Well Met

By: Jen DeLuca

Narrated by: Brittany Pressley

Length: 9 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

All's faire in love and war for two sworn enemies who indulge in a harmless flirtation in a laugh-out-loud rom-com from debut author Jen DeLuca. 

Emily knew there would be strings attached when she relocated to the small town of Willow Creek, Maryland, for the summer to help her sister recover from an accident, but who could anticipate getting roped into volunteering for the local Renaissance Faire alongside her teenaged niece? Or that the irritating and inscrutable schoolteacher in charge of the volunteers would be so annoying that she finds it impossible to stop thinking about him?  

The faire is Simon's family legacy and from the start he makes clear he doesn't have time for Emily's lighthearted approach to life, her oddball Shakespeare conspiracy theories, or her endless suggestions for new acts to shake things up. Yet on the faire grounds he becomes a different person, flirting freely with Emily when she's in her revealing wench's costume. But is this attraction real, or just part of the characters they're portraying?   

This summer was only ever supposed to be a pit stop on the way to somewhere else for Emily, but soon she can't seem to shake the fantasy of establishing something more with Simon or a permanent home of her own in Willow Creek.

©2019 Jen DeLuca (P)2019 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“What a delight! This is enemies to lovers at its absolute finest, folks. DeLuca proves to be a master of creating characters you believe in and a storyline to keep you totally engrossed. Well Met is a hilarious, swoony, and captivating romance - hands down our new favorite feel-good novel of the year.” (New York Times best-selling author Christina Lauren)

“Jen DeLuca had me laughing out loud from the opening line. Well Met is fresh, fun, and the story I never knew I needed. I so wish I could grab a corset and live the wench life with Emily!” (Alexa Martin, author of Fumbled)

"I dare you not to want to travel to your nearest Renaissance Faire after reading the sweet, sexy, and smart Well Met...the kind of book that you want to live inside. Jen DeLuca is poised to become one of the freshest voices writing contemporary romance today." (Kate Clayborn, author of Best of Luck)

ho hum

I didn't finish listening because the story was rather dull. It's a contrived setup for a typical romcom. I prefer less internal monologue and more punchy dialogue. I like characters with realistic personality quirks and character growth. The main character was too nice, too self-deprecating. Blah.

Renaissance Festival Fun!

If you are looking for a light, unique, and fluffy romcom, Well Met by debut author Jen DeLuca may fit the bill. And if you’ve enjoyed your local Renaissance Faire, then Well Met might just be a must-read.

Emily moved to a small town to help her sister while she recovered from an accident. Her teenaged niece wanted to volunteer for the local Renaissance Faire, but had to do it with an adult, so Emily ended up having to volunteer as well. Only the first volunteer meeting didn’t go that well.

“Ugh.” I turned to Stacey. “Is he always that unpleasant?”
“No, you seem to bring it out in him. Good going.” She watched him walk away. “The thing about Simon is that Faire’s just … it’s his thing. He’s very protective of it. Everything has to go right.”

Simon is a stick-up-his-as$ English teacher who is in charge of the Faire. His life seems to revolve around making sure the festival is historically accurate and well, perfect. He is immediately on Emily’s case because she isn’t quite as serious about it. But when the Faire begins, Emily turns into Emma the Tavern Wench, and Simon turned into a sexy pirate.

It was a lot of fun reading all about the behind-the-scenes stuff that goes into the Renaissance Faire, and I am so sad the last few weeks of ours was cancelled due to the virus. I also really liked how the characters' alternate personas started liking each other before they did.

"I’d known Simon for months now, and I’d seen different sides of him. Uptight rule-follower. Easygoing pirate. Both of those personas were stripped away now and I’d found a new Simon underneath. The real Simon. I liked him. A lot."

There was a lot of cute romance and most of it took place at the Faire. It was a fun and unique change of pace, there was a little romantic competition but no real angst, just light and fun fluff.

“I don’t think you’ve ever been wooed. Have you?” The words were a low whisper in my ear, and the shiver intensified….
“I . . . I can’t say that I have.” That was an understatement.
“Then brace yourself.” He straightened up and backed away from me a step or two. “I’m going to woo your as$ off.”

Likes:
•The unique and fun setting of the Renaissance Faire.
•It was quite obvious that the author has worked at a faire.
•It was very well written, I was surprised it was a new author.
•Great banter.
•Men in kilts!
•I really liked the supporting characters.
•Well written sex scene that fit the book.

Dislikes:
•I felt like we only just scratched the surface of getting to know the characters, and while they had great chemistry, I didn’t get to know them enough to feel the true love.

The Narration:
The narration was fantastic. I’ve not heard Brittany Pressley before and I loved her performance.

The Down & Dirty:
If you’re looking for a light, sweet, unique and cute summer romance Well Met by debut author Jen DeLuca may fit the bill perfectly. I loved the Renaissance Faire setting, and it was almost like a reality show set at the Faire with the behind-the-scenes going ons. I enjoyed all the characters, and I look forward to reading their books, especially Mitch’s.

Rating: 4 Stars, 4 Heat, 5 Narration

Terrible language.

I hate when an author can’t write a book without having disgusting language. A few cuss words are ok but constantly shows the author doesn’t have a very larger vocabulary. I will not be buying any more by this author and I will not be recommending it. The story premise was cute but not the language.

Rare reviewer

This book is ok. My issue is the girl's inner monolog. I get that she's insecure, but the world happening around her doesn't match her thoughts. The character comes off as unstable rather than insecure, but it's more than just that. It extends to the writers poor articulation. It can be distracting and frustrating. The story is cute though and had a lot of potential. I have a very similar problem to the authors'. My imagination is limited and my writing is stilted but I know what I want to say.

4 perfectly sweet Well Met stars

Oh my gosh was this story so adorably sweet.

In my hometown we have a little renaissance faire called the Olde English Fair and I could just picture walking around the park with these characters playing their parts and being amongst them.

Enemies to lovers tropes is one of my favorites to add to the unlikelihood that they are meant to end up together you meet the hot sword fighting kilt wearing hunk first before you meet the nerdy Shakespeare loving English teacher and the reader is just positive the kilt hunk is where it’s at until one too many Shakespeare arguments happen and he just starts pulling at all the right heartstrings.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ story
🔥🔥 Heat

What a rousing romp through the Faire!

I was delighted by Jen DeLuca's debut novel. I don't normally pick up romance novels, but I read about this one in my "Book Nerd" group and I couldn't wait to check it out. Now I know what I've been missing!

I thought Simon and Emily were very relatable. I've noticed some other reviews where the reviewer felt that Emily backslid from the strong, sassy character she was in the beginning. That tells me that those reviewers don't have a good handle on how anxiety and grief work -- how anxiety sneaks in and takes over just when you're starting to feel like you might finally have your poop in a group. Same goes for how Simon's grief dictated his behavior and emotions.

I alternated between the Kindle version and the Audible version, as I "read" this while traveling. Brittany Pressley knocked it out of the jousting arena with her audio production! I'll definitely look for her narration in future.

So, while I don't read rom-coms too often, I'm a fanatical consumer of Hallmark movies. I couldn't help myself, but as I read, I was writing a screenplay and casting the movie with all of my favorite Hallmark hunks and honeys. Then I got to the steamy parts. I decided to shelve my screenplay, because if the Hallmark execs ever checked out the source material, their chaste and proper eyes might pop out! Oh, well.

I'll definitely look for more from Jen DeLuca in future. I wish her great success. Thanks for a fabulous, fun read!

Well met, Jen. Well met.

A Must For Your Summer Reading List

A quick, fun read with a great narration.

I related to the main character so much and couldn’t get the stupid grin off my face for the majority of the book!

A contemporary romance with historical intrigue

A contemporary romance that has sword fighting, corsets, and an uptight hero named Simon who moonlights as a sexy pirate named Ian? This book was a great escape, and totally makes me want to visit a renaissance fair.

Loved It, Jen DeLuca - keep writing!

Fresh storytelling, adults with real problems and you actually like them! Right amount of spice. Waiting for the next book!!

Steer me to the closest Ren Faire!

I enjoyed this book far more than I expected to. Not usually a romance fan, I loved the Renaisance Faire details and the snarky dialogue. The characters were likable and intelligent. In all, a very entertaining book and surprisingly well written.

Easy listening

The story and the performance was great, different enough to tell it apart from other romcoms and it flows easily! Can’t wait to listen to the other instalments in the series

Best book I’ve read for a while

Adored. Completely escaped in this book. Didn’t want to leave! Funny and lovely and well written. 10/10 🙌❤️

This is my favourite book!

This book brings me more joy than any other! The story is fun, the dialogue is witty and the characters are so loveable. It’s so nice to read about a character my age written so well that I can identify with her and also want her to be my best friend. This is one of, if not the best audio performance I’ve heard. Brittany Presley actually acts and brings the story to life way better than I could do in my own head. It is perfection!

"Meet Cute" with some R rated raunch

This is such a 'meet cute' story and i loved it. i love the idea of a renaissance faire romance and was prepared for that. i was plesantly surprised at the blunt raunchy scenes a little bit later on. There wasnt much of it, but some *ahem* sexual anatomy names were mentioned briefly. It was tastefully done, i just wasnt prepared for it!

The story itself was very cute and allowed for some dynamic turns to the story. the mentions of faire terminology made me smile and think of the faires ive attended so the accuracy was correct. i also love the idea of a stuffy English teacher having the outgoing flirty Pirate persona to slip into during the summer.

All in all it was a good light read that made me want to continue reading after its over! im very much looking foreward to getting tucked into the next one in the series.

Really coasey read

It’s just a really good and coasey read. The narrator gives another great performance. I loved the hate to lobe relationship between Simon and Emily. I would really recommend this book; and I can’t wait for its sequel.

Lovely story!

Entertaining and fun. Great narration. I will definitely buy from this author again. Highly recommend.