Well Played by Jen DeLuca
Well Met #2
Contemporary Romance
Berkley | September 22, 2020
About the Book:
House Rules:
Another laugh-out-loud romantic comedy featuring kilted musicians, Renaissance Faire tavern wenches, and an unlikely love story.
Stacey is jolted when her friends Simon and Emily get engaged. She knew she was putting her life on hold when she stayed in Willow Creek to care for her sick mother, but it’s been years now, and even though Stacey loves spending her summers pouring drinks and flirting with patrons at the local Renaissance Faire, she wants more out of life. Stacey vows to have her life figured out by the time her friends get hitched at Faire next summer. Maybe she’ll even find The One.
When Stacey imagined “The One,” it never occurred to her that her summertime Faire fling, Dex MacLean, might fit the bill. While Dex is easy on the eyes onstage with his band The Dueling Kilts, Stacey has never felt an emotional connection with him. So when she receives a tender email from the typically monosyllabic hunk, she’s not sure what to make of it.
Faire returns to Willow Creek, and Stacey comes face-to-face with the man with whom she’s exchanged hundreds of online messages over the past nine months. To Stacey’s shock, it isn’t Dex—she’s been falling in love with a man she barely knows.
I wasn’t shy about my love for Well Met. It took me home, to one of my favorite all day escapes: the Renfest.
There’s magic inside the gates of the Renaissance festival. It transports you back in time, so a place of smoked turkey legs and fun olde tyme banter. Well Met captured that perfect, and had a charming and swoonworthy romance to boot. Well Played had big shoes to step into.
Straight off the bat, the magic of the Renfest was still rampant. With our state Renfaire closed for Covid, this is the closest I’m going to get and I devoured it.
On the other hand…
I wasn’t quite as taken with Stacey’s love story.
It wasn’t about the Catfishing hook either. While I do believe Catfishing is wrong, I also know it happens and the person isn’t always a villain. The issue was more to do with the lack of passion. I liked David. I did. I liked how he was just a normal guy. I liked that he was confident in himself, even when he knew he wasn’t who girls gazes went to first. And I liked when Stacey finally saw him.
But, that’s kinda where it ended. The romantic side of the story quickly got boring, and I wasn’t ecstatic to pick up the book.
This doesn’t mean I’m finished with this series.
Far from it.
Well Matched is in the works, and from what I can tell it’s going to be Mitch April. I’m 100% down for that. All the way. I love Mitch, and I want to see his player ass fall hard. I have a feeling it’s going to completely redeem the trilogy for me.
Bring it!
Birdie Bookworm 
Wendy I finished it today and I had the exact same reaction! Cute but not as thrilling as Well met! But like you said, Well Played had big shoes to fill in!
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It did. And I liked Stacey, and I liked David. I’m just not sure I felt any actual chemistry when the two of them came together.
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I’ve seen some great fan art of these couples. I haven’t read this series yet, but I think this fall would be the perfect time!
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I finished this yesterday!! I liked it, but I didn’t love it. There wasn’t any of the passion in the romance, which is fine, but as you said, not very engaging.
BUT, totally looking forward to Well Matched!! 😂
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Right! My hopes for Well Matched are very high. Two established characters, I need to feel some chemistry there!
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Also I kind of want to see April get into the ren faire!! 😂
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