Well Played

Well Played read like a good first draft/rough outline to me. DeLuca needed to go back into the story and flesh it out, give it more detail, add to it. She has the talent, she can write well developed, consistent characters and write a good story. What I read was sort of a letdown. Due to the author's skill, it wasn't a total bust, but pretty close. Stacey is unhappy with her life. She is stuck in neutral, going through the motions. She goes to work, watches over her mother and looks at her former friends lives vicariously on social media. First, we are told all these facts which I feel is lazy writing. It is easier to give straight facts rather than show emotion. Second, reading about everyday things we all do is boring. We read to escape to better lives.Stacey is so unhappy that she does decide to do something about it. She reaches out to a former flame that she never really got to know. She decides to ask him about him. Perhaps there is something she missed. Her love interest ends up being someone else entirely. This isn't a spoiler, it is obvious by the cover and in chapter one who she talks to. Daniel starts writing back to her and our story ensues. Apart from the first email Stacey NEVER AGAIN asks him about him. She uses their writing as a funnel to complain about her life and dissatisfaction. I don't feel they develop a deep relationship. She just needed to vent. Daniel turns out to be super amazing and is willing to listen without getting anything back. To met that is unrealistic and it also made it impossible to get to know him.Once the jig is up and Stacey knows the truth, she proves to still be selfish. Rather than try to understand why Daniel did what he did, she just shouts at him and runs away. She then is peeved later that he didn't chase after her. DeLuca did good with this, they acted as their characters. Stacey is horribly self-centered and Daniel is lacking in confidence. Stacey then has to tuck tail and just forgive him. This was boring to read and it happens TWICE in the book. The SAME THING! All they needed to do was sit down and have an adult conversation. Then done, problem solved. Instead I got chapters and chapters of needless whining on Stacey's part. DeLuca really could have shown character growth with her here and let us know Daniel more with an honest heart to heart.I was bummed by this read, I expected better. I still read the whole thing, but wasn't a huge fan. The author did SO GREAT with Well Met. She must have rushed this one or had bad beta readers? MMMM. Anyway, Well Matched is coming up next and before I read this book I would have signed up immediately. Now I am hesitating on if I will read it. I have never been a fan of April and I don't think her and Mitch would pair well. If the book is all straight telling too, I don't want to waste my time.

2.5 stars*I have been really excited to read Well Played, the sequel to Jen DeLuca’s delightful debut novel Well Met because I really, really enjoyed the first book. I’m sad to say however that this book did not meet my expectations of it. We met the heroine, Stacey, in the first book as Emily’s friend and co-wench “Beatrice” in the Willow Creek Renaissance Faire. On the surface, Stacey is sweet, bubbly and loves to have a good time but she keeps a part of herself hidden from her friends and family. Even though she has a stable job and great friends and family, Stacey feels extremely unfulfilled in her life. She gave up a promising career in fashion merchandising to move back home and take care of her mom when she fell ill and has been in a slump ever since. One night, after feeling very sorry for herself, she drunkenly messages her ex-hookup, Dex MacLean. Mortified and also pleasantly surprised, she finds that he messages her back and they embark on a lengthy exchange of emails and texts, slowly falling in love with each other. Everything is going perfectly until Stacey discovers that the man she has been falling in love with is not actually Dex, but his cousin, Daniel. I enjoyed the first part of the book. The writing is pretty solid and I was hooked on the long distance romance that was developing between the H/h. The emails did a great job of building the characters of Stacey and Daniel because it felt like I was learning about both of them as they did as well. Where it fell apart for me was when we discover that Daniel has been catfishing Stacey by pretending to be his cousin Dex. Daniel has liked Stacey for a long time but never had the guts to ask her out himself. When Stacey reaches out to Dex, he assumes his identity and starts to correspond with her. This really made me angry. I felt that his explanation of his actions was lackluster at best and his behaviour quite disgusting considering the fact that Stacey shared so much of her life with him. Once we met Daniel in person, their chemistry seriously tanked for me. Maybe it’s because I’m not really partial to beta heroes and Daniel is beta to the T,but I just couldn’t get over how quickly Stacey forgave him and how he lied to her AGAIN after promising her that he had nothing else to hide. And she forgives him, AGAIN. In fact, she goes after HIM to reconcile their relationship because Daniel can’t do anything other than run when he’s caught in a lie or forced to face a little bit of emotional hardship. Stacey’s repeated forgiveness of Daniel’s cowardice and betrayal just made her look super desperate to me at the end. I personally would have preferred it if she had kicked his ass to the curb and had focused on reviving her career because that whole bit of plot was conveniently forgotten and supposedly solved by Stacey deciding to go travel with Daniel. As if traveling to various renaissance faires with the Dueling Kilts somehow fulfils Stacey professionally? Even though Daniel has complained about the vagabond lifestyle and wanting to have roots multiple times during their correspondence?Overall, I was not very satisfied with this book but Jen DeLuca is a good writer and that along with numerous cameos from the characters from the previous book is perhaps what kept me committed to finishing it.

If your into Renaissance stuff then this is a good book for you. The majority of this book is Stacey’s life at faire. I’m not into it so the book already was kind of rough for me. But I still decided to give this book a chance and truthfully I wish I hadn’t. Stacey was a big loser with nothing going for her in life and Daniel was her ticket out. When he did her wrong SHE chased him! He apologized over email and ran away like a coward and she chased him. She had no glow up, no independence, no empowering moment where she realized that she owed herself more in life and she was going to pursue her dreams. Just because you “love” someone doesn’t mean that you allow them to treat you like garbage! Stacey was humiliated by Dex and he never apologized but that’s supposed to be okay because he’s this big meathead with no brain? WTF! Daniel as well embarrassed her AND LIED TO HER not once but TWICE!! Which each time he was easily forgiven because she was just soooooo in love. Where was her self respect? or her self worth? She got none of it. This book whole book Stacey was treated like garbage by the guy who was supposed to be in love with her. If I had known that this book would turn out the way it had I would’ve never purchased it. I had 5 chapters left and didn’t even want to finish them. Such a waste of time and money. Well Played Jen DeLuca. Well Played.

After devouring book one, Well Met, I dove headfirst straight into this one. I did not stop, pass go, nor collect two hundred pounds. (Otherwise known as pop to the loo, grab a drink and have a snack...) I just clicked on the book and off I went!We met Stacey in book one and I adored her. She was just so friendly and kind. This girl lives and breathes the ren-fair but beyond that, I feel like I knew little about her so it was a pleasure getting to know Stacey outside of the Fair, from her family to her cat, in this book. Her reasons for still being in town, how alone and left behind she felt... You just wanted good things for her so it made the Dex/Daniel thing infuriating.I knew going into this book that it would give me Don Quixote vibes but I wasn't prepared for how conflicted I'd feel about it all playing out. Daniel is so likeable and he genuinely cares about Stacey (unlike Dex!) but I cannot reconcile that with him not telling her who she was actually talking to for so long... On the other hand, when confronted, he was a big boy about it. He didn't lie, he didn't hide, he owned it and he and Stacey worked through it like sensible adults! Imagine that! People actually talking things out like rational hooman beans... Unusual to say the least when most authors would have rolled with the drama.The ups and downs in Stacey and Daniel's relationship were understandable. How everything played out made perfect sense... And I adored the ending! However, I feel like this one lacked a little bit of the sparkle that made Well Met shine so brightly. I enjoyed Well Played immensely but it was missing a certain something... (And no, I'm not talking about a certain pirate... He crops up!) Regardless, it's well worth a read and I cannot wait to read more in this series! Just keep 'em coming!

I read Well Met and was excited to see that a sequel, Well Played, was out too, so I downloaded asap and devoured it.Now I'm gutted that I have to wait until the fall of 2021 to read Well Matched!This time we are still within the Renaissance Faire setting, but the focus of Well Played is on the other wench, Stacy, or Bernadette.A single woman in her late twenties, Stacey is still living with her parents, kind of. In a small apartment above their garage. Her own foray into independence, and getting out of her small home town was cut short when her mother fell ill, and she was needed.Since then, she's been in her old surroundings, unable to move, stuck in a dreary job as a dental receptionist. The only lights in her life, her cat Benedick, and the annual Renaissance Faire that she has been a part of since it started.Her love life is nothing to write home about, apart from a couple of fumbles and snatched nights with a hunk from one of the travelling acts that come to the fair.In fact, a drunken night, and reminiscing those fumbles causes her to send an ill-fated message, leading to months of texts and emails, building up to a fantastic reunion at the next faire...Or will it be?I loved diving straight back into Willow Creek, all the characters and the excitement of the local Faire, as well as wedding preparations for two of the residents.Stacey struck me as a great character in the first book, so to read a continuation from her view, was a dream.I won't go too far with descriptions, but her messaging amore is built up to be a dream come true partner, and though there are twists, he is everything a woman could ask for!Fantastic read, and a good build-up for the next one.Fall 2021, hurry up!

I honestly didn't think I could love a book as much as Well Met, but it's sequel is even better. I had such a huge soft spot for D... What a sweetheart! And it was lovely getting to learn more about Stacey.And then we get that teaser for book 3? Cannot wait!

Loved this book and the plot. Characters were awesome and I loved seeing the ones from book 1 and the set up characters subtly ready for book 3, even though it didn’t take away from Stacey’s love story...

Really good fun read, like the first book. Nice and easy to follow along with, good summer romance book x