September 22, 2020 – PowerLibrarian Book Reviews

Title: Well Played
Author: Jen DeLuca
Genre: Romance
Series: Well Met #2
Date of Publication: September 22, 2020
Publisher: Berkley

Synopsis

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.

– Goodreads

My Thoughts

I was so excited to return to the Willow Creek’s Renaissance Faire!

I adore Jen Deluca’s writing style. Like Well Met, her voice shines through in the protagonist’s inner dialogue. This is definitely a feel-good novel, and the book is chock full of humorous observations and witty banter.

Unfortunately, the romance was lacking for me in this book. It seemed a little too easy, and, quite frankly, Daniel was bland. I loved Simon Well Met. He was a strict rule follower, had a sense of obligation to continue on his brother’s legacy, but he gradually revealed a playful side when he played his part of pirate in the Renaissance Faire. But with Daniel? I really couldn’t tell you much about him, other than the fact that he feels like he’s trapped in his cousins’ shadow and he kind of likes cats. We only get Stacey’s point of view in this novel, and unfortunately we weren’t privy to any scenes where Daniel may or may not have talked about his likes and interests while they were falling in love.

That said, there are some sweet moments, particularly when they’re still in the long-distance, lies-riddled, texting/emails stage of their relationship.

Stacey’s decisions were also a little foreign to me. She is far too forgiving of Daniel’s lies, and to be honest, he didn’t even expect her to forgive him. He never really fights for their relationship, even in the climactic scene, when this burden lies on Stacey’s shoulders. The word that comes to mind when describing Daniel is “passive”. He’s very nonconfrontational, dispassionate, and… boring. Sorry!

That said, Stacey is a compelling and three-dimensional protagonist, and I did love reading her perspective and revisiting this captivating world that DeLuca has created. I’m hoping that Emily’s sister will be the one to find love in the next book! (Maybe with Mitch???)