I LOVED this book. The dynamic between fmc & mmc was perfect. The friend group was so sweet & supportive. I think the journey of growth we see Sadie go through is so realistic. I felt all of the emotions alongside her. Such a great story!!

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House - Ballantine, Dell and Lenora Woods for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed Roll for Romance. I pre-ordered a paper copy for my bookshelf in order to support the author and so I can display my book trophy.

Roll for Romance is the story of Sadie, who is currently going through a quarter-life crisis after losing her job. Leaving the Big Apple, she lands in small town, Texas where her best friend lives in order to recuperate and decide what is next. Liam, the best friend, enjoys role playing and gets together a group of locals to play Dungeons and Dragons with him as Dungeon Master. This is where Sadie meets Noah, a traveling nomad who has adventures all over the United States. Their romance plays out in game and out of the game through the rest of the book.

I thought it was well written and did a beautiful job of blending in game Dungeons and Dragons play with the story itself, creating dual timelines where the main characters and their DnD characters were falling in love. The book was atmospheric with good dimension and solid settings that were picturesque and new. I felt immersed in their game play and involved in the budding romance taking place both during play and during the story taking place in real life. Lenora did a great job fleshing out the characters and making each and every single character memorable and lovable from the other DnD players to the role-playing characters themselves.

My favorite line of the book (not a spoiler) is one of the most relatable sentences in the English language, I feel. "Liam and I are sluts for Chilis." I got chills. I related.

I recommend this book. It was enjoyable and a fun read!

I was craving a romance and a fantasy, and this book fulfilled both without falling into the umbrella of the romantasy genre as we know it. Sadie was, in some ways, the type of character that is becoming more popular in romance books – a millennial who recently lost her job, is single, and is struggling to find her sense of self. But all of these things still made her a really interesting and relatable character. There was an immediate spark between Sadie and Noah, but the author did a great job of building the tension and energy between them, so that it is easy to root for them and really felt worth it when they got together. I loved getting both the real world storyline and the in-game one.

I wanna start by saying I’ve never played d&d but I do love a good fantasy adventure video game and/or book.

I jumped in head first honestly not sure what to expect but was pleasantly surprised with how easy it was to follow along with the chapters that focused on their actual game of d&d.

I resonate with Sadie so much. Pushing herself too hard to burnout, afraid of failing, and always needing a hard set plan before she can do anything.

Overall I loved it! I would love to see another book following Sadie and Noah off adventuring together 🥰

It's adorable to read! The romance is charming, and the characters are a lot of fun. This book appealed to my romantic side as well as my nerd side. This one was impossible for me to put down. Even if you're not familiar with D&D, you should definitely try this!

I received this as an ARC.

This book was a nat 20 for me. Which I don’t say lightly at ALL. I LOVED this so much.

Roll for Romance is what I am looking for in most contemporary romances and never seem to find, incredibly relatable, light, characters feeling like people I would know or be friends with, plot, and real life conflicts without being too incredibly dramatic. (And of course a little bit of spice)

I am so proud of this author on her debut even though I don’t know her. I am so excited to see what she writes next!

I was not prepared for how tender and cute this would be. Roll for Romance felt so real with how reliable the conflict was, with how Noah and Sadie's relationship blooms, and eith the friendships forged over table top gaming. The book is perfectly predictable. It gave it the coziest feel I've had in a long and made everything so naturally land where it was meant to.

I really liked the way the story was told both through Sadie and through Jaylie. It created such soft breaks in the main storyline and it felt like, as the reader, I got to enjoy a deeper connection being made between Sadie and Noah through their characters. I also appreciated how Jaylie seemed to be the best qualities of the real Sadie and the Sadie she pretended to be for work. It was nice to see the novel planned down to even that small detail.

I must confess, this is a book I had on preorder and I requested to eARC it because I just could not wait. Waiting for July is going to be even harder now. From the cover, to the story telling, to the smallest details being considered, Roll for Romance is easily something I will still look forward to getting in my book main and rereading.

Absolutely delightful! I love that it's essentially two stories in one: the real world and the DnD world. It was so much fun! I hope there's more stories in the world. I need to know what happens on their next campaign!

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing for an e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

This book was such a cute read. Sadie and Noah’s romance was beautifully written, and so real. I loved how much they complimented each other’s needs. They are the definition of a healthy relationship.

I also loved that the story wove the contemporary plot line in with their D&D campaign. It blends the fantasy and contemporary romance genres seamlessly for a unique plot.

The pacing was slow at times but I wouldn’t even count that as a negative because it speaks to a main theme in the book to slow down, and appreciate the little things in life.

This really was a heartwarming read. As a failed D&D player (the fight scenes always took so long I lost interest) I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves romance, D&D and/or fantasy. We need more nerd romances like this, coming from a fellow nerd.

I’m not a D&D kind of girl but I thought I would be interested to read a book that has D&D in it. Lenora has created this world that I would love to get lost in. I loved that this love story was done with such careful planning. It had its slow and steady moments but it was beautiful. The author way of making you feel like your right there watching get their HEA was phenomenal. I hope there's a second book in the series so we can see more of the other characters. Loved this book. Can’t wait to see what else you write Lenora Woods.

✨📚ARC Book Review
Roll for Romance by Lenora Woods
🗡️Release date July 15, 2025
4⭐️ 1.5🌶️

D&D, art, music, witty banter and romance. Yes please! Roll for Romance was a really cute nerdy friends to lover romance! I really enjoyed the chapters and the way the author wrote the D&D game. I felt immersed into the sessions they played. This story was really unique and I loved all the references. Big fan of this story.

💜Thank you Netgalley and Random House Publishing for sending me this ARC!

#rollforromance #gaming #romance #reading #books #bookstagram #advancedreadercopy #dungeonsanddragons #netgalley #randomhousepublishing

I'm giving this 4 stars because it felt like a standard contemporary romance novel. The romance and connection felt slow, but that might be a personal taste because I like fasted paced romance and spice. I liked the premise of DND, but felt confused at some points especially early on in the story from someone who has no idea about the inside workings of the game. I have a feeling this book will be well loved and well received from all gamer girls who also have romance novels!

Thank you to the author & publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

4/5 Stars
Thank you to the publisher for the early review copy via Netgalley.

First: This book is not just for d&d players. I'm a newer d&d player, I'm on my 2nd character in my 2nd campaign. The author weaves enough information on how to play the game throughout the story to make it easy to understand for the non player. But there's also not a big info dump to make it boring for a seasoned player.

We get alternating stories going. The FMC, Sadie in the present coming off of losing a job recovering from burnout trying to recover and decide her next steps. And then we have Sadie's d&d character, Jaylie, as she navigates her fantasy world. I like that both Sadie and Jaylie are both overcoming problems as the story goes on and that Sadie figures some stuff out about herself via Jaylie. I should also point out that the author had to basically write not one, but two stories in the book and keep them both interesting and I think it was done very well.

The romance really wasn't one that will stand out for me, it was definitely cute enough, but I feel the author leaned more into the d&d aspects than actually fleshing out the romance. There was some flirting both in character and in real life and like one actual date, before they're professing that they want to explore their relationship more. Normally, I would consider this a bad thing, but it wasn't exactly insta-love. It toed the line of being insta-love, but not really in my opinion.

I will definitely recommend this book in the future as a cute romance with d&d and no 3rd act break up!

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

If you know me, you know how much I love Dungeons and Dragons. So when I saw the title for this book, I HAD to dive into it. Especially with valentine’s day being over the weekend and my love life is questionable 🤷🏻‍♀️

In Roll for Romance, we have the main character, Sadie, going through some major life choices and is invited by her best friend, Liam, to spend the summer with him in a small town in Texas. Liam organizes a short campaign for new players during the summer and brings a new crew together and into the world of Dungeons and Dragons. With the crew comes new lumberjack golden boy, Noah, who quickly shows who he really is meant to be with the party.

Woods does a wonderful time swapping between narratives above the table and at the table. It was fun to see how a player would interpret the scene and put them into prose. Also, I wish my players would do one on one roleplaying on a forum, but that’s probably asking for too much?

Over all, it’s a fun and entertaining read that really brought up some major life challenges of who we are in our worlds and who we allow ourselves to be.

I’m stuck between 2-3 stars. At times it was 2, because there was just such a lack of everything. It felt boring and stale. I wanted to just kip entire chapters to move on to something else. Then at times the storytelling was wonderful. I do like how it brought D&D to life and into the storytelling. But I just feel like Sadie had too much inner monologue and was kind of a flat character. Her big “secret” about her job ending was so anticlimactic. Probably would stick to rating this 2.5 stars, rounded up for the good moments.

This book was such a fun and cute story! I really enjoyed the dual POVs of Sadie and her D&D character, Jaylie. And the game references felt super accessible. I think this would be great for someone who had no prior Dungeons and Dragons knowledge, as well as someone who has played the game before.
The romance between Sadie and Noah was sweet and simple. I love how they both supported each other in their endeavors as well.
This was a great debut from Woods! Can’t wait to read more of her work in the future.

This was an absolutely adorable and refreshing read. It combined contemporary romance with fantasy scenes seamlessly and was just a delight to read. As a lover of both romance, fantasy, and D&D this was an ideal read for me!

I was suggested Roll for Romance by the publisher and it didn't disappoint! Not a five star read but a solid fun story. I love the parallels with Sadie and Jaylie's stories and Lenora does a good job of balancing D&D info for readers who might know nothing and those of us super familiar with the game. I loved the story within a story element and was equally invested in both. Thanks for sending!

I’ve been wanting to get into D&D more because it always looks so fun. And the romance subplots are to die for, so when I saw this I knew I had to read it.
I think it was so cool to switch between the characters irl and into the game. This book felt really steady and cozy, nothing too dramatic was going on but it was enough to see it to the end. Some parts were a little confusing as I am a newbie to the D&D world. Regardless, I still enjoyed it!

This was a really cute read to me. I loved that it was a contemporary romance based in reality but had the fantasy aspects with the Dungeons & Dragons campaign. This book surprised me with how well it incorporated the fantasy elements with the campaign. I love how some aspects of the characters relate to me. I would 100% pick this book up again.