This was just as good as the rest of the books in this series! I love Jen DeLuca's writing and can't wait to read more!

Thank you to NetGalley for approving my access to an e-ARC of this upcoming release.

Summary: For fans of the series and romance readers open to a story that emphasizes the heroine’s personal journey.

First, for prospective readers; if you are new to these works, they would be optimally enjoyed in series order; I don’t feel this title would work as a stand-alone or an introduction to the series.

Having read the previous 3 titles, I enjoyed returning to this RenFaire community and its characters; it is very immersive and in this instalment we see much more ‘behind the scenes’, with the focus on the traveling performers, rather than on the host community, and I found the details delightful. The pleasures of choosing work that you love and how to balance that against the tough things that this may entail - life on the road, economic uncertainty - added an element of realism that is often missing in stories where perhaps it is easier to write characters that do well-paid work or have a wealthy/privileged background (A ‘billionaire’ romance this is not - no penthouses, fine dining, or expensive grand gestures in this story, and I found that refreshing).

Lulu was introduced in an earlier title and I was looking forward to her story; Dex featured in all 3 earlier works, though not always in a good light, so I was interested to see how the author would work to show us a different side to his character. Additionally, I wasn’t immediately struck by these two as a ‘ship’ so I was also looking forward to the author changing my mind over the course of a slow-burn romance.

The set-up to bring the characters into proximity struck me as unrealistic - Lulu’s actions seemed so impulsive, to the point that she might have put her safety at risk, and I had trouble resolving that with the clear-thinking and driven person she would have had to be to become an associate at a law firm. After this initial speed bump, however, I enjoyed her story - and this is the core of my conflicted feelings about this title.

I felt that this book veered away from being a romance to being a work of contemporary fiction with an element of romance. Devoting so much of the story to Lulu’s personal transformation left Dex’s character somewhat undeveloped, and while they supported each other in their growth, I didn’t feel that they needed each other to grow - they weren’t each others’ catalyst for change, but rather changed in parallel.

With no Dex POV provided, we were seeing him only through Lulu’s and his family’s eyes. Given that Dex has been described as the RenFaire’s ‘bicycle’, this was a perfect setup for an updated “reformed rake” trope to play out, and while there is some sizzle, the book doesn’t devote as much time as I was anticipating to their intimate scenes. The point that Dex can be someone other than a just good-time hookup with Lulu doesn’t mean that this reader wasn’t hoping for a little more when they finally do connect.

I love Jen DeLuca's Ren Faire world and her newest one, Well Traveled, may just be my favorite. Lulu, Mitch's cousin (from Well Matched), decides to chuck her lawyer life in order to discover what she really wants. She ends up spending the summer with Stacy (from Well Played) and the the band Dueling Kilts. I loved the contrast between Lulu, who has spent her entire adult life trying to live up to her family's expectations, and Dex, who everyone sees as a dumb, sexy guitar player. Keep your eyes out for when this releases in December- you'll love it!

First, let me preface that I love this series. LOOOOOOVE this series.
I've read and listened to "Well Met" 2x each. (Or did I read it 3x?)
So I was curious about this one because, well, it's Dex getting his own book, and...
*SIGH*
The himbo didn't need his own book.

I know, I know--there's something beneath the surface. But he has already spent three books being a Cardboard Casanova, a RenBro, that it's hard to buy the transformation. (It was why the second book in the series, "Well Played," got dinged by me.)

I hate to say that already at 20% in I went to the last quarter of the book, then skimmed in between. It just couldn't hold me. And a lot of the book was simply watching Luisa's transformation, anyway. Living our dream of ditching a high-stress job to, if not run away with the circus, then run away with a Renfair troop. I did local Renfairs as a teenager, so I knew a lot of the background stuff, which maybe it was why it didn't enthrall me like it might someone else. (I was briefly wistful.)

I know there was no tension between Luisa and Dex the first quarter of the book the way there already was between Emily and Simon in "Well Met." It felt like it wanted to be a literary romance, with intimacy tossed in, rather than follow the structure and pacing of the other books in the series.

It's hard to build a romance around tertiary characters when one has stayed flat for so long (Dex) and one you've barely met (Luisa). NOW I truly believe there can't possibly be another book in this series, unless for some reason we start moving through the members of the Dueling Kilts, which I hope not.
(So so sorry again! :-( )

It was so nice to be back in the Willow Creek world! (Even if most of the book takes place outside Willow Creek.) When I read Well Matched and met Lulu, I was so sad the series was only a trilogy- and then Jen DeLuca saw right into my brain and now we have the Lulu/Dex greatness that is Well Traveled.

I really loved that we got to see life on the road this time and seeing Lulu come into her own through her time on the road/with the Faire was a lot of fun. I've been waiting for Dex to get a book so that we could learn more about him outside of his role as the 'Faire bicycle.' (Which is a fine thing to be, but I enjoyed seeing him fall for Lulu even before Lulu realized he was.)

I know this was already a bonus book technically, but I don't want to say goodbye to Willow Creek and its inhabitants! I do, however, want to go to a Renaissance Faire real bad.

If you're a fan of Jen DeLuca's Renaissance Faire Romance novels, Well Traveled is a must read. If you're a fan of great characters, good development, and steamy motorhome sex-capades, then also add this to the top of your list. Louisa fins herself drawn to a Renaissance Faire on her day off only to have a chain of events make it quit her job and take the summer traveling with a band from faire to faire. Dex is looking for more while trying to figure out his priorities and managing the family band. They both have to give up a little, but in the end they'll get a lot.

The latest in the Well Met series follows Mitch's cousin, an attorney who needs a reset from her fast paced, soul sucking life. The romance in this one is a bit of a slow burn but I enjoyed the dialogue.

This might be my favorite yet! The plot dynamics are familiar, but I enjoyed these two characters. Both get fleshed out in appropriate ways and it's nice to see the familiar faces as well.

DeLuca does it again with this installment of her Renaissance Faire series. Louisa and Dex are perfect opposites that attract in all the right ways. A lawyer reinventing herself after life throws her a curveball and a hot, kilt-wearing player who learns to let people behind the mask make for an electric pairing. DeLuca deftly weaves her way through a found family and a heroine who falls of the grid to find herself. As Dex and Louisa grow closer, DeLuca uses these intimate moments to propel the story further and to show us the depth of her characters. Filled with emotionally magnetic moments that don't feel stale or cliched, Well Traveled is a must read for contemporary romance readers.

I have been super excited about this book ever since Jen DeLuca announced that she was writing as I'm a huge fan of this series. Fun, tropey contemporary romance set at a Ren Faire? Yes please! And this book? This book is amazing. Well Met, the first of the series, has had the spot as my favorite but I think Well Traveled ties with it now. It was just so much fun and I love Lulu and her journey so much and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing Dex fall in love with her.

Readers of the series will of course recognize Dex immediately -the hunky guitar player from The Dueling Kilts and ladies man of the Ren Faire circuit who Stacey (Well Played) had a crush on for awhile. He's initially presented as a pretty stereotypical f*ckboy, but romance readers of course saw more than that in him and Jen DeLuca apparently did as well! She paired him with Louisa Malone (Lulu), cousin to Mitch (Well Matched) who is a burned out lawyer whose lost her way. So obviously she joins the Ren Faire circuit for the summer. Traveling with The Dueling Kilts, learning tarot, and slinging turkey legs is just all a part of the self discovery journey. And if she falls in love with an incredibly hot, kilt-wearing musician who wants to spend time with her over anyone else? Well, all the better.

Seriously, I don't think fans of the series will be disappointed in any way by this book. I read it in one day and was delighted by every second of it. I don't know if Jen DeLuca write any more books in the series, but regardless, I can't wait for more from her.

Thank you for the opportunity to read Well Traveled. While I did enjoy the other titles in the series, this story was just okay for me. The romance was flat and the chemistry was lacking between Dex and Lulu. I was more interested in Todd and Michelle’s long distance relationship.

This series is just pure unadulterated joy and I can't imagine Jen DeLuca ever missing. Total perfection!

Since I'm familiar with Jen DeLuca's Renaissance Faire series, I went into "Well Traveled" blind, without reading the synopsis. This is partially because I trust DeLuca, and partially because even though romances are pretty predictable, I wanted to discover as I went along instead of anticipating. I sometimes do this with movies, avoiding the trailer. Hell, I didn't even look at the cover of the book before reading!

That meant that I was pleasantly surprised with how Louise "Lulu" Malone (cousin to Mitch in "Well Matched") completely self-destructs while attending the Ren Faire and quits her job as a lawyer, mid-conversation with her boss on the phone. For anyone frustrated with their job, it's a thoroughly satisfying fantasy to play out.

Of course, that means while Lulu is regrouping, she runs away with the Ren Faire, traveling along with the band the Dueling Kilts for a while until landing back at Willow Creek. And yes, if that name is familiar, it's because we saw Stacey and Daniel's love story in "Well Played" earlier in the series, in which Daniel has a bit of a Cyrano moment as the band's manager.

So here's where it gets weird. Fairly early on, we're introduced to the various Dueling Kilts musicians, all of whom are good-looking dudes from the same family. What's odd is that it takes so long for it to become apparent who Lulu is supposed to match with. To be clear, as readers by process of elimination we can figure out it's Faire Casanova Dex MacLean because Lulu has the strongest attraction to him. And eventually it's revealed that all the other men are paired up with others. But the slow burn of this attraction is so subtle, so seemingly one-sided that I didn't feel much tension at all. For a good chunk of the novel, we're just following Lulu doing a lot of Ren Faire stuff, which includes learning that's she's good at collecting tips and organizing the tarot card readers' appointments.

Anyhow, I found that I really didn't mind that at all. DeLuca makes up for that very low and slow simmer in a rather explosive and satisfying narrative way. But I can see how that pacing may feel off for some people because we don't get as much of the anticipatory "dance." But we do get for more Faire than usual, lots of behind the scenes, more of the rhythm of the day-to-day, a better feel for the different groups. I really liked seeing more of the fortune tellers, and like Lulu, I'm a skeptic, so it was approached in a way that I found sympathetic.

I felt that I didn't get to know Dex MacLean as a protagonist that well. We know that he's underestimated and relegated to just being the pretty boy lover boy with a heart of gold, but I still had difficulty getting a handle on him. It ultimately made it more difficult to understand the chemistry between him and Lulu. I took it on faith, and I liked Lulu enough to keep reading, but he seems more conceptual than real to me.

There is an air of maturity and bittersweetness to their romance, each having gone through quite a bit in their lives and suddenly realizing they needed to change. I didn't need to read the acknowledgments (although I always do) to know this was written during the pandemic. A few rom-com authors I'm familiar with released books during the pandemic, and while a couple of them were disappointments, not quite living up to the levels of depth or humor as they had previously, one author dug deep and delivered a devastatingly heartbreaking yet beautiful romance.

This is not quite to that level, but it does tap into a bit of the feeling of the past few years, the wistfulness, discarding old habits and toxicity, the recalibration of what's important, gravitating toward something new despite fears. This installment in the series is the one that will probably stick with me the longest.

(Review based on an ARC provided by Netgalley and Berkley)