Well Met is a cute rom-com that serves up tons of Shakespeare little facts, characters bound to family, and having to find our direction.
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.
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
Well Met is charming. Whether it’s the setting of the Renaissance Faire, frequent trips to the bookshop, it’s easy to fall into the charm of the story. It’s a story about the freedom in playing a role, being able to step outside ourselves for a moment, to remember who we really are. A play on a common greeting, Well Met is a story about defying our first impressions and embracing serendipity and getting to know people.
While I empathized a lot with Emily, the fact that she’s sort of directionless at the moment, and always trying to help and fix people, I wasn’t as connected to her as I would have liked. I appreciated the characters, the roles they have to play (double punn-y because they have roles in the Faire), but I didn’t fall in love with the characters like I would have wanted.
Overall,
If you’re searching for an enjoyable light read with a vivid and charming setting, I encourage you to pick up Well Met. On a story level, I was happy when I finished and liked reading, I just didn’t connect as much to some of the characters as I would have liked.
Find Well Met on Goodreads, Amazon, Indiebound & The Book Depository.