Well Matched (Well Met #3) by Jen DeLuca

|Synopsis|

Single mother April Parker has lived in Willow Creek for twelve years with a wall around her heart. On the verge of being an empty nester, she’s decided to move on from her quaint little town, and asks her friend Mitch for his help with some home improvement projects to get her house ready to sell.

Mitch Malone is known for being the life of every party, but mostly for the attire he wears to the local Renaissance Faire — a kilt (and not much else) that shows off his muscled form to perfection. While he agrees to help April, he needs a favor too: she’ll pretend to be his girlfriend at an upcoming family dinner, so that he can avoid the lectures about settling down and having a more “serious” career than high school coach and gym teacher. April reluctantly agrees, but when dinner turns into a weekend trip, it becomes hard to tell what’s real and what’s been just for show. But when the weekend ends, so must their fake relationship.

As summer begins, Faire returns to Willow Creek, and April volunteers for the first time. When Mitch’s family shows up unexpectedly, April pretends to be Mitch’s girlfriend again… something that doesn’t feel so fake anymore. Despite their obvious connection, April insists they’ve just been putting on an act. But when there’s the chance for something real, she has to decide whether to change her plans — and open her heart — for the kilt-wearing hunk who might just be the love of her life.

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|Review|

Who doesn’t love a faking dating trope or men in kilts? While no couple has yet to top Emily and Simon as my favorite ren faire couple, Mitch and April don’t really fit that category and I LOVED them even more for it. Through them we get a different kind of Willow Creek love story.

April is a single mom and has a different attitude towards dating after being burned before. She’s more closed off and older which leads to an age-gap romance. I loved her dry sarcasm and openness with her sexual pleasure. With her age she brought this new perspective and gives no *ucks attitude. Through her we also see the downside to living in a small town, which I could totally relate to. Everyone knows everyone which unfortunately means everyone is also gossiping about the things happening around town. April was this private person who wanted to keep her personal life quiet which is kinda hard to do when you’re into the towns kilt wearing player.

I adore Mitch and I’m actually really sad this wasn’t a dual POV. He’s the “disappointment” in his family of lawyers and doctors. While he may be the big man of Willow Creek, he’s the butt of the jokes with his family. Seeing April stand up for him was so heart warming. Mitch was the ultimate cinnamon roll who was down so hard for April. I found myself periodically screaming at April to open her eyes and realize Mitch’s fake dating moments weren’t as fake as she thought. It was also nice to have a male character be so open about his wants and feelings. We love an emotionally available man. Let’s also take a moment to appreciate the couple of very steamy scenes we got.

While I love the Willow Creek Faire, it was nice to have it only be a small part of the story instead of the main story. April wasn’t really involved in it or other town functions due to her single mom status. She does discover the magic of the renaissance faire in this book though and I loved those scenes.

Well Matched was such a sweet and heartwarming story. I had been looking forward to April’s story and was kind of dubious that she was being paired with Mitch, but they just work. The relationship between April and Caitlin were some of my favorites. You could tell April really loved her daughter and had given up a lot to raise her. The ending was perfection and I’m really hoping Caitlin gets her own book someday.