ARC Book Review: Well Traveled (Well Met #4) by Jen DeLuca

Rating: ★★★★☆
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 336 pages
Author: Jen DeLuca
Publisher: Berkley
Release Date: December 6th, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

The Renaissance Faire is on the move, and Lulu and Dex are along for the ride, in the next utterly charming rom-com from Jen DeLuca.

A high-powered attorney from a success-oriented family, Louisa “Lulu” Malone lives to work, and everything seems to be going right, until the day she realizes it’s all wrong. Lulu’s cousin Mitch introduced her to the world of Renaissance Faires, and when she spies one at a time just when she needs an escape, she leaps into the welcoming environment of turkey legs, taverns, and tarot readers. The only drawback? Dex MacLean: a guitarist with a killer smile, the Casanova of the Faire… and her traveling companion for the summer.

Dex has never had to work for much in his life, and why should he? Touring with his brothers as The Dueling Kilts is going great, and he always finds a woman at every Faire. But when Lulu proves indifferent to his many plaid charms and a shake-up threatens the fate of the band, Dex must confront something he never has before: his future.

Forced to spend days and nights together on the road, Lulu’s interest in the kilted bad boy grows as he shows her a side of himself no one else has seen. The stresses of her old lifestyle fade away as she learns to trust her intuition and follow her heart instead of her head. But when her time on the road is over, will Lulu go with her gut, or are she and Dex destined for separate paths?

Thank you to Berkley and Netgalley for an eARC.

ADORED.

Good heavens, I LOVE THIS SERIES. I flipped out when my ARC approval came in and it did NOT disappoint.

I looooooved Dex. He was a rake with a soft side. There were perfectly well written moments of the way he looks at Lulu. The many times he leaned in to give her little forehead/hair kisses. How he pulled her into him anytime Lulu was near just to have her close. I CAN’T HANDLE THESE SITUATIONS. I am a puddle. It was the SWEETEST. What really makes a romance for me are all of those subtle moments. The moments where a character is saying you’re mine, I’m yours in that tender, loving way that encompasses all they’re feeling.

My tiny tidbit would be that there wasn’t very much romantic development until the halfway point. I would have even been cool with some good flirting and banter. But I gotta give it up to that second half. It really sealed the deal on this relationship.

I also really liked the journey that Louisa went on. From a mental breakdown at a Ren Faire, to finding a balance between work she was actually happy about doing and life around her, it was everything I love in a female main character. Going off the grid was a fun concept and I love how she just went for it. Lulu was all in for her summer fling and everything it came with.

I’m realizing I could just keep going with everything I loved, so I’ll say it again now, READ THIS SERIES [note*: not necessary to read the others, but it does help you get good background because all previous couples make an appearance here!!]. This book had it all and gave me the best feelings.

Overall audience notes: