Let me preface this with my excitement at finally getting to read Mitch and April's story! Out of all 3, this one took a me a few days longer finish, and I'll tell you why. I was VERY invested in the folks of Willow Creek going into this third book. Emily, Simon, Stacey, Daniel, Mitch, April, and Caitlin. All. Of. Them. This one was the most emotional for me. April's situation was way more anxiety-ridden that I had to put it down a few times to calm myself before continuing on. That being said, I LOVED this one the most.

Mitch was just so genuinely lovable in the first two, that I couldn't wait for his happy ending. April was so presented as mysterious and emotionally reclusive in Well Met and Well Played that I was really happy to get to know her and what she was and why she did the things she did. There was so much more to her than just a hermit/recluse not invested in the town. She went through a lot to make sure Caitlin had a good life when it was just the two of them.

A phenomenal series that I will definitely read again, because Willow Creek was so well built out and the characters were amazing.

Mitch Malone needs a girlfriend to get his family off his back. April Parker, a soon-to-be empty nester, needs helping fixing up her house to sell. An agreement is struck and should be easy to stick to. No one needs to fall in love……right?

Well Matched was one of my most anticipated reads of 2021. I have loved Jen DeLuca’s Ren Faire rom-coms since Well Met, and I was even more excited when I learned this book was about Mitch and April. Both Mitch and April have been background characters in the previous two novels, but now we get to see them take center stage. I really liked learning more about both of these characters, and it definitely helped me understand their behavior in the previous books.

I loved Mitch and April together! April had a lot of shit to work through, but Mitch was a great MC for her. This book was adorable and I just had all the feels while reading it. And the Ren Faire as a back drop is always a particular favorite of mine.

If you are a fan of the series, you definitely won’t be disappointed by Well Matched! It is the perfect light-hearted rom-com for the fall! 4.5 stars.

I received a free digital ARC from NetGalley and Berkley in exchange for an honest review.

Swoon! I’ve been waiting for Mitch’s story since book one and it did not disappoint! Fake dating, age gap, small town, these are all the tropes I love! This is kilt-wearing, gym teacher, fun guy Mitch’s and single mom, soon too be empty nester, big sister to Emily, April’s story. Dare I say, this is also almost grump/sunshine too? Yep. I dare.

I will forever adore this series simply because I’m a ren faire nerd through and through so not only am I getting a swoony small town romance but I get to feel like I’m back at the faire even when I can’t be. I really liked seeing the faire from the eyes of someone who doesn’t quite get it and still gets swept up in the magic. As someone with pretty bad social anxiety and very introverted, this was refreshing to read. I really related to how much April was worried about how she was being perceived all the time. Hello, social anxiety, my old friend. But it was wonderful to see April start to come out of her shell and of course Mitch is the perfect partner to help her do that. And Mitch’s family! They were the best (and worst). The relationship felt so balanced and I just love them.

Getting to see everyone in Willow Creek again is like a warm hug and I grin like an idiot every time I read one of these books. I picture my faire grounds every time and it just feels like home. Please let there be more!

I have read all of Jen Deluca’s Renaissance Faire books and have enjoyed every single one. I loved the relationship between April and Mitch and I enjoyed learning more about Mitch since he’s been mentioned a lot throughout the previous books. Highly recommend if you want a fake dating romance!

As a huge fan of the first two books, the third was exactly what I wanted for April and Mitch. The story culminated perfectly and was perfectly able to read on your own. I love the way April slowly melted, and I'm a sucker for the fake-dating trope. The way they fell for each other was just so sweet, I felt it through every page.

This was definitely my favorite out of all 3 so far!
And it had everything!
*friends to lovers
*10+ age gap
*trying to make it all work after divorce and a kid
*recovery after a bad car wreck
*finding yourself again after literally everything in the world that could go wrong, goes wrong.

I always love a good HEA with bumps along the way, as well as a finding-yourself-and-escaping-the-darkness-in-your-own-mind sort of story. This story will definitely stay with me for a while.

I’m always worried about continuing on with a series because sometimes the next book just doesn’t live up to the hype. I loved Mitch from the beginning so I was really hoping this book would be good and guys, it didn’t let me down! I laughed and I cried. This author knows how to give me all the feelings.

The book is told in the perspective of April. In the first two books there isn’t much from her but I did like getting to know her better in this one. She is facing a lot of change when it comes to her daughter graduating high school and an ex-husband who left her who now wants to congratulate their daughter who he has never even met. No wonder she goes to a bar and runs into Mitch who rescues her from a guy who doesn’t understand the word no.

Even though this is a romance, there is a lot of development when it comes to April. I loved seeing her grow and realize that sometimes we just have to break free and do things we wouldn’t normally do or change our plans for something better.

Mitch is a sweetheart and I love him to pieces! I can’t ever get enough of him. We are used to seeing the confident side of him and this time around there is a more vulnerable side. In those moments it was easy to understand him and I seriously loved April for standing up for him when it came to his family belittling him about his job choice. There is nothing wrong with not getting a degree that pays more. Do what you love! Success shouldn’t be determined by how much money you make. Success is also weighed differently by person and if one person loves what they do than who cares! I’ve seen this type of thing in person and it just annoys me to no end.

Emily, Simon, Stacey, and Daniel are back as side characters and I always like seeing how their lives are going. Emily and April also share a great sibling bond.

When it comes to the romance of the book, I loved it all! The plot of fake dating is mentioned very early on when Mitch asks April to be his fake girlfriend for a family affair. The banter between them was hilarious. The book is just funny in general! It doesn’t take too long for them to realize that something is there between them and I liked the journey of them finding out together even if it wasn’t all rainbows and sunshine. Relationships, even fake ones haha, have their obstacles. If you also like the “only one bed” trope then it’s just another reason for you to pick this one up!

Overall, this was another fantastic book to add to the series. I finished it in one day and stayed up way too late but it was just so hard to put down!

Okay, this might be my favorite of the series. I ADORED April, a single mom, and Mitch.

Mitch helps April when an annoying guy at the bar hits on her. He then asks her to play his girlfriend at a family event. But it goes from pretending to real REAL fast.

I always thought Mitch was a pretty boy in the first two books, but he has such depth in this one! He’s smart, caring and passionate. He has such a good attitude! And April is such a strong woman. I really liked that we got her inner dialogue of being a single mom and the anxiety she feels with dating.

These two are so cute together! You see Emily, Simon and Stacey from the first two books. I loved the banter between April and Mitch and the whole complexity of April’s ex husband showing up, too!

5 stars from me. I loved it!

Another excellent addition to this Ren Faire romance series! Loved the fake dating, the chemistry between Mitch and April, and April's emotional journey.

This is the third book in the Well Met series, all based on characters taking part in a Renaissance Faire. This installment featured the hunky kilt-wearing Mitch and single mom April who has never participated in the Ren Faire before. This is another "need a fake girlfriend" romance that leads to the real thing. Several things happen to carry the story along: April helps Mitch become more respectable to his family, April's daughter realizes that she doesn't need a father in her life, April's life plans can be changed, and Ren Faires are great places for relationships to blossom.

I have to say that I liked the first two books in the series a bit better but this was a good addition to develop all the characters further. It was entertaining and fun to read. I look forward to the next book in the series.

While not quite having the secret sauce that was in “Well Met,” this was definitely better than “Well Played.” It was nice seeing a May-December romance—or should I say April-December? Hahahaha—but it was jumbled in with April’s regrets over not being more involved with Caitlin’s and Willow Creek’s social events; self-consciousness about the scars on her leg; with some ex-husband trauma thrown inbriefly. There could’ve been a sharpness to the conflicting thoughts and emotions here that would’ve made the romantic obstacles that much more.
But I loved the book. I love the series. This book inspired me to re-read “Well-Met” for the fourth time the other day. One of my faves. Huzzah!

Well, when you pick this book up beware it's a one-day read!!!!

Jen DeLuca is at it again giving me a solid romance and Ren Faire fun mixed up in the best combo. I will say Well Matched is the one with the least amount of Ren Faire page time but the romance definitely makes up for it. Well Matched follows the romance with 40-year-old single mother April and 31-year-old kilt-wearing Mitch. Similar to the first two books you only see the story from the female POV and you really get to know April and her life with her daughter Cait as she goes through high school graduation. But then Mitch comes in with a problem and from that moment on April and Mitch keep colliding and sparks continuously fly! Fake dating and there's only one bed tropes make a beautiful appearance as well. I will say the same thing I've said in all of these books, they do feel fast. A lot of time passes over this book and it's mentioned but since you don't live it with the character it can feel a little too quick sometimes. Basically, I just want more! I really do suggest this series for anyone who just wants a good romance with strong characters and a guaranteed HEA.

April is not a joiner. She moved to willow creek to raise her daughter, has worked hard not to become too involved with the town, and plans on leaving as soon as she sends her daughter off to college this fall.
Mitch is the opposite. The handsome gym teacher/coach/ren faire volunteer offers to help April get her house ready to sell if she will agree to come as his girlfriend to a family reunion weekend.
Obviously sparks fly and soon what starts as pretends starts to feel more and more real.
I did not enjoy this book as much as previous installments in the series. The conflict between the characters seems very manufactured and silly and it was sad not to get to spend so much time at the faire in this book. In the end it was cute, but I had a harder time connecting with and rooting for the characters.

** Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. **

April has her future all figured out. As soon as her daughter heads off to college, April will put her house on the market and finally leave the small town where she's never felt she fits in. Life has different plans, however, in the form of one hunky, kilt-wearing, gym teacher Mitch Malone. The two have orbited each other's lives for years, but, after years of playful flirting, the two are finally forced to face the feelings they never realized they had.

Well Matched is a nice, fluffy read that I read through in one sitting. After waiting for April and Mitch's story, Jen DeLuca did not disappoint. Throwing together all the angst and feelings with a fake dating trope...*chefs kiss*! A perfect combination and an excellent summer read.

The Well Met series has my entire heart and I was so honored to recieve an ARC of this book! I loved being back in Willow Creek with my favorite Ren Faire crew, and really enjoyed getting to be in April's head this time around following her perspective as she gets ready for Caitlin to go away for college and learns a ton of things about herself. Mitch stole the show for me, I've been secretly hoping he'd make his entrance as a romantic lead in one of the books and he definitely stole my heart! This book has it all- fake dating, steamy romance, learning to love again, and plenty of time at the Ren Faire.

Oh, my entire heart.

This is a sweet, funny romance between April, a 40 year old single mom, and Mitch, a 30 year old goofy piece of man candy in a kilt. It's told from April's POV because Mitch, while complicated, is so open and transparent - I mean, that alone makes him the ideal book boyfriend.

And then there's the Renn Faire hook. What a treat to be able to spend time at the Faire (without being filthy and exhausted or getting heatstroke) in a time when most Faires are closed. Drums and bagpipes! Kilts! Costumes! Deep fried food on a stick! Huzzah!

And the absolute best part? WELL MATCHED is the third in the series. It works great as a standalone but you'll instantly want more, and there's more Faire books by Jen DeLuca out there waiting for you!

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was cute enough, but not very memorable. It was a pretty easy read, only felt slow in a few parts, but it definitely wasn't a page turner.

Things I didn't like:
-The pacing of this book felt off. I really like the beginning and thought it was going to be a cute fake dating trope book, but that only lasted for like 50% of the story.
-Unnecessary plotlines. The returning dad plot seemed like it was going to be a big deal for the story overall and it just kind of disappeared out of nowhere. It was an unnecessary and distracting plot and I think the story would have been stronger overall without it.
-Stubbornness of the characters. Listen, I get that the characters are going to be a little stubborn and not think that their feelings were real a little. BUT, it was so dragged out in this story that it was just frustrating by the end when they finally did wake up and realize everything was real. It felt unnaturally dragged out just for the sake of added angst.

Things I liked:
-The tropes were superior! We had fake dating, forced proximity, "there's only one bed" all in one story. All of my favorite tropes combined and I loved reading about it, I just wish those tropes carried through the entire story, instead of only half the book.
-I really liked how this story was about older characters. The main female character is 40, and the main guy is 31. It was nice to read about a relationship between actual adults, instead of the normal new adult, college aged romances I typically read.
-I really loved reading about April's relationship with her daughter and watching her send her off to college. It reminded me of my mom dropping me off at college.

Overall:
My main issue with this book was the pacing. It started out strong but the characters got together too quickly and it felt like there was nowhere else for the story to go. But overall it was a cute story that was easy to get through. Definitely a fun, quick read.

Oh boy! I was waiting for devouring Mitch’s book since I’ve read “Well Met”, irresistible sexy god in killing kilts: I fantasized the character someone between Outlander’s Sam Heughan meets James McAvoy and when I rethought that image, my cheeks got hurt because of too much grinning!

At the second book, when the author gave us impression something can happen between Emily’s supportive sister April ( whose tragic accident is the beginning of entire series ) and charm in kilt a.k.a. Mitch, I got so excited!

April finally raised her daughter Caitlin alone, who is about to graduate and leave for the college. She already gets stressed because Caitlin’s douchebag father who was never in the picture plans to reconnect with her daughter. And her decision to sell the house and move an apartment closer to her work place idea was not taken well by Caitlin. April has to deal with her silent treatment.

And Mitch… hottest gym teacher of the town is helpful enough for her house renovations in exchange a quick favor: she has to act like Mitch’s girlfriend during his grandparents’ anniversary because he’s sick of his family’s interrogation about his personal life and he wants to prove them he can be in a serious relationship like smart, mature, strong woman like her.

But when their pretending game gets out of control and what if they don’t want to pretend anymore!

Well, April is scared: she’s living secluded life, single mother, giving up everything for so long, a little mundane, always responsible one as Mitch picks up women at bars, having too many flings, easy going, flirty, sarcastic, ten years younger than him.

She may risk so much by having relationship with him. Could she live her comfort zone ? Could she be his girlfriend under prying eyes of townies?

Overall: Well- Met is still my most favorite book of the series, but I loved this one more than second book. Thankfully Emily, Stacey, Simon and Daniel stated as supporting characters. Because in my opinion, second book’s only problem was we read about two couples at the same time. There was not much differentiation between MCs and supporting characters.

I’m so happy this book only concentrated on April and Mitch’s blossoming romance. Both of them were amazing. I already loved two of them from the previous books so I’m happy to see they ended up together.

I wish the story narrated by both April and Mitch. I would truly enjoy to read his perspective, how he started to fall for April, how he dealt with his parents’ criticism about his life choices. From the beginning of the series, he was one of my favorite characters so I would love to spend more time in his head!

Anyways, it was still feel good and extra swoon worthy read and it was amazing to return back to Renaissance Faire!

Special thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for sharing this amazing digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest opinions.

Well Matched by Jen Deluca
Rating 4.25/5
Publisher - Berkley Books
Publish Date - 19 October 2021


**thank you to Netgalley, Berkley Books, and of course, Jen Deluca, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Jen Deluca has done it again. With the third return to Willow Creek Maryland, we follow Mitch and April - and all of the messy parts of a love story worth reading about. I truly cannot get over this book and all the feels I got from it.

Our story begins with walled off, older sister of Emily, April as she is dealing with all of the change coming her way. Her daughter is going off to college in the fall and she is hoping to sell her house and follow her dream to living in the big city where she works. For April, 40 is when life gets to begin and small towns are not for her. She has done her job as a single mom, now it’s her time. Who needs Willow Creek if your daughter was the purpose for moving here and now she is gone?

Enter Mitch - resident gym teacher and friends of Emily, Stacy, Simon and pretty much all of Willow Creek. One evening, Mitch saves April from an awful run in at the bar. The next thing she knows, she is agreeing to be his fake girlfriend for a weekend visiting his grandparents. Well, only if Mitch helps her work on her house so she can get it on the market. This weekend begins a love story for the ages. The two trade favour for favour over the summer, especially when April’s Ex Husband and Father of her Daughter arrives to town after 18 years of never showing up. Of course, the fake girlfriend/boyfriend troupe is present, but on top of that - it disappears quickly and is only a sliver of the story that comes back here and there. A small thread tying the two together to the beginning of their relationship. April and Mitch embark on a beautiful relationship, that is only theirs to know about.

And that is the kicker - April is a hider - she has lived in Willow Creek for over a decade and feels like a stranger in her own town. Sure, she gets out here and there, but she never really pushed herself to embrace small town life - or the renaissance faire which takes place each summer. It’s not long before April and Mitch’s relationship is tested and April realises in order for her to start over, she might need to stop hiding and fight for what she wants - and it just so happens, that might be Mitch and Willow Creek after all.

When I tell you I ADORED this book, The emotion is even beyond that. This is by far a vast improvement for Well Played, which I liked but not as much as Well Met (I don’t think anything can match that books awesomenesss) I love returning to Willow Creek in each of Jen’s books and I find that each of them gets more and more lovely. I love how the characters from previous books continue to make an appearance once they get their happily ever after.

I will say I had a few things I wasn’t a fan of in this book. For one, Mitch is a CrossFit dude? Nooooo. They are the most annoying (well besides him!). Second, I really wanted more time at the Ren Faire. It was not until about 50% into the book that we got to journey into the woods, which does make sense with April’s character but still. I did love the introduction of Lulu though, perhaps she could be the main character in book 4? ;)

I seriously hope this is not the end of my summer Willow Creek adventures because if it is, I don’t know what I could do with myself…or my renaissance outfit for that matter.

This is the third book in the well met series and all the previous characters came out for it. April and Mitch were cute, but I never felt very bonded to their characters. I will say I really enjoyed the ending, but I struggled to get in to the beginning. Still a cute story though!