I was lucky enough to receive an ARC of this book and I absolutely adored it!! It was so nice to delve deeper into both the characters of the serious and straight laced single mom April and the fun loving, boisterous and seemingly endlessly confident gym teach Mitch and what really lay behind the curtain. It was so endearing to watch April tackle single motherhood transitioning to empty nester and to see Mitch reveal more than he ever let on. Seeing the struggles and growth, all with the backdrop of the Faire and our favorite other series characters make cameos, it was such a lovely story and I fell in love with it all! Plus who doesn’t love a fake relationship story—and this certainly did it very well! Highly recommend!

I have really enjoyed this series so I was excited to read this one and it didn't disappoint. Have I ever been to a ren faire? No. Do I love these books? Oh yes.

Single mom April is getting ready for her daughter to leave for college and this means she can finally live her dream- selling her house and getting out of Willow Creek. Gym teacher and ren faire's resident kilty hunk Mitch needs a favor- his family doesn't take him seriously and he thinks pretending to be in a relationship with mature, has-her-life-together April will get them off his case. Fake dating ensues. But what happens when fake dating turns to real feelings? For April it's not so easy to navigate- the last person she loved left her when he found out she was pregnant 18 years ago.

This was a fun, slightly angsty, ultimately super sweet romance featuring some of my favorite tropes- fake dating, only one bed- and a great cast of characters that I hope we get to see more of!

This series just makes me happy.

April is a rock star human and I love that she’s portrayed no only as a mom but as an individual with her own desires and needs. I love that she is older than Mitch and it’s not made into a huge…thing. 40s is hardly an old crone.

Mitch is swoon-worthy. I just adore him. So much chemistry and love.

The Well Met series can do no wrong! It's the perfect summer read (but also is cozy and makes me excited for Fall) and makes me want to run away to a Ren Faire and fall in love and never leave. I love April and Mitch and how each book in this series gives us different tropes and things to love! Obsessed. Will continue to buy these books forever.

This is my favorite installment of the Well Met Renaissance Faire romance series.

We follow April, a 40 year-old single mom who is about to be an empty nester. She never really got involved in her small town life, so as soon as her daughter is off to college, she is going to sell her house and move to the city. She needs to prepare her house in order to sell it, so she could use some help. Enter in Mitch, a 31 year-old gym teacher who is known as the Kilt man in the local summer renaissance faire. He certainly is capable to help out, but he needs a favor in exchange; his annual family reunion is coming up and his family has been pressuring him to settle down. He needs a girlfriend to bring with. April agrees, as she's known Mitch for awhile since her sister is a large organizer of the renaissance faire, and really, Mitch isn't a sight for sore eyes.

I just incredibly related to April as a protagonist. She cares too much about what people think, and dating the local hunk who's about 10 years her junior is not something she wants people to gossip about. She also has a hard time admitting her feelings, and it takes a long time for her to come into her own. Readers might be frustrated with this aspect, as it can feel like it is dragged out. But as someone with pretty bad social anxiety, I thought this book was executed perfectly. April was also relatable to me in that she was a homebody and never really got involved in her area. She somehow avoided the renaissance faire every year she's lived there, despite he daughter performing in it for the past 2 years. I like to think I would get involved in a local renaissance faire if we had one (I am a big ren faire nerd), but I'm also a homebody.

The fake dating troupe was cute here, and there were several instances where the fake dating had to come back into play. If you don't like that troupe, you'll grow tired of it here, I'm sure. I also enjoyed getting Mitch's story since his character was pretty well fleshed out in the previous two installments. He's a fun and nice fella. I also think this is one reason I enjoyed this book more, as both April and Mitch were a lot more prevalent in the previous two books. The previous book, Well Played, only followed Stacy; the male lead was a new character tossed into the mix.

Unrelated to anything in regards to an opinion of the book, but I was so impressed by April fixing up her house in order to sell it. My partner and I are in the market to purchase our first home and we get frustrated over all these owners who don't take care of their houses. If only April existed in real life! I'd buy her house-- it has a kitchen island! Anyway, the slight direct life correlation also just had me all for this book,

I recommend if you like the fake dating troupe, small town romances, and/or read previous books of this series and enjoyed those. If you're in it just for the Ren Faire, fair warning that the Ren Faire doesn't occur until the last 1/3 of the book or so, but honestly it was my favorite part and so worth it. :)

I recieved a free eARC via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Let me get this out of the way… I LOVE MITCH SO MUCH!

April Parker is a single mom, soon-to-be an empty nester. Which means, that after years of living in Willow Creek raising her daughter, she’s ready to sell her house and get back to her own life. She just has to get through one last Faire and one last summer, and not let anyone distract her from her goal - not even hunky kilt-wearing gym teacher and football coach extraordinaire, Mitch Malone.

Mitch is down-to-earth and easy, but he has something to prove to his family. And April Parker can help him prove that he’s more than just muscles and a pretty face, so in exchange for helping her remodel her house before putting it up for sale, he convinces April to pretend to be his girlfriend at his family reunion.

But as they pretend to be in love, real feelings develop. Will April be able to let go of her fears and learn to trust what’s real?

After being disappointed by Well Played, this was a delightful return to the world of Willow Creek. Mitch was steadfast, sweet solid, and oh-so-sexy. April had a lot of issues to deal with, but for the most part, they were understandable. It was a great return to the characters we know and love, and I would really love to go to a Ren Faire now!! 🎟 I just wish we’d gotten to know Mitch a little more!

Thank you so much to @NetGalley and @berkleypub for this ARC!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Thanks to Netgalley and Barkley publishing for the ARC of Well Matched by Jen DeLuca.
I’m so in love with this series! This is my third one in the last four days all part of the Well series.
April is a single mom who lives in Willow Creek with her daughter Caitlin. After her very short marriage fell apart because he didn’t want kids she packs Willow up and moves to a small town. Small towns just are not April’s thing. She’s laser focused on getting her daughter to 18 and off to college. She plans to sell her house and move to an apartment in the city. April has never been one for crowds, going out or socializing. But after her sister Emily moved to town and gets married to Simon, April’s world expand a little bit. She’s joined two book clubs and enjoys a night out once in a while at Jackson’s, the local bar. As a graduation for Caitlin gets closer and closer she meets with a realtor to see what should be done about listing her house for her move. The real estate agent tells her that she needs to spruce some things up. She needs more neutral paint colors, the carpet needs to be changed and the deck needs to be stained. She asked her friend Mitch for some help with the home improvements.
Mitch is a single guy who teaches PE, coaches football and baseball at the local high school. He also spends six weeks of his summer helping with that local Renaissance fair a fundraiser for the school. Mitch spent his time at the fair as a kilt wearing Scotsman. Being the nice guy agrees to help April out with her home improvement projects but he needs something in return from April. All of his cousins are highly successful people. He isn’t a doctor, lawyer or a stockbroker like his cousins are. Every time he goes home for a family event they gave him a hard time about his life. So he asked April to pretend to be his girlfriend at a family dinner. He’s hoping this will show his family then he has a good life. Well a simple family dinner turns into a whole family weekend two nights and three days at his grandparents house. But as soon as the weekend is over so is there a fake relationship, or is it?

If you have read the earlier books in the series, then you understand why Mitch is the man of my dreams. That hot man in a kilt! But as we get to know him better in this book, we also get to know the insecurities he hides under his brash self-confidence. I fell for him more than ever.

I have to admit April is not my favorite main character. It took me a while to understand some of the choices she made. But by the midpoint of the book, I wanted a happy ever after for her as much as Mitch. They are indeed well matched.

This book has fake dating, age gap, and some bits from my other favorite romance tropes. I love all of the scenes where she April works on home renovations, and I am inspired by them. Most fun of all, this book returns to the magical world of the Renaissance Faire (huzzah!).

This book and the whole series just make me incredibly happy. The author's note acknowledged how tough it was to write this kind of rom com in the midst of the pandemic and provided information on how to support some Renaissance Faire players who have lost their incomes during lockdowns. I really appreciated that and hope for more books celebrating this world.

Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy. These opinions are my own.

4.5 stars rounded up

I literally SCREAMED when I was approved for this book. Jen DeLuca's books are just delectable and this one was no different. Arguably it was even more unputdownable because we're *finally* getting April and Mitch's story. Personally I've been craving this one since I finished Book 1! But the wait was definitely worth it, as the book is full of April's journey towards commitment and oh so much steam. Plus we've got fake dating and the good ole "one bed" trope, so you're in for a good time.

*Thank you to Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review*

Jen DeLuca is literally my fave. Her books in this series continue to get better and better. I absolutely love this cast of characters, because between the banter and the setting, it's just truly such a fun and enjoyable read.

I could not read "Well Matched," the third in Jen DeLuca's Ren Faire series, fast enough. While I loved the first two, I have to say that this is by far the best one yet. If you love a sweet, fast-paced romance and small-town vibes (and of course, Rennaissance Faires), I highly recommend these books.

While I'm a sucker for all things Ren Faire, and of course I love a book with fake dating in it, it was the main characters in this one that really give it top billing. Mitch and April are sweet baby angels and I would die for them. Ok, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration, but I related to both of them so much in different ways.

April is so cranky all the time which frankly I found delightful. She has good reason to be--her jerk husband left her alone with their baby when she was a young early 20s mom, and she's been raisins her daughter alone in Willow Creek ever since. Since then, she's held on to her dream of moving back to the city once her daughter is off to college, so her real life can begin. But as that time draws closely, she realizes maybe she's let some important milestones pass her by, and now she worries that she won't be accepted by her community even if she wanted to. I really felt so much for her the entire book and just wanted to give her a hug!

Mitch is the kind of guy who appears comfortable in his skin (or his kilt--- Rarrr) 24/7. He's a confident, good looking guy who outwardly appears to not have a care in the world. But the truth is, he too worries that he won't be accepted for who he is by his own family. He's a loyal guy who would give you the shirt off his back (please Mitch--give me the shirt off your back?) and would do anything for the people he loves. I wish for us all to have a Mitch Malone in our corners.

I also really enjoyed getting to see more of Caitlin in this book and I hope that future installments we get her story too. I have been entertaining myself with trying to predict the title of Ren Faire #4 (Well Fought? Well Said? Well Seasoned?) Whatever it is, I'll be reading it.

Thank you Berkley Romance and Netgalley for the free book.

Well Matched is the third book in the Well Met series (books can be read as standalones) and it was a delight! I really enjoyed book one, Well Met, when it came out a couple years ago. I passed over Well Played last year, but I was happy to return to the town of Willow Grove and the Renaissance Faire with this book.

Well Matched didn’t start super strong for me, but I’m glad I kept with it because I ended up really enjoying it. I flew through this and would have read it in one sitting had I not started it so late at night!

Mitch is such a lovable character and I appreciated that he had much more dimension in this book. April has a big guard up around her heart and I wanted to give her a hug and a pep talk as she tried to work through the issues holding her back.

Mitch. Freaking. Malone. It’s been a while since I fell this hard for a hero. I didn’t think that I was going to love Matched more than Met, but here we are. Mitch is the cinnamon roll hero that we all love, but **better.** I loved him in Met, right from the very start. I mean, who can resists a man in a kilt with a really big sword?

I loved April since Met, and was so happy to see the hints of April and Mitch’s relationship in Played. There is something so sweet about their friendship turned romance. I felt like this book, as much as it was a rom-com, also embodied the traits of a women’s fiction, in that April grew as a character so much in this book.

As she prepared to send Cait off to college, and thought she had the next chapter of her life planned out, she has to come to realize that letting someone in might not be as bad as she thinks it would be.

Honestly, this book hit it out of the park for me. It’s got all of my favourite tropes, rolled right into one incredibly sweet book. I mean take a look at these tropes:

- Fake Dating
- Only One Bed
- It’s totally just a hookup
- Single Parent
- Age gap
- Renaissance Faire shenanigans
- Kitchen counter sex

I loved this book. LOVE LOVE LOVE. I’m obsessed. This book was perfect. Just so wonderful. Jen DeLuca, I love you for this book.

Thank you so much to Berkley Romance and NetGalley for the e-ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

I enjoyed this book and think it's a nice return to form after the second book in this series, although Well Met is still my favourite. The couple did indeed feel well matched here, and I liked how they slowly realized that through a series of regular life events — the realism is a nice addition when the bulk of the book takes place at a slightly ridiculous (but entertaining!) Renaissance Faire. In fact, I might have enjoyed slightly more Ren Faire experiences, but overall this is a solid fake relationship romance with appealing characters.

When I say I've been dying for Mitch's book for years, I'm not exaggerating. I quickly pegged him and April as a perfect pairing while reading Well Met and I couldn't have been more excited to learn that was the plan. Then I waited... (No offense to Stacey and Daniel because I adored them in Well Played.) But, THIS was the book I wanted. The good news is it was 1000% worth the wait. When I say I read it in one sitting, I mean that quite literally. I refused to do another thing until I read it cover to cover. I regret nothing. It was a fantastic mashup of friends first and fake it till you make it. Mitch is everything I wanted him to be and more and I also really liked getting to know April better. And as is often the case with series like this, I enjoyed seeing all of my faves from earlier books (Emily and Simon, especially!) again and watching as they helped move things along with Mitch and April. What a fun and swoony book!

I’ve been cheering for Mitch since Well Met and seeing April finally come around to join me on this appreciation train was a delight. Lulu next, yes?!

This series of Renaissance Faire romances by Jen DeLuca is just fun, fun, fun. The setting of an annual charity Ren Faire in the Maryland suburbs makes for a surprisingly rich and romantic setting. (Check out Well Met and Well Played) Deluca, who keeps her plots humming, brings together her unlikely lovers in imaginative ways.. In Well Matched, the third in the series, it's time for the single mom and the high school PE teacher to find each other, making a classic "fake girlfriend" arrangement for the weekend. Of course, the attraction is real but the complications pile up. Will they overcome the return of the ex and the family objections? What to you think? Keep writing, Jen!

Jen Deluca has quickly become a favourite author. I immensely enjoyed the first two books of this character series (Well Met & Well Played) but something about this one just fell a little flat. I couldn't connect to April, and I felt some of the dramatic plot lines weren't realistic/felt temper tantrumy. It's a fake dating trope, which I love! And I did enjoy/love Mitch. But I felt he deserved a little bit better than what he received. I will continue to read this author's works, and I can tell this is just a book that isn't for me, but may be for you!

Although I've loved all the books in this series, this one is my favorite so far. The older heroine dealing with sending a daughter off to college and her insecurities about herself in the dating world really worked for me, and I loved what a grouch she was. Mitch was the best, totally shameless in saying what he wanted and willing to stand up for what he needed. It was wonderful to see how much they genuinely liked one another. This one is a gem.

It is no secret I love historical fiction, especially set in Tudor England, and I have loved the Renaissance Faire ever since one of my high school best friends asked me to go. I was in love. Jen DeLuca's Well Met series does things to my heart. I have loved the first two books and when and ARC of WELL MATCHED showed up in my inbox I finished what I was currently reading and immediately started it...and then didn't stop...until I finished...at 1 am.

Mitch and April stole my heart, I love everything about them. I loved the not-so-common age difference that he was so much younger than her. I loved that she was an older heroine in general. I loved that she constantly put her daughter first and fought her feelings for Mitch so hard...and yet he still kept showing up. In today's world of swiping and next best thing, I couldn't help but feel lots of butterflies when reading about a guy who just keeps showing up and being there while the heroine works out some issues.

The added bonus of the home renovation aspect also made me keep reading. I love reading about home projects, its so interesting to me. And to round it out, the scenes at the Renaissance Faire are always such a win for me. Seeing past characters only made it that much better.

If you're a fan of the Ren Faire like me, you HAVE to read these books!