by Jen DeLuca
Well Met promises a fun and flirty summer romance at a Renaissance Faire. Will this debut rom-com be the perfect dose of fluffy, sweet, goodness I need after the feast of an epic fantasy romance? Let’s find out!
Read if you like: cute and funny contemporary romance, a cast of characters that keeps the story and the love going, grumpy love interests, and a leading lady who finds herself along the way.
Emily finds herself hopeless and futureless when her long-term boyfriend self-actualizes into a long-time jerk. Luckily, well unluckily, this coincides with a family emergency that provides Emily with a temporary escape and a chance to start over. She moves in with her 12-year older sister April, and her teen daughter Caitlin. Emily is finding her stride as aunt and care-taker when Caitlin needs a chaperone to work at the yearly Ren Faire. She’s cautiously optimistic despite the promise of muscled men in kilts until she meets the long-time director and general killjoy English teacher Simon… now she’s just cautious.
Even with the dread of Simon the grouch lurking over her shoulder, Emily starts making friends and realizes that the Faire and the community gives her plenty of opportunities to flex her organizational and helping skills. She also realizes that Simon might have some deeper reason to be so intensely unlikable, and that in this small town, she might be the only one who truly sees him. Faced with this knowledge and his surprising, swaggering pirate persona Emily realizes that her dread has turned into anticipation. How can one man so equally intrigue and bore her? And will she let that stand in the way of her burgeoning connection to this small town?
I really enjoyed this book. It has that small town vibe that will never fail to endear me. I’ve always wanted to go to a Ren Faire… the desire is now intensified. The grumpy love interest is a normal dude. Sure, he’s cute and fit, but he’s also nerdy, flawed, and obtainable. And honestly, I could use more of that in my reading life. And the personal kicker, the large sibling age gap. It might not be a super common thing, but it’s a surefire way to get me invested. Also, no spoilers, but Emily learns to put herself first and I wanted to applaud the personal growth. Boom baby! I was so afraid that twist would be her own personal melt-down, and I was so glad to be wrong.
For a debut book, Ms. DeLuca, I’m impressed. I sometimes felt like the internal dialogue was a little clunky, but it fit the character’s situation. Her life is in flux and she’s grasping at straws so it actually might have been purposeful. The spice gets a solid 3 pepper rating which was aided by all the tension and ren faire role play vs. reality. They were cute and awkward and I couldn’t wait until they both got on the same page with each other. It was good, more wouldn’t have hurt, but, again, I’m greedy like that. Wet Met is solidly in my reread for a good time pile and I can’t wait to check out the rest of the series.
Comments