Well Met Review

Title: Well Met
Author: Jen DeLuca
Genre: romance; contemporary; fiction; women’s fiction; chick lit *according to Goodreads* <– what does that even mean??
Synopsis: (from Goodreads) All’s faire in love and war for two sworn enemies who indulge in a harmless flirtation in a laugh-out-loud rom-com from debut author, Jen DeLuca.

Emily knew there would be strings attached when she relocated to the small town of Willow Creek, Maryland, for the summer to help her sister recover from an accident, but who could anticipate getting roped into volunteering for the local Renaissance Faire alongside her teenaged niece? Or that the irritating and inscrutable schoolteacher in charge of the volunteers would be so annoying that she finds it impossible to stop thinking about him?

The faire is Simon’s family legacy and from the start he makes clear he doesn’t have time for Emily’s lighthearted approach to life, her oddball Shakespeare conspiracy theories, or her endless suggestions for new acts to shake things up. Yet on the faire grounds he becomes a different person, flirting freely with Emily when she’s in her revealing wench’s costume. But is this attraction real, or just part of the characters they’re portraying?

This summer was only ever supposed to be a pit stop on the way to somewhere else for Emily, but soon she can’t seem to shake the fantasy of establishing something more with Simon, or a permanent home of her own in Willow Creek.

Review: 4 stars. Well met, indeed! This book was as advertised. Jen DeLuca delivered a laugh out loud, fantastic romance with sweet little moments between sisters and friends throughout. A Boston girl lost, is found in a small town through the Faire of all things.

After the first line, I started tweeting about it — I tweeted through chapter 5, a preview of sorts — you can view those HERE — just because I kept laughing about things and wanted to document my experience as I was reading.

I didn’t just lol, like one does in a text. I actually laughed out loud at parts of this book. I found so much of it not only witty, but also hilarious. Like, there’s the wit between English teacher Simon and Emily, and the banter between them and their Faire personas is great. But then there’s the hilarity of Mitch and his Faire persona, Marcus. He’s just all muscle and heart.

The juxtaposition of Simon and Mitch is good, and well written. It’s not a love triangle. It’s not the typical anxiety driven, cringeworthy fight over the girl — although. They do actually physically fight over her — male centric triangle. It’s actually so much better.

All the characters lift each other up. They are a real small town. Like, the last small towny books and stories I read were Where the Crawdads Sing, and The Lottery. Not such good small town vibes in either. Like, they don’t always treat people the best in those stories, right? Spoiler for WtCS and TL, but like, people literally die in those small towns. But Willow Creek, like, owns it and wins.

April and Emily is a fun sister dynamic to read. They kind of learn sisterhood as the chapters progress. I’ve not read anything like that before, and I really liked it. I liked Emily’s dynamic with her niece too. Like with April, Emily has to learn how to be an aunt too. It’s fun to see her take on these roles.

When Simon fucks up, as all men in romance novels are wont to do, (trust me, they all do), DeLuca does something really, really good. In fact, I’d say she handles it better than any other romance writer I’ve ever read before. I love when Emily puts her foot down, and April backs her up. The bonds of sisterhood, no matter how new, are still strong.

This is a perfect summer read. I am eager to see what else comes from this author!

Be warned. You WILL go googling renaissance faires after. You will look for your local one, and you will try to get tickets if it’s close enough. Just saying.