Well Played (26 in 2026 #14)

Author: Jen DeLuca Title: Well Played Publisher: Berkley Date Published: 09/22/2020

Read Dates: 07/03/2026- 07/04/2026
Rating:⭐⭐⭐💫

Well Played is a single POV pen-pals/mistaken identity romance. Stacey is feeling stuck in her life in Willow Creek, and the highlight of her year is always Renaissance Faire season. As her friends are moving forward with their lives, she’s left feeling a little melancholy, and after a night out celebrating Emily and Simon’s engagement she sends a drunken message to her Faire hookup. She’s shocked when he writes back, and sets off a year long exchange of emails and texts as they get to know each other on a much deeper level. But when Faire rolls around again, Stacey is in for a surprise- her pen pal isn’t who he said he was, and she’s suddenly much more untethered than she’s ever been!

I love this author and the first book of this series was great. This one didn’t hit quite the same but it had its moments and I’m looking forward to continuing the series. I loved Stacey, the side characters, and the whole Faire experience. I struggled with the mystery man. He was dishonest too many times, and I felt like Stacey forgave him too easily each time, especially since he just didn’t seem to put in the work. I am glad that Stacey got her HEA, and I look forward to seeing cameos from these characters in future books.

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.