Well Met

This book is damn-near perfection when it comes to what I’m looking for in a romcom (again, adult). The characters are well-developed, the sexual tension is high, and the faire scenes really made me miss my own local faire. Actually, that made me a bit sad because I’ve been going every year since I was a little kid and I missed last year due to Life Events and now I’m thinking this year it likely won’t take place. But at the same time, it was great to read about because I pictured my local faire as the setting and it made it all the more realistic!

Also if you enjoy some a steamy sex scene… -chef’s kiss- … this probably has the best I’ve read in a romance! My only complaint is that there was only one “big” scene. show more More please!
Ahem. Anyway.

This is still a romance though, so of course it follows the formula: After our two lovers establish some form of relationship, there is a Misunderstanding, which leads to a Fight, and of course, finally, a Reconciliation. I’m not opposed to this formula, it’s just that oftentimes the Misunderstandings are really flimsy.

In Well Met we have a Misunderstanding that’s frustrating and could be solved with a little communication on both sides. However, it’s already been established that both characters have issues communicating with not only each other, but basically everyone. So while you want to smack Emily and Simon for being arses, you also understand why they’re behaving that way! Huzzah!
My only issue with this book is an extreme nitpick, but also one that could have been avoided. To practice their accents for the faire, Emily and her niece watch “Harry Potter movies. And Jane Austen adaptations. And more Harry Potter movies.” One would reasonably assume they watched the first Harry Potter movie, right? Later, at the faire, there is human chess going on and Emily is confused about where the fighting comes in and her friend has to explain the pieces fight when one takes another. EXCUSE ME?! There is friggen battle chess in the first HP movie and Ron gets his ass handed to him. How could you not know that?

If she hadn’t mentioned watching the HP movies, that blunder could be forgiven. It just seemed like an easily avoidable continuity error.

Obviously I’m making a big deal out of nothing here. If my only complaints are that one big sex scene isn’t enough and Emily forgot what battle chess was, I’m a happy reader. I can’t wait for the companion novel, Well Played, which hopefully will still release this fall! show less

Emily has moved to the small town of Willow Creek, Maryland, to help out her older sister who is recovering from injuries after a severe car crash. Among the help she needs to provide is keeping an eye on Emily's teenage niece, Caitlin. When Caitlin decides to volunteer at the local Renaissance Faire during her summer vacation, Emily gets roped into volunteering too. Emily thinks it should be a pretty fun way to spend the summer, until she meets Simon, one of the organizers and a tremendous killjoy in Emily's opinion. Throughout rehearsals, Emily and Simon clash but once Faire begins and Emily meets Simon's Faire character she see a whole different side of him. A side she kind of likes...

A cute contemporary romance that I devoured in show more two days. The Renaissance Faire setting is really fun and watching Emily grow as a person is super rewarding although her misreading of situations left me occasionally wondering how obtuse she was. It's an enemies to lovers plot done solidly well, with Simon never becoming so obnoxious that their later falling in love feels false. Simon's back story is compelling and I enjoyed learning more about him over the course of the book. I also have a theory that the author may have been inspired by a character from Once Upon a Time for Simon's Faire alter ego (I definitely pictured him that way and it really enhanced my reading experience). Recommended for romance readers. show less

Well Met by Jen DeLuca
1st book in the Well Met series. Contemporary romantic comedy. Enemies to lovers troupe.
Emily moves to a small town in Maryland to help her sister recover from an injury. As a chaperone to her niece, Emily volunteers to be a part of the local summer Renaissance Fair. Emily meets Simon during rehearsals. Heat between the two increases where the wench is hand-fasted to the pirate for the weekends.

A cute romance with too much angst (the heroine brought it all on herself) and a wonderful HEA. I look forward to reading more of this series.
If you’ve enjoyed attending a Renaissance Fair, you’ll recognize the player roles, the skits, the food and the partial farm/forest land format.

A line that struck me as show more humorous.
“I tilted my head like a cocker spaniel.”

🎧 I listened to a audiobook version narrated by Brittany Pressley. She did a wonderful job with voice variations and expressing emotions. There were distinct voice for Emily and Simon which made the story easy to follow. I listened at my normal rate of 1.2 which was a good conversational pace. show less

This is definitely a classic enemies-to-lovers contemporary romance and that's exactly what I was looking for. I loved the fact that the story involved the Renaissance fair, which made it a fun read. I enjoy contemporary romances with a strong female leads that don't necessarily need a man and I felt like Emily fit that description. In general, Emily's personality and story was fairly relatable. The only problem I had with this book was that the ending felt rushed. Normally these novels include some sort of conflict that leaves the reader wondering how the story could possibly end, even though they traditionally have positive endings. This book's conflict-resolution sequence was really saved until the very end, which didn't leave much show more suspense for the reader. Besides that, I really enjoyed this book and it is definitely one of my favorite contemporary romance books. I highly recommend this book to my fellow romance lovers and to my fellow nerds who have dreamed of falling in love with a pirate at the Ren fair. show less

Oh, this was cute! I’ve been to a ren faire or two and they were a fun way to spend a few hours. Seeing the behind the scenes as awesome aunt Emily is roped into becoming a “wench” so that her niece can participate was so much fun, particularly as she makes some fun friends and develops a enemies to lovers thing with nerdy English teacher and ren faire director Simon (that relationship really sizzled!) Emily is trying to find her bearings. She dropped out of college a while back, has been caring for her sister who was in a bad accident and is in terrible pain and isn’t able to function just yet, and is trying to figure out what she wants to do next.

This was a great, heartwarming story with great characters, scenes that made me show more laugh, and just a wonderful feel to it. The “real, not real” aspect of the relationship as our couple struggle to define who they were in and out of character brought me fond memories of “The Hunger Games” which I’m always up for more of and I loved the way Simon and Emily struggled to find their way to their happily ever after. This was such a treat and I was so happy to read at the end that there is a preview of another book set at the ren faire coming out next year! Yes, please!

Please excuse typos/name misspellings. Entered on screen reader. show less

This is not a spoiler! It is a truth universally acknowledged that if a girl and a boy appear on the novel’s cover and immediately hate each other in the opening pages, they will end up together. Readers who bought the first edition of Pride and Prejudice might not have known the inevitable outcome, but 21st century readers definitely do. The question of whether a rom-com is successful is whether a reader enjoys the ride getting to the obvious destination.

Emily Parker has come to Maryland to lick her wounds and help care for her older sister, the victim of a terrible car wreck, and her niece Caitlin. Emily volunteers for the Willow Creek Renaissance Faire so that her 14-year-old niece can score a role for the six weeks of the ren show more faire. She and Simon Graham, the organizer of the fair, hit it off badly, natch. And I considered just giving up on the book until p. 89, at which point author Jen DeLuca really picks up the pace and the romance. I think the first quarter of the book could have been condensed, but since the rest of Well Met proves so delightful, it would be curmudgeonly to complain too much.

Well Met is the first in a trilogy, followed by Well Played and Well Matched. show less

Emily is helping her sister out after a car accident and her teenage niece wants to join the cast of the local Renaissance Faire. Only problem: an adult needs to join along with her. So, Emily agrees to be part of the cast, while starting off on the wrong foot with the organizer, Simon. He takes this entirely too serious in Emily's opinion. But she can sure appreciate him in character as a pirate...

This is a cute enemies-to-lovers romance and I adored the Ren Faire setting. I actually really liked Simon's character from the get go and got a little annoyed with Emily thinking she was being too hard on him. But having the audio really helped because the reader could infuse Emily's narration with emotions that I probably wouldn't have show more picked up on if I was reading from the page alone, and I was less frustrated with her than I would've been otherwise. A few niggling things keep it from being a favorite, but it was enjoyable light reading and I would read another in the series. show less