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A review by madscibrarian
Well Matched by Jen DeLuca
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This is my favorite installment of the Well Met Renaissance Faire romance series.
We follow April, a 40 year-old single mom who is about to be an empty nester. She never really got involved in her small town life, so as soon as her daughter is off to college, she is going to sell her house and move to the city. She needs to prepare her house in order to sell it, so she could use some help. Enter in Mitch, a 31 year-old gym teacher who is known as the Kilt man in the local summer renaissance faire. He certainly is capable to help out, but he needs a favor in exchange; his annual family reunion is coming up and his family has been pressuring him to settle down. He needs a girlfriend to bring with. April agrees to be his pretend girlfriend, as she's known Mitch for awhile since her sister is a large organizer of the renaissance faire, and really, Mitch isn't a sight for sore eyes.
I just incredibly related to April as a protagonist. She cares too much about what people think, and dating the local hunk who's about 10 years her junior is not something she wants people to gossip about. She also has a hard time admitting her feelings, and it takes a long time for her to come into her own. Readers might be frustrated with this aspect, as it can feel like it is dragged out. But as someone with pretty bad social anxiety, I thought this book was executed perfectly. April was also relatable to me in that she was a homebody and never really got involved in her area. She somehow avoided the renaissance faire every year she's lived there, despite he daughter performing in it for the past 2 years. I like to think I would get involved in a local renaissance faire if we had one (I am a big ren faire nerd), but I'm also a homebody.
The fake dating troupe was cute here, and there were several instances where the fake dating had to come back into play. If you don't like that troupe, you'll grow tired of it here, I'm sure. I also enjoyed getting Mitch's story since his character was pretty well fleshed out in the previous two installments. He's a fun and nice fella. I also think this is one reason I enjoyed this book more, as both April and Mitch were a lot more prevalent in the previous two books. The previous book, Well Played, only followed Stacy; the male lead was a new character tossed into the mix.
Unrelated to anything in regards to an opinion of the book, but I was so impressed by April fixing up her house in order to sell it. My partner and I are in the market to purchase our first home and we get frustrated over all these owners who don't take care of their houses. If only April existed in real life! I'd buy her house-- it has a kitchen island! Anyway, the slight direct life correlation also just had me all for this book,
I recommend if you like the fake dating troupe, small town romances, and/or read previous books of this series and enjoyed those. If you're in it just for the Ren Faire, fair warning that the Ren Faire doesn't occur until the last 1/3 of the book or so, but honestly it was my favorite part and so worth it. :)
I recieved a free eARC via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.
We follow April, a 40 year-old single mom who is about to be an empty nester. She never really got involved in her small town life, so as soon as her daughter is off to college, she is going to sell her house and move to the city. She needs to prepare her house in order to sell it, so she could use some help. Enter in Mitch, a 31 year-old gym teacher who is known as the Kilt man in the local summer renaissance faire. He certainly is capable to help out, but he needs a favor in exchange; his annual family reunion is coming up and his family has been pressuring him to settle down. He needs a girlfriend to bring with. April agrees to be his pretend girlfriend, as she's known Mitch for awhile since her sister is a large organizer of the renaissance faire, and really, Mitch isn't a sight for sore eyes.
I just incredibly related to April as a protagonist. She cares too much about what people think, and dating the local hunk who's about 10 years her junior is not something she wants people to gossip about. She also has a hard time admitting her feelings, and it takes a long time for her to come into her own. Readers might be frustrated with this aspect, as it can feel like it is dragged out. But as someone with pretty bad social anxiety, I thought this book was executed perfectly. April was also relatable to me in that she was a homebody and never really got involved in her area. She somehow avoided the renaissance faire every year she's lived there, despite he daughter performing in it for the past 2 years. I like to think I would get involved in a local renaissance faire if we had one (I am a big ren faire nerd), but I'm also a homebody.
The fake dating troupe was cute here, and there were several instances where the fake dating had to come back into play. If you don't like that troupe, you'll grow tired of it here, I'm sure. I also enjoyed getting Mitch's story since his character was pretty well fleshed out in the previous two installments. He's a fun and nice fella. I also think this is one reason I enjoyed this book more, as both April and Mitch were a lot more prevalent in the previous two books. The previous book, Well Played, only followed Stacy; the male lead was a new character tossed into the mix.
Unrelated to anything in regards to an opinion of the book, but I was so impressed by April fixing up her house in order to sell it. My partner and I are in the market to purchase our first home and we get frustrated over all these owners who don't take care of their houses. If only April existed in real life! I'd buy her house-- it has a kitchen island! Anyway, the slight direct life correlation also just had me all for this book,
I recommend if you like the fake dating troupe, small town romances, and/or read previous books of this series and enjoyed those. If you're in it just for the Ren Faire, fair warning that the Ren Faire doesn't occur until the last 1/3 of the book or so, but honestly it was my favorite part and so worth it. :)
I recieved a free eARC via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.