Jen Deluca's Willow Creek Renaissance Faire series that started with WELL MET (Emily and Simon) and WELL PLAYED (Stacey and Dan) continues with Mitch and April's happily ever after. This is a romance set in a small town that puts on a Renaissance Faire every summer. In book one, Emily came to town to help her sister, single mom April, after a debilitating car accident and fell in love with high school English teach Simon who runs the Ren Faire. Through all the books, Mitch is the hot gym teacher who fights in the living chess match in a kilt and oozes sex appeal.
A fake dating story develops when Mitch asks April to be his date for a family dinner. As a quid pro quo, Mitch helps April fix up her house to get ready to go on the market to fulfill her dream of moving out of the small town once her daughter leaves for college and she's an empty nester.
With each turn of the virtual page, I fell more in love with Mitch and April as the story revealed his family dynamics and the basis for her insecurities. The book can be read as stand-alone but we get to see all our favorite characters from the other books. Highly recommended.
A pretend relationship gives two friends more than they bargained for in a Renaissance Faire rom com filled with flower crowns, kilts, corsets, and sword fights.
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...and it 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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