Well Met by Jen DeLuca

 Well Met by Jen DeLuca is that classic story of boy and girl fall in love at a Renaissance Faire.  I kid, I joke.  I've never read a romance novel with that setting and it was absolutely adorable. Emily has moved to Willow Creek to help her sister care for her teenage daughter after her sister was in a bad car accident. It just so happens that Emily just had a bad breakup and this was actually pretty fortuitous timing. Emily's niece Caitlin wants to participate in the Renaissance Faire, but it turns out that she needs to have an adult volunteer with her, so suddenly Emily's going to history lessons, getting crammed into period costumes, and has run-ins with Simon, the grumpy guy who runs the Faire.  

Interesting characters: Sure. I thought it was charming that both Simon and Emily were literature nerds. I also thought the writing of the three female side characters - the sister, niece, and coffee shop owner - were nicely developed and I loved the interactions among them. The ability for a romance novelist to write female relationships well is not to be taken lightly. I liked how the niece was in the book, but didn't come off as a precocious child the way so many do in romance novels (*ahem* Seven Days in June *ahem)

Believable conflict: This was, for my money, the best part of the book. There was a lot of miscommunication, but the character actually thought about the miscommunication. We got a lot of internal dialogue about why she didn't want to have difficult conversations and it was so refreshing. I just really liked this part of the book. I also liked that when Simon said something stupid, Emily was tempted to apologize for her reaction, but her sister told her to stand up for herself.  It was great advice, Emily took it, and the relationship was better because of it.  Thumbs way up here.

Emotional tension: Oh, this was a slow burn. If you like that, this will work for you. If you don't like a slow burn or enemies to lovers, this will not work for you.

Happily ever after: These kids are going to make it.  I feel pretty confident.