Author: Jen DeLuca
Publication Date: 3 September 2019
Publisher: Berkley
Page Count: 336
Dates Read: Jan 13 – 14
Reading Method: Physical – Romance Backlog
Review
This was such a fun story! My friend @bookishlor on Instagram has been recommending this one to me for ages and I finally managed to find the time – thanks to beat the backlog!
I love the renaissance faire setting and all the quirky characters that come along with it. Simon was quite infuriating at first, but when he becomes Captain Blackthorn he was irresistible! I loved the interactions between Blackthorn and Emma (Emily wench persona).
More than the faire and the romance, I enjoyed all the other bits of the story as well. Emily is at a crossroad and doesn’t know what she is going to do with her future. She’s only in the small town world for a little while, taking care of her sister and niece following a traumatic car accident. She slowly starts to put down roots through the faire and working in a local bookshop, but her time is coming to an end as her sister starts to heal. I really loved the small town vibes and how welcoming everyone is towards Emily.
I think there are more books set in this world and I cannot wait to get my hands on them!
About the Book
Emily knew there would be strings attached when she relocated to the small town of Willow Creek, Maryland, for the summer to help her sister recover from an accident, but who could anticipate getting roped into volunteering for the local Renaissance Faire alongside her teenaged niece? Or that the irritating and inscrutable schoolteacher in charge of the volunteers would be so annoying that she finds it impossible to stop thinking about him?
The faire is Simon’s family legacy and from the start he makes clear he doesn’t have time for Emily’s lighthearted approach to life, her oddball Shakespeare conspiracy theories, or her endless suggestions for new acts to shake things up. Yet on the faire grounds he becomes a different person, flirting freely with Emily when she’s in her revealing wench’s costume. But is this attraction real, or just part of the characters they’re portraying?
This summer was only ever supposed to be a pit stop on the way to somewhere else for Emily, but soon she can’t seem to shake the fantasy of establishing something more with Simon or a permanent home of her own in Willow Creek.
About the Author
Jen DeLuca was born and raised in Virginia, and has recently swapped Florida for the Arizona desert, where she lives with her husband and a houseful of rescue pets.
She’s worked as an ice-show dresser, a wardrobe master, a makeup consultant, and a paralegal. She likes latte-flavored lattes, Hokies football, and the Oxford comma.
