Well Played by Jen DeLuca is OUT TODAY!

When we decided to start The Cool Table on the first day of 2020, the very first thing I wrote was My Favorite Books of 2019, so you would know where I stand and so you’d have some good reads to start the year off right with. Little did I know it was going to be the hardest year of living memory, and one of the worst for readers. Not because there aren’t good books, but in part because there are no book cons, no book tours and no book clubs. 

But we read on. At least we try to. And when we read, we read romance. That knowledge that it’s going to end exactly how the blurb says it will is the guarantee we need to keep going. Nothing feels better in 2020 than knowing it’s going to turn out all right in the end. 

One of my favorite books of 2019 was the debut romance novel by Jen DeLuca, Well Met. And here I am, nine months later, telling you it’s time to get her next romance novel, Well Played. 

Set in the same world, and indeed at the very same Renaissance Faire of Willow Creek, you will love the kilts, the kisses and the quirkiness of Well Played. 

Another laugh-out-loud romantic comedy featuring kilted musicians, Renaissance Faire tavern wenches, and an unlikely love story.

Stacey is jolted when her friends Simon and Emily get engaged. She knew she was putting her life on hold when she stayed in Willow Creek to care for her sick mother, but it’s been years now, and even though Stacey loves spending her summers pouring drinks and flirting with patrons at the local Renaissance Faire, she wants more out of life. Stacey vows to have her life figured out by the time her friends get hitched at Faire next summer. Maybe she’ll even find The One.

When Stacey imagined “The One,” it never occurred to her that her summertime Faire fling, Dex MacLean, might fit the bill. While Dex is easy on the eyes onstage with his band The Dueling Kilts, Stacey has never felt an emotional connection with him. So when she receives a tender email from the typically monosyllabic hunk, she’s not sure what to make of it.

Faire returns to Willow Creek, and Stacey comes face-to-face with the man with whom she’s exchanged hundreds of online messages over the past nine months. To Stacey’s shock, it isn’t Dex—she’s been falling in love with a man she barely knows.

Oh, it’s so good even the summary makes you feel better. Well Played is a sweet, sexy and fun read that is sure to make at least something in 2020 turn out the way you expect. 

Grab Well Played today at your favorite local bookseller!