Well Played is the second book in the Well Met series and after my heart-moving experience with the first book, I couldn’t wait to dive into the familiar world once more and see everything anew through the eyes of a new character and hear their story.
Stacey, first and foremost, is the biggest surprise in this book. She’s not the cheery and got-everything-going-for-her woman we had thought her to be. Her personality is much more complex than we’d initially presumed and along with this deep complexity comes her feeling of restlessness, and of desiring for more and seeing no way to seek it. She hides this side of her from the world and shows them nothing but the parts of her that she thinks the world wishes to see, so much so that you wonder whether even those close to her truly know she struggles this much.
Stacey is in a place in life that exists between stagnation and transition, which means neither is she still, nor is she particularly moving. From what I could see, she was unhappy in her life and while she didn’t regret her choices, she certainly knows they’ve turned her into the person she doesn’t particularly like being all the time. After seeing her friends move forward in their lives, she experiences this deep sadness even while being extremely happy for them, and I understood that space she was in. In one of those moments of wanting more, Stacey takes a bold step that perhaps leads to something she never expected coming her way.
The challenge with this book for me was that there were many facets of the protagonist’s life that were initially explored and don’t all have the time to be handled well. The protagonist explains being comfortable with her body, but goes through a little bit of anxiety in a certain social situation wherein her friends play a lovely role by pointing out something she hadn’t thought of. However, later on, you feel that while the heroine is comfortable with her body, she still struggles with how she looks at times and I would’ve loved to see that explored more so the reader could see the protagonist transition into being wholly comfortable with herself and loving how she looked. It did feel like many such little things had been overlooked in the face of two things: one, the scene space that the previous couple occupy in this book and two, the risky love trope.
While it’s always lovely to revisit a couple from the previous book, when that happens at the cost of the present protagonist’s growth, the overall effect leaves us a little unsatisfied and as if a large part of the story is missing. The trope chosen in this story was very risky and I do feel that it wasn’t handled well enough as the love interest in the story never felt like he was truly trying or particularly apologetic for his mistakes. I failed to feel that he was redeemed and felt sad for the protagonist because I did feel she was the one always taking that step to fix issues even when the fault was not her own. There is a lot of conversation between the protagonists, and while their relationship was growing, it felt glossed over; so sometimes their relationship felt a little unconvincing to me. There was a strange situation that helped in amping up the angst but didn’t particularly feel required and I’d rather have seen more of the protagonists growing to trust each other and make some decisions more organically.
That being said, the book is a warm read that you can start and finish in a single sitting because it’s entertaining and gripping. You’ll enjoy the rapport between the characters; you’re moved by their friendship, their love and loyalty and you’re definitely proud of the protagonist for never ever taking out what she felt on the people for whom she’d made a certain choice. The book reminds you of all the lovely little things in the world and how all of us are in search of how to balance our different wants in life and are struggling to transition.
Trigger Warnings (Spoilers!!): Cat-fishing, mild anxiety, body-issues, parent being unwell, struggle to get pregnant, mentions of loss of sibling.
Well Played is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore.
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Synopsis | Goodreads
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.
