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.
Christy's Review:
This was the sweetest and most delightful romance! I'm a sucker for a good enemies to lovers story. Add in the fact that this takes place at a Renaissance Faire and I was sold. Just seeing the cover and reading the blurb, I knew I would love this book, and I was 100% right.
Emily isn't much of a small town girl, but when her sister gets in an accident and needs help with her teenage niece, Emily moves to Willow Creek to be there for them. When her niece wants to join the Renn Faire for the summer, Emily is fine with being her ride. What she's not anticipating is having to volunteer herself. But she does it. For her niece. She commits to being a tavern wench for every weekend in the summer. It wouldn't be so bad, except that the guy running the show seems to have it out for her.
Simon's brother used to run Faire, but now it's left to him. Everything has to go perfectly. He's rather particular about the details. As soon as the Faire starts, Simon- the uptight English teacher becomes Captain Blackthorne, the fun loving pirate who Emily- or Emma the tavern wench, loves to banter with. I loved the back and forth these two had. Their sexual tension was off the charts.“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.”
As Emily gets to know Simon, she understand why he is the way he is. And she starts to fall for him. Not only Captain Blackthorne, but Simon the person. No one is more surprised about this than her.
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.
As Emily decides what to do with her life, whether she'll stay in Willow Creek once her sister gets better, or move on, Simon factors into that choice. I adored both Simon and Emily. Simon is my favorite kind of character. He was a bit high strung and Type A, but he has his reasons. I loved that Emily got to the root of who he truly was and loved him for it.
Well Met is a fantastic debut novel. I seriously will be reading anything and everything else this author writes. I hope we get some more from this world... maybe a Mitch book? The writing was great, the banter between the two characters- perfect, and the ending was swoony. This charming read was a gem of a book and I highly recommend it to all lovers of romance!
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