A laugh-out-loud romantic comedy featuring kilted musicians, Renaissance Faire tavern wenches, and an unlikely love story.LibraryReads Pick 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 … 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.
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Huzzah, wenches! We’re back at the Renaissance Faire with Well Played by Jen DeLuca.
Stacey loves being apart of the Renaissance Faire but she also feels restless and longs to be more than a tavern wench. Like her friends, Emily and Simon, she’s hoping to find her “one” at the faire. After seeing many of her friends get married and having kids, she wishes for a change.
Dex MacLean is apart of a band, the Dueling Kilts. He usually hooks up with Stacey every summer, except for this one. Stacey knows their relationship is casual with no strings attached but she can’t help feeling attracted towards Dex. One night of too much wine Stacey messages Dex on Facebook telling him she misses him–yikes. But what Stacey doesn’t realize is that the man behind the screen is not really Dex and is someone she barely knows.
It was obvious who the mystery man was from the start of the story, so it wasn’t much of a shock for me. But still I loved how the mystery man made Stacey feel open and comfortable enough to share her thoughts and feelings. Also, I loved that we didn’t have to wait until the end of the book to discover the identity of Stacey’s “one”.
The true hero of this novel was everything! He was sweet and understanding and there was an instant connection between him and Stacey that was undeniable. He genuinely liked her and wasn’t after her for just a good time. Stacey does a lot of growing up throughout the novel and the hero does have a lot to do with that.
Well Played was sweet, fun, a bit angsty, and the perfect read for the end of summer! If I’m not mistaken, I think April and Mitch are getting a book next! I hope I’m right lol.
Going back to the Faire was so much fun and hopefully one day I can attend one soon snd enjoy all the festivities!
*I received a complimentary copy of this book from Berkley through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.*
The ultimate cinnamon roll hero! I loved this book, can’t wait for the next.
I absolutely loved Well Met. However, for some reason I wasn’t expecting Stacy’s story to be as engaging. Boy Howdy was I ever wrong. It was better, and I didn’t think that was possible. To be fair we only saw her public face in the first book. But with this book we get inside her head and see what’s really going on behind her always cheerful smile.
Stacy had depths I hadn’t expected but they quickly pulled on my heartstrings. As to her email/text relationship with Dex. I was flummoxed. Then knowing or at least fairly certain, then nervous,. What was going to happen when the fair returned to her hometown?
Needless-to-say, I was intrigued and totally invested as their story unfolded. I was on pins and needles to see how it played out. And I wasn’t dissapointed. It had all the feels!
Stacey’s story starts as a mistaken identity pen pal, and evolves into a year of reflection on where her life is going and where the line of freedom vs obligation lies. I really liked that this book unfurled a little more slowly — having a more realistic time frame for 2 people to get to know each other, especially over texts and emails. Throw in a wedding, a renaissance faire, and a really squeaky bed and you have a year in the life of Stacey.
Well Played was just so good in so many ways! I didn’t think I would like Stacey’s story as much as Well Met, but Jen Deluca managed to do it. What seems like a simple contemporary romance gets turned on it’s side and had me unable to put the book down. Jen Deluca writes such relatable characters that you find yourself rooting for even when they make mistakes. This whole series is amazing and worth getting into. I am going to have to relisten to them on audio soon because I don’t want the Renaissance Faire romance to be over.
I was excited to return to Willow Creek and the Renaissance Faire Family from Well Met. I expected to love it but did not think Jen DeLuca could possibly make me love it more than book 1. She did! I loved Stacey’s story and will probably listen to the audible version just to get to take the journey again. She creates wonderfully relatable characters and a story that I hated to walk away from for even a moment!
I enjoyed this installment of the Well Met series. Much of the relationship development between the main characters takes place via email and text. The conflict with this is hinted at in the book’s blurb. The love interest made a very disturbing mistake. His revelations toward the end of the book about his insecurities make the incident more understandable. I really like Jen DeLuca’s characters and it was great to catch up with Simon and Emily from book 1. I can’t wait to read Mitch and April’s book and hopefully catch up with the Willow Creek crew again.
I thought Well Met was fabulous but this book was even more so. It was sweet and funny, sad and painful, and a laugh out loud ending. Stacey was absolutely adorable – fierce, proud, friend, desperate for change but afraid to make the change. It hit me in the feels! Her insta-message/texting with Daniel was so sweet but had heartbreak all over it. The hea was well worth it. Simon and Emily’s wedding was perfect. I can’t wait for Mitch and April’s story.
The best part about this book is that it makes me want to read book three (April and Mitch’s book) even more.
Otherwise, this is definitely the most skippable of the series. It’s fine, don’t get me wrong. It’s a rather original premise, with lots of creativity and fun faire references. Stacey is a joy and I love non-zero size character with gumption, but the male lead leaves a lot to be desired and is forgiven much too easily. I spent the first half of the story stressed out because I knew Stacey was getting catfished, and the second half of the story in disbelief that she still liked the catfisher. He had no redemption arc, and in fact, turned out to be worse than I thought (a wimpy runner). I certainly wouldn’t want to date him.
I loved Well Met, and can’t wait for Well Matched (which I anticipate liking the most, since Mitch and April have been my favorite characters from the beginning), but I didn’t love this one. Somewhere between 3 and 4 stars for me.
3 stars – 5/10
I was so excited to read the follow up to Well Met. I absolutely loved that book and I knew I had to continue with this series. I honestly went into this book blind. I didn’t read the blurb, just knew it was part of a series I loved. At first I was thrown off by Stacey and her communication with Dex, the player. At the beginning of the book you never feel that connection with the two of them, it mostly felt that Stacey was just lonely.
After going back and reading the blurb, it is clear that she wasn’t communicating with Dex, but someone else close to the band. There were clues the whole time that she wasn’t talking to her once upon a time hookup buddy, but to someone that felt more for her. Someone who has been watching her and falling in love with her from the sidelines, just waiting to be noticed. I don’t want to give too much away in the review, but it is pretty easy to figure out from the beginning of the book. By 50% in, it is revealed so she doesn’t go the whole book in the dark.
There is a bit of catfishing going on, but I didn’t mind it as much as I thought I would. The issue I had is that she forgave him so quickly and just acted like nothing happened. Both times he messed up, he basically walked away defeated and didn’t FIGHT for her. Stacey had to do all of the fighting. At the end, I am glad that the nice guy won out and there was a HEA that was swoonworthy.
In a moment of drunken weakness, Stacey texts Dex, the guy she had an arrangement with over the past 2 summers. When that text turns into so much more, Stacey finds a side of him she never knew existed. As the month’s pass, the two have something very touching and intimate in their daily texts and emails. The Ren Faire can’t come soon enough, where they can finally be face to face. But as the blurb shows, things aren’t always as they appear, and it might just be too much for her.
I loved Well Met, and so I jumped at the chance to request this one from Berkley when I saw it available. It has the same quirky charm as book 1, with many laugh out loud moments, and you still get to see all the characters you’ve grown to love. For me, sometimes Emily and Simon took too much of the center stage. And it makes sense considering their role in the Faire, but it put Stacey on the back burner. Overall, this is a fun and charming romance.
3.5 stars
Last year, Well Met was one of those books that completely took my by surprise with how much I enjoyed it. I immediately put Well Played on my TBR list and was very happy to receive an advanced copy.
And while I liked Well Played, it didn’t wow me as much as the first book.
I liked Stacey, I adored her love of Ren Faire and how she throw herself right into everything about it.
I liked Daniel for the most part, however I hated how he kept things from her, and spent most of the first half of the book waiting for the other shoe to drop.
I also didn’t really feel the romance between Stacey and Daniel. I felt more through the correspondence than when they were together. To me, it kind of felt forced between them.
I did like getting more of Simon and Emily from Well Met, and will I read Well Matched? I certainly will!
I look forward to Mitch and April’s faire tale.
The only thing you need to know is
“Chuck him backstage with a blond hair wench”
I LOVED Well Met, the first in this series, so it was fun returning to Willow Creek and the Renaissance Faire in Well Played.
Stacey has put her life on hold in Willow Creek. The only thing that truly makes her happy is the Renaissance Faire each summer. It’s there that she meets and flirts with Dex for a few of those summers. Then, one day after the Faire has ended for the summer, they start emailing and Stacey falls for him in a way she never had before. But it’s not Dex (no spoiler, you know that as the reader), it’s his cousin Daniel.
Stacey is a super relatable character but I found her willingness to accept Dex/Daniel’s betrayal so easily a little unrealistic. There were things I did like about Daniel, but I felt Stacey deserved someone willing to fight for her, not the other way around. Ultimately, in the end, I did like the two characters together. I look forward to the next book in the series.
Another winner from Jen DeLuca!
I really loved Stacey’s story! She is a fun character and was easy to relate to. I was definitely living vicariously through her and “Dex’s” email/text romance.
This book is a little hard to review since I can’t really say much without spoiling stuff. If you read the book blurb though, it is revealed that it’s not Dex who Stacey has been communicating with. Say what? Oh, there’s going to be some more of those moments in the book and you may want to throat punch a character or five.
And there’s most definitely a lot of Renaissance Faire action in the story and plenty of page time with many of the awesome characters from the first book! I really enjoyed Well Played and I’m looking forward to the next book!
**Net Galley provided in exchange for an honest review**
This was a fun follow-up to Well Met. Loved seeing Stacy get her own story.
A delightful case of mistaken identity! I absolutely love this series and enjoyed being able to see plenty of Simon & Emily throughout this story, so if you haven’t read the first book, Well Met, go do that now.
If you enjoy movies like While You Were Sleeping and You’ve Got Mail, then this will be one of your favorite reads this year. Filled with plenty of romance and laughter, but the characters actually get to know each other on a personal level, due to exchanging emails over the course of months.
I’m looking forward to the next book in the series and will binge-read these again before it releases. This is also the perfect summer read or to take with you on vacation. Such a feel-good romcom, you can’t go wrong!
After reading “Well Met” by the same author, I immediately picked up this book. I was not disappointed. I loved the renaissance fair setting, and the sweet romance between Daniel and Stacy. Now I’m looking forward to the third book in this series. And I just may have to hit a renaissance fair this summer.
I absolutely loved Well Met, which happened to be the book that brought on my love for Rom-Coms. I was really excited to read this follow-up but I was really disappointed. It just wasn’t as good as the first one and I honestly had a hard time finishing it.
I still love the characters and the setting, so that’s the only reason I’m rounding to a four. I’m just not sure what happened with this one. The spark just wasn’t there this time around.
Well Met was one of my favorite reads of 2019, so I was very excited for this. It did not disappoint. I do like Well Met a little more, but I was very happy for this. And I need the next book ASAP.
Stacy was a great heroine. She’s fun, likable, and a good friend. She is plus-size with some insecurities, but it doesn’t define her which I loved. I just connected to her so strongly.
The romance was very cute. It had a lot of textual communication-emails and texts. The lord knows I’m a sucker for that. And it didn’t progress the way I expected which was a happy surprise. The ending was a tad rushed/abrupt.
I love the whole Ren Fair life. I could’ve used a little more in this one, but I still like the vibes.
And seriously the sequel bait was so strong. I need the next one!!!