Jen Deluca has done it again! Well Matched is the third book in her Faire series.
April is a single mom, she's 40, and has raised her daughter Caitlin by herself. Though she want always involved in every part of her daughter's life, she did her best to be there when it mattered most. She's about to graduate, so April is planning to sell her home, and move closer to work. She's never been a fan of small towns.
When the town hunk in a kilt, Mitch, asks her to be his fake date to a family gathering, April agrees, with the condition that he helps her get the house ready for selling.
Mitch is the high school gym teacher, and is assumed to be a himbo. Underneath all of his brawn is a tender soul, who cares deeply for the teens he teaches and helps with the Faire every year. He's had a thing for April for a while, and doesn't have a desire to chase anyone else. He wants his family off his back, and bringing April to the celebration feels like the perfect answer.
These two unlikely people make a beautiful pair. How they appear to others matters to them, but in completely different ways. Their journey to communicating their needs is wonderful, and steamier than the previous books in the series.
I cried more than once reading this book, and I think it is my favorite Jen Deluca to date.

Where has this series been all my life?

This book had it all, fake dating, men in kilts, sword fights, and a Renaissance Faire.

I really enjoyed April’s character because she is real – a single mother on the verge of becoming an empty nester. I also liked that the book showed that a woman over 40 can be an object of desire. Also, that she can be herself (a little grumpy) and still get her man. And what a man… swoony, muscly Mitch Malone wouldn’t be a bad person to fake date, or have a relationship with for that matter.

I now need to run to the library to read the other books in this series.

Single mother April Parker decides she wants to move away from her small town, though in order to do that she needs to get her house ready to put on the market. Luckily, Mitch Malone, popular for partying and wearing kilts, agrees to help her if he pretends to be his girlfriend.

First, I would like to thank NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for the ARC, and second, this book was amazing! I had a feeling I would love it because of the fake dating, but there was so much more to it that kept me hooked until the end, including the one-bed trope :)

I loved nearly everything about this book, the writing style, the characters, the pace. The pace especially because the romance wasn't dragged out or prolonged until the end. The fact that the plot didn't feel prolonged made the book impossible to put down because it was progressing at a nice pace where it didn't feel like insta-love but it wasn't frustratingly slow either.

I also really liked the characters. I was worried that I wouldn't really connect with April because she was 40 and a single mom, but I ended up loving her! I loved how she stood up for others, and I loved her relationship with her daughter Caitlin. And of course, I loved Mitch as well! I think my favorite thing about him was how good he was with kids, it was sooo cute and made me fall in love with him so much more!

That being said, the only thing I wish was included was dual POV because I would have loved to learn more about Mitch and know his thoughts on the entire fake dating situation, though all in all I loved it! It's definitely going to become a comfort read for me!

I was desperate to read this title before my own trip to the Maryland Renaissance Faire! It was perfect timing. I enjoyed April and Mitch's story, especially after the hints of the first two books. I found it kind of hard to believe that April was so uninvolved in her child's life but what do I know of parenting? This was cute and pleasant and exactly what I wanted to read while on a weekend trip.

Huge shout-out to Berkley Romance for sending this e-ARC my way!

This is the final book in Jen DeLuca's renaissance series. The first book definitely reigns supreme but this was a fun ending - a nice bow to this sweet series. I will say that the characters could've really been explored but for some reason the author just didn't take it there. Mitch and April could've been really compelling characters with their own character arcs but it didn't happen? I kept waiting for April to just get over the age difference between her and Mitch but it was apparently the only thing she could focus on aside from remodeling her house? It just rubbed me the wrong way because it didn't seem like the April we met in the prior books.

The story did show that messy of getting into a relationship as an adult in your 30s/40s so I really appreciated that aspect.. This story just really left me wanting more and I really wish we could've gotten just a bit more of a conflict that made sense for the couple.

Rating: 4.5 stars

I was SO EXCITED for Mitch and April's book! I fell in love with Mitch (who yes, is a bit of a Himbo and that's GREAT, okay?) right upon meeting him in the first book in the series, Well Met. It's also really refreshing to see a grumpy one and sunshine one trope where the woman is the grumpy one!

As ever with romances told from just one POV, I'd love to see the other MC's POV. That's not Jen DeLuca's style for this series, and I appreciate the consistency, but I always want to know what the other one is thinking/feeling. In the other books there are some context clues that make it more obvious that the hero has FEELINGS, but it's less obvious in this one and I missed that a bit.

Still, I love the chemistry between April and Mitch. Well Matched has a friends-to-lovers vibe while also being a great fake dating trope book. I saw some of the twists coming from a mile away, but that didn't make them any less great when they materialized. :)

This is the third book in the Well Met series. While it can technically be read as a stand-alone, you'd miss some great relationship development that happens in the earlier books in the series, especially the second book, Well Played. And there are definitely spoilers for the first two books, so I recommend you read this entire (FANTASTIC) series in order!

After doing a favor for a friend of her sister and pretending to be his girlfriend at a family reunion, a divorced single mom finds herself falling in love for the first time in 18 years--with the much younger star of a local Renaissance Faire.

With fake dating drama and major communication fails, WELL MATCHED draws out the angst you hope for in a contemporary rom-com. Though kilts are promised (and delivered), the Ren Faire portion of the novel is comparatively small. More accurately, this story is about a divorced single mom finding the courage to let herself love again and a high school gym teacher accepting himself and his value to his community. Each has been devalued by people close to them (the hero by his extended family and the heroine by her ex) and it is through their fake relationship and real friendship that they regain their individual senses of self-worth. While I wouldn't necessarily recommend this one on the Ren Faire angle, I would absolutely put it in the hands of fans of steamy contemporary rom-coms.

I absolutely loved this book. It was one of my favorites in the series. Fake dating plus one bed. Hell yes sign me up!

I loved getting to see April go through life as a soon to be empty nester and watching her realize that this town was her home all along. I'm so glad she got to be with Mitch. I think it's a perfect match. Mitch is one of my favorite male characters in this series and my heart goes out to him for the way his family treats him.

Overall I loved getting to see all the characters from the previous books and getting a little catch up on their lives especially Stacy. I loved the ending it was super cute. I think I know who's book we will have next if the author decides to write another one.

What do you get when you bring all of my favorite tropes together? A stand out 5 star book! I have loved this series since the beginning and I feel like I have been dying for Mitch’s story. We have so many amazing tropes all while still getting bits & pieces of the Ren Fare.

April is about to be a 40 year old single mom, empty nester.. her daughter Caitlin is graduating from higher school and after the summer spent at the Ren Fare again, she’s off to college. After raising Caitlin all on her own, she feels the next logical step is to finally get out of the small town and start living her life for her, & on her terms.

Only problem? The amazing gym teacher Mitch Malone who has a proposition April can hardly refuse. A weekend away with Mitch’s family, where April will “pretend” to be his girlfriend, in exchange for his help to get her house ready to put up for sale. Easy. Right? Not so much.

We’ve got fake dating, an age gap, grump/sunshine, an “only one bed” moment, all wrapped up in the magic that is the Renaissance Festival. I love this series so much, and absolutely adored this book.

Thank you to the author & publisher Berkley Romance for an ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

April prepares to sell her house in Willow Creek, ready to move on, her daughter Caitlin leaving for college. Mitch, the town bachelor, offers help in exchange for her role as his girlfriend on a weekend stay with his family who don’t take him seriously. What April doesn’t realize is how much she’s missing, more importantly, this blossoming feelings for Mitch.

DeLuca did not disappoint! This was a sweet and cute single parent, age gap, fake dating, one bed romance. It was great to return to Willow Creek again in time for the Ren Faire, and I loved April’s growth in coming alive, coming out of hiding, embracing family, friends, and differentiating between what she wants and what she needs.

This is Jen Deluca’s third book in a series centering around a local renaissance faire in Maryland, and this was my favorite of her books! This was a very lovely story about a single mom April overcoming her anxiety about starting a romance with a sweet and sexy physical education high school teacher Mitch, who wears a kilt and battles with swords at the faire every summer. This book starts as a fake dating story because Mitch needs a date to a family reunion, but it’s also about finding love and yourself at any age and time of your life. I loved this blossoming relationship between the couple, and I rooted for April to move on from her ex husband leaving her pregnant and young, to raise her daughter Caitlin on her own. April is also getting over a bad car crash, and overall needs help letting people into her life to help, including her sister Emily, who is the main character of Deluca’s first book Well Played. I think the story actually portrayed the trauma of her being abandoned pregnant and learning to ask for help pretty well, with April experiencing anxiety around her ex husband and her daughter graduating from high school and leaving her to an empty nest. Mitch is super sweet and younger than April by about 10 years, and their chemistry is great throughout the book - I loved all the sweet showers they took together. My only complaint about this book was that I would have loved to read the perspective of Mitch, but this author always does a single point of view well. Overall I would highly recommend this book for people who like romances about single moms, recovering from relationship trauma, fake dating, renaissance faire scenes, and an older woman dating a younger man. But really this book is just a nice and sweet story about a single mom finding love and self worth, and that is what I personally liked the best.

Another cute read. Love that they all tie together but can probably be read individually. This one might have been my favorite. Love the sex positivity!

I feel like I’ve been waiting for this book forever! Fake dating + Mitch + April? I couldn’t be more excited. Those who have read this series from the beginning already know Mitch and April from the previous two books, and I was so excited to see them get together.

Unlike the previous two books, Well Matched didn’t 100% take place at the Ren Faire. It was about 50% of the way through the book that summer even started. While I love the Ren Faire scenes, it was cool to see a little more of these characters outside of their costumes. I loved the home renovation scenes.

April and Mitch seemed like the perfect fit. I love a fake dating trope, especially between two longtime friends. Their chemistry and banter was great!

One of my favorite things about the Well Met series is that we still get to see plenty of the past MC’s in the later books. I loved Emily and Stacey in the first two books, so I was glad they got a lot of airtime in Well Matched. Emily and April have put a lot of work into their relationship since Emily’s first summer in Willow Creek, and it’s great to see how their friendship has played out.

I wouldn’t recommend reading this book as a standalone. The reader gets a lot of the Ren Faire background and explanations from the previous books, and I think you’d be missing a lot to start with Well Matched.

Fake dating, Ren Faire, huzzah!

I really enjoyed this 3rd book in the Willow Creek world. I liked getting a better look at Mitch and April. Watching their relationship bloom.

Now, I’ve read all three of these books & still haven’t made it to a Faire. I want some cider and fried food on a stick!

Overall I just enjoyed this one. It made me happy.

Let me just say to fans of Jen DeLuca- You are in for a TREAT. Prickly April Parker doesn't want to let anyone get too close...certainly not super-hot high school coach Mitch Malone, who spends summers in a Renaissance Faire kilt and not much else! There are a million reasons why April wants to keep her distance, not the least of which is a 10 year age difference, and let's face it-his reputation as a ladies man. Emotions run high as big changes shake up April's world, and she may just discover that what she's been looking for might have been right in front of her all along.

I have been waiting for this moment for years. MITCH!!!

I was so excited to finally get him starring in this book (although, Jen, where are our men's POVs, who do I need to bribe to get those?!) However, I definitely paused when realizing that this would be April's POV book. I'd previously just felt so blank about her (did we know much besides being Caitlin's mom or Emily's sister?) and couldn't fully picture an April/Mitch romance. I worried it was a "well these two are left, throw 'em in" but I was wrong and as we got to know these two more I was screaming about why this didn't happen sooner!

April is coping through the idea of Caitlin heading to college and selling her house in Willow Creek. Mitch is tired of his family thinking he is "just a gym teacher" and doesn't live a substantial life. I'm always up for a fake dating trope and loved seeing April head to Mitch's grandparents for the weekend to play "girlfriend" and we all know it will kinda spiral out of their control. Mitch is also like a sweet lil golden retriever and I loved how he dove headfirst into being a support in April's life and acknowledging that "there is a difference between needing something and wanting something." And having to overcome her own hurdles in accepting help and community. Their romance ebbed and flowed and hit some pauses so I felt the pacing was top notch.

The only downside is I think the ending could have spent more time actively discussing the relationship or their hurdles. One "conflict" was spotted FROM MILES AWAY but when it was addressed was resolved in two sentences and the other conflicts I felt were interesting and nuanced that I wish more time was spent there. We got April's internal thoughts and occasionally confiding in Emily, but I thought there could have been some really great moments between April and Mitch.

BUT as someone who loved this Ren Faire series (even after a catfishing trope book which UGH NoThx) I think this would be my favorite book of the series. I ended up loving Mitch (duh) but especially and surprisingly, April. That sweet introverted mama just stole my heart in this book.

I absolutely loved this third installment in this series! I love a good fake dating trope, and this one checked all my boxes! It was sweet and funny, felt real, and had the perfect amount of steam. Mitch and April are wonderful together. I love how he helped her open up and step out of her comfort zone. I also loved April’s journey and realizing that it’s okay to put down roots and stay put in Willow Creek even though her daughter is grown and moving out. It’s okay to end up changing the original plan you had always thought you would follow.

Mitch is just… wonderful. I would die for him.

Well Matched was interesting and heart-warming finale of Well Met trilogy that revolved around April and Mitch’s story. The story was about friendship, family, belongingness, commitment issue, transition to empty nest phase of life, and preconceptions.

Writing was as good as previous books, refreshing, engaging, and fast paced with first person narration from April POV. It was interesting to see Willow Creek and renaissance faire from April’s view who didn’t like the faire or small town.

Plot was interesting with fake dating, single mother and age gap arc. It Started with April finding a card her daughter had from her father, Robert, who didn’t want anything to do with Caitlin. Her marriage with him failed soon after she conceived. Now after 18 years he was writing to Caitlin to connect with her. April bought house in Willow Creek as investment when Cait was kid. She dreamed of selling it once Cait goes out for college in few months and move to city but to it needed improvement before she can put it on market.

Mitch had family get together on his grandparents’ anniversary. They were putting pressure on him for not getting settled yet and to make them shut it, he asked April to be his girlfriend for a night. April agreed to fake dating in excahnge she asked Mitch help her with house renovation.

As they spend more time with each other with pretence of being in relationship, their feelings for each other grows strong and it became impossible to pretend. It was interesting to see what would they do when their fake relationship becomes town’s gossip, if April was ready for commitment after almost two decades with stone hard wall she created around her heart to save it, and what she will do when her ex-husband shows up.

Unlike in Well Played here story was more focused on April and Mitch like it was in first book with Emily and Simon. Both April and Mitch were realistic and relatable. From what I read about April in previous books I expected to like her. I was surprised to find her little annoying and it was Mitch who charmed me and save the story. But I still enjoyed reading about them.

I loved April’s back story. We know more about what happened with her marriage and why she was single mother. After knowing about that I could empathize with her and I could see why she never had serious relationship after that, never let anyone in her life and heart. I could see how hard it can be for her to socialize being introvert and spending almost two decades alone with Caitlin without replying on anyone and with no social life. It was easy to see how hard for her to transition to empty nest phase of her life. I really admire her for putting her daughter first, holding back her life, living in small town even though she didn’t like it, patiently waiting for Cait to leave for college and start living her life in city. Her sacrifices were commendable. But I didn’t like her for avoiding her feelings for Mitch, labelling what they had ‘fake’ when it wasn’t after certain point and hurting the poor guy. Her commitment issue, fear of gossip, being under spotlight, and concern with age gap was genuine but still frustrating (Maybe because I’m officially Mitch fan now). I liked how she felt secure and safe with Mitch, came back to her senses and won Mitch’s heart.

Mitch was fantastic throughout the book. He was handsome, all muscled, always smiling gym teacher and coach of football team at Willow Creek school, and a decade younger than April. He wasn’t the smartest guy but he was total gentleman and amazing friend. It surprised me to see this big man who brought smile on everyone’s face, never been agitated also had vulnerability. I liked Malone family but I felt sad the way they treated Mitch. I loved how support from April made him feel worthy and important.

Romance was good. Chemistry wasn’t as strong as it was with Emily and Simon but it was better than with Stacey and Daniel. Conversation between them about their past and feelings was my favourite part. I loved the forced proximity and flirting through home renovation project arc. It wasn’t slow burn romance, spark, chemistry, attraction was there from the beginning but denial and fear of April kept things slow and often dragging. I still cheered for them to be together.

What I loved most was April standing up for Mitch against his family, their pretend relationship in public and specifically when her ex-husband showed up, April realising what’s it like to be part of faire, leaving her mundane life and have some fun and that she belonged in Willow Creek community.

Climax was interesting. I was expecting heart break and I didn’t like April for that but I loved how she realised her mistake and she made things right with Mitch. End was lovely.

Why 4 stars-

Like I said April was annoying. Her reasons for denial and refusing to accept her feelings for Mitch was getting repetitive and frustrating. Also it wasn’t as good as Well Met in all aspects but I’m glad it was better than Well Played.

Overall, Well Matched was interesting, fast paced, realistic, and lovely romance with relatable characters and life situations.

I recommend this if you like,
forced proximity
fake dating
single parent
age gap
opposite attracts
introvert heroine
realistic and relatable characters

I loved this installment of the Well Met series! We finally get to see Mitch find love! Going in I wasn’t sure if I’d like these two characters together. BUT let me tell you they work! Just two people who want to feel valued and loved. It warmed my heart. I’ve already started telling people at my bookstore to order it! Thank you, Jen for such an awesome book!

When I saw I was approved for an arc of Well Matched, I’m not going to lie, squealing was involved. Mostly because I love this series but if I’m honest, it was partly because of the kilts ;)

I’ve been waiting for this story since Well Met was published (I thought this would’ve been book two in the series) and after reading it, I’ll say that even though it didn’t quite live up to Well Met, it definitely was an enjoyable read.
Of course it has fake dating, friends to lover, age-gap lol lol romance (with the female lead being older which I don’t see enough of), Renaissance fairs, and the aforementioned kilts, so it would’ve been hard for me not to love, but still.

My only real complaint is that I felt that there wasn’t enough of the fake dating element in the second half of the book and I wish there was more ren fair (cough cough kilts) elements in the first half of the book .

Otherwise a cute and fun read, definitely would recommend if you enjoyed Well Met.