Well Played by Jen DeLuca | Reviewed by Michelle

 

Well Played | Jen DeLuca| Berkley | Pub: 9/22/20

“I don’t expect you to answer this. I’m not even sure if you’ll read it. But I hope that you have the life that you deserve, full of love from someone you can trust.”

I read Well Met, the first book in this series, in 2020 for book club. Having never been to a Ren Faire, I didn’t know what to expect except that I ended up falling in love.

Now I read book two, Well Played, and I just really need life to go back to normal because I need to dress like a tavern wench and go live my best life frolicking around a Ren Faire.

Well Played is about Stacey, Emily’s friend and co-tavern wench, and Dex. Dex is the hot guy from the band The Dueling Kilts. Usually, Stacey and Dex only speak the few weeks of Ren Fair but this time around they are texting and emailing throughout the year. Then Ren Faire rolls around again and Dex isn’t who he says he is.

I really enjoyed this story. During the parts where they were just emailing and texting, it was a little slow (only because there was no sexy time since ya know, only texting and emailing) but once the two see each other back at Ren Faire… WOOOO.

I also love series like these because technically you don’t have to read them in order although you still should but, it’s not a requirement since each book focuses on different couples.

The third book in this series Well Matched will be coming out sometime this year! So I recommend you pick up your copies of WellMet and WellPlayed to get yourself ready.

Synopsis (Credit: Goodreads)

Stacey is jolted when her friends Simon and Emily get engaged. She knew she was putting her life on hold when she stayed in Willow Creek to care for her sick mother, but it's been years now, and even though Stacey loves spending her summers pouring drinks and flirting with patrons at the local Renaissance Faire, she wants more out of life. Stacey vows to have her life figured out by the time her friends get hitched at Faire next summer. Maybe she'll even find The One.

When Stacey imagined "The One," it never occurred to her that her summertime Faire fling, Dex MacLean, might fit the bill. While Dex is easy on the eyes onstage with his band The Dueling Kilts, Stacey has never felt an emotional connection with him. So when she receives a tender email from the typically monosyllabic hunk, she's not sure what to make of it.

Faire returns to Willow Creek, and Stacey comes face-to-face with the man with whom she’s exchanged hundreds of online messages over the past nine months. To Stacey's shock, it isn't Dex—she's been falling in love with a man she barely knows.

Another laugh-out-loud romantic comedy featuring kilted musicians, Renaissance Faire tavern wenches, and an unlikely love story.