Pro tip: when in Chapter One your heroine encounters a large, generically hot blond man whose muscles are explicitly compared to Gaston’s and who is happy to wear a kilt and be ogled by everyone at the Renaissance Faire … no way is that guy the hero.
No, the hero is the dark-haired, uptight, incredibly irritating man with the clipboard, who in the heroine’s words, “would be relatively attractive if he weren’t looking at me like he’d caught me cheating on my chemistry final.”
That’s because romantic comedies live and die on the specifics. The swooniest parts are always context-dependent: Kate Moseley and Doug Dorsey finally nailing the Pamchenko Twist; Harry’s New Year’s Eve list of Sally’s quirks; Lucy In her booth finding a wedding ring clinking down instead of a subway token, and looking up into the smiling faces of Jack and his family.
Or, in this case, a golden cord and a pirate earring at a small-town Renaissance Faire.
Jen DeLuca’s debut is sweet and snappy and light as a lemon tart: Emily Parker has moved to Willow Creek after a breakup to help her sister and niece recover from a serious car accident. Her niece is desperate to be involved in the local Faire with all her friends, and she can’t audition unless an adult volunteers along with her. Her mother is still recuperating, so Emily channels her unfinished English major and signs on as a tavern wench—and immediately has a run-in with the man running the Faire, a starchy, scowly English teacher named Simon, who has his own issues with family and the Faire.
This is the pure undiluted enemies-to-lovers stuff, and it packs a wallop. Reading this book made me feel like a teenager just discovering romance for the first time: the heroine’s hurt and self-doubt, the need to decipher the hero’s true feelings (we stay in Emily’s POV the whole book), the courage it takes Emily to realize she’s worthy of love, how it feels to be tangled in a social and familial web of obligation and loyalty that can either hold you back or hold you up.
It's a whole functioning world in here, and I hope to get a chance to revisit.

this was super cute! loved the setting, nothing like i've read before.
i really liked emily in the beginning, though she did get on my nerves a wee bit later on - i just can't handle inconsistency with characters to fit the story. like she'd freak out about something without giving it time to come about naturally, but then something else very obvious would go over her head or she wouldn't worry about it.. it was just frustrating. i am a worrywart and constantly freak out about things well before i should, but even i give certain things a *little* time before talking about them. it just seemed a bit.... i don't know. contrived to give the story some odd conflict? miscommunication without giving the characters a bit of time to actually communicate? i don't know. might just be me. also, i did like simon, though he had his flaws. i couldn't quite get a grasp on his character... and i was not wooed by certain things.. in fact, i was cringing so hard i had to close my eyes. the ending was cute, but i am more a fan of the smaller gestures than the grand gestures, personally. i really liked the setting and the side characters, they did make the story for me. i know it sounds like i hated it, but not at all. i still enjoyed it despite the things that bugged me, and i'd read another from this author. overall it was cute and i liked the writing. probably more like 3.5, but rounding up.

A fun and sweet romance novel.
I think Well Met would be perfect for those who want to read a no frills, easy/light romance novel in the weekend.

3.5 stars

The cover and synopsis made me think it would be a YA or NA book but oh man was I wrong. A simple story but with such detailed characters. Thoroughly enjoyed reading Emily and Simon's love story.

I loved this story. What more can I say? Seriously though, this was such a fun read. I am all for an enemies to lovers tale & this delivered. I will definitely be looking forward to more books from this author too.

Some of my favorite parts of this book are the Ren Faire parts. I love how descriptive the author was with the surroundings and costumes, you can tell she has experience with it.

The family dynamics in this were also great. I loved how the sisters grew in their relationship, seeing their support for one another was awesome.

I completely thought I reviewed this but I guess not! I LOVED THIS BOOK!!! As a former playtron, avid romance reader, and Shakespeare nerd I felt like this book should have been called "Well Met, Erika". Such an amazing and fun read. I have already recommended it to several library patrons and friends. I'm obsessed. I really liked Emily, and I really enjoyed watching her come into her own. I applauded Jen Delucas career choice for Em! As far as Simon goes who doesn't love a cheeky pirate coupled with an enemies to lovers trope. This shit was solid gold. Jen I will be purchasing your next book for myself and my library. Thank you!

Well Met was pretty popular even before it came out. Booktubers talked about, had showcased their proof copies they were very lucky to get, many of my Goodreads friends also read it, and everyone seemed to love it.

“The best romance comedy of 2019, new hate to love story you will fall in love with” is what they said.
And how it affected me? I expected just that, but in the end I didn’t fall into the wagon of people who loved it oh so much.

To me, it was funny and entertaining book, but nothing more then that.

Maybe it was the Renaissance Faire setting the thing, because we don’t have them where I live, and I found everything about it in this story a bit silly.
I couldn’t understand how characters were taking it so seriously and how big of the deal it was for their town, but I also could not get my head around how everyone was doing all this work for free.
But if I’m being fair, that speaks more about me then about them. I guess they are better people then I am.

The main character Emily was good narrator, but I couldn’t like her as much as I wanted to.
From my perspective, she looked down on so many other characters that it turned me off from appreciating her, and that is where my disconnection from the story began.

I also thought that the love interest, Simon, was ungrateful, so he wasn’t in my “characters I like” circle either.
I mean, all these people were volunteering to make his event happening, and at times he acted like a mean CEO towards them.

I also didn’t get all that love/hate situation, because I didn’t understand why our main characters hated each other in the first place.
It was like they were fighting just for the sake of fighting.

One more thing: characters they were playing at the faire acted so disconnected from their real personalities, that I just couldn’t buy it.

So now when I told you everything I wasn’t a fan of, let me tell you that despite it Well Met was one really entertaining and funny novel and I do see why many people like it.
The writing style was simple and the book can easily be read in one day.

As for me, I read it in 5 days because I picked it up during my reading slump, so maybe that is also why I didn’t love it as much as others did.

However, I don’t regret reading it and I would recommend it to readers who are looking for their next fast paced comedy. I would just warn them not to take it seriously.

Jen DeLuca’s debut takes place in a small town that hosts a Renaissance Faire every summer. During the week, Emily helps her sister and niece while contemplating what her own future holds. On the weekends, she dresses as a tavern wench, answers to the name Emma, and finds herself flirting with Captain Blackthorne. Out of costume, her dashing pirate is actually Simon, the faire organizer. While the two get off on the wrong foot in real life, it’s at the faire that they’re able to connect. Aside from the fact that Emily is basically living my dream (working at a bookstore and falling in love with a Killian Jones-esque pirate), I loved the way this novel explored the emotional journeys of two characters who like their lives but also feel as though they have little control over them. Both Emily and Simon are learning to let go of the things that hurt them in the past and starting to take charge of their futures. The book ends with a hint of a romance involving Emily’s sister and a hunky kilted warrior, so here’s hoping DeLuca decides to give readers more of this ren faire world!

This was so cute. I think it started really slowly, but once it built up, ohhh boy it really got going.

Loved the setting especially.

Every year, my home county hosted a Renn Faire, The Lady of the Lakes. I never went, but was so fascinated by it. So when I got the eARC for Well Met, a romance that is set during a Renaissance Faire, I was so excited.

Emily has just moved in with her older sister and niece to help them recover after a bad accident. Her life was just flipped on its head when her fiancé broke up with her and she had to move out, so moving in with family is helping her figure out her next steps. Emily’s niece wants to volunteer for her high school’s faire, but needs an adult to volunteer with her...which Emily is roped into.

Simon has taken charge of the faire after his popular older brother created the event, but Simon is grumpy and too serious. Emily and Simon are incredibly antagonistic towards each other (the reason why eventually make sense), but when they start participating in the faire weekends, their alternate personas take over.

Playing a tavern wench, Emily becomes Emma on the weekends and Simon becomes Sebastian, the pirate. They are instantly attracted to these new personalities and their flirting turn to feels, but they can’t tell if it’s real or pretend.

Filled with a fun small town and amazing secondary character, Well Met really is a quick and fun read thay is full of self growth and romance. I cannot wait to read what else Jenn DeLuca has in store for us and this little community was one I instantly fell for.

I sure did go on a romantic/comedy spree! This was a great enemies to lovers trope that was written fantastically! Sometimes we fall for people who we don't expect!

I ENJOYED…
☂️
- If you’re looking for a cute adult enemies-to-lovers romance, Well Met might just be the right fit for you and, in that area, it delivered…most of it all. Emily and Simon were lovely together, I really liked especially how we got to know Simon better and see a little bit under his shell as he opened up to Emily and we learned about his story, too. The chemistry was undeniable…. I just wish we got more of it.
- Something I really enjoyed about Well Met, was the sisters’ and their relationship. Emily arrives to the small town of Willow Creek to take care of her sister after she’s been in a car accident and, the two being over 10 years apart, they had never been really close. I loved seeing their relationship grow and them getting closer as the story went on. Sisters vibes!
- The setting was wonderful and unique, for sure. I love small town settings and the Renaissance Faire, an event set in the woods, where everyone dresses up with dated costumes during all the summer weekends, with little booths with jewellry, events and combats and so on. It was my first time reading about such an event and I found it so much fun!
- The main character, Emily, was relatable and insecure as she didn’t know where to go from here, was scared about repeating her past’s mistakes and uncertain about her future. I loved seeing her grow as the story went on and figuring out her own home and purpose, too.
- The writing was quite simple, but easy to read, well-paced and fun, making this story a quick and entertaining one to read as a whole.

I HAD A HARD TIME WITH…
☂️
- Unfortunately, I felt like the author just went on the surface of it all and found myself craving for more:
I liked the main character, but I didn’t feel as deeply for her as I wished.
I liked the romance overall, but I felt like it could have used a little more… tension, somehow, a little more build-up from the hate, to the lovers part. When the characters were together and the romance was full-time there, I could feel the chemistry between the characters, but I felt like we missed more scenes to have their relationship properly developed from hate to love.

OVERALL
☂️
If you enjoy fun, entertaining adult romances with original settings, I’d definitely recommend Well Met. The story lacked a little bit of depth in its characters and relationships for me to fall head over heels for it, but I still had fun reading it overall and, who knows, you might just end up loving it.

Final rating: 3 drops!

Thank you to Penguin Random House International & NetGalley for sending me an e-ARC of this book. This did not, in any way, influence my thoughts and rating.

Trigger warnings: mentions of a car accident, broken leg, loss of a loved one, mention of cancer.

Charming, funny, vulnerable and undeniably sexy! I loved this debut and will definitely be picking up future books by this author. (Crossing my fingers for a Mitch sequel, though, because that man deserves his own romance altogether!)

This book was fine. I have nothing majorly for or against it; it just struck the middle of the road for me. Initially, I really liked that the main character is a college drop-out and it focuses on her selfconsciousness about that because I've never seen that trait in a romance before. Also, I thought the writing style was funny and I would have tabbed it up had I gotten my own copy rather than a library book.

But then, the writing style became more of a hindrance than something I enjoyed. This is set at a Renaissance Faire, which I have never been to, but I didn't really feel immersed in the environment. It glossed over a lot of descriptions of the characters and scenery in lieu of Emily's inner monologue, which I felt was very unsubtle and ruined a lot of the angst and build-up. She overstated a lot of things and just made the book very surface level and explain-y, and it didn't serve the relationship between the two main characters well.

I'll be first to say that I love the enemies to lovers trope, but this book just felt like it used that plot as a selling point. This book didn't give us angsty moments between the two characters or any sorts of pining. They were annoyed with one another in the beginning, but as soon as the main character sees the love interest in leather pants, all hard feelings melt away. I mean, relatable, but not great for a 300 page book where the characters go from hating each other to loving each other in a snap. In general, the relationship was just really convenient and low stakes, and I didn't feel any chemistry between them other than knowing they would eventually end up together because it's a romance book. The author didn't give me any believable tension or emotions. All that being said, I didn't mind them being together, I just didn't quite believe it.

I still gave this book three stars because several aspects of it are different to anything I've ever read, but the writing really undersold the story and the romance to me. I would probably read more by this author, but it'd probably have to be a book as short as this one to keep my interest.

4/5 Stars

Whenever I hear about a book set at a Renaissance Faire I freaking jump for joy especially if romance is in play and thankfully Jen DeLuca has come along to provide. The small town vibes and faire feelings definitely carried this story playing on my nostalgia for summers watching swordfighting and chomping on turkey legs. Simon and Emily did a number on my heart and the banter between them was brilliant and I'm hoping for more stories set in this world. The only thing I was underwhelmed with was the character development but overall I enjoyed this romance romp.

I loved the unique setting of this book. I've not read anything like it before so that was refreshing, particularly in this saturated market. Enemies to lovers stories either go on really well for me or I can't get past the animosity between the H and h and quickly dnf. I can say that Well Met is one that worked for me. I thought the story was cute and lovable.

This is seriously the most perfect YA contemporary book. If you love fun, nerdy and quirky romances..this book is for you. Jen DeLuca's writing style is so witty and fun, and tied in with a plot at a Renaissance Faire...you have the ideal delightful read. I flew through this book, and I want to reread it over and over. I love it so much.

I loved this one by Jen Deluca! I really didn't think I would be into the Ren Faire storyline but it was such a backdrop I didn't even notice! I would love to read a follow up about Simon and Emily!

This book was adorable, and I hope De Luca is planning a whole series! Emily is in town to take care of her older sister and teenage niece after a serious car accident left her sister temporarily disabled. She gets roped into helping out at a renaissance festival for the summer—a festival run by Simon, the buttoned-down, grumpy high school English teacher. Only when the festival starts, Simon transforms into a dashing pirate who is only too happy to spend his days flirting with Emily the tavern wench. But which Simon is real? And as Emily gets to know her neighbors and starts working at a local bookstore, is she ready to put down roots in small-town Maryland?

Such a joyous read. The author clearly has real-life experience at a ren faire, and her love of the customs and cultures shines through. Simon and Emily are lovely together, and the secondary characters are delightful. I hope we’ll get more books with these people and this town.

There is so much about this book that make it a pleasure to recommend to romance readers. The protagonists start out disliking one another, then gradually realize the error of their ways and fall in love. The Renaissance Faire setting is fun, and the book is filled with enough allusions to Shakespeare to make English majors and other literature lovers geek out. Really fun and contemporary.