This was so cute and my favorite of the series! I was happy to see a single mom/age gap romance and of course I was glad to see hunky Mitch finally featured! As a mom with a daughter going off to college in less than 2 years, I related to April a lot and found myself super emotional about her daughter leaving! I only wish there had been more Ren Faire as it didn’t come up much until closer to the end. Overall a solid romcom and I highly recommend this entire series!

Single mom April Parker has spent the last 18 years raising her daughter alone. Now that she is ready to head off to college, April decides that it is time to change things up. She loves her house, but with her daughter going away, it is way to big for just her. She starts fixing it up to put on the market. Mitch Malone enjoys his life and his job as a high school gym teacher/coach. His family thinks that he is not living up to his potential. He makes a deal with April; he will help her fix up her house if she pretends to be his girlfriend at a family function. They have a lot in common and still spend time together at the local Renaissance Faire. Maybe there is more than just a fake relationship between them. This was a really cute story and I loved that April discovers that she is more than just a mom.

Yes I loved this book!! The whole story line April was amazing and I truly adored Mitch!!
April is a single mom and has been for a long time, it’s been her and her daughter Caitlin, and April has learned she can only rely on herself. Caitlin is now a high school senior and April is looking at being alone. So when the the handsome Mitch Malone whose also the local gym teacher asks her one night at the local pub, if she would be interested in pretending to be his girlfriend for a weekend, so his family will take him more serious. April agrees if Mitch agrees to help her paint and fix her house. April whose ten years older than Mitch knows nothing can happen between them, soon she begins to see a softer side to him and it doesn’t hurt that he looks good wearing a kilt at the local Renaissance Faire. The lines between fiction and reality become confusing and we soon see Mitch and April begin to really care for each other. April has built walls around her heart after her ex husband left her and Caitlin soon after Caitlin was born. Mitch is determined to show April that she can trust him and he’s not going to leave. I truly loved this book, it was the perfect romantic getaway. I enjoyed April and Mitch falling in love and their character development. Five steamy stars!

I have been waiting on this book since I read the first one. I KNEW they were going to get together! And as soon as it heard it was happening, I was so excited. I was disappointed when I saw the second book wasn't theirs, but after finally reading it, it was definitely worth the wait.

April has lived in Willow Creek with her daughter for 12 years. But knowing that she's about to be an empty nester, she's starting to get restless. Mitch has been the life of the party in Willow Creek for a long time. He's also a staple to the Ren Faire year after year, and he's the local high school gym teacher. But he currently has a few issues with his family and needs some help to get through it. This is when April enters the chat. They make a pact to help each other; April will be his fake girlfriend and Mitch will help get her house ready to be sold. That is, if everything goes the way they think it should.

The characters in this were SO. AMAZING. And I mean everyone. From the main characters to the supporting ones. Maybe it was because a lot of them had their own books already, but whatever it was, I was super impressed with how I was able to get to know the others so easily. Now don't get me wrong, they DID have their issues, but they were still amazing.

As for the story, it was filled with my favorite troupes (age gap from the woman, one bed, fake dating, friends to lovers) and I just knew that would make for a good read. But then there came one of my least favorite troupes...... The miscommunication troupe. I wanted to throw my Nook after seeing it in the book. And it really irked my nerves since she was older. I get why she was angry, but the whole not talking about her anger, like not even with her child, I was not feeling it. And although I really liked them, I can't lie, the miscommunication troupe darkened everything a bit. Not enough to DNF, but enough to withdraw a star from my rating.

I do wish we had gotten a POV of Mitch. He was my reason for wanting this series to have their book. I would have loved to see how he was coping during that ending and how he felt about her. I feel like it would have heightened their chemistry. Like, they had it, but I think it would have been better with his POV.

AND NOW THERE IS A 4TH BOOK! Is anyone else surprised that it's Lulu's book? This makes me wonder who the love interest is and if we know them already. I have to say, I'm glad there is because I am not ready for this series to end!

3.5 Took A While Stars
* * * 1/2
I went into this really hoping to love wholeheartedly. It had glowing reviews from authors I adored. Yet, there were also some reviewers who had some misgivings. In my own way, I decided to read this and just go with the flow.

Now there was an element I understood but couldn't say I had absolutely experienced to help me identify with the main character, April. I never had been a single mother, all on my own while my kids were young. I had experienced a type of handling our children, without the emotional support and day to help when my husband traveled and was away for long extended times, but in the end, I had a partner. I think this didn't cause me to not "get" our gal, I had a taste of how hard and alone one can feel.

The main thrust of this story is based on a friendship between two people wherein reverse, the woman is about 10 years older than the man. In RL, men have no issues with being that much older and it is sometimes something a woman looks for...but in society, women are still figuring out being older than one's partner should not be an issue and this was a huge part of the story.

Our fella, Mitch, needs a buffer...a fake girlfriend for a family event...a way to get the family off his case about settling down. April and he have been casual friends and when he sees a guy hitting on her at the bar, a guy who would not take no for an answer, he strolls over, slings his arm around April's shoulder claiming her as his own, and gets rid of the guy.

Thank yous were said by April, drinks had, and Mitch proposes his idea of April helping him out for this family dinner. She says she will think about it and let him know.

The deal is April is a closed-off woman. She fell hard for husband, it was perfect until she became pregnant, and he didn't receive the news as expected. Instead of open arms and happiness, desertion, divorce papers, and no rights for the daughter he was to have were what she got.

So from that experience, April moved to this town, raised her daughter, focused on work, and planned to have a new life when the daughter left for college in eighteen years. April accomplished so much, her daughter was a wonder...bright, college-bound, friendly and caring, and part of the community.

Mitch was a wonder. Mitch was the high school gym teacher, a man of the town, and a huge part of the Renaissance Faire that took place every year. Men in Kilts, all sorts of programs, a terrific event he and another teacher put together.

This book takes the reader through the experiences April and Mitch have when playing this pretend couple. It gives us insight into who they are as people, what makes them tick, and how each has an impact on the other.

I felt hard for Mitch. He alone is worth the read. I never felt he had a false step or played a game with April. He was so understanding and I wanted to be his love interest. For Real.

I had a harder time with April. As I said earlier, I can appreciate all the challenges she had to raise a daughter on her own. However, to the degree she had no interaction with the community, schools, etc. over the past years was more than surprising. To be that closed-off was extremely hard to understand. Also her inability to talk directly to Mitch about her concerns when things got more personal seemed off.

However, as much as these things poked me in the back of my mind while reading, I couldn't stop reading. It was crafted to be a slow burn, there were sexy times, fun realizations, a full arc of growth for April, and of course, the Renaissance Faire.

This was another great installment in the Ren Faire series, and I think it may be my favorite! I loved it!

Finally April and Mitch's story! Fake dating? Check. Amazing chemistry? Check Check. More Faire? Check Check Check. Loved

Mitch and April have been a long-anticipated couple for me, and there was so much to love about this book. Fake relationship + age difference + "I'm going to tell off your family for being terrible to you at dinner" + struggles that felt very realistic to these characters where they were at their relative life stages. This series also encapsulates such a visceral feeling around Ren Faires that you really feel transported there every time you crack open a new installment. And NOW we're getting a surprise fourth book?! We keep winning, honestly.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Fake dating, men in kilts , older single mom in her 40’s and a swoon worthy hunk.
You’ll find all that & more in Well Matched. This is the third book in the series and I really enjoyed the age difference in the main characters. I also enjoyed the way the tropes within tropes were weaved in. It was nice to see how Mitch and April supported each other especially around Mitch’s family. This book can be read as a stand-alone but trust me you’d want to read the first two. It was a joy returning to Willow Creek and the Renaissance Faire!

Did someone say fake dating?! This is my favorite of the series (so far). I loved the little age gap, the ways the characters were forced to keep up the fake dating facade, and the chemistry between the two. I love Mitch and April!



😍 loved || 💋 some scenes

🤟fake dating, one bed, age gap

📚The Real Deal by Lauren Blakely

🎶Fallin’ All In You by Shawn Mendes

📺Younger #TeamJosh


💬What is your favorite Halloween candy?

This was such a good read. I absolutely loved the first two and couldn't wait for this one! Highly recommend this one!

Having read the other 2 books in this series I really enjoyed this story. I do wish there had been more “Faire” in it as I loved the Renaissance Faire setting in the first 2 and was looking forward to more Faire fun in this one. I would have loved to see April become a little more engrained in the Faire, maybe choosing a different part to play and really getting into it… but, I get that it was never really her thing. This story was cute and I loved seeing the depth of Mitch’s character and meeting his family. I really hope we get a 4th book… maybe Caitlin brings home a friend from college and introduces them to Faire life in her home town… and they fall in love… maybe… Jen… can we make this happen? :)

I love Jen DeLuca and her style of romance feels real and comfortable. You love the characters and their experiences. Mitch was the guy next door I wanted in my life. And April's emotional drama was real on so many levels. You cheered when they had compelling moments and your blood pumped when you yelled at them very making very human mistakes. A satisfying and perfect end to this wonderful trilogy!

Well Matched by Jen DeLuca is the third book in the Well Met series- “An accidentally in-love rom-com filled with Renaissance Faire flower crowns, kilts, corsets, and sword fights.” It is the story of April who has focused only on raising her daughter in Willow Creek for a long time now, but dreams of escape to a bigger city. It is also the story of Mitch Malone, an all-around great guy and everyone’s friend. He has some issues with his family and asks April to pretend to be his girlfriend during a family weekend, which turns into more. At this point, April must decide if her dreams have changed.

I found April to be very relatable and loved Mitch’s vulnerability. Overall, I enjoyed the novel very much and initially hadn’t felt like I was missing any important information by skipping the first two books. I felt that the relationship between April and Mitch was very physical and not so in-need of a lot of additional background. However, my fellow buddy readers did convince me that I may have missed some of the dynamics in other relationships between April and Mitch and the other characters. The major consensus was that one should at least read the first book, Well Met, to completely understand the world of Willow Creek and it’s Renaissance Faire.

I was thrilled to see that I got an advanced copy of this book, the Well Met series has such a special place in my heart, and the third installment just further cements that.

This book starts off with a bang, and I was smiling like an idiot not four pages in. Not only is the fake dating trope established right away, but the sexual tension between Mitch and April is there from the beginning. Seeing as how both leads are characters we have come to grow and love in the last two installments of the series, starting off at a sprint not only makes sense, it is refreshing.

I have always resonated with the narrators in Jen DeLuca’s books, but something about April just hits different. Her journey is one of my favorites out of the characters in this series, and while I knew that she was never going to leave Willow Creek, it was fun to see her come to that realization throughout the story. Her transformation from outcast to an active member of the community felt so natural, and the fact that the community welcomed her fully without her entirely realizing it was so heartwarming. Not to mention that so much of what April went through in the book, like her desire to belong, her struggles as an introvert, and her anxiety in social situations were things I related to on such a deep level. The scene where she decides to fully embrace the faire is one of my favorites of the whole book, not only for Mitch's reaction to her transformation, but for how April sought out Stacey's help, and how Simon walked her to go find Mitch. One of the best parts of this series is the small-town family that is Willow Creek, and seeing characters that I absolutely adore from the first two books bonding and interacting with April filled me with so much joy.

This book once again establishes what an amazing guy Mitch is. I loved him in the first, even more in the second, and somehow, impossibly, this third installment made me love him even more. It was evident from the beginning of the series, but there is so much more to Mitch than his appearance. The way he holds his players accountable when they say something offensive, the way he is so in tune to April's feelings, so much so that he doesn't need to ask, he just knows when she needs help with something, made him one of my all-time favorite book boyfriends. Mitch and April are absolutely perfect together. I knew it when I first got more of their interaction when I read Well Played last November, I knew it even more when I reread it this weekend, and it became an indisputable fact not five pages into their book. They are so fiercely protective of each other, whether it's April standing up for Mitch when his family talks down to him, or it's Mitch comforting April with her social anxiety, and standing up for April against her ex-husband.

Oh, and don't let me forget; this book has the trope that is quintessential for every fake dating story: the infamous "only one bed", and it is played to perfection.

So yeah don’t walk, RUN to go pick up this book (and the other two if you haven’t read them already, trust me you NEED these books in your life) and believe me when I say I will be waiting (not so patiently) for the next book in this series!

It is so refreshing to read a romance where the heroine is the one with her guard up and holding the relationship back. I love a hero who dives head first into love but I especially love when it’s a misunderstood hero.

Mitch was EVERYTHING in this story. There is just something I find so attractive about a man who dedicates his life to working with kids and who doesn’t take himself too seriously. I just hate that the people around him made him feel like he was anything less than amazing.

Don’t get me wrong, I like April too and understood her reluctance to let herself fall for someone, especially a younger, sexy someone who seems like he can, and has, had his pick of any woman. I just hate how long it took her to see what Mitch was feeling for her and how letting go and putting herself first once in a while was a good thing.

It was great to return to the Re Faire and revisit the couples and characters from the previous books. Every time I read one of these books I want to kick myself for never having gone to one.

I just love everything about this series and Jen DeLuca’s ability to tell a story and creat a world that I want to live in. I highly suggest reading all three of these books!

*I received an ARC from NetGalley for voluntary review

I. Love. This. Series.

It should be terrifying how easily I find ways to relate to all of Jen’s heroines. First Emily, then Stacey, and now April. But it really just feels like coming home with each read.

When this series started I definitely hoped that Mitch would get his happily ever after. But NEVER would I have expected it to be with April. And now I wouldn’t have it any other way. They are just perfect for each other.

Fake dating! Ahhhh! One of my absolute favorite romance tropes. And with a side of only one bed? Sign me up! Jen hit so many great tropes with these two that it’s almost impossible to set this one down. We also got single parent, love after 40, older women… sigh. Just so much to love.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Romance for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Full disclosure: I thought the first in the Well Met series was super fun and loved the romance, but had a harder time connecting to the couple in the second installment. Going into this third book, I was super hopeful for some of the same sparkle I experienced initially and am happy to report that it did indeed shine!

I loved heading back to the ren faire to see what new couple author Jen De Luca had for us next. Remember that guy with the kilt?? The flirty one with the Scottish brogue?? Yeah, he’s the guy in this one and it’s fantastic! I also loved that the female lead’s story isn’t typical to this genre and enjoyed the different stage of life representation that April brings to the mix. I look forward to more ren faire romance in the future!

Well Matched by Jen DeLuca, book three in her Well Met series, is an enjoyable story of a single mom, April Parker, about to become an empty nester, and a younger man, Mitch Malone, well liked by the residents of their quaint town. April is ready to move away and start fresh in a new location, now that her daughter is about to go off to college. Before being able to sell her house, she asks her friend, Mitch for his help with some of the home improvements she needs. Mitch asks April to pretend to be his girlfriend for a family reunion dinner, that soon becomes a weekend affair. April is dealing with many life change; her daughter, Caitlin, leaving for college, trying to figure out if she should indeed move to a bigger city and a condo, or stay within the community she's built, even if it was accidently. April is a mama bear, protecting those she cares about. When she witnesses the way Mitch’s family treats him because he chose to be a teacher, she goes all outs, conveying, in detail, all of the wonderful contributions he makes to their community. Just when you thought April and Mitch could keep up their charade; they decide to give in to the chemistry sparking between them and the magnetic attraction pulling them together. At least until they don’t. April is transitioning from one season of her life to another, and allowing her preconceptions about Mitch to be influenced more by her own fears than the man he truly is. Add in a Renaissance Faire, flower crowns, kilts, corsets, sword fights, friends, and family and April will have some serious decisions to make about her future.

Ms. DeLuca wrote a wonderful, emotional, humorous story that reverses tropes and should not be missed. She provided a tale rich with sizzling chemistry, humorous banter, and charming secondary characters helping April and Mitch take a chance on love and a future together. I highly recommend Well Matched to other readers.

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book.

With its wonderful characters and magical Renaissance Faire backdrop, I’ve been enjoying Jen Deluca’s contemporary romance series, Well Met, so much. April and Mitch, two of my favorite secondary characters from the previous books, have undeniable chemistry, so I was beyond excited to learn that Well Matched, the third book in the series, would bring them center stage and that the fake dating trope would be involved.

April is such a fantastic character. She’s a forty-year old, single mom who is used to doing everything herself. I really admired her sense of independence. As she says, it has always been just her and her daughter, Caitlyn, against the world and she likes it that way. She has big plans too, now that Caitlyn is heading off to college. It’s time to sell the house, leave Willow Creek, and have a fresh start somewhere else.

Even though she has no plans to stay in town and no interest in romance, she can’t help but admire Mitch Malone, the high school gym teacher. Mitch has a reputation for being a lady’s man and also for wearing a kilt every year at the Ren Faire that shows off his attributes. April can’t deny he’s easy on the eyes, so when he asks her to be his fake girlfriend at a family function to appease his grandmother, who thinks he’s never going to settle down, April agrees in exchange for him helping her with some work on her house.

April and Mitch’s journey together is a bit of a slow burn. It’s clear they are attracted to one another but April fights her attraction every step of the way, in part because of Mitch’s reputation and in part because she’s leaving anyway. Friends with benefits, yes, but an actual future together, nope. I loved watching their relationship evolve, especially as they get to know each other better and April realizes there’s a lot more to Mitch than she had previously given him credit for and finds it harder to fight her attraction to him. I thought DeLuca did a wonderful job of portraying April’s struggle over whether to follow her head or her heart and couldn’t wait to find out which path April would decide to follow.

I also had a great time being back in Willow Creek. I’m always captivated by the magic and charm of the Ren Faire setting and loved that I got to see beloved characters from the first two books in the series and see what they’re up to. I became so invested in these characters that it was like visiting with old friends and I truly loved that feeling.

If Ren Faires, sexy men in kilts, single mom protagonists, and fake dating are your jam, then you definitely want to check out Well Matched. 4.5 STARS.