Four out of Five Stars
One sentence summary: When Emily moves in with her sister she finds herself volunteering for the towns Renaissance Faire and playing the love interest of the stuffy and irritating faire director.
First thought: I love a good setting. Romance is known for repetitive plots, so when an author gives us memorable characters and setting, it really makes for a memorable read.
Why I read it: I live in Maryland, home of one of the biggest Renaissance Festivals in the United States (second to Texas based on my google search) and I've always enjoyed Renn Fest, so I'm here for it!
POV: First Person POV, Female, Past Tense
Setting: Willow Creek, MD
Tropes: Enemies to Lovers,
Our Heroine: Emily. I like a good new adult character. Emily has had her life upended and she's taking some time to help her sister and niece. While she thinks Willow Creek is just a way-station, she's unknowingly building a new start. She's ambitious, fun, and has a great inner monologue. I do wonder though, how many more romance heroines will work part time at a bookstore. If this was one of my early reads, I wouldn't have a complaint at all about that though.
Our Hero: Simon. I loved that we didn't get his POV in this story. His character is intentionally a bit mysterious and I really enjoyed learning him from Emily's POV. I did see some GIFs where other readers added Hook, from Once Upon a Time, and it was pretty great giving my imagination Simon his likeness.
Overall thoughts: I really enjoyed this book. It was charming with, for the most part, low angst. I loved the characters, and I'm looking forward to visiting the faire again for Well Played. There were some parts that were a bit predictable, but the unique setting and romance set up really made up for that.
The sexy scenes: Visible, but I have no problem recommending this to my aunt. The steamy scenes were well written and honestly, just right.
The best part of the book: I love a good home town book. Plus the side characters were enjoyable, so it was a great set up for at least book two!
Worst part of the book: I know this scene happens in almost every single romance, you know- the break up scene. For a few chapters, I was like OMG we might have a regular couple, that doesn't break up! But when the break up moment inevitably happened I really wished it was done differently. I understand why it happened that way, but I thought all the drama, and I'm using drama loosely, was a bit much...
TLDR: A great read with a fun setting.
How I read it: I bought this book on paperback and I can't wait to take it to Renn Fest this month for my bookstagram picture!
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