzled by this sexy, hunky firefighter! These two might even singe the “pages” of your e-reader!
As a devoted fan of the contemporary romance genre, Pretend You’re Mine ranks as my absolute favorite book of all time (yes…I have a written list), but Protecting What’s Mine is so close to number one they now share the same line. It is not often I read a book where I am laughing one moment, crying in the next, and dreading the ending because I don’t want the story to end. Lucy Score’s Protecting What’s Mine is one of those special books. Thank you Ms. Score for an excellent story, wonderful characters, a riveting plot, and most of all…Sunshine to warm the heart and soul!
This book is everything! I seriously don’t know how Lucy Score does it book after book. I read this book in one sitting even though it kept me up to the middle of the night. It was so worth the exhaustion the next day.
A hot firefighter and the new doctor in town….can it get any hotter? This book started out exciting and just kept getting better and better. This author has a talent for creating small town romances full of characters readers care about. I found myself wanting to live in Benevolence with Linc and Mac!
Full of steam, laughs, and road blocks, this book is one of my favorite reads of all time!
Score delivers another amazing novel with Protecting What’s Mine. Readers will enjoy catching up with characters in previous books in this series. Well developed characters in this small town are brought to life through a well written dialogue driven story.
I highly recommend this book to fans of the contemporary romance genre.
2020’s BOOK OF THE YEAR!
Benevolence, MD is one of the very best towns in the history of forever! Lucy Score did a phenomenal job of describing the scenery, of putting me right smack dab in the middle of that town with some of my very best friends (even if they don’t know it.)
“You’re breathtaking when you’re Dr. O’Neil on the scene. You’re beautiful when you’re trying to line dance. But this frazzled, wide-eyed woman who justs wants her friends to have a good time is downright adorable.” -Linc
Lincon Reed, who is mentioned in Pretend You’re Mine and Finally Mine is so much more than I ever thought he could be. Aside from being sexy fire chief, (cue the swooning), Linc is head over heels for his dog Sunshine (and rainbows began to shoot from my heart.) Seriously, Linc is so incredibly sweet, like ovary bursting, let’s make all the babies, sweet! I love this guy, and I love, love, love this guy interacting with his family!
“I see you, Lincoln Reed. You might play at being a player. But I see you.” -Mack
Dr. Mackenzie O’Neil is new to Benevolence and taking a break from the high octane life she is accustomed to. Trying to settle into a slower-paced life and the Benevolence family practice clinic, Mack finds herself next-door neighbors with sexy fire chief Linc who is testing her limits at every turn.
This story is loaded with humor, heartwarming moments, a little danger, and truckloads of 5 alarm fire chemistry that will potentially cause your kindle to sizzle and rainbows to shoot from your heart. All of the main characters from the previous stories (PYM and FM) make appearances ( heart eyes for Luke & Harper and Aldo & Gloria) and the one thing that I never thought would happen between Luke and Linc happens!!!
You do not have to read the other books first to read this one. It is a stand-alone.
Make sure to read the story of the real Sunshine after the epilogues, and have tissues handy.
Nobody does small town romance better than Lucy Score. I swear she makes you just want to pick and move—and no one likes moving—so you can be around this crazy cast of characters.
Dr. Mack was one hell of a bad*ss and I loved her to pieces. But that Linc? Oh my swoon. I just…yeah gah! Swoon all the swoon.
Protecting What’s Mine by Lucy Score is a contemporary, small-town romance told in third person, dual POV. It takes place in the fictional town of Benevolence, MD, the same world as Pretend You’re Mine and Finally Mine. Although characters from the previous books appear in Protecting What’s Mine, it’s unnecessary to read them first because this is a complete standalone.
Mack (AKA “Doc Dreamy”) is a flight trauma surgeon on the brink of burnout. In an attempt to slow down, she takes a temporary position at a small family practice. Fire Chief, Linc (AKA “Chief Sexy Pants”), is a perpetual bachelor and ladies’ man. Sparks fly when Mack and Linc meet at an accident site – they have an instant connection. When they discover that they’re neighbors, they have a hard time keeping their hands off of each other. Although Linc has never been the type to settle down, he knows that he wants more with Mack. But she’s not the type to settle down either, and her stay in Benevolence is temporary.
What will happen when Mack’s job ends? Will she go back to the fast-paced life as a trauma surgeon as planned? Will Linc convince her to stay or will he let her go? Read the book to find out.
I loved Mack and Linc’s story! As characters, they were both well-developed, likeable, and realistically flawed. They had a special understanding of each other because as first responders they both had high-stakes careers with life and death in their hands. These two were perfect together and so hot! The story was the perfect blend of humor, romance, and suspense. It was witty, sexy, exciting, and sweet. Highly recommended!
Hot Fire Chief Lincoln Reed and Sexy Trauma Surgeon McKenzie O’Neal hot chemistry so hot, they probably would set off fire alarms.
Mack chooses Benevolence as her new home after leaving the armed services and a Medic. She’s just burned out. She’s not use to small towns and small town gossip, but it starts slowly growing on her. Add a hot fire chief who had his flirt game on point, it’s hard to forget, she only wanted to escape for a few months. She’s his Dreamy and he’s her Hot Shot.
Of course, Ms. Score besides bringing the funny, will bring on the angst.
I need to start at the beginning of this series. There are some characters mentioned from her previous books and I am reading their backstory.
Pick up Protecting What’s Mine, you’ll thank me later.
Protecting What’s Mine had me turning the pages from the very first page until the end. Author Lucy Score is known for her snarky cool romances and while this book had all that yes… THIS book has that and OH So MUCH More. This book went beyond the normal Lucy Score book for me. It had the added touch of mystery. Fire Chief Lincoln Reed’s next door neighbor is a surgeon who recently retired from the military and is only in town for a short while. She is there to sub in for one of the local doctors who is out of locum and MacKenizie will also go up in the bird when needed on one shift as well. That’s the plan. Well as we all know life rarely goes as planned and in the small town of Benevolence, life just changes on a whim. This book was the same way and kept me flipping and turning with the pages as it did. I have not read the other books in the series but i do plan to go back and catch up as this town as gotten under my skin.
Loved this book. Chief Lincoln Reed (Benovolence Fire Captain) and Dr. Mackenzie trauma Doctor/family practitioner. Great text messages, nicknames, banter. Great cast of characters. Book was probably a bit longer than it needed to be but definitely worth the read.
We all need a little sunshine!
This book was incredible! I loved all the characters so much that I just picked up Aldo and Luke’s books as soon as I finished this one b/c I want to submerge myself in small town Benevolence! Linc and Mack are two lovable heros; heros in the most literal since of the word. If you enjoy firefighter/military story lines, this is the book for you. While it can be a standalone, I would suggest getting the other two books read as well. Linc’s charm and Mack’s kick ass personality are the perfect combination of a little instalust and soul touching, forever love. There is just the right amount of meddling small town shenanigans as well as frustrating family dynamics to make the story enjoyable and keeps things moving along. I am glad that Lucy Score’s ads popped up on my feed!
Mack and Linc are made for each other. This book! It has humor, drama, steam, and characters you wish you could hang out with. I caught myself reading slower in order to savor this book. This story perfectly demonstrates the risks that first responders have on the job and also the way their jobs affect their every day lives. They have to deal with the emotional fall out of work on a personal as well as a professional level. They are brave, and their courage is inspiring. I love how much Linc’s character has grown and matured over the time between “Finally Mine” and this book. I also loved seeing his relationship with Luke evolve. Getting to know him on a deeper level was very enjoyable. The research that went into making this story accurate is obvious and I always appreciate that attention to detail that makes a story 100% real. I want to move to Benevolence and live next to these fabulous characters, instead I will have to settle for being inspired by their stories.
Loved this story from the first page to the last. “Dreamy” and “Linc” were a wonderful couple and enjoyed everything that happened. A hot firefighter…and a doctor…such a cute couple. There was fun and also some angst along the way. I loved that there were surprises around every corner. Do not want to share the other surprises but I did like the twist on a regular basis.
Ahh what can I say about this book?? It was so great that I didn’t ever want it to end. Linc is that big tough on the exterior, but such a protective teddy bear on the inside guy you can’t help but love. Mack was an amazing strong female who also has a bit of a mushy interior. These two together were an epic explosion of fire that even the BFD couldn’t put out. Add in an adorably lovable dog, a pesky family dynamic and a visit from all your Benevolence favorites and you have a perfect finally story set in this wonderful small town. I’m not sure how Lucy Score keeps writing her books where they just get better and better, but I’m so glad she has this talent and shares it with the world and us devoted readers! 5 blazing hot stars for this book!
I really loved this first for me read by Lucy Score! I grabbed it because sexy firefighters…saucy trauma doc.. and small town goodness. This story is wonderfully fun. I have many passages highlighted. The characters are so so good! They each have a road to walk to get where they need to be. Good thing the townsfolk are not shy about interfering…or are they being annoyingly nosy.
The home-y-ness of this small town really comes to life. This story shows a doc who keeps herself distant from friends/people. She has to learn how to care which is more than medication or stitches. She is shown the loving of a small town shown through the eyes of someone who has lived there his entire life. We also have a firefighter who has deemed himself only worthy of a good time and laughs.
I love the moments in here when Mack show up somewhere and Linc is already there. He makes some type of off the wall joke to her before saying hello. That seems to start their time off on a joyful note. Then he call her “Dreamy” and my heart just melts.
Love love love these two and this story. There are many many reasons to pick this up. Laughter, fun, danger, great banter and those small town folk will just steal your heart.
A fun romantic read from one of my new favorite authors!
Oh my giddy aunt!! I am so full of the feels after finishing this story! Doc Dreamy and Chief Sexy Pants… I don’t have the words. This story is witty, moving, heartbreaking and the town of Benevolence helps heal wounds again.
Linc and Mack!
We all remember Linc from Lucy Score’s previous novels and it’s wonderful to see him find his partner and fully commit to her. Mack is a flight trauma doctor with her own scars from her past. Linc is the Benevolence Fire Chief, known as a flirt. The two together are magic. Mack is new to Benevolence filling in for a family doctor who is taking her trip of a lifetime. Mack is worried she will be bored in a small town, but she’s going to take the time needed (while doing flight trauma a few times a week).
Not surprising, Mack is fully wrapped in the hug from all the wonderful people of Benevolence. Linc helps her feel at home from the first day there and his lovely dog, Sunshine does her part to keep the two together.
When Mack’s past climbs out of the ashes, Linc and the town are there to save Mack, much like she is for all of the residents.
I know I said the last book by Lucy Score was my favourite, but each new one seems to take it’s place!
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.