I love being a certified "nerd" and the concept of this book is so unique and perfect. The fmc is really funny to me and I could relate to a lot of the situations she finds herself in.

This was the perfect amount of cute, cozy fantasy and romance. I really liked how seamless the transitions between real life and the D&D game felt.

My only critique is that I didn’t feel like it was believable that it was everyone’s first time playing D&D. The campaign seemed to go too smoothly for them all to be complete beginners.

Overall I would recommend this to anyone who wants a nerdy cozy romantic read. Perfect for a rainy day.

Thanks NetGalley for the eARC.

The cover drew me in instantly! A romance with D&D, yes please. I’m new to D&D so it took me a bit to get into the parts of the story where the world building of the campaign took place. But the romance between Sadie and Noah was easy to love. I really enjoyed that Sadie’s best friend was a male character (Liam) and how sweet their friendship was and the little things he did to draw her out of her funk. A fun first book by Lenora Woods.

I had an absolute blast reading about Sadie’s adventure in small-town Texas! When she unexpectedly loses her marketing job, I could totally relate to her need to escape and find some distraction. Joining her best friend's Dungeons & Dragons campaign sounded like such a fun and unique way to cope with life's challenges. I loved how Sadie transformed into Jaylie, the powerful human cleric, and how her gaming adventures paralleled her real-life journey. Meeting Noah Walker, the charming bartender-turned-elf, added an extra layer of excitement to the story. I found myself rooting for Sadie and Noah both in the game and in real life as their chemistry blossomed. The way their relationship progressed was so heartwarming and kept me hooked. Overall, this book was a delightful mix of romance, adventure, and self-discovery.

If you're looking for a light and fun read with charming characters and a touch of fantasy, I highly recommend this book. I can't wait to see what the author comes up with next!

Roll for Romance is lighter on the romance and heavier on the D&D. While the romance plot is a central focus, this book was very much a love letter to D&D. I think the author did a great job of bringing the game to life, and fans of the game will be sure to enjoy this book. Even as someone who’s never played the game, I could appreciate her storytelling.

Although I’m a big romance reader, I don’t think I’m the target audience for this book and didn’t enjoy it as much as I could’ve. I don’t think Noah was introduced well and he wasn’t a romance hero I loved.

Roll For Romance by Lenore Woods follows Sadie, a young woman who has recently lost her job and decides to move in with her best friend while she tries to get her life back together. Her bestie, Liam, just happens to be a dungeon master for Dungeons and Dragons and he enlists Sadie to play a beginner campaign with some other newbies. While she really loves the game, she also starts to grow close to the bard character who happens to be played by Noah, the cute new bartender in town. While their in game flirtations turn into a real life romance?

For a debut book, I thought this was super cute. I loved how part of it was told from the perspective of Sadie’s DnD character in the campaign and I loved Sadie’s character arc through the book. I think the side characters were great and I loved learning about their motivations.

My biggest issue with this book was that the pacing was off. It felt like it was way longer than it needed to be. And I also didn’t love Noah’s character. There wasn’t anything wrong with him but he just felt very plain. I wanted a little more from him.

That being said, I had a fun time with this book! I will definitely be keeping my eye out for more books by this author. I think she has amazing potential and I can see her becoming an all time favorite! I’ll be recommending this book a lot and picking up a finished copy when it releases!

Last summer I came across a YA novel titled, Dungeons and Drama. It was because of that book that I discovered my love for nerdy/gaming book boyfriends and have been on a mission to find another book that compared to it ever since. So when I saw Roll For Romance and realized it was basically an adult version of D&D with some spice I knew right then and there that I absolutely had to get my hands on this book. Let me tell you, it lived up to my expectations and then some. Woods did a phenomenal job at incorporating the Dungeons and Dragons game and culture into her romance novel. Her writing style had me engaged the entire book. If I wasn’t giggling I was swooning over the adorable romance. I will definitely be adding this book to my home library and have been recommending it to everyone I know.
Thank you Random House Publishing Group, Lenora Woods and NetGalley for this advanced reader copy of Roll For Romance in exchange for my honest opinion.

Roll for Romance by Lenora Woods is a charming romantic comedy that blends tabletop gaming with sweet, slow-burn romance. The relatable characters have great chemistry, and the gaming elements add a fun twist to the story. While predictable at times, the book’s warmth and humor make it an enjoyable, feel-good read. Perfect for fans of geeky romance and lighthearted stories.

I adore this book! I have never played D&D before so I wasn't sure what to expect, but it was so fun to go on this journey with characters who were also experiencing the game for the first time. You'll get two stories for the price of one - in "real life" you follow Sadie navigating the loss of her job and her confusion and uncertainty about what is the "right" move for her future. She spends the summer with her best friend, Liam, and a ragtag group from his small Texas town where Liam is hosting a D&D campaign for beginners. Her friendships with these once strangers grow as the summer goes on, and she forms a special connection with Liam's friend, Noah. Woods also treats us to a second story woven throughout the first - their D&D campaign! It was so fun to hop back and forth between "real life" and the fantasy story Liam created for them, and to watch Sadie and Noah's relationship blossom in both stories. I definitely want to find people to play with in real life - it seems like it would be a lot of fun!

I heavily related to Sadie and her uncertainness about what she wanted her future to look like. It is so easy to keep going down the route you thought was right, or that was expected from you. Deviating from those expectations and choosing to follow a path less traveled can be a scary decision, but can lead to a better future than you could have ever hoped for.

Thank you NetGalley and Dell for sending this book (eARC) in exchange for an honest review!

Lenora Woods’ Roll for Romance is a delightful, geeky love story that blends tabletop gaming with real-life romance. When Sadie Brooks loses her job, she retreats to small-town Texas and joins a Dungeons & Dragons campaign, only to find unexpected chemistry with Noah Walker, a charismatic bartender turned bard. As their in-game adventures mirror their growing real-world attraction, Sadie must decide if she’s ready to take a chance on love and a new path in life.

With charming characters, playful banter, and plenty of heart, this novel is perfect for fans of The Love Hypothesis and The Ex Hex. A must-read for romantics and RPG lovers alike!

Roll for Romance was an extremely FUN read! It was full of found family, friends to lovers, magic adventures, and deciding what you really want out of life… and maybe seeing that sometimes not having a plan is a-okay. I loved how the main characters join for a D&D campaign and we get to hear that story, too. It was a beautiful blend of a contemporary romance and a fantasy book, and you should DEFINITELY read it. There is nothing I didn’t like about this book.

Aaaaaaah!! Okay- this is a 4.5 to me rounded to 5 and I literally cannot wait to own this one. Thank you for making D&D romances!!

I was kinda worried it was going to be ‘too tropey’ but honestly the book delivers! It’s cute and realistic in a way. Like how many of us find themselves at a crossroads in our life and perhaps would enjoy some escapism? Haha

As a D&D player this is just something I’ve yearned for so long!

D&D romance book?! Yes, please. A swoony and nerdy romance that was so cute! I really enjoyed the switching back and forth between the real life plot and the game plot and how Sadie was able to apply some of the lessons she learned to her own life. Thank you Net Galley and Ballantine Books!

Thank you to Random House publishing/Dell Romance & NetGalley for the e-ARC copy of Roll for Romance by Lenora Woods!

Rating: A solid 3.5 stars, but I always round up on Goodreads since I can't properly mark the half.

Roll for Romance is the story of a sweet small-town romance between two newbie DnD players. After hitting a snag in her professional life, Sadie (real name: Josephine) needs a temporary change of scenery and moves into her best friend, Liam's, house in a small Texas town for the summer. (A Northerner choosing to spend the SUMMER in Texas? ...Brave tbh. Sincerely, a born-and-raised Texan). While there, Liam convinces Sadie to start a Dungeons & Dragons campaign with him and some of his local friends. Enter: Liam's handsome and charming friend, Noah, playing an even more handsome and charming bard. Sparks fly between Sadie and Noah's DnD characters and IRL but their romance is on a countdown, because Sadie is only staying for the summer and Noah doesn't tend to put down roots in one place.

I thought Roll for Romance was extremely cute and extremely fun with low-stakes drama. I would recommend if you are a fan of dungeons and dragons and rom-com novels. I only had two small things that I took issue with. First, I personally felt like it was really stressed that Sadie was her middle name/not her first name and it seemed like there was emphasis that her first name was JOSEPHINE. And there's a whole inner monologue/explanation that she just doesn't feel professional using Sadie in a work setting and "Josephine" is her Big Girl Name (TM). Maybe I just read too much into it/took it too personally because I'm someone who doesn't go by my full given name (Abigail vs Abbey) but I don't feel like any less of an adult because I go by Abbey...I don't know, it just rubbed me the wrong way a little bit. The second thing is that I have read DnD romances before and I had always wished there was a little more DnD involved, but I felt like this book had too much. There was so much focus on the DnD setting and plot that I feel like I didn't get to connect with the characters really at all. I didn't particularly care about the IRL romance because of this. It still ended up being cute but I kind of felt like I was dragging along at some points, especially in the first half. I also feel like you didn't get to see a lot of the relationship building between the characters (both in the romance between Liam/Sadie and in the platonic relationships between Sadie and everyone else). You definitely got a few good snippets, but I felt like it was lacking a little in this regard. That being said, I think this would have made a FANTASTIC cozy fantasy-romance book if the DnD part of the plot had just been used as a baseline for that type of book instead. The writing of both plot lines was really good, but I felt like they just detracted from each other a bit in that they took up page space and left less room for development of the other side of the story.

Overall, it was still a cute rom-com and I'm extremely thankful I got the opportunity to read and review an advanced copy. If someone was looking for an RPG-based romance I think this one wouldn't be a bad recommendation. I will definitely be on the look out for books Lenora puts out in the future (maybe a Morgan book?? She seemed cool and I wish we'd had more of her featured in this one)

Roll for Romance was such a charming read! The mix of real-life romance and DnD made for an immersive experience. I loved how the characters’ relationship developed both in the campaign and in real life. The DnD aspects felt authentic and added depth to the sweet romance. A perfect blend of fun and heart!

2.75 stars
As a DnD girly myself I really wanted to love this book.
It's a unique story that follows Josephine - Sadie - on her way back from burnout trying to orientate her new life as unemployed and living in a small town in Texas instead of New York where she's spent the last couple of years. Partly to get Sadie out of her shell, her best friend and roommate starts to host weekly DnD nights.

The book goes back and forth from being in Sadies pov to her DnD character Jaylie. The main story was fun and cute and in the beginning I enjoyed reading Jaylies parts as well but somewhere it started yo drag a bit. The mmc Noah is interesting and his dnd character the same but I feel like a lot of things where left out of the plot that I really would have liked to know.
I feel like this book would probably have been great if it had been worked on a bit more and slightly more balanced between the dnd parts and the irl parts.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for providing me with this ARC.

I absolutely loved everything about this book. D&D, a touch of spice, and a healthy serving of adult romance.

It was a little slow to start but once it finally picked up, it was wonderful. I loved seeing the slow burn between Sadie and Noah and how they navigated around each other as PCs in their campaign and as humans. While I would've enjoyed seeing Noah's POV, I did like seeing all of the growth as Sadie worked to find her confidence and finally decide what her path forward was.

I know that for some people the campaign portions can be off-putting but for me they fit perfectly into the book as Sadie took lessons from Jaylee's character progression and worked some of that through into her life. It felt like having two books in one. (Well, three if you count the off-campaign RP sessions between Sadie and Noah)

This catered to all of my interests and it really does help introduce some people to the world of D&D in a way that didn't feel overwhelming. As a player myself, I didn't get bored at hearing Sadie learn how to play.

Thank you to Dell and Random House for the eArc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Sadie is rolling with disadvantage on her own life - she left her job after a mental and emotional breakdown, she escaped her tiny New York City apartment and fled to a small town in Texas where her best friend offered her a summer-long respite from reality. She just has to play with a few of his friends at a weekly Dungeons & Dragons campaign he's running...so let the games begin.
A cozy rom-com about finding love while also discovering what you really want in life, this novel plays out between artistic Sadie and jack-of-all-trades Noah, who find romance in the chapter interludes of their cleric and bard characters, and then friendship and more when they return to reality. For fans of Jen DeLuca and Travis Baldtree, this is a page-turner worth taking a chance on!

ARC review: Roll for Romance by Lenora Woods

I had a good, uncomplicated time with this book! It follows two storylines: in one, Sadie is struggling to recover from professional burnout and joins her first DnD campaign as she tries to figure out what to do with her life, and the other is the narrative of the DnD campaign as the party works to confront an evil sorcerer and save a stolen bride. Along the way, both Sadie and her cleric find themselves falling for another player at the table and his bard.

I really related to Sadie navigating her mental health and what to do with her future, and thought the real-world storyline was handled well. The in-game storyline was less compelling to me. I’m a big fantasy reader and DnD fan, and the fantasy world felt necessarily surface-level and generic because it had to blend with the contemporary pieces and tell a lot of story in limited pages.

The romance itself won’t stick with me as much as Sadie’s journey to find her path, but it was sweet and summery and perfect to turn my brain off and just have a good time.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the early copy!

Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for the ARC.

This is a cute and fun novel. I really liked the characters and seeing Sadie figure out what she wanted in life. Watching her and Nick falling in love was cute and sweet. I also loved the supporting characters. The DnD storyline was also a lot of fun. I really enjoyed this one.