Back to the Ren Faire we go!

This book was one of my highly anticipated in 2020 and it delivered. Jen DeLuca is amazing at setting the atmosphere of the Willow Creek Faire - it feels like you are one of the patrons, strolling through the medieval streets, talking to wenches and pirates. In this place we reconnect with Stacey who was born and grew up in Willow Creek. As she watched her friends from her childhood and teenage years move on with their lives, study, score dream jobs, marry and have kids she is stuck in her hometown. She feels like she missed out on something.

I think most of us can relate because things that happen to other people which you wanted for yourself always look awesome when you're on the outside looking in. I really loved how relatable Stacey felt. She was forgiving, understanding and very likable.
But I’d learned so much about him over the last few months that I realized it was his words I was attracted to now, and who he was inside. His Hemsworthiness didn’t matter to me anymore.

The guy she falls for is one of the sweetest heroes I've read about. I totally get why she liked him so much. He adored Stacey and if I have one regret about him it's that I wish he had fought a little harder for her. What I liked, though, was that their emails and text correspondence was what made Stacey fall in love with her love interest, as opposed to his looks. These two knew each other and that made the relationship feel real.
The more I looked at him, the more I remembered all the words we’d shared over the months. And the more I fell. I really, really hoped he would be there to catch me.

I have to admit that the first 40% seem a little longer than they are because most of their interaction is via email and you just want the people you read about occupy the same room. But the book really got going after that.
Of course we get to catch up with Emily and Simon who are taking their relationship to the next level. And then there are Mitch and April. I'm salivating to read their story.
Well Played is a worthy successor of the first book in this series and I enjoyed myself thoroughly spending time at the Ren Faire and with these characters. It was a cute, fun read with some serious steam. While this technically could be read as a standalone I would recommend reading Well Met first.
No perfectly-broken-in pair of jeans had felt as comfortable, as right, as his mouth felt on mine.

Welcome back to the Ren Faire!!

I’m so happy to be back with this cast of characters, even though I didn’t love this story as much as I enjoyed Well Met, it was was still such a fun story.

My favorite part about Well Played is that Stacey was well and truly the star of this story. While I liked Daniel and thought he was the perfect match for her and just a great guy in general, he stood more as the side character to Stacey’s story than perhaps I’m used to. Which is perfectly fine, just different that I didn’t find myself swooning over the hero this time, instead I was so focused on Stacey and her story. I absolutely adored her response to finding out who she was really talking to for so long, it was the perfect blend of her keeping an open mind but not being afraid to call Daniel out on it.

This story was exactly the low-angst, fun read I needed.

I’m excited for the next installment of this story!!

This was a fun, sweet romance. I enjoyed the RenFaire background, and the long, epistolatory relationship between the hero and the heroine, though I do wish Dan had revealed his identity sooner in the story.

I’m a huge fan of small town romances and small town life in general. I might not want to live in a small town myself, but I love to read about it in books. And the Renaissance Festival setting makes this series really interesting and unique.

Something else I love in romance books is correspondence, that can be letters, emails, texts. Because if it’s done well it can really showcase a person’s character. And the author did a good job by introducing this medium in her plot.

Also the author is really good at writing relatable characters. Especially Stacey, whose journey and growth was universally relatable. Which makes for a nice change. From relatable to sweet. Daniel our hero, was as sweet as can be. Which is not necessarily my favorite kind of hero, but it worked in this case.

Also, if you loved the first book Well Met, you’ll really enjoy the cast’s reunion in Well Played. And fans of Emily and Simon will get a special surprise!!!!

In the end I wish the author would have focused a bit more on the couple’s chemistry. I didn’t really feel it. Something was missing. Not exactly sure what it was, maybe some sizzle, edge, passion. Whatever it was it left a palpable hole.

However, I can’t get enough of romances set around a Renaissance Faire.

I loved Well Met last year and was so excited for Well Played. We get to hang out with Stacey this time, and not at Faire Stacey is struggling with loneliness and identity in the off season. This results in her contacting her faire fling and over the months before the next faire they get to know each other much better, and Stacey starts truly falling for him. Much more plot description would be a spoiler, so I'll stop there.
This book takes place over the course of a year, so while the faire is still a big and important part of the story, we also get to see more of what "real life" is for Stacey and why she's feeling unsatisfied. I'll admit that I didn't quite expect the ending to go the way it did, but I'm not mad at it. This was a good follow up to Well Met and I'll definitely seek out the next one!

I absolutely adored Well Met and was so looking forward to reading this book. I must say though, I was highly disappointed. This felt like an entire different writer.

I wish there was a bit more renfaire and less catfishing. I really enjoyed Stacey in the first novel and was excited about this book for her. It didnt do the justice I wanted.

This is not to say that the book was entirely bad. It was fun and quirky. I just had hugh expectations.

Thank you @Berkley and Netgalley for this advanced readers copy. All. opinions are my own.

This one was cute. The story moved along quickly. It was rather predictable but the characters and dialogue in the story kept me engaged. I wasn't a huge fan of the conflict and I wish the author would have made it less catfish-y. I also questioned how easily forgiveness came in this one. However, I still enjoyed it and appreciate how the author included details about book 1 and foreshadowing of book 3. I am looking forward to the next one!

I was THRILLED when I found Well Met - honestly, it was such a godsend of cutesy romance books in the time of quarantine when I've been stuck inside and DESPERATELY missing my usual Ren Faire plans. So even better when I realized that the sequel, Well Played, was due to release only a month after I finished Well Met. Then, I saw it was on NetGalley and I could not click request fast enough!

Well Played follows Stacey, who you may recall from Well Met, was Emily's friend and fellow tavern wench. Stacey finds herself in a rut in her life. She had big plans once upon a time but chose to stay in Willow Creek due to family health problems and just never really left after that. She does not have any prospective boyfriends, a boring desk job, and finds herself very unengaged from life. She is itching for a change but does not know where to start.

One night after the Willow Creek Ren Faire ends, she finds herself drunk and alone on Facebook (never a good combination) and sends a direct message to her on and off again hook up, Dex, of The Dueling Kilts. While her message is only semi-cringy it oversteps a boundary of their strictly physical relationship and she does not expect a response... Until she gets one.

Dex turns out to be a lot deeper and more interested in her than she's ever imagined and they start an online relationship with hundreds of emails and texts until the next ren faire rolls around. Only her online flame, is not who she thought he was - but is he who she needs to jump-start her life?

I really loved Stacey and I found myself relating to Stacey on a lot of personal levels, much more than I did Emily. One of the things I love about Jen's books is how relatable and realistic she makes her female leads. We get to see both Stacey and Emily deal with lots of real-world problems like weight concerns, insecurities, anxieties, and that weird period in your 20's where are you even really an adult?

'Dex' (aka not Dex at all) is a really cute love interest for Stacey and I think they are well-matched. While my heart belongs to Simon still, he was not a disappointment - and I did NOT think I had a thing for tall redheads.

Before starting, I was a tiny bit worried I would not connect with the characters the same way I did in Well Met, I am always fairly skeptical of series that continue with secondary characters. Like will I like them? Is this just going to be the same story but with different names? Neither should be a concern with Well Played. Stacey and her boy toy are very different than Emily and Simon. While the Willow Creek Ren Faire is still part of the story, it's not the main element as it is in Well Met. We still get to see Emily and Simon's relationship progress but get a new perspective of characters who were not as developed in Well Met.

I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a light and breezy contemporary. It's fun and fast and the perfect book to save you from the quarantine blues. I can't wait for book three!

I enjoyed this one but really didn't love it. I was missing the faire charm, faire foods/games/atmosphere. I didn't believe the love story behind Stacey and Daniel; there wasn't enough build up or scenes with them together. I also didn't understand if we were supposed to believe that the letters could have been from Dex for a decent chunk of the book. I thought that Emily and Simon had too big of a focus in the book. But, I am so excited for April and Mitch's story!

Rating- 3.5 stars

There’s just something about the Renaissance Faire as a background for a romance that just draws me in and I have no explanation for why that is. Maybe it’s that it falls in the in-between place between the fantasy and contemporary genres, or maybe it’s that you can have the characters do all kinds of ridiculously cheesy things in costume and it’s not as cringey as it would be if they weren’t in costume? I honestly don’t know, but, it’s just super fun!!

When I picked up Well Met a few weeks ago, I fully expected it to be a very chill read that I’ll like alright. What I did not expect was it becoming one of my favourite contemporary romances ever! I can acknowledge that the book isn’t flawless, but it doesn’t matter because it made me ~feel~ things that I didn’t really think I’d be feeling! So when the publisher sent me an eARC of Well Played, I dived right in with mighty expectations and what not. And I was satisfied, for the most part. Although, I will say, I still liked Well Met better okay. It was just TOO CUTE!

Well Played follows Emily’s friend and a long time fixture in the Willow Creek Renaissance Faire, Stacey, as she embarks on a rollercoaster of summer romance- well, kind of. It’s more of a year long romance but whatever. The book is set in the year following the Epilogue of Well Met - Simon and Emily are engaged now and it’s the cUTEST thing I love those two idiots so much!! - and it actually follows more of the “behind the scenes” of the Ren Faire, than it does the actual Faire itself. And while I don’t really have any complaints as such -because reading about how this all came together was really fun, too - but yes, I would have preferred more content to be set during the Faire. The Faire is just so much fun!!!!

The story starts off when Stacey, post finding out about Emily and Simon’s engagement, gets really sad and lonely - as one does- and drunk texts her summer fling Dex MacLean of the The Dueling Kilts (the band that performs in the Faire, if you remember) some sappy nonsense. Then they start texting back and forth and oop, here we have my favourite trope in romance where two people become friends over and eventually fall in love over emails and texts- the letters of the twenty first century! It’s just SO SO LOVELY when that happens!!! Y’all know how amazing it is to write letters and pour your heart out into them and then have someone do the same with you? UGH! That’s the SHIT, right there!!!

Entering spoiler territory now, so look away!

So after months of this email romance, Stacey finds out that she’s been talking to Dex’s cousin and the band’s manager, Daniel - who, btw, has this huge crush on her - and not Dex himself. Which, like, it was so funny, because the moment she got the first email back, I knew it wasn’t Dex! This isn’t an uncommon trope in romance, I know. BUT COME ON, KIDS, IT’S IDENTITY THEFT AND DANIEL SHOULD BE IN JAIL.

Okay, maybe not jail, but seriously what the HELL, MAN! I spent a lot of the book frustrated with Stacey for not figuring out that it was Daniel sooner, and mad at Daniel for doing what he was doing instead of coming clean with her! And even when Stacey confronted him and everything, he was very much a coward and he didn’t really do anything that was actively apologetic and that hinted at him wanting to have a genuine, honest relationship with Stacey. He was very passive and I felt like Stacey was doing all the emotional heavy-lifting for him. Like, yeah, some of the stuff he did was cute and all, and yes, there’s something to be said about accepting rejection and taking a step back and all that. BUT, Stacey never outright rejects him, he just folds in on himself and runs away every time! And there’s a happy middle between being a Joe Goldberg being a Dude™ and Daniel needed to find that middle!

Again, I didn’t hate the guy, but I definitely wasn’t 100% happy with him. I just felt like he could do better, you know? And I didn’t like that Stacey had to be the one to go to him in the end and stuff. I wanted him to come to her!! UGH, DANIEL! He frustrated me quite a bit and that put a small damper in my enjoyment of this book.

Other than that stuff, the book was a pretty nice read! I loved seeing Simon and Emily again! I loved how cute they were, even though we were looking at them from a third person’s perspective! I loved their wedding scene a LOT, and if Jen DeLuca is ever doing some bonus content, she should give us those wedding vows because I’m DYING to read all those Shakespeare references those two dorks would have worked into them!

I also adored Stacey as a character. Yeah, she got annoying at times, but it was an annoyance laced with love xD! She was very sweet and charming, even when self-deprecating. And there was just a lot about her that was relatable to me. OH, and I loved that she was plus-sized and unapologetic about it! She was confident and beautiful and confident IN her beauty! And while her insecurity wasn’t completely ignored or brushed away, it was also never on the forefront of things and it was just so nice to see a fat main character chilling and GETTING IT in a romance!

Overall, this was a solid, super fun read for me! Definitely check it out if you guys liked Well Met, and also if you’re looking for a fun, light summer/fall read! While it was not without its little annoyances, I did enjoy the book for what it was and I am SUPER EXCITED for the last installment in this series featuring Mitch and April!!! It’s going to be SO MUCH FUN AND I JUST CAN’T WAIT!!!

If you read and loved Well Met, you’re going to love this one too!

In Well Played you get a little continuation of the love story of Emily and Simon, but this story focuses on Stacey. Stacey’s in a rut, she lives above her parents’ garage and she has a dead-end job. She has stayed in the small town of Willow Creek because of her mother’s health. The only thing she looks forward to is the Renaissance Faire every summer.

This year she is determined to try and turn her life around, and perhaps, Dex McLean, her hook-up from last summer, will be the answer. Dex is only in town for the summer, his band performs at Renaissance Fairs all over the country. Her and Dex only had a physical connection, so Stacey posts on Dex’s band’s social media account hoping for something more.

Stacey is thrilled when Dex replies and soon they email and text on a daily basis for months. Finally, when the Renaissance Faire starts in Willow Creek, Dex and Stacey will be together face to face. When Dex and the band return, Stacey finds out it wasn’t Dex who she’s been falling in with for the past nine months, it was someone else.

This was so cute and fun. I loved it just as much as Well Met! I couldn’t wait to pick this up and see what was happening at the Renaissance Faire in Willow Creek. It was fun to see Emily and Simon’s relationship from the first book evolve, and I also enjoyed getting to know Stacey’s character.

The plot was interesting with the catfishing scenario and the romance was on point! I’m hoping there’s a third book too!

I definately recommend!

I loved being back at the Willow Creek Renaissance Faire! This was the perfect read for my stress-filled brain today and also as an end-of-summer read. I really connected with Stacey and her situation. I am also a single 27 year old watching my friends get married and have kids, so it was sort of nice being in the head of a character who in a lot of ways I’m very similar to!

I am a sucker for a romance through emails... and I love the drama when things sort of blew up. The only small complaint I have is personally I didn’t feel super invested in their relationship. Daniel’s character was a bit too passive for me.

While I didn’t quite love this as much as Well Met, i still overall enjoyed! This can definitely be read as a standalone, but I am so happy we got updates on Emily and Simon and saw them again. I’m sensing maybe another book about April and Mitch...?

Thank you to Berkley Romance for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Steam Rating: 🍆🍆🍆/5

Thank you to Berkley Publishing for gifting me a review copy of Well Played by Jen Deluca. This is the second book in the Well Met series. If you haven’t read the first book this one works well as a stand-alone, but Well Met is awesome so you should definitely go read it right away!

At the end of the summer Renaissance Faire our leading lady, Stacey, is feeling the post-Faire blues and realizing that she doesn’t have a whole lot in life to look forward to. Then her friends Emily and Simon (from Well Met) get engaged and that gives her the kicks she needs to start getting more out of life. Before we know it Stacey has sent a drunken DM to her summer-time hook-up and they start chatting back and forth on the regular.

Now, I didn’t bother reading anything about this book before I started. I loved Well Met so much that I just dove right in. So when I guessed (very early on) that Stacey wasn’t actually talking to the man she thought she was talking to (Dex) I felt super proud of myself for figuring it out. Then, as I was writing this review I finally read the synopsis and realized that everyone knew she wasn’t talking to Dex, lol.

Initially, I wasn’t super into the whole catfishing idea, but I figured it was a unique angle for a romance at least.

Both books involve female leads who are trying to find themselves, and work out what they want from life, so there’s a definite similarity there. I’ll admit that I loved Well Met a little more than this one, but it was a very high bar to begin with. I don’t love female leads where their entire happiness seems hinged on a man, so I really wanted Stacey to go out and build her own life, find her own happiness.

I loved hearing all about Renaissance Faire life in the first book, because it’s not something I knew much about (other than what I learned from a few episodes on Gilmore Girls), but Well Played happens mostly during the time between Faires so there isn’t quite as much of that fun stuff in this book.

Definitely give this one a read though.

I have always wanted to attend the Maryland Renaissance Festival and haven’t gotten the chance, so Jen DeLuca’s Well Met and her newest release, Well Played, give me all those Ren Faire vibes.

This follow up is centered around the familiar Stacey, who we know from Well Met. She is becoming bored of her stagnant life at home in her small town, where she stayed to take care of her sick mom. Craving a little excitement, she shoots her shot and emails a former hookup from a band that travels to their faire every year. Romance blossoms and Stacey wonders if he may be the one, until she discovers that her knight in shining armor behind the screen isn’t the same guy she thinks he is...
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I will admit that I wasn’t sure about this plot. A catfishing romance seemed a bit of a stretch for me. I thought it may be too creepy to turn around into a relationship, but I fell for this guy really quickly! He was sooooo sweet and I loved the connection between him and Stacey. Also, the Cyrano de Bergerac reference was hilarious and made me feel really smart for knowing who Cyrano is (thank you, high school English class).
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The only thing I would have liked more from this story was if it was a Dual POV between Stacey and “Dex,” which is the same thing I said about Well Played. I think both stories and romances would have benefited from hearing what the men were thinking and feeling directly. Plus, I just genuinely really enjoyed both of the male characters in these stories and wanted way more of them!
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This is such a fun, romantic and transporting read! I can’t wait to be able to attend a Ren Faire next fall. Highly recommend picking this one up!

Well Played revisits the world of a small Renaissance Faire. Stacey is feeling trapped in her life. Her friends are changing and growing, but her life is staying the same. She sends a drunken, lonely message to a former fling, which is the start of a long correspondence. Dex is much deeper and more thoughtful than Stacey ever realized. But when Dex returns for next year's Faire, will their online chemistry carry through to real life?

I loved Well Played. I love long distance relationship stories. I loved the way the sexual tension was built up and stretched out. It was great to revisit Willow Creek Faire and characters I loved. Definitely recommend this sweet, steamy read.

Last year, Well Met was a surprise favorite for me! I loved learning about the Renaissance Faire and couldn’t wait for more with Well Played!!

Here’s what I loved!
💕 The email and text exchanges - in an online dating world, this is how people make connections!
💕 Faire and character updates
💕 The body positivity
💕 The realistic family dynamic and Stacey’s stress about her mother’s health
💕 Really good steam when it happened!

What was a miss for me:
💫 She forgave Daniel too easily on a couple of occasions IMO
💫 A bit too much outside story about Emily and Simon’s wedding, etc slowed down the good stuff
💫 I didn’t find myself super invested in their romance

I do truly love this world that DeLuca has created - anyone that can get me excited about a Ren Faire has a talent. I can’t wait for Mitch and April’s story in Well Matched! I can tell from their banter in this one that it will be good!!

Thank you to @berkleyrom and @netgalley for an early copy in exchange for my honest review!

I wanted to love Well Played as much as I loved Well Met. I really did. And honestly, Well Played is a solid 4 star book. It just didn’t have that little extra oomph that pushed it to 5 stars like Well Met did. Part of that stems from this book being only from Stacey’s point of view. In Well Met, I felt like I was able to completely understand Simon despite it being from Emily’s POV. That didn’t feel true for Well Played. This review going to be difficult because even though you figure out who the hero is early in the book, I still don’t want to give it away. Without his POV, it’s hard to understand and relate to his reasonings and emotions. Which is okay but it means that he’s not the strongest character. I want more from the hero in Well Played. That being said, it leads to my favorite thing about the book and that is Well Played is completely Stacey’s story. And wow, did I relate to Stacey. We’re both around the same age, still living in the same town and with our parents basically, not using our college degree or major. I can go on and on. Basically, we’re both at the same stage in life, of wanting more and not sure at all how to find it. I’m not 100% Stacey, of course, but the feelings and desires she has are so absolutely familiar. Jen DeLuca put into words and a character on the page who so similar and has those same desires for something different that I’m feeling right now. While I don’t see myself going down the same road that Stacey does in Well Played and I definitely don’t have a cute pen-pal like she does, she may be my top heroine of 2020.

Like Well Met, Well Played has all the fun and humor of the Renaissance Faire setting although it does span past the faire. It was delightful and cheerful even with the moments of similarity I felt with Stacey. I enjoyed the literary references. There were stand out cute moments like Stacey having her social media friends guess how many Pumpkin Spice Lattes she would drink in the fall. And there were cute lines like:

"He was looking at me the way that Simon looked at Emily. When I looked in his eyes, I didn’t feel restless. I didn’t feel melancholy. A lot had changed for me in a year."
Well Played by Jen DeLuca, Chapter 16

"I’m not Cyrano. I’m just me. I may not be The One as far as you’re concerned. But Anastasia, you were The One for me. You still are. You always will be."
Well Played by Jen DeLuca, Chapter 20

I really like the whole email setup and the back and forth between Stacey and the hero as their virtual develop their relationship. It seemed accidentally fitting to the current COVID-19 world. Overall, a sweet book with an extremely personally relatable heroine and a delightful setting.

unfortunately this book just didn't work for me! I was really excited to read it bc i fell in love with the first of the series. this just didn't have the same magic the first book held.

I just didn't find the romance believable at all. :/ At the midway point she finds out who she's been messaging/emailing all along and it just felt resolved to quickly/easily for me. ~she actually wanted him all alonggg~ but there was no previous evidence of her noticing the love interest once before then! AH!

Idk maybe I'm just being too picky, but it felt so off to me.

Also I'm just now realizing we actually don't know anything about the love interest. He has red hair and isn't his cousin. That's pretty much it lol. I'm trying to come up with some sort of personality tait for him but ??? he wears a lot of black clothes???

<spoiler> also... wtf was his deal? Why did he just keep leaving her after any type of conflict?? He's just like "oh, you're right.... bye then" ???? HUH and it is never addressed! omg so frustrating. </spoiler>

soooo.. this was not for me unfortunately. It held a fraction of the fun Renn faire shenanigans and none of the sexual tension of the first book. *sigh*

I feel like this story has some redeemable qualities and some people will definitely love it! It just did not work for me this time.

Stacey Lindholm life is stuck in a rut. She had dreams of being in the fashion industry in New York City but her mom's heart attack has kept her in Willow Creek. It's been 5 years since the attack and now her mom is healthy, but Stacey still worries. At least she has the yearly Willow Creek Renaissance Faire to look forward to each year.

Stacey is hoping that this year will be her year and maybe she will find someone special just like her best friend, Emily. Imagine Stacey's surprise when her summer fling for the past two years, Dex MacLean, from the Renaissance band, The Dueling Kilts, answers her drunken email. Something about his elegant words touches Stacey and this starts a 9 month correspondence back and forth really getting to know each other. As the Renaissance Faire approaches Stacey is excited to see Dex again. She thinks he may be "the One"!

When Stacey realizes it was not Dex she had been communicating with, but someone else, she feels hurt that he lied to her, but at the same time excited because she knows she has fallen in love with him. Now she just has to decide is she is ready to take that chance on love.

I really enjoyed this story. The characters were fun and I loved their conversations they had. I really loved the ending and how these two found their happiness.

When I got the email that I was approved for this book I legit did a happy dance! Well Met was one of my favorite books of last year and when I heard that it was going to have a follow up, I was willing to do just about anything to get my hands on it, and it did not disappoint! However, while I really enjoyed this book and was swooning over the romance, I will say I did not quite love this one as much as I did Well Met.

One of my favorite parts about this series is the small town charm of Willow Creek. The writing makes you feel like you are living in this small town and are a part of their Renaissance Faire!

Stacey is a relatable main character and I could understand her want to achieve more. She gave up and sacrificed a lot when her mother fell ill and she now feels that she is in a rut and spends all year waiting for the next Ren Faire season to begin.

Now on to the male love interest!!! My oh my, did I just adore him! *Insert swooning gif here* While there are times I feel like he might have gotten off the hook a little too easily, he meant well and truly had such a sweet soul. He is most definitely towards the top of my romance book boyfriend list!

If you read and loved Well Met, or if you are looking for a quick, sweet, and steamy rom com, then I would whole-heartedly recommend this book. Now that this one is complete, I will sit over here not so patiently and wait for the next book in the series!