Well Traveled by Jen DeLuca

Reviewed by Sam!

What I drank prior: in case you’d forgotten, Parker is one of my best friends in the universe and he and i both had not so great days. I am in the middle of a work project that i didn’t think need micro managing and he apparently needs to move to another city in a few days, even though he moved to this one not two weeks ago. You can imagine the alcohol needed to work through this. I’ve had more than a bottle fo wine… and that’s enough to write this review

Goodreads Overview:

A high-powered attorney from a success-oriented family, Louisa “Lulu” Malone lives to work, and everything seems to be going right, until the day she realizes it’s all wrong. Lulu’s cousin Mitch introduced her to the world of Renaissance Faires, and when she spies one at a time just when she needs an escape, she leaps into the welcoming environment of turkey legs, taverns, and tarot readers. The only drawback? Dex MacLean: a guitarist with a killer smile, the Casanova of the Faire… and her traveling companion for the summer.

Dex has never had to work for much in his life, and why should he? Touring with his brothers as The Dueling Kilts is going great, and he always finds a woman at every Faire. But when Lulu proves indifferent to his many plaid charms and a shake-up threatens the fate of the band, Dex must confront something he never has before: his future.

Forced to spend days and nights together on the road, Lulu’s interest in the kilted bad boy grows as he shows her a side of himself no one else has seen. The stresses of her old lifestyle fade away as she learns to trust her intuition and follow her heart instead of her head. But when her time on the road is over, will Lulu go with her gut, or are she and Dex destined for separate paths?

The Renaissance Faire is on the move, and Lulu and Dex are along for the ride, in the next utterly charming rom-com from Jen DeLuca.

Drunk Overview: so this is not the first book in this series but its the companion novel to the others. This one is about the cousin of one of our other baes who’s an attorney. She’s living like the worst life, so stressed and overworked all in the name of being named partner. When she got the call with bad news that she wouldn’t be named partner, she was at the Renn Faire and she threw her phone into a tub of water. Our main man, a member of a traveling ren faire band, saw and became enamored and there we are. A story…

Spoiler-free Thoughts: i always love these books. The previous wasnt my favorite but like, not in a bad way, just not in a “thi sis a best book ever” way and THIS ONE was better than that.

Characters: So first we’ve got our leading man, Dex. I usually start with the lady but the man in this case is so much more interesting. He’s a bandmate and worried about what’s going to happen if/when one of the others chooses to move on to the domestic life. But,.. he’s so in to Lulu (our leading lady) that it’s hard for him to see any solution other than “absolutely not no fuckign way things have to stay how they are.” Which as you know causes all kinds of problems. He also has the reputation of being somewhat of a fuck boy and that’s also no good. I don’t quite get why it’s no good but that’s just me.

So Lulu is interesting because I think I hate her because of how close she is to me. Career driven. Hyper focused. Doesn’t care about anything but that. But then in comes this hot guy who changes your life. A hot guy who shows up AFTER you’ve already changed your own life… it’s hard to separate. It’s hard to understand that they’re different.

The side characters are always fun, but i dont want to go too much in to i because they may be the subjects of the next books!

Plot: ok so like… this sort of slower burn than the others. The others were more like instant affection with attraction but not this one. This one was like, yeah this dude is hot but whatever and then slowly they start to make a difference with each other. I love her dive in to tarot and its meaning. She also has a few opportunities to go back to her old life and they are alll handled well, without giving any spoilers. I really liked the end.

Writing Style: no more to say on this other tha, if the style weren’t great, i wouldn’t keep reading…

World Building: i have no idea who’s next. I really think i should know who the next couple is but i don’t and that’s infuriating hahahaha

What to pair it with: this goes with a four loco with OG recipe. Cause it hurts so so good.

Rating: 4/5

Until next time, we remain forever drunkenly yours,
Sam