Even though it’s been a while since I played myself, I love reading stories that incorporate Dungeons and Dragons in one way or another. So when I saw Roll for Romance, I knew I needed to read it. Today I want to tell you about this book and what I thought.
A big thank you to Netgalley and Dell for providing me with an eARC to read and review. This doesn’t affect my opinion in any way.
Two fledgling tabletop gamers find themselves falling for each other—both in and out of their weekly D&D sessions—in this charming, fantasy-tinged romance.
For years, Sadie Brooks has declined her best friend’s standing invitation to join his Dungeons & Dragons campaign. But when she unexpectedly loses her marketing job and flees New York City to spend the summer with him in small-town Texas, she also runs out of excuses to say no.
In the game, she becomes Jaylie, a powerful and self-assured human cleric blessed by the Goddess of Luck with spells to heal her companions. But in real life, Sadie believes her luck has run out, and she hopes the distraction will give her time to clear her head and plan next steps.
She never expected Noah Walker—the handsome, outgoing bartender roped into joining them—to factor into that plan. Like Sadie, he’s new in town. But with a taste for adventure, Noah never stays in one place for long. He’s something of a traveling bard—just like his character Loren, the charismatic, lute-strumming elf. While Jaylie finds herself succumbing to the bard’s charms over the course of their party’s travels, Sadie also begins to fall under Noah’s spell.
As their relationship progresses in both worlds, Sadie can’t help but wonder if they might last beyond the game. But when a surprising new opportunity opens in New York, she must face the truth about why she lost her job in the first place—and whether she and Noah have found something in Texas worth staying for. Torn between her career dreams in the city and the exciting uncertainty of a new adventure, she will have no choice but to roll the dice.
Review
I saw that Roll for Romance was described as a heart-warming debut and I totally agree with that! Roll for Romance had me hooked from the start. I laughed out loud, swooned, and wanted to hug all of the characters now and then. The way the author incorporated D&D was a pleasant surprise and made it hard to put this story down.
Sadie ends up at her best friend’s house in a small town in Texas when she ends up losing her job and needs some time to process. We only know that Sadie was overwhelmed and she’s just not sure she sees herself in marketing anymore. So a summer exploring things she loves seems like the best way to move forward. Sadie was an interesting character. She really felt like she had to make a certain job work and couldn’t do what she loved as a job. I appreciated her taking a chance on herself with this time off and thinking about what she wanted. Participating in D&D and trying new things definitely opened up a whole new world for her.
Noah is one of the people who join her best friend’s campaign and he definitely catches her eye. He’s such a free spirit and I think that makes Sadie really open up and feel like she can try new things. I will say I think Roll for Romance would’ve been a five star read for me if we had Noah’s POV at least for a few chapters. I’m someone who really needs dual POV in my romances.
We can’t forget the D&D campaign! I loved how the author incorporated the story and instead of just telling us about things that happened, we actually got to read some of the sessions. I haven’t played in a while myself, but I loved learning about the characters in this campaign. Especially when Noah and Sadie take some one on one time to explore their fictional characters even more.
And last but not least, we can’t forget the side characters in this story. I honestly believe that everyone needs a best friend like Sadie has. He supported her no matter what and knew she’d go to him if she needed him. Even just the little signs of love by having her do little chores to get her out of the house really warmed my heart. Also, the characters who join the campaign are all fun and I enjoyed seeing friendships blossom.
Roll for Love is indeed a heart-warming debut and I really hope the author writes many other books like this in the future! I will definitely read them.
Roll for Romance is Lenora’s first book and I really hope she writes many more! Are there certain things you love seeing in books? Let me know in the comments. I’d love to hear from you.
