Well Played was a cute sequel to Well Met, which I loved, but lacked just a little something from making it a 5 star read. I think there was a tad too much of Emily and Simon in this one, where the focus should have been more heavily on Stacey and Daniel. I also think having half of the book's romance take place over emails and texts messages hurt it a little, and made the chemistry between the two feel a little lacking when they did finally meet back up at faire. All in all, despite the whole catfishing angle which could turn some people off, this was a sweet follow up to Well Met and I look forward to book 3, which is going to focus on April and Mitch and hopefully return this series to 5 stars.

Well Played is a fantastic follow up to Jen DeLuca's Well Met. The characters are well developed, the plot takes you on a wonderfully emotional journey as Stacey discovers where she wants to be in life, and who she wants to be with.

Book Review 📚
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Thank you so much @berkleypub @berkleyromance for my free copy via @netgalley in exchange for my honest review.
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This was one of my most anticipated books of the year. I was so excited to get an advanced ebook from the publisher. I absolutely fell in love with Well Met last year and was so excited to jump back into the renaissance faire world!
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I didn’t love this one quite as much as I did Well Met. A good portion of the book didn’t take place at the Renaissance faire and that was one of the things I loved so much in the first book. The faire setting gives these books their charm, so I didn’t really like this one mostly took place in the real world.
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The second half of the book definitely redeemed itself. I didn’t feel much of the main characters chemistry until the second half of the book. But boy, do they get some chemistry going.
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This was a cute contemporary romance and a perfect summer read. I definitely recommend these books for a great escape read. I can’t wait for the third book to come out. Well Played releases on 9/22!
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This was a great addition to the Well Met series! Loved catching up with characters from the previous book and getting to read Stacey's story. Can't wait for Mitch and April next!

I absolutely adored Jen DeLuca's Well Met. Just LOVED it. I was super eager to get into Well Played, but it was obvious right off the bat that the spark from the first novel was missing. Stacey and her problems didn't exactly pop off the page for me, and the first 40% of the novel is a slog of e-mails and text messages between Stacey and what she believes to be Dex, a regular musician on the faire circuit she's had some sexy times with when he's in town. This takes up the majority of a year that crawls by until it's finally revealed to Stacey what we all know going in: she hasn't been talking to Dex at all. She's been talking to his cousin, Daniel.

The book tries to call this a Cyrano de Bergerac situation, but when Stacey confronts Daniel it turns out this isn't the case. It's just straight up catfishing. At midway through, I'd say this is the book's crisis point. It's a doozy. Stacey bends over backward insisting that she a) did not know AT ALL that she wasn't talking to Dex and b) somehow, deep down, wanted it to be Daniel despite her not thinking about him AT ALL for the first 40% of the book but c) is extremely hurt by Daniel's actions because WHO WOULDN'T BE? and d) hopes he'll simply apologize and she can kiss him and all will be well! I mean, you can tell right here that everyone who had a hand in writing and editing this book knew the premise was a problem and tried VERY HARD to downplay the creep factor. I won't deny someone can both be hurt and hope to wish it all away but COME ON. This is a romance. I want to root for these people, not gasp at them like they're a real life Reddit drama.

Stacey is a pretty basic girl--love of pumpkin spice, fairy lights, few hobbies that don't involve Instagram. Daniel seems like a pretty basic guy--he wears black a lot and likes Guinness. Both wish they could change their lives up--do something different than what they're doing or being. That's really all we know about them at the halfway mark, despite all the soul-touching e-mails. I wasn't really that interested in either of them enough to plow past Daniel's betrayal of Stacey's trust.

So, I can't continue. I'm just closing this book down at 50% and I hate that I have to do that, but the premise is just too much of a quagmire for me. Had it been a true misunderstanding and at the halfway mark they discovered they were talking to each other simultaneously, that would have made for cute rom-com moments and kept me on board despite my lack of interest in the characters. Unfortunately it's just too creepy for me to want to watch Stacey stumble all over herself to forgive a man who doesn't really seem to deserve it.

I'm still totally looking forward to Jen's third faire book, though. Give me more faire. Just not Stacey and Daniel. Whatever their fate is, please let them ride off into the sunset and never return.

This is Jen DeLuca’s second book in the 'Well Met' series, following the women of Willow Creek and their romances at the local Renaissance Faire. 'Well Played' features Stacey as she comes to terms with her life as a small town office receptionist and part-time tavern wench. She’s spent the past two summers hooking up with Dex MacLean, practically a Hemsworth and the guitarist for the popular Ren Faire act, the Dueling Kilts. After a night of wine and loneliness, Stacey decides to message him on Facebook. She gets a reply and spends the next eleven months pouring her heart out to him in emails and text messages. But what if the MacLean behind the messages isn’t Dex?

'Well Met,' the first book in this series, was one of my top reads in 2019 and perhaps my favorite contemporary romance novel ever, so I came to 'Well Played' with high expectations. I loved the Ren Faire setting, the silly, sexy banter, and the characters DeLuca drew – including Stacey, a.k.a. Beatrice the tavern wench. A confident, funny, plus-sized woman who likes to have fun at the Faire, she was the perfect protagonist for DeLuca’s next book. My copy of 'Well Met' came with a preview of Stacey’s story and, while a sizzling romp with Dex sounded like a lot of fun, I was excited and intrigued by Dex’s cousin Daniel.

While I was happy to return to Willow Creek and see what Emily, Simon, and the Ren Faire family were up to, I have to say this book fell a bit flat for me. The story started out in a positive direction, but quickly became bogged down in an extended catfishing sequence with lots of earnest messages about small towns and Guinness beer. I’m all for a slow burn, but there was no burn here. And the reveal, when it came, amounted to not much at all. I wanted to root for Stacey and Daniel but just couldn’t make myself care. I love a good HEA (Happily Ever After), but I wish I was more invested in this one. That said, I will happily linger in the Willow Creek universe and plan to pick up the third book in the series, 'Well Matched,' when it comes out. Huzzah for more Ren Faire romances!

One of my most anticipated reads of the year and it did not disappoint!

I was so excited to get my hands on this one after LOVING Well Met last year. This one follows Stacey, Emily's friend from Well Met, and I really don't know if I've related to a book character as much as I related to Stacey in a long time. Stacey's love story was so sweet and very steamy. Overall just a wonderful read - I flew through this one.

There are some small details and nitpicky things that I didn't love, but it wasn't too major of an issue to ruin the book. Also, I felt like some of the smaller conflicts got resolved a little too easily but oh well.

Overall - SUCH a delightful read 4.75/5

So excited for Well Matched!!

Well Played is a sweet and romantic follow up to Well Met, Jen DeLuca's previous book in this series. In this book we follow Stacey, who was introduced in Well Met.

Much of the main relationship of the book happens over the internet, but that doesn't mean that there isn't any spark. DeLuca handles the online aspect of the characters getting to know each other with sweetness mixed with some excitement.

The main heroine in this book, Stacey, does show some self-deprecating habits, but DeLuca goes out of her way to show that Stacey is smarter and more capable that she thinks of herself. It's always wonderful to see an author treat a character so well.

I hope to see more in this series from DeLuca.

Stacey, a renaissance fair enthusiast, looks forward to the faire (and hooking up with Hemsworth-handsome, but dull,n Dex) every summer. But this year, when the faire leaves town, she and Dex begin emailing and texting back and forth every day, opening up and learning more about themselves and each other.

Yet, when the next summer comes around, she discovers that it wasn't Dex that she was really communicating with.

DeLuca does a surprisingly heartwarming job of creating a meet-cute centered around catfishing that somehow manages not to be manipulative, and is actually rather sweet.

Overall, a cute story about opening up and embracing change.

Jen DeLuca graciously invites readers back to the ren faire - and then some - in "Well Played," the follow up to "Well Met." In "Well Played," we follow Stacey (fellow tavern wench to the first book's protagonist Emily) as she navigates the lurking feeling that she's meant for more than the modest small town life she's found herself stuck in, as well as trying to let go of last summer's faire fling, the handsome and kilted musician Dex. After an impulsive DM goes awry, Stacey and Dex begin building a relationship over the off-season via text, email, and messenger, a modern-day arrangement of pining through letters and poetry of days gone by. But it feels too good to be true. So is Dex playing her for laughs, or is there something else he's hiding?

DeLuca's sweet, sassy prose and small town ren faire vibes are like a comforting welcome home hug (followed by an intense gossip session!) with a close friend from back home. This book primarily takes place during the off-season so it's slightly less "ren faire" than the first book but it didn't bother me. Stacey is a wonderful lovely supportive clever girl who deserves all the joy in the world, even when she's talked herself out of it time after time. This romance is delightful, fun, heartfelt and clever at every turn. All the characters are becoming so beloved to me and I seriously LOVE Willow Creek and I wish I could visit their faire!!!!

I was so happy to be back at the Renaissance Fair. This year, as her friends from Well Met get engaged, tavern wench Stacey takes stock of her life and sees where she’d rather be instead. She reaches out to her summer Faire fling partner Dex to see if they can develop a deeper connection. To her surprise, a tender and deep online relationship is forged between her and Dex... or does it? The Renaissance Faire comes around again and brings some startling realizations.

Cute story but fell a bit short for me. Heard good things about Well Met so I might have to give that one a go.

I want to like Jen's books I really do. They have such interesting premises and she's a fun follow on social, but I've yet to feel more than small enjoyment for one of her stories. This book could have more enjoyable for me if the curvy heroine was written in a more authentic way. This definitely read to me like the author didn't fully grasp how or why Stacey would feel the way she did about her body. Instead we're giving the same tired lines and scenes that have been used over and over. I think Jen should take a lesson from Rebekah Weatherspoon or Olivia Dade on how to write authentic curvy women.

DeLuca is new on the scene, but sure to be on many auto-read lists from here on! Her characters are lively and relatable and her writing is thoughtful and clear.

I loved the Renaissance Festival setting. It definitely feels like the setting is its own character. Well Played is a story of mistaken identity and how you can fall in love with a person via distance. I loved that you got to see Staci grow as a person and figure out what she wants to do with her life, even if that is different than what she originally planned.

I really enjoyed this book and the series. When I began the first book in this series I didn’t expect to like the Ren faire aspect but I really found it interesting. This was a good light romance read. I’m definitely looking forward to reading the next in the series.

I really, really enjoyed the first in this series, so I was very excited to go back to the world of the Willow Creek Ren Faire. And it was an enjoyable romance, on the fluffy side, with what I thought was a satisfying resolution.

There were two points that made it only a three star read for me. One was the main female character's internalized fatphobia. She describes herself as plus size, and there's a dress trying on scene that reads like a million things you've read before, zippers not zipping, sausage in a too-small casing, etc. etc. I just hope we're really past that kind of lazy self-deprecation in writing these days. Fat characters don't have to feel great about themselves all the time in every book, but if there's going to be that kind of negative self-talk, I think the plot has to dedicate some intention/dynamics/resolution/purpose to it. Otherwise, it's just sitting there upholding fatphobic ideas.

The other thing is how extremely predictable the plot "twist" is. It's hard to even call it a twist because the cover illustration clearly shows who the two main characters are! So for the first chunk of the book, I was reading kind of quickly trying to get to the point where the main character knows what I already know, and I don't think that's an ideal way to read. Maybe if that section was paced differently, or was just a little more delicious of a read, I wouldn't have minded.

All that said, I'm charmed by the world of this series and I will be coming back for the third book in this series, no question.

Well Played by Jen DeLuca was an enjoyable, quick, fluffy read. While there are some faults - the Stacey in this book felt a little more negative than how she was portrayed in the first book - I don't think it draws anything down. During the first half of the book I kept saying to myself that it felt a bit like Cyrano so when Simon said “What kind of Cyrano de Bergerac bullshit is that?” it elicited a hearty chuckle from me. I had some issues with the Dex/Daniel/Stacey dynamic and I felt like Daniel should have had to work a little harder to win Stacey back but overall I enjoyed the book.

This felt like promotional materials for men trying to get women to forget about their red flags. A very gentle read with some steam, I will be reccomending it for fans of penny Reid with the caveat that it’s very fluffy and not very well written character development.

This was just kinda eh. I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it. It was honestly a bit disappointing since I remember loving Well Met. The first half was not great, and overall I found the writing style a bit annoying and repetitive. It redeemed itself a bit in the second half which is why it still got a decent rating.