Well Met

3.5 - 4 stars This was a really cute and sweet read. It had a nice enemies to lovers vibe, but also stressed the importance of putting yourself first and knowing your worth. It started a bit slowly for me, but I loved the Renaissance Faire backdrop and small town location. I had no idea how much work and preparation went into putting on this kind of event. Though very interesting, sometimes I found myself overwhelmed by all the details and descriptions of the Faire itself. I would have loved to have more time spent with the colorful cast of characters interacting in the space with each other. I liked Emily and Simon, but I'm not sure I really felt the connection that got them from point A to B. Things were very sweet between them once it all came together (the wooing!), but I think a little more time in the enemies zone would have built up more tension and anticipation for me. I really enjoyed them as Emma and Captain Blackthorne though, and those interactions really made me smile and swoon. I appreciated how family dynamics, sibling relationships, and familial/societal obligations were explored in this book. The difference between doing something you think you should do versus something you choose to do. The ending and epilogue were adorable and left me with a goofy grin on my face. Well Met had some emotional surprises I wasn't expecting, but I really enjoyed this debut novel by Jen DeLuca. I'm hoping we see stories for Stacey and April (maybe with Kilty ;)) in the future. *I voluntarily read an advance review copy of this book*

10 Stars! WELL MET is whimsical, hilarious and brilliantly written! I absolutely LOVED it! Ms. DeLuca cracks me up with her witty dialogue and endears us with an imperfect hero and heroine. Feeling unworthy of favor and happiness yet deserving of both! I love everything about this story! I love Emily’s character! She’s been hurt and heartbroken, but she has a wicked sense of humor that tickled me every single time she opened her mouth! Her character is vulnerable and easy to relate to. I want to be her! Now Simon… poor, poor Simon. This guy… I love him so much!!! He puts on a brave face but deep down he was suffering, but only Emily was able to see his true pain and she wanted so badly to heal and love him. Even though he was a total jerk the moment they first met! You gotta love a good enemies-to-lovers trope. The secondary characters are just as brilliant! Emily’s sister and niece are sweet and so funny! And one of the most memorable characters in the story is a tall, blonde and handsome kilt-wearing gym teacher with a mighty big…. sword 😉 I.Love.This.Book. There is so much heart and loss, and hope and heartache, and promise. And love. SO much love! If you love witty dialogue, snarky heroines, wounded heroes, kilted men (and sexy pirates) all centered around an Elizabethan Renaissance Faire, then you definitely need to beg, borrow and buy WELL MET! ***I voluntarily read and reviewed a copy of the book provided by the publisher via Net Galley in exchange for an honest review. This in no way affects or influences my thoughts and feelings about the story***

Emily Parker's life is in turmoil since her boyfriend dumped her after she put him through law school. So with no where to live Emily decided to move to Willow Creek, Maryland from Boston, MA to help take care of her sister April and niece Caitlyn while April is recovering from a bad car accident. While Emily doesn't mind being the cook and chauffeur, she didn't expect to get dragged into volunteering to be in the Willow Creek Renaissance Faire that runs the entire summer, but since Catilyn really wants to do it she agrees. At auditions Emily meets Stacey Lindholm and together they volunteer to be the bar wenches. She also meets Mitch Malone, the good looking gym teacher, Christine Donovan, a local book store owner and Simon Graham, the grouchy and stiff English teacher who is organizing the faire. Emily and Simon do not hit it off at first but Emily slowly sees sides to Simon that intrigue her. Whenever he is in his pirate costume he is a sexy, flirty person that Emily enjoys being around. As these two spend more time together their attraction to each other is fun to watch. Both of these two have issues from their pasts that is making it harder to move forward in their lives. Just when it looks like Emily and Simon are going to get their happy ending, the past comes back to haunt them. Some really tough decisions need to be made by both of these two if they ever want to get their happy ever after! I really enjoyed this story. Emily is such a strong woman but at the same time she has such low self esteem when it comes to relationships. Simon is the perfect catch on paper but he has some demons in his past that he needs to overcome before he can ever find his happy ending. Together they balanced each other well and I just adored their happy ending that they did finally get. I also really loved the supporting cast...especially Mitch....he brought some fun humor to the story. Overall this was a great story with wonderful characters and I would highly recommend it!