Well Played

„Well Played“ is the second book in Jen DeLuca’s Faire series. Stacey feels kind of lost. She doesn’t want to stay in Willow Creek, but feels like she can’t leave. She sees her friends getting married, having kids and thriving in their careers, but is nowhere near those stages in life herself. When Emily and Simon get engaged, Stacey resolves to have her life figured out by the time they get hitched and maybe even find her perfect match. She never thought her Faire fling could be the One, though. After all, Dex never was this sweet and thoughtful in real life, but his emails all but make her swoon… I adored „Well Met“ and was fully prepared to feel the same way about „Well Played“, but I do not. Don’t get me wrong, this is still a sweet and very enjoyable read, I just wasn’t able to immerse myself in the story quite as well. I like that the story mostly takes place during Faire again and we learn what happened to the characters of the previous book after it ended. I also very much enjoyed the email and text exchanges between Stacey and her love interest. After they meet again in real life, though, my feelings about „Dex“ started to become conflicted. I like him as a person just fine, but can not relate to some of the choices he makes. On the one hand he is very empathetic, supportive and doesn’t push Stacey. On the other hand he keeps getting caught in lies and giving up on them instead of trying to resolve their problems. I don’t how to feel about that. Stacey, to me, is a very relatable character and I loved her journey throughout this novel. Also, the Faire setting in combination with the focus on email correspondence make for an interesting mix/contrast. I recommend „Well Played“ to every fan of romantic comedies out there, especially those who love unusual settings.