Jen DeLuca (Well Met; Well Played) continues her series of romances set at a charming small-town Renaissance Faire in her third book. Well Matched easily reads as a standalone, although characters from DeLuca's first two books appear as side characters in this refreshing romance.
April, a slightly curmudgeonly single mother, has been looking forward to the day she'll become an empty nester. Her daughter is about to graduate from high school, and finally April can leave sleepy Willow Creek, Md. April has known Mitch, the handsome, flirty PE teacher from the local high school, for years. Mitch is hot, cheerful and young--everything April isn't. So when Mitch asks April to be his pretend girlfriend at a family function in the hopes that his family will take him seriously, April is shocked. But she agrees, on the condition that Mitch helps her do some home repairs to get her house ready to sell.
What April doesn't expect is for Mitch to draw her into his world--suddenly she's meeting people from the high school, getting involved in the local Renaissance Faire, and finding it harder to think about leaving Willow Creek--and Mitch.
With well-drawn characters and laugh-out-loud scenes, Well Matched is a perfect opposites-attract romance. Mitch and April's relationship is sweet and the world of the Faire makes a lovely backdrop for their growing attraction. Well Matched is sure to appeal to fans of Christina Lauren or Abby Jimenez. --Jessica Howard, bookseller at Bookmans, Tucson, Ariz.