Title: Roll for Romance
Author: Lenora Woods, Narrated by Ellie Gossage
Length: 368 pages, 11 hours, 24 mins
Genre: Contemporary romance, fantasy, gaming, role-play
Is this book part of a series? No, this seems to be a stand alone book.
I discovered this book via… Netgalley working with Random House Publishing Group- Ballentine
Published: July 15th, 2025
Summary (courtesy of Goodreads):
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.
My thoughts:
Bare in mind, I have never played D&D so I can’t say how well the actual game play was shown here, but it seems like a good showing of the game. I love a good love story, and I am an absolute sucker of ones that explore a character’s hobbies or interests. Add to that the fact that character growth is basically my catnip and I never stood a chance here. Of course I was going to love this book. Sadie starts here in a really bad head space. You know she’s despressed, exhausted and burned out even though you aren’t exactly sure why. Noah on the other hand is sunshine and chaos. Big Golden Retriever energy and hugs. He’s charming and self assured, the living embodiment of the traveling adventurer. But he can’t lay down roots. He moves from place to place because he doesn’t want people to get bored of him. The thought nearly made me cry. He’s so sweet.
I felt like the transition from in-game to roleplay to real life was fluid and easy to follow. It was actually really interesting to see all their relationship (both with each other and the others) grow on all fronts. I loved the side characters and will physically miss them, but I can’t see there being enough content left for more than one book. There were parts here that I found charming, funny, and parts that kinda broke me. Sadie and Noah are both pretty broken, and with one another’s support, they begin to heal. Sadie can start her art again and look seriously into what she wants for her future. Noah can finally stand still. I loved how they supported eachother. Honestly, this book was just good fun while hitting all the feels. For me, this is a four star book.
As far as adult content goes, there is drinking, language, sexual content (level three spice), and discussion of depression and past trauma. Emotional health and wellness actually comes up here a lot. I liked that. While geared toward adults, New adults might also enjoy this.
I was lucky enough to recieve an eARC of this book from Netgalley working with Random House Publishing in exchange for an honest review. My thanks.
The book is out! Is it on your TBR?
Happy Reading! See you next time!
Gwen
