Well Played by Jen DeLuca

e-Audio, 09:59:42
Narrated by: Brittany Pressley 
Release Date: September 22, 2020
Published by: Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group
Read from: November 26-30, 2020
Well Met, #2
Source: Library
TW: 
For fans of: Contemporary Romance, Adult, Family Diversity, e-ARC, Realistic Fiction

      Stacey is jolted when her friends Simon and Emily get engaged. She knew she was putting her life on hold when she stayed in Willow Creek to care for her sick mother, but it’s been years now, and even though Stacey loves spending her summers pouring drinks and flirting with patrons at the local Renaissance Faire, she wants more out of life. Stacey vows to have her life figured out by the time her friends get hitched at Faire next summer. Maybe she’ll even find The One.
     When Stacey imagined “The One,” it never occurred to her that her summertime Faire fling, Dex MacLean, might fit the bill. While Dex is easy on the eyes onstage with his band The Dueling Kilts, Stacey has never felt an emotional connection with him. So when she receives a tender email from the typically monosyllabic hunk, she’s not sure what to make of it.
     Faire returns to Willow Creek, and Stacey comes face-to-face with the man with whom she’s exchanged hundreds of online messages over the past nine months. To Stacey’s shock, it isn’t Dex—she’s been falling in love with a man she barely knows.
     Another laugh-out-loud romantic comedy featuring kilted musicians, Renaissance Faire tavern wenches, and an unlikely love story. 

BETWEEN THE COVERS!

*This book is part of the new adult contemporary romance genre! It is more mature than YA. I have featured it in Between the Covers as a way to feature the few Adult and New Adult titles I am beginning to read!”

*MY THOUGHTS*

Immediately after finishing Well Met I knew I needed this book too. And now after reading it, I’m glad to see I was right. This series is fast becoming a favorite of mine. Well Met is still my favorite, but this one was definitely good too.

When Stacey’s friends Simon and Emily get engaged, she’s thrown for a loop. She knew she had put her life on hold, but she didn’t realize it until she saw everyone else was “passing her by.” She vows to get her life figured out, which includes finding her “Simon.” She reaches out to her long time hook-up Dex via his Facebook in the hopes she can convince him that they can be more. But nine months later, it turns out she hasn’t been speaking to Dex at all…..

The number one best thing about this audio was of course the narrator. Y’all Brittany Pressley is the GOAT. I love listening to her. She has the best voices for all the different POVs in the stories she does. They always turn out so good. I always get so excited when I see her name on e-audios.

Ok as for the book, I really liked the plot. It’s just something about contemporary romances and the way they actually reflect the “right now.” This is DEFINITELY something that could happen today and although I hated it for her, I enjoyed reading about it. And even though I figured out who it was when they were introduced, I was still excited to see the reveal. (Messy I know lol)

The romance itself was very cute. I liked it, but it was also the reason I didn’t give this 5 stars. I liked the love interest, but for that person to have been the one in the wrong, SHE was certainly doing a lot of apologizing and running after them. I think I would have liked it more had they done more groveling because after the stunt they pulled? She deserved it. Like I don’t think the grand gesture should have been up to her. But that’s just me. I mean I’m all for girl power, but I still think she did the most when they did not.

The next book is the one I’m waiting for though. I think that one will be the one that tops even Well Met for me. I wanted this book to be about them, and when it wasn’t I was sad, thinking it wasn’t going to happen. And then when I found out it still would, I literally happy danced. And the things that happen in this book made me really anticipate what will happen to them.

This series is one of the cutest. In this one, the romance is sweet and the characters are cool. It wasn’t my favorite, but that was probably because of the lack of a broody pirate. (For the most part.) I can’t wait to see what DeLuca has ready for the next book!

Overall, I give this