Who is he if not a hero?
Aldo Moretta has always been the hero. The strongest, the fastest, the bravest. He fought for his country and built a thriving business in his hometown. With friends and family never more than a few blocks away, there was just one thing he was missing. The right girl.

She’d fallen for the wrong guy. The bad guy. But now that she’s finally free, Aldo isn’t going to miss his second chance. Not until his last deployment goes horribly wrong. He was prepared to give his life, but he wasn’t ready for an injury that takes a piece of him. How can he be her hero now?

Who is she if not a victim?
Gloria Parker walked away from a relationship that almost cost her her life. But the shame clings to her like a shadow. She’s wasted ten long years on the wrong man. When the right one returns home scarred and broken, she sees a kindred spirit. But as Gloria rebuilds her life, brick by brick, she wonders if she’s cut out for love. Real love.

Will they find a way to heal together or will their wounds keep them from the happiness they both crave?

Aldo Moretta has wanted Gloria Parker since they were in high school. He stepped aside when she started dating another guy, though it was hard. It got harder when she started being abused by her boyfriend. Now that Gloria has left Glenn, Aldo finally (heh) gets his chance with her. The problem is that he’s being deployed to Iraq and he doesn’t want her to wait for him. He wants her to stretch her wings and figure out who she is aside from a victim.

When Aldo is hurt in Iraq, he isn’t sure he can be what Gloria needs. After having to get one of his legs amputated below the knee, Aldo feels like he’s not a man that Gloria needs. He wasn’t there for her while she was being abused and now he feels like he’s not as much of a man. It was stupid, but he was clearly struggling. Harper helped him worked through his issues. One of the best things about this book was getting Aldo’s POV on his friendship with Harper. It was probably one of the best friendships that I have ever read in a book.

I’m not a huge fan of series books that have concurrent timelines (see The Purveli by Dianne Duvall). Finally Mine takes place at the same time as Pretend You’re Mine. While it was interesting to see Aldo and Gloria’s relationship with Harper and Luke, I still couldn’t get completely behind this book. It’s not that it wasn’t a good book, because it was really good. It just wasn’t as good as Pretend You’re Mine. Aldo and Gloria were sweet and I enjoyed it, but my expectations were really high.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Benevolence