Single mother April Parker has lived in Willow Creek for twelve years with a wall around her heart. On the verge of being an empty nester, she’s decided to move on from her quaint little town, and asks her friend Mitch for his help with some home improvement projects to get her house ready to sell.
Mitch Malone is known for being the life of every party, but mostly for the attire he wears to the local Renaissance Faire–a kilt (and not much else) that shows off his muscled form to perfection. While he agrees to help April, he needs a favor too: she’ll pretend to be his girlfriend at an upcoming family dinner, so that he can avoid the lectures about settling down and having a more “serious” career than high school coach and gym teacher. April reluctantly agrees, but when dinner turns into a weekend trip, it becomes hard to tell what’s real and what’s been just for show. But when the weekend ends, so must their fake relationship.
As summer begins, Faire returns to Willow Creek, and April volunteers for the first time. When Mitch’s family shows up unexpectedly, April pretends to be Mitch’s girlfriend again…something that doesn’t feel so fake anymore. Despite their obvious connection, April insists they’ve just been putting on an act. But when there’s the chance for something real, she has to decide whether to change her plans–and open her heart–for the kilt-wearing hunk who might just be the love of her life.
I received an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review
My Rating: 4 Stars
Ahhhh, fake dating, my personal favorite trope. Want to get me excited about a book? Tell me it involves fake dating. I’m such a sucker for it, honestly. Combing the faking dating trope with Mitch in a kilt, and you really have my ideal book!
I was SO excited to see Mitch and April paired up and have been looking forward to Well Matched pretty much since I first met the pair of them in Well Met. I loved their friends to lovers relationship in this book and was so thrilled to see that while April was unable to voice to herself or anyone else what she really wanted, she was able to stand up for Mitch when the situation called for it.
I was really unsure how the ren fest would tie into Well Matched given April’s aversion to the event in previous books, and was so happy with the way that things panned out. As an introvert, I saw a lot of myself in her as a character and connected to not only her but her struggles to get out into the world and have fun.
The only thing I was missing in this book was Mitch. This is maybe the only book thus far in the series that I really wish had been dual POV. I feel like there was so much more depth to his character than this book showed. He read much more like a supporting character to April, which is great in theory, but had me really missing him in the middle of the story.
As The Book Ends 