Overall, this was a cute, fun summer romance read with a bit of sexy thrown in. Romance books aren't my usual foray, so I still am not quite sure why I decided to request this book, but I'm glad I did. It was sweet and I loved the Renaissance Faire aspects in the story! My biggest issue was actually with the main character, Emily. I felt like she caused a lot of misunderstandings and struggles because of her inability to think clearly. One thing that stuck out to me (and this isn't any of the relationship issues that happen) is that she thought the town's little Renaissance Faire was the only one in Maryland. What? She was an English major and knew so much about the time period and some things about Ren Faires in general that that just doesn't jive with me.

I'm not meaning to harp - if you're looking for a light, cute summer romance with a fun Ren Faire twist, this is for you.

Thanks Netgalley for the read!

"I didn't choose the wench life, the wench life chose me"-Emily Parker

I so LOVED this book! I now want to attend a renaissance faire and find my very own pirate hottie! This book also had a hottie highlander and I will take either one to be quite honest.

Well Met by Jen DeLuca was super cute and funny. It had ENEMIES TO LOVERS, wench and pirate make out sessions, MEN IN KILTS, witty banter, Shakespeare jokes ( I do love me some Shakespeare jokes), and of course the *most* important, ROMANCE!

If you are looking for a fun summer romance to read then I highly recommend this book to you!

Thank you NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for this ARC!

I absolutely adore this book and cannot wait to give it out to everyone I know when it comes out. I read it and then re-read it twice and now just keep re-reading my favorite snippets! Simon and Emily's story is lovely and swoony and the Ren Faire setting is so much fun! I can't wait to read more from Jen DeLuca!

DeLuca has crafted a completely charming, romantic story that will make anyone want to run away to the Renaissance Faire. Simon and Emily are perfectly matched - in an out of costume. WELL MET has the feel of a small town romance, in a way that is fresh and different and will leave readers ready for more.

If you are looking for a light, predictable, feel good story- this is the one to grab. After her sister is injured in a car accident, Emily moves in to help care for her high school aged niece. She volunteers to participate in Faire, the Renaissance festival the town holds every year, and ends up having a hate/love relationship with him. I found the story to be very predictable, the dialogue to be juvenile, and the characters to lack in development. I found myself skimming a large portion of the book, and when I got to the end, I already knew what was going to happen.

I am sure this book will appeal to a large audience, mainly those that love a lightweight beach read or a way to escape the heavy of life.

This was such an adorable and heart-warming romance book. The setting around a renaissance fair brings a fun element to the book and I really fell in love with both Emily and Simon. From the moment their bickering started I was rooting for them and I loved seeing how their relationship progressed (and the steamy scenes were very nice as well).

This book managed to capture my heart and it is a great debut from this author, who I will be sure to be looking out for in the future.

I know this book is a romance, of which it is super cute and swoon-worthy. But I am a sucker for seeing books set in Maryland and the setting is very important to this novel. The author truly captures what it is like to live in an area that loves the Renaissance Faire as well as aspects of the faire itself.

Well Met was very charming, funny, and romantic. When Emily's sister is injured in a car accident, she moves in to help her along with her teenage niece. She is fresh out of a break up and in need of a new direction in life. And she finds it-while volunteering at the town Renaissance Fair.

This was SO DAMN CHARMING. Pretty sure I was grinning like a fool the entire time because I just loved it so much. MY HEART!

Review-
“I didn’t choose the wench life. The wench life chose me.”

There’s a reason I read and love romance. Because of books like Well Met that make me fall in love. Do you know the feeling you get when you go to a rom-com at the movies? The one that makes you feel like butterflies the size of dinosaurs live in your tummy? That is what I felt reading this highly entertaining and romantic read.

Emily goes to move in with her sister and niece after they’ve been in a car accident. Upon helping her sister out, Emily takes her niece, Caitlin, so she could go sign up for the local Renaissance Faire that happens every summer. What she didn’t realize was that she would also be roped into being part of the festivities. That’s where she meets a gaggle of interesting people—including the man who hates her for no reason at all, Simon.

“You’re so focused on the past it’s all you can see. How can we have a future if all you keep doing is looking back?”

The beginning started off slow for me—so much so that I put down the book a lot. Simon’s hot and cold nature really bugged me too. I didn’t understand why he was such a dickhead to Emily to begin with. She’s very down to earth and fun—how could you not like her. Then we get the reason of why he is the way he is. And even then, it still wasn’t a good enough reason for me.

The witty remarks and quick banter between the two when they were in character as a pirate and a tavern wench, respectively, was sexy. When it did happen, I couldn’t help but keep the grin off my face. Simon as a hot pirate? Yes, sign me up, please!

Want to be wooed? Look no further. This is so damn cute and you won’t regret it.

*Thank you to the publisher for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you Berkley Publishing Group and Netgalley for sending me this digital arc.

Solid 5 stars because THIS BOOK IS AMAZING. I devoured every bit of this. It was so cute, funny and heartwarming.

When Emily moved to the small town Willow Creek after being dumped by her long time boyfriend to help her sister, she did not expect to sign up for a local renaissance fair with her niece. And she definitely did not expect to fall in love with the annoying school teachers/organizer of the fair who seems to criticize everything about her. But little did she know fate had other plans. The uptight Simon becomes a whole new person when he assumes the character of the charming pirate in the fair and Emily can't help but feel extremely attracted to him. Soon they start flirting and making out. But Emily can't figure out if its real or all part of the act.

This book was so good from the beginning to end. It has two of my favorite tropes - enemies to lovers and fake dating (a little). I loved the characters. The writing was absolutely wonderful - kept me hooked from the beginning to end. I enjoyed the banter between the main characters - some of it made me laugh out loud. They had a beautiful and sizzling chemistry. The setting of this book was unique and fascinating. I have never read a book set in a Renaissance fair and it was so well done. This book also deals with grief, family relationships and friendships. I enjoyed every bit of it. Would 100% recommend it to every one.

2.75 stars
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this digital ARC.
I am a sucker for an enemies-to-lovers romance, especially when it's done so superbly. This one, sadly, was just fine. While I generally liked the writing of Jen DeLuca, this one felt a little paint-by-numbers for me. And if I'm being honest, the enemies part felt kind of flimsy.
Emily is staying at her sister's to take care of her niece after a car accident temporarily put her sister out of commission. As summer rolls around, her niece ropes her into participating in the local Ren Faire and that's where she meets Simon. They immediately butt heads and things evolve from there.
This story earns the rating because there was potential of greatness but Emily and Simon's clash is not all that strong. In reading it, it feels more like Emily is misinterpreting his 'hatred' for something else. Their hatred didn't leap off the pages for me and the transition to more was just okay. The climax of them getting together was nicely written so I'll give the author that. I feel like they got together too soon in the book and it was rushed so it was too obvious that there would be conflict before they truly got together. Their chemistry was just fine but it was nothing special compared to other enemies-to-lovers books I've read. The best part about this book was the Ren Faire aspect of it all and I thoroughly enjoyed reading about it. The supporting characters had interesting story lines and Ren Faire characters so it kept me reading. I was able to read this in one day so it does flow well enough. The hate to love aspect simply needed to be stronger and more fleshed out.

4 lovely, the sweetest, heartwarming, Shakespeare-n, poetic and fair-y , entertaining stars!

It's a lovely rom-com, smartly developed characters with great chemistry, love, sisterhood, family. second chances, grief story.

Renaissance Faire theme a little bit disturbed me but all those lively, small town, genuine characters made me have a second thought.

Emily may be an ordinary heroine with her regular story-line as a beginning of most of the rom-coms ( girls loses her job or is cheated, dumped by boyfriend , having nowhere to go than a family crisis occurs so she goes there to fix it and patch things up!
But her parts with Simon, stubborn , pretentious hero who is hiding his emotions behind concrete barriers warmed my heart! They were one of the lovely couples I've read for so long!

As a summary, the book satisfied me , gave me a smile, warmed my heart, touched my soul. It's a great, soft, summer reading!

I simply adored this book. Loving ren faires myself, this read was perfect to fall into.

Emily has uprooted her life and relocated to stay with her sister, who was hurt in an accident. Between taking charge of the responsibilities of her sister and being the go to for her 14 year old niece, Emily inadvertently finds herself volunteering for the towns annual ren faire.

Reading Emily's journey from her past self doubt, to watching her carve a space in both the ren faire and town of Willow Creek was an absolute joy!

Her interactions with Simon, the hate hate hate (love) feelings she has for him and Mitch, the out of this world,hotter than hot Scotsman of the ren faire, are all hilarious and sweet, funny and sexy. What's a wench to do with the overwhelming attention of the towns usual ren faire characters?One in particular who never seems content with Emily's efforts and suggestions to improve the season?

Emily's journey to find herself again and reclaim her own emotions and her own self is an uphill battle riddled with plenty of self doubt. But with an ensemble of tight knit friends in the community, Emily is able to find the life and love she yearns for and deserves.

This story is filled with adventure, and fighting, jousting and let's not forget the Turkey legs! There's enough corsets, kilts and feathered hats to go around that'll make you crave your own summer adventure and summer ren faire romance!

Fun and festive and worth a read (or two!)

I DEVOURED THIS BOOK.
Ahhh. I can’t describe how much I loved this book. The writing was so wonderful and I love the characters so so much.
Simon. Oh Simon. I loved him so much.
And oh my god Mitch lmao. I need more!!
But I loved Emily, with her insecurities but strong sense of self.
Y’all. This book was everything. I learned so much about Faires and I felt like I visited one for the summer too.
10/10 would recommend!

Thank you Netgalley for the early copy of this book.

I enjoyed it, mostly. The faire setting was fun to read about. I just wish the chemistry between the two main characters was stronger.
Emily’s thoughts dragged on and I had to skip through some pages multiple times.

This book was a delight from start to finish. The author had such a way of describing settings and plot that I actually felt like I was there (and when I realized I wasn’t, I reallllllly wanted to be there). I am so going to talk this book up to my library patrons and I can’t wait to purchase it!

This was an incredibly cute and nerdy rom-com! If you enjoy Renaissance Fairs, you will absolutely, incredibly enjoy this story. It was a super cute enemies-to-lovers. I, personally, am not 100000% into Renaissance Fairs so some of the details flew past me, but the love story was cute!

Consider me properly wooed by this book! This was the perfect summer romance.

Fresh of the heels of a bad break up, Emily moves to a small town to take care of her older sister and niece after her sister was in a car crash. Emily gets roped into joining the town’s annual Renaissance Faire as a tavern wench. Right off the bat she get’s off on the wrong foot with the leader of the faire, Simon, who seems to disapprove of every move Emily makes. But once the faire begins, Emily’s wench persona can’t take her eyes off the pirate captain, played by none other than Simon. And when Captain Blackthrone wastes no chance to flirt with her, she becomes confused as to whether this is all a part of the show or actually real.

I loved the premise of this book so much. Emily and Simon clearly detested each other. But their faire characters fell into somewhat of a “showmance". and the banter was 10/10. I really loved the two sides of Simon. During the week he was a buttoned up English teacher but on the weekend, he let loose and became a devilish pirate with a wicked tongue *wink*

I also really liked Emily as a protagonist. Because of her previous breakup, she was dealing with insecurities of not being enough. She was somewhat lost at the start of the book and I loved seeing her move out of her comfort zone and embrace a new start.

I am definietly adding whatever Jen DeLuca writes next to my tbr!

This book was swoon-worthy, I can’t stop thinking about it! I love the trope, enemies to lovers, and this fit it perfectly and was a book for me. I loved the setting and what it did to the hero and heroine, taking on different personas involving pirates and kilt-wearing warriors, and with that conflicting feeling arise.

Emily dealing with her bad breakup and coming to a new town with no strings now takes a turn when she joins the Renaissance Faire with her niece and is brought into a new world, a world which Simon is determined to keep on track. The two clash and Emily can’t seem to get on the right side with Simon, but Captain Ian Blackthorne and Emma are an entirely different story.

This was such a great read for summer and was a lot of fun. If you’re looking for a cute and sexy read with a hate/love relationship, this is a great option!

Thank you so much to Berkley Romance for providing me with an ARC