Roll for Romance

A Novel

By: Lenora Woods

Narrated by: Ellie Gossage

Two fledgling tabletop gamers find themselves falling for each other—both in and out of their weekly D&D sessions—in this cozy, fantasy-tinged romance.

“Sweet, charming, and wonderful!”—Sarah Beth Durst, author of The Spellshop

“The perfect entry point for readers with only a cursory knowledge of the iconic fantasy game, [with] parallel narratives that really make the novel sing.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

When Sadie Brooks unexpectedly loses her marketing job, she flees New York City to spend the summer with her best friend in small-town Texas, where joining his Dungeons & Dragons campaign is the perfect distraction while she plans her next steps.

In the game, she becomes Jaylie, a powerful human cleric blessed by the Goddess of Luck. But in real life, Sadie believes her luck has run out—until she meets Noah Walker, the outgoing bartender roped into joining their party as Loren, an adventurous and charismatic lute-strumming elf. Just as 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 wonders if what they have might last beyond the game. But like his traveling bard character, Noah never stays in one place for long. When a new opportunity arises in New York, Sadie 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.

Engaging characters and story

Memorable characters anchor parallel storylines that progress steadily and ultimately converge in a satisfying way. Well written Lenora Woods!

Story

The story was amazing I wish it was dual pov cause that would’ve been better but there were a few plot twists I wasn’t expecting and I overall liked it a lot

Surprising good!

Things I liked: D&D gaming as a background storytelling setting, (I actually wished for more stats & character RPG mechanics). And I liked how the author woven-in the the narration from their D&D character's POV with IRL living and story. Very cute romance story.

More of a slice of life book

I was expecting a more deep dive into the DnD campaign storyline than just the female leads slice of life story. The storyline was pretty good but it does focus a lot on the internal conflict. Also am more of a spicy scene kind of woman and this doesn't really have that, except for the last few chapters and it happens once. In all 3 stars for me as I was expecting more of a even balance of both slice of life and DnD roll play but that didnt happen. However, if you personally are into a slice of life then this is for you.

Interesting Premise, Execution Didn't Work For Me

⭐⭐
🌶️🌶️ (One Open Door Scene)

I wanted to like this book more than I did ultimately. I don’t know what it was that didn’t grip me but I just never felt the spark of romance between the two characters. It felt like we never really got to know Noah as a person and there was no real conflict with him either in his life or with the FMC. It felt like he was just kind of there.

The book goes back and forth between their real life and the DnD campaign they’re playing in as a kind of Fantasy novel and it just didn’t land for me.

I just… don’t know; it never got me invested in either story line. I cared about Sadie and her journey to decide to return to the city and a job that is secure but doesn’t make her happy or take the plunge and live without a plan. I think it would have benefited from Noah having a similar storyline.

Loved the narrator as always; they got someone who could do a range of accents for the DnD characters that I thought was a nice touch.

✩₊˚.⋆☾𓃦☽⋆⁺₊✧
Pre-Read: Thank you to Netgalley, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Dell and Lenora Woods for the e-ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review! I am excited for an adult take on finding love at a DnD table, the cover immediately caught me and I have been loving these one-off contemporary romance lately!