Well-Traveled by Jen DeLuca
This is the fourth book in DeLuca’s Well-Met series centered around a Renaissance Faire in Willow Creek, Maryland. This book takes us out of Willow Creek and follows the main characters as they travel through various Ren Faires. The hero, Dex MacLean, has made an appearance in the other three books, but mainly as a secondary character. The heroine, Lulu Malone, was introduced to us in the previous book, Well Matched, as Mitch’s cousin.
There is no doubt that it is a romance novel and we get all the requisite pieces of the genre, but more so than most of the other books I’ve read lately, this one really started out as focused on Lulu and where her life was taking her. Her interaction with Dex for the first 100 pages was minimal really, he is just another character circling her as she figured some things out. And you know what, I think that is one of the most refreshing parts of a series that has given us a slightly different twist on the HEA. Lulu had a lot of shit to work through before she can fall head over heels in love with a sexy, kilt-wearing guitar player. I also like that DeLuca gave us a better sense of Dex. It could have been a tough sell, he is a very one-dimensional character in the rest of the books and the one characteristic that comes up over and over again is that he sleeps with a lot of people - a girl at every faire.
This has been a great series and I have really enjoyed learning more about Ren Faires. In this one, DeLuca gives us a little insight into the psychics and tarot cards. After I read The Cloisters by Katy Hays (great book!) this fall, which involves the history of tarot cards, I am more and more intrigued by them. You can certainly read this as a stand alone, but I would highly recommend going back and reading the other three.
And finally, I must thank Jen DeLuca for keeping “Whiskey in the Jar” in my head for days. And it is the Metallic version of course, because she is a fellow Hokie!
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