The Book:
Well Met by Jen Deluca, 2019
The Characters:
Emily
Her sister April and niece Cait
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The Plot (from Goodreads):
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 teenage 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.
The Ending:
Emily feels that Simon cares more about the faire than about her and decides to stop participating in it. Their friends convince her to come again on the last day, and Simon repeats their hand fasting ceremony to show Emily that he cares about her.
Simon agrees to relinquish a little of his control over the faire, and Emily helps him plan next year’s with a few necessary changes. He proposes in the epilogue and she says yes.
The Review:
I loved this unique little rom-com! I’ve never read a book that takes place in a renaissance fair before. I’ve only been to a renaissance fair once or twice, but they’re a lot of fun. I love going to any sort of fair or festival! It was a lot of fun to read a book that takes place at one.
Emily and Simon were both great characters. They were easy to identify with, as were all the secondary characters. Emily in particular was cute, agreeable, and definitely someone I’d like to be friends with. Simon was a little grumpy and definitely bad at communication, but I love me a good enemies-to-lovers story!
The ending was perfectly cute and sappy, and I’m definitely looking forward to Stacey’s love story in the next book.
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