This book--and the series--was so cute! I absolutely love that it is set around a Renassiance fair. It was funny, emotional, and just what I needed to read when I was having a hard time!!

I ADORE this series by Jen DeLuca. It's one of my comfort re-reads when I'm longing for my local renaissance faire to return to town!

April and Mitch have been supporting characters in the previous books, and they finally get their time to shine. I love the banter and chemistry between them. Despite the fake-dating setup, their personal struggles and insecurities feel really authentic. Oftentimes a romance series can start to feel formulaic, but this is ultimately a slow-burn between two longtime friends who realize their feelings when they are finally thrown into romantic situations together. I particularly like that Mitch never pushes April past her comfort levels, but he's also not afraid to call her out when she takes advantage of his constant presence in her life.

Jen DeLuca does it again with this uber fun series at the Ren Faire - I mean what's not to love!?

Summary below:
Single mother April Parker has lived in Willow Creek for twelve years with a wall around her heart. On the verge of being an empty nester, she’s decided to move on from her quaint little town, and asks her friend Mitch for his help with some home improvement projects to get her house ready to sell.

Mitch Malone is known for being the life of every party, but mostly for the attire he wears to the local Renaissance Faire—a kilt (and not much else) that shows off his muscled form to perfection. While he agrees to help April, he needs a favor too: she'll pretend to be his girlfriend at an upcoming family dinner, so that he can avoid the lectures about settling down and having a more “serious” career than high school coach and gym teacher. April reluctantly agrees, but when dinner turns into a weekend trip, it becomes hard to tell what's real and what's been just for show. But when the weekend ends, so must their fake relationship.

As summer begins, Faire returns to Willow Creek, and April volunteers for the first time. When Mitch's family shows up unexpectedly, April pretends to be Mitch's girlfriend again...and it doesn't feel so fake anymore. Despite their obvious connection, April insists they’ve just been putting on an act. But when there’s the chance for something real, she has to decide whether to change her plans—and open her heart—for the kilt-wearing hunk who might just be the love of her life.

Sweet, with a little heat. (I do think that the MC comes across as a little unlikable, since she is the source off all the problems in the relationship....)

3.5 STARS! 🌠

Jen DeLuca takes us back to Renaissance Faire filled with kilts and flower crowns. You guys, I've been wanting to read this book since Well Met, so I was beyond happy to finally dive into Mitch's story!

April Parker is a single mom, and she finds herself nesting. She reaches out to her good friend, Mitch, to help her with some home projects so she can sell her house. *sigh*

Mitch Malone, I would describe him as Chris Hemsworth meets a Viking. Oh, and when he wears a kilt, you might as well forget about everything because he's just so yummy and perfect!

While Mitch agrees to help April, he asks her for a favor in return: pretend to be his fake girlfriend at his next family dinner to avoid his annoying family and their pestering questions about him finally settling down. You all can see where this is going, and I must admit I loved every moment of this fake dating-real feelings trope! But obviously, right away April was hesitant because of the 10 year age difference between them. Especially since this is a reverse age-gap romance... So, of course, she really fought her feelings and constantly found herself being fearful of a relationship again. Meanwhile, Mitch was all-in and completely wore his heart on his sleeve.

Overall, this was such a fun and steamy read with the perfect amount of banter. I do agree with other reviewers who also mention how April treated Mitch at times, but in the end, it all worked out. Mitch was the star of the show here and fully stole my heart!! It took me a while to get to this book, but I'm glad to have returned to this world, and I'm excited about the next adventure in this series!

I was fully prepared to fall in love with this addition to the Well Met series. Mitch was one of my favorite secondary characters from the first two books in the series and I couldn’t wait to see him take on leading man status. It was enjoyable and featured the Renaissance Faire that readers have come to know and love from the series, but I was ultimately a bit underwhelmed with the book overall. This was, perhaps, a case of my own high expectations of a stellar story for two characters who already felt familiar. DeLuca’s writing continues to be entertaining and I continue to recommend the series, as a whole, to readers looking for smart and fun contemporary romance.

I adored Well Met and was so excited to read April and Mitch’s love story after all the tension in the first book. Unfortunately Well Matched fell short for me. I listened on audio and I really think I would have liked it more if it was dual POV. April felt insufferable a lot of the time, parts of the story were grueling to listen to. Especially her mentioning her age or how she didn’t know anyone in the town she lived in for 12+ years. However I really loved the fake dating aspect and Mitch was a great character, just wish parts of the book were from. His POV! 3 stars

A light-hearted Renaissance Faire Rom-Com with surprising depths.

I went into this book expecting a very light fun read. And while I was highly entertained, I was also unwittingly engaged by the depth of the story and how different the characters were from what I knew of them from their secondary characters in the previous books in this series.

Hunky, kilt-wearing, gym teacher, and ladies' man Mitch Malone is much more than I thought. I knew he was a great guy, but a bit of a player. What I forgot or didn't recognize is that he is also an awesome friend and mentor. Both Mitch and April have hangups they need to deal with, but they are friends. When Mitch needs a girlfriend for a family dinner and April needs some help rehabbing her house, the two make a deal to help each other out. That's where things begin. The chemistry between the two grows, and soon they have problems discerning how much is real, and how much is fake. The fact that they have a hard time keeping their hands to themselves doesn't help their situation any.

I love this book. I first read it as an ebook for NetGalley, then listened to it for my own enjoyment. The narrator does an outstanding job with all the various voices and accents. I always knew who was speaking. I highly recommend this book in any form to anyone who likes Rom-Coms, Renaissance Faires, men-in-kilts, and women in corsets.

This is the last book in this series and while I don't think any of the last three measure up to the first, this one tried hard. There was chemistry and I enjoyed reading about familiar characters, but I think I'm done with the Renaissance Faire environment. I actually live near the PA Renaissance Faire and have visited many times. Makes me wonder about the romantic backstories that could be going on behind the scenes.

these books just got too cheesy and tropey for me. the first one of this series was sooo good but I haven't enjoyed once since and think it's time for me to call it. unfortunate!

Ever since April Parker moved to the tiny town of Willow Creek she has been planning her escape. Small towns were never April’s thing. This was something she did so her daughter would have a childhood to remember. April is desperate to return to the big city. As Caitlin preps for her summer at the Ren Faire and her upcoming college plans, April is prepping her house to put on the market. Leaving Willow Creek won’t be a hardship since April wasn’t much of a joiner and hasn’t spent much time getting to know her neighbors. Which is a good thing since as a single mom, April was always busy working to earning money to take care of them both. And maybe it has only been since her sister, Emily came to live with her and met and married the High School English teacher, Simon, that April has made any attempt to meet and actually talk to some of the people in town, and even going so far as to join not one but two book clubs. So there!

But meeting people includes the High School Coach, Mitch Malone, a man who is always looking for good time and one who prowls the bars each weekend in hopes of finding a private party. Mitch is also well known about town for playing the Hot Scot at the Ren Faire each year. Since Mitch has dated (read: slept with) most of the pretty, young single women in Town, April is shocked when Mitch asks April to attend a special family dinner celebrating his grandmother’s 90th birthday.

Mitch is pretty happy with his life. He loves coaching the kids, attending the Faire and alright, yes, cavorting with pretty women. The problem is that in a family of super-duper overachievers, no one understands how Mitch can be happy with simply being a gym teacher. Mitch hopes that bringing a gorgeous, intelligent woman like April as his girlfriend and showing that he is in a grown-up relationship, his family might finally stop harassing him if only for one dinner.

Being with Mitch in private was…pretty easy but it turns out that being with Mitch in public suddenly got April noticed and everyone, including the women in her book club, wanted to know all the details about what was happening between April and the hot gym teacher. April liked living in the background now late night visits to her house by a decade younger gorgeous man was making April the talk of the town. When April wants Mitch to hide his truck in her garage and sneak in the house without anyone noticing, Mitch begins to feel like he is suddenly April’s dirty little secret and after a lifetime of being a disappointment to his family, he isn’t going to allow April to treat him like an embarrassment.

After spending so much time with Mitch, April suddenly isn’t sure she is ready to leave Town but has she her desire for privacy amidst the small town nosy bodies ruined her chances with Mitch.

Thoughts:
Mitch is a stand out character in all these books. He is loud and vivacious, warm and friendly, sexy and flirty. In real life, men and women would flock to him and would just want to hang out with him. In the story, Mitch is very laid back. April doesn’t ask him for help trying to fix her house up. When she states what her next project needs to be, Mitch just shows up to help, asking nothing more then some beer and maybe dinner.

Knowing what a nice guy he is and how happy he is with his life, it is hard to watch him take the verbal abuse from his family who think less of him for his job as a gym teacher and it is nice that April is there to defend him. This makes it all the harder after getting close in their weeks fixing up April’s house, she is confronted by the neighbors who see the younger, hot coach coming and going from her house. April is embarrassed to be the topic of discussion among the neighbors but it comes off as being ashamed of being seen with Mitch. You could hear his little heart break that someone he admired and who he believed thought well of him, suddenly treats him like a dirty secret. Awwww.

We got to know both characters well in Well Met so it was an easy transition to pick up with them in Well Matched. I am looking forward to reading the next chapter, Well Traveled.

Cute and sexy, and very easy read. I was excited to read another book by this author and they've kept the same style and tone as from the other book I've read. It's fun and sparky which is exactly what I wanted to read.

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book! The title and this beautiful cover drew me in and i was excited to read this book! I will be recommending this book to others for readers advisory.

I gave it 100 pages, but sadly I am going to put this one aside. It's just not grabbing me like I was hoping it would. I think it might be the writing and pace of the story, because I was really excited to read Mitch and April's story. I do remember loving Jen DeLuca's first book, Well Met, so I'd definitely recommend giving that one a try if it interests you.

Book 3 in the Well Met series and I almost enjoyed this one as much as the first book! I was nervous to start this one, since I just didn’t enjoy Stacey and Daniel’s love story as much as I liked Emily’s and Simon’s. But decided to give this one a shot and I’m so glad I did.

April Parker, is finally getting out of small-town Willow Creek. After settling in the town twelve years ago, her daughter is finally getting ready to leave for college, leaving April an empty nester. All she has to do it get her house ready to sell. When the school’s gym teacher, Mitch Malone, offers to help April fix up the house the only thing he asks for in return is to be his fake girlfriend for a single-family event. Between weekend house projects and getting the lowdown on the Malone family, April and Mitch’s friendship starts to bloom. Intend on leaving though, the last thing April wants to happen is to develop more than just friendly feeling towards one of Willow Creek’s most eligible bachelors.

First and foremost, Mitch Malone is the absolute best character! He is such a fun character with a surprising level of depth. I love the way he was portrayed, and he really stole the story in my opinion. April on the other hand is a bit of a Debbie down, and while I thought the chemistry between the two was perfect, without Mitch I would not have enjoyed this story as much.

I definitely enjoyed this one more than Well Played, so if you’re on the fence of picking this one up, know that it’s worth it. If you like men in kilts, fake dating tropes, and need a fun romance, I highly recommend this one.


Well Matched is out now. If you liked this review please let me know either by commenting below or by visiting my instagram @speakingof.books.

Quirky fun read. Will appeal mostly to Ren Fair go-ers. I enjoyed it. I will admit to a little skimming.

3.5 stars. This is a solid addition to the series, and I was definitely pleased that so many of my favorite elements - the Ren Faire and the small town vibes especially - were still in play. While I did find the romance cute, it didn’t quite hit me the same way as the one in Well Met, though I did get the feels for our main couple by the end.

Com uma narrativa leve e divertida, Well Matched vai te surpreender com uma história sobre uma mulher que se redescobre e um homem que derruba cada tijolo de seus muros. April sofreu demais na mão do ex e criou a filha basicamente sozinha, e já que a filha vai para a faculdade ela decidiu se mudar para uma cidade maior. Agora ela precisa reformar a casa para vender e é ai que Mitch aparece.

O relacionamento deles é tão bem construído que você vai se apaixonando junto com ela. Mitch, apesar de jovem é um rapaz bem maduro, embora ele não queira um compromisso, acaba conquistando e sendo conquistado por April. A dinâmica deles é simplesmente incrível e para quem ama um mocinho cadelinha, já vai anotando essa dica aqui.

I'm so glad Jen DeLuca wrote Mitch and April's story. It felt like such a mature and fun story of two kind of unlikely but perfect people falling in love. Their chemistry absolutely sizzled, and I love that April is older than Mitch--it is something you don't often see in romance and I think it was so well written here.

I've enjoyed this entire Ren Faire series from DeLuca and cannot wait to see what she writes next. Her romances are always memorable and sweet and sexy and I never get tired of reading them.

Another wonderful book in this series. I loved the perspective of a slightly older woman, and the Ren faire background is always fun.