All's faire in love and war for two sworn enemies who indulge in a harmless flirtation in a laugh-out-loud rom-com from debut author Jen DeLuca.
Emily knew there would be strings attached when she relocated to the small town of Willow Creek, Maryland, for the summer to help her sister recover from an accident, but who could anticipate getting roped into volunteering for the local Renaissance Faire alongside her teenaged niece? Or that the irritating and inscrutable schoolteacher in charge of the volunteers would be so annoying that she finds it impossible to stop thinking about him?
The faire is Simon's family legacy and from the start he makes clear he doesn't have time for Emily's lighthearted approach to life, her oddball Shakespeare conspiracy theories, or her endless suggestions for new acts to shake things up. Yet on the faire grounds he becomes a different person, flirting freely with Emily when she's in her revealing wench's costume. But is this attraction real, or just part of the characters they're portraying?
This summer was only ever supposed to be a pit stop on the way to somewhere else for Emily, but soon she can't seem to shake the fantasy of establishing something more with Simon or a permanent home of her own in Willow Creek.
Emily finds romance as a Renaissance Faire wench in this cute, if not well executed, romance novel.
I was excited to read this book – what could be better than reading about a couple falling in love during Faire? The story did an okay job creating the atmosphere and setting for Faire, but it didn’t do enough to create a connection between Claire and Simon. They didn’t have enough meaningful or impactful interactions at the beginning of the novel to justify their feelings at the end. Their chemistry is probably the only reason I enjoyed their romance.
The best part of this novel is Claire’s journey as a woman, a sister, and a friend. She starts the novel insecure with herself and her circumstances, but she slowly grows into a more confidant and happy person as the story moves along. I think this story would have been more enjoyable to me if it had been marketed as women’s fiction.
tl;dr While the Faire setting was charming, the couple failed to live up to expectations.
