I’m so disappointed in myself for waiting to start this series! I didn’t know how much I would enjoy a book that’s setting was a renaissance faire. Now I know I’m a huge fan of it.

Emily and Simon had some major character growth, that was great to watch play out. I loved seeing Emily’s relationship with her niece and sister.

I can’t wait to continue on with the series, or anything by this author.

I recently finished reading Well Met, the first book in Jen DeLuca’s Well Met series, and it’s been on my TBR list for a while. It features one of my favorite tropes, Enemies to Lovers, and is set in a fictional small town in Maryland, where the characters are working together to volunteer at the Renaissance Faire annually. I was glad to find the audiobook version at my local library via Libby, which allowed me to listen to the book while running errands and taking care of things around the house.

Brief Storyline: The FMC, Emily, recently dumped by her boyfriend, decides to relocate to Willow Creek, Maryland, where she assists her sister and her niece until she finds her own place. Before she knows it, she’s not only helping her sister, who is recovering from a car accident, but she’s also volunteering at a Renaissance Faire for her niece. She’s dressed as a wench, trying to fit in with everyone at the Renaissance Faire, but one person in particular is making it difficult for her. In comes the hero, Simon, who hasn’t been that friendly to Emily, and she has no idea why.

The book was an enjoyable start to the series, filled with new beginnings for Emily, humorous moments, and an emotional and romantic journey for both Emily and Simon. It’s told solely from Emily’s POV, and I believe it would have benefited from including Simon’s POV, too. I wanted to understand his feelings and motivations better, primarily when he acted differently in his pirate costume and seemed to claim Emily when another guy was around.

I liked the storyline behind this book and the characters, especially Emily, on finding herself after a break-up with a guy who didn’t deserve her in the first place. I also enjoyed the setting, where the characters are at a Renaissance Faire. The issue I had while reading (or, in my case, listening) was I wasn’t entirely convinced about the relationship between Simon and Emily. It’s mainly due to the poor confusion Emily was dealing with when it came to Simon always flirting with her in costume and how he was with her from the beginning. This is where I would have loved to have Simon’s POV. Then, maybe I would have believed their romantic storyline more.

I was more invested in reading Emily’s story and how she was making friends, finding herself after her break-up, and reconnecting with her sister after so long while also forming a relationship with her niece. I loved that journey for her, even though she was dealing with Simon, giving her a hard time at the Faire most of the time. Overall, it was an enjoyable book, and I give it three stars. I do plan on reading the next book, especially when Jen DeLuca introduced so many secondary characters that I feel deserve to have their own HEA. If you enjoy romantic comedies with moments of laughter and emotion set in a Renaissance Faire, this book is worth checking out.

What to Expect:
✔Small Town Romance
✔Enemies to Lovers
✔Forced Proximity

a fun romance! i enjoyed the renaissance faire aspect of the story and seeing the romance develop between the characters. recommended!

Weak writing and too much women's fiction family drama up top. Not for me personally but I'm sure that I'm in the minority. I hope the other books in the series are more fun and less contrived to get to the thrust of the plot.

I loved this book! Thank you for the ARC. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize that I wasn’t leaving reviews on netgalley and was solely sharing on Instagram. My apologies. Huge fan of this author! I actually received the tangible copy. Trying to clean up my netgally account

"This is like a summer romance on steroids." — Emily said so herself.

Beginning is too sloooooow. I like all those Renaissance jollities but that's pretty much about it. Didn't fall in love with the main characters but they cute sometimes.

Overall an OKAY read.

Emily has come to the small town of Willow Creek to help her big sister out after she has been in a car accident. And, it’s not like she has a lot to leave behind. Her boyfriend has just dumped her and she had suddenly found herself homeless and single at the same time. But, who knew helping out her sister and niece would involve volunteering for the Renaissance Faire? Now, she finds herself dressed as a wench and trading barbs with the annoyingly uptight Simon. Or flirting with his Ren Faire alter ego, the charming and seductive pirate. But as the summer goes on, it gets harder to tell what’s real and what’s for show…

An enemies to lovers romance that takes place at a Renaissance Faire…ummmm yes please! Add the fact the hero was kind of uptight and quiet, or at least he was at first, and I was a goner. Well Met was a fantastic debut novel, full of romance, laughs and a little bit of an emotional journey. Was it perfect? No, but if you’re after a light hearted rom com with a unique setting you won’t go wrong picking this one up.

Where this book excelled was the build up of the relationship between Emily and Simon, their verbal sparring was a lot of fun, as was their flirting when they were in ‘character’ for the Ren faire. I also enjoyed some of the parallels to Pride & Prejudice; Emily with her prejudice and Simon with his pride. It was a very much a classic love story in that sense. However, where the book ran into trouble was the relationship once they were actually together. It didn’t quite feel real. They spent too much time interacting with each other through their Ren Faire characters and not enough as just Simon and Emily. Subsequently, when they were avowing love for one another it felt forced and not entirely authentic.

In some ways, I feel like this book would have done better written more like women’s fiction. I really enjoyed Emily’s journey; reconnecting with her older sister, forging a relationship with her niece, finding herself a niche in the small town she finds herself living in. If the focus had been the culmination of Emily’s journey rather than a HEA with Simon, the fairly superficial nature of their relationship may not have been such an issue as it would have just another aspect of her story rather than the focal point of it.

However, that didn’t stop this book from being a lot of fun. Jen DeLuca is definitely an author to look out for in the future and I plan on picking up whatever she brings out next.

I have no idea why I put off reading this book! Well Met by Jen DeLuca was such a fun book! Even if you don't think you're a Ren Faire fan, you will be after this book. I love how she brought me into the Ren Faire community as a reader. This book had so many great storylines, between Emily and her sister, and her niece. Emily finding her way in a new town. And of course the romance between Emily and Simon. Absolutely couldn't put this book down. Loved it so much I picked up the second book the next night!

This was definitely a breath of fresh air. I love the idea of renaissance fairs and have always wanted to go to one, and this one really did not disappoint. It's not too long, which is also a plus for me. I really enjoyed Emily and can really connect with her. I'm also really inspired by how she stepped up to the plate when her family needed her the most.

I haven't been to our local Renaissance Faire in quite some time, but after reading this novel, I really want to go back again (as soon as it's safe to do so).

I wish I had read Well Met in 2019 so I could list it as one of my favorites on Chick Lit Central that year. However, I did list it as a favorite book read in 2020 over at my personal blog. I just loved it so much. The characters and storyline were great in so many ways. Jen DeLuca really brought the Renaissance Faire atmosphere to life. There were a lot of sweet and romantic moments, as well as ones that made me laugh.

Simon was swoon-worthy and totally book boyfriend material. There were some steamy scenes that I really enjoyed, but may make people blush (like the times my son decided to try reading over my shoulder during those scenes). I liked the family feel of the Renaissance Faire group. It made me think of when I was in a Rocky Horror cast a long time ago. Different costumes, same camaraderie.

I look forward to reading the other two books in this series and plan to add Well Played to my queue soon. Well done, Jen. Huzzah!

Movie casting ideas:
Emily: Molly Gordon
Simon: Munro Chambers
Mitch: Graham Rogers
April: Gillian Jacobs
Caitlin: Caroline Grossman
Chris: Meredith Salenger
Stacey: Emilia McCarthy

FULL REVIEW ON FRESH FICTION
WELL MET by Jen DeLuca is a delightful romantic comedy debut! A Renaissance Faire is an interesting and fresh setting for a romance novel, and Emly is a wonderful heroine to follow through her personal journey of growth and love. She makes genuine connections with her sister and niece, two people she’s always kept at arm’s length. The side characters who inhabit the Faire are hilarious - there’s a hot guy in a kilt, another sassy tavern wench, and of course, a formidable and wise Queen. Simon is a great hero and his reasons for being so prickly with Emily reveal themselves over the course of the novel and felt authentic and genuine. Watching Emily and Simon work their way from enemies to lovers is adorable and they both make a lot of personal progress. WELL MET is an enjoyable and cute contemporary romance.

After moving to a small town to help her sister recover from an accident, Emily finds herself volunteering for the summer renaissance faire. She likes everything about the faire, except the organizer, Simon, who can’t seem to stand Emily and her new ideas. Despite their sworn enemy dynamic, both of them can’t seem to stay away.

As you may have guessed, this book uses one of my favourite tropes: enemies to lovers and small town romance! The setting of the charming town and the theme of the renaissance faire was really unique. I am not one to be drawn to time pieces and historic aspects, but it really sucked me in!

I quite enjoyed the main character, Emily. She just went through a bad break up, suffers from some self worth issues, and slowly grows and learns from her previous relationship throughout. She’s a strong but subtle heroin without being too over the top. Simons character is a little bit uptight, set in his ways, but is secretly a super sexy English teacher! The supporting characters were also interesting to read about (can I get more Mitch and his kilt??) and set the tone for this small town feel.

“I didn’t choose the wench life,” insists Emily Parker, the heroine of Well Met. “The wench life chose me.” For lack of better options, she spends her summer slinging tankards of beer at the local Renaissance Faire. “My afternoon and the rest of the weekend were pretty much an open book. Much like my entire future. I didn’t like it. I liked plans.”

She’s moved to tiny Willow Creek, Maryland, to live with her sister in the wake of a marriage of true minds gone wrong. “With Jake I’d had a plan. We’d met my sophomore year in college at a fraternity party, two like-minded intellectuals that were too good for beer pong. We’d talked all night, and I thought I’d found my soulmate. He was smart, focused, driven. I’d like that streak of ambition in him that matched mine.” But after dropping out of college to support her fiancé through law school, Emily finds herself well dumped. “What I hadn’t realized was that, while my ambition had been for us both, his was only for himself. When he got that high-powered job he’d been shooting for, he left old things behind.”

At first, Emily finds Faire organizer Simon Graham annoying and uptight: “more adultier than me, even.” Then she gets to know his tragic backstory—and his leather-pants-and-eyeliner-wearing Faire alter ego, Captain Ian Blackthorne. Before you can say “huzzah,” they’re quoting sonnets to each other. The course of true love doesn’t exactly run smooth, but all’s well that ends well—and begins well.

The timeline moved a little fast for me. I felt like I didn't have much time to really invest in the characters. Also, not the biggest fan of the catfishing and felt the main character was only indecisive because she knew it was wrong not that she was actually mad or upset about it.

This book was a fun, lighthearted read that appealed to a combination of my inner hopeless romantic and my history-obsessed self.

This is the perfect HEA read. I’ve never read anything about Renaissance Fairs so learned and appreciated this book. Thank you NetGalley for an Advanced Reader Copy. I look forward to sharing this one for my book club & read more from this author.

This book was so much fun to read. The characters were believable and had well developed backstories that were incorporated and used to build the character instead of just filler. They were relatable with believable flaws that helped you relate to the character instead instead of making you dislike them.
Having the setting be a Renaissance Faire was refreshing. It made the entire book more fun as if you were visiting the Faire yourself. It was a light, fun read and I can't wait to read the next book in the series.

I've never gone to a Renaissance Faire, and reading this book makes me want to go to one right now. Jen De Luca describes the setting and the events vividly enough that I can "see" them and immerse myself in the sights and sounds, smells and heat of the Faire.

Emily is a wonderful heroine; loyal and unselfish as she dropped the things in her life to go take care of her sister and niece when they had an accident. That she was recovering from a breakup was just good timing. She originally didn't like Simon (the hero) but that just created more sparks between them and later made her realize that she did like Simon (over Mitch, whom she originally ogled).

Simon is quiet and reserved and has his own insecurities, as he lived mostly in his dead brother's shadow. He's a relatable hero and I love how he wooed Emily with romantic gestures. Though the story was told from Emily's first person point of view, we did get to see Simon's side through her eyes and the eyes of the other townspeople whom she spoke to, and I didn't feel like anything was missing when we didn't get Simon's POV.

There's a wonderful cast of supporting characters--Emily's sister April and niece Caitlyn, her friend Stacey, Cris and of course Mitch!

I really enjoyed reading WELL MET and can't wait for the next book, Well Played, featuring Stacey and the mystery man she's been corresponding with online.

[3.5 stars]

This was an adorable read! The romance was just tantalizing and complicated enough to keep my interest peaked. I was never bored for a moment and absolutely loved learning about renaissance fairs. This book opened my eyes to a completely different world. By the end, I wanted to visit a fair and find a Shakespearean love for myself.

Well Met is such a fun read. The renaissance faire was interesting as the backdrop of this rom com story. The characters bring life to the small town and ready about them in future stories will be fun. If you are looking for a quick read where you smile throughout the entire book, then pick this one up. Thank you NetGalley for the advance copy.