Synopsis

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

Audiobook Review

I absolutely adored Well Met and had pre-ordered Well Played as soon as I learned about it!

It turns out that Well Played was a cute and enjoyable read, that I am very happy to have listened too it but it did not give me the kick I experienced with Well Met.

The plot begins at the end of the Renaissance Faire and we follow Stacey, the other tavern wench and now, Emily’s best friend.

Stacey LOVES the fair.
She lives her best life every year when the fair is in full force and she truly made me smell, hear and feel what a Renaissance fair is.
I loved Stacey’s passion for fair and I think Jen de Luca did a fantastic job broadcasting how amazing going to one of these events must be!

Stacey came back to her hometown years ago, leaving a promising career in New York because her mother was sick.
Only child of aged parents, she really do care for them and panicked at the idea of losing her mom!
Now, she is equally glad to live close to them , above their garage and resentful as this feels like a gilded cage with few perspectives.
When all her friends are getting married and have babies, Stacey feels stranded in her own live.

That part about loneliness and sitting on the sideline was extremely well written.
So of course I understood why Stacey, after a drunken night, sent a message to Dex her summer lover and fair member.

What will follow will be a long string of messages throughout the year while Stacey can’t wait for fair to begin again and finally, see and touch Dex again, making their long distance relationship more readl. Could Dex be “the one”?

I won’t give anything more about the plot, just that I had guessed the twist.

If the love story was sweet, I was a little disappointed how he didn’t fight more for Stacey! I get that he was not used to be chosen by girls but I would have appreciated him truly showing that he cared and fighting to win her and then, to keep her.
It was always Stacey who had to “man up”.

That being said, the couple is uber cute and I was very happy with the story ARC!

Another brownie point for this story: Stacey is plus sized and she explained how she made peace with it, even if she sometimes felt a little bit unsecure. This was really encouraging to see such representation in romance because let’s face it, so many people are plus sized and they do live romantic stories! Not conforming with the usual standards made this story even more relatable and enjoyable.

Now I can’t wait for the next instalment in the series as it will be about Mitch and April!!! I can predict lots of banter!

Have you read this series?

Thanks for reading!

Sophie