Review ~ Well Met ~ Jen DeLuca

Well Met by Jen DeLuca
Series: Well Met #1
Published by Berkley on September 3, 2019
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Pages: 335
Format: Kindle
Source: Kindle Freebie

In Well Met, we become acquainted with the town of Willow Creek as well as some of its inhabitants. And we are introduced to its annual Renaissance Faire. This first installment revolves around Emily, who has come to town to care for her sister and niece following a car accident, and Simon, the local boy turned English teacher turned Master of Ren Faire. It was a lot of fun!

What Worked:

• Characters
  I immediately was drawn to Emily, a young woman down on her luck. Having recently been dumped by her long-time beau after supporting him through law school, she’s in town taking care of her older sister. Emily is dealing with feeling she’s not enough and upon first meeting Simon, well… he doesn’t do a thing to negate those feelings. But Emily’s smart and talented and it’s not long before  she’s found her niche in Willow Creek.
  Simon took over running the Ren Faire following his brother’s death. The Ren Faire was Shawn’s pet project and Simon has dedicated his life, really, to keeping it and his brother’s memory alive.
  Simon and Emily definitely get off on the wrong foot but once the air is cleared, they have some major chemistry. Of course, they each have demons to deal with and they’ll have to communicate with each other to keep those demons at bay.
• Ren Faire
  I LOVE Ren Faire!! JDLuca must also be a fan to have brought this locale and event to such brilliant life! I could smell the turkey legs, hear the jousts crashing, and feel the breeze on my face. 🙂
• Supporting Cast
  Seeing as this is a series that follows several of the population of Willow Creek, it makes total sense that the supporting cast would be well-drawn. Stacey, Mitch, Emily’s sister April and her daughter Caitlyn, and Chris, all add depth and definition to Emily and Simon’s story.

 

What Could Have Worked Better:

• Emily’s growth as a character, or lack thereof, was a little disappointing. There was no real work done on her part to overcome her insecurities. Simon does seem to make progress with his issues but it’s done off-page so I felt something was missing.
• Romance
  Simon and Emily seemed to fall pretty quickly considering they’d done a lot more arguing than talking.
• Conflict
  The conflict that Simon and Emily had to overcome felt forced. I knew the conflict had to be there but it didn’t feel right.

 

Overall, I enjoyed my introduction to Jen DeLuca and this series. I buddy read Well Met with my COYER friends, Lenore and Lillian, for COYER Book Club. They both gave it 4 stars. You can check out there reviews here:

Celebrity Readers

Mom With a Reading Problem

 

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

• COYER 2023
• Unearthing a Bookish Bounty 2023

Subscribe to Blog via Email