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.
My Thoughts
One of the best things I can say about books I read is that I didn’t take very many notes. I’m a highly critical reader, so typically I scribble down page after page of them. When I don’t, I know that I truly enjoyed something, and that, despite one glaring issue I had, is the case with Well Played.
I’m a big fan of nerdy romances, which this is, and I absolutely love the trope of miscommunication in the form of “Oh, no, I thought I was writing to this person, when really it was someone else entirely!” You see it most often in historical romance, because that whole letter writing thing doesn’t translate super well to the modern age.
I’m glad to say that Jen DeLuca found a way to make it work.
This is a fast-paced, cute, quirky romance with two very likable main characters set during a Renaissance Faire. The chemistry between them is believable, the angst makes total sense, and even the support cast was solid.
My one issue is the same one my co-blogger had with the first installment: where are all the people of color?
This is set where I used to live. For six years. The racial breakdown there is dissimilar than much of the country in that over 30% of the population is Black. The whole time I read this, I kept thinking to myself, “Where are all the Black people?”
I went to the local Ren Faire every year, and guess what, I saw plenty of Black and Asian and Latinx people there. I set this book down a while ago, and as I sit here writing out this review, I’m struggling to remember if there was even a single offhand mention of a person of color. Which, in this day and age, is kind of unforgivable, especially since I can attest to how diverse the area is.
So while I enjoyed this book, I really hope to see more inclusiveness and diversity from DeLuca in the future.
The lack of diversity is incredibly unforgivable in my opinion. And even when I’m enjoying a book, it’ll stick out like a sore thumb. It’s unbelievable because it’s so unlikely.
Completely agree. It’s super jarring when you lived in or near the place the book takes place in. I’ve never had it happen before, and I spent half the book like, “Man, WTF?”
I didn’t know the author had another book out and the plot itself sounds good. As I’m not from the country at all, I didn’t know that the author took an event that actually exists and built the story around that. Since you pointed it out, it got me thinking and I don’t recall any person of colour in Well Met either. That’s not acceptable now, you’re right. Thanks for the review!
You’re welcome! I didn’t read the first, so I think I made an offhand comment to Brigid about the utter lack of diversity and she was like, GURL, SERIOUSLY? Only then did I remember her review, lol. It’s weird that after readers criticizing the first book for it, changes weren’t made.
She mentioned race once in the 1st and it was a joke about white girls dying in horror films. However since the lack of diversity was so glaring it was a weird comment to make. Her books are friggin CUTE and fluffy! I just wish she thought more about actually creating the world in her romances.