I fell in love with the cover and I knew I had to get my hands on it. When I got approved, I screamed.

This book is everything I needed and more. Sadie is such a great complex character trying to find her way and trying to figure out what the right thing to do is. Noah is so incredibly laid back but my mans is supportive as fuck.

The romance is so gradually and so authentic. Even though the book is only in Sadie's POV, I felt like I was getting everything I needed. There was never a time where I felt like I was unsure of Noah or his intentions. I love how they communicated with each other.

The D&D aspects were so interesting to me! I loved being in that headspace and I think Lenora did a great job bringing the game to life and made it easy to follow along for someone not very familiar with the game.

This is definitely a top read for me this year!

As a DnD player, I loved how Roll for Romance gave me two stories in one—Sadie and Noah’s real-world romance, and Jaylie and Loren’s in-game adventures. Watching the characters work through their issues by being honest with each other, both in the game and IRL, was so fun! If you enjoyed Dating and Dragons by Kristy Boyce, Lenora Woods’ book is the perfect next step for fans who want a more mature take on DnD romcoms.

This is a sweet, slow-burn romance with lots of chemistry. While I would’ve loved a bit more spice between them, I still adored them. The DnD campaign was hit or miss for me. Since I have been around the game, I think a lot of the fun is working through the game logistics and working together to come up with a plan and while being immersed in the game's story was nice, I would have loved to see more of the behind the scenes.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. Sadie’s character arc was really well developed, and I loved seeing the story through her DnD character’s eyes. My only complaint is that Noah felt a bit flat, and the pacing felt a little slow at times. I do appreciate that decisions made for their personal lives were not impacted by their romance and it felt more realistic due to this.

Can’t wait to see more from Lenora Woods in the future!

Listen, if I wanted to read a mediocre romantasy I would simply pick up a mediocre romantasy. I wasn't a fan of the D&D game storyline playing out as full blown chapters of a fantasy story. I am a big enjoyer of D&D media and have even loved two other D&D themed romances (Dungeons and Drama by Kristy Boyce and Taking Initiative by Elle Stewart) so it's not that I'm against D&D or fantasy in general. What didn't work for me here was that by having the in-game story be so immersive, we lose out on what I find so fundamentally wonderful about the game itself - the connection between the players as they go on these adventures together. And especially in a romance where we are supposed to believe that two of them are making a ~connection~ both in-game and irl I find it a weird choice to not see those characters actually having interactions around the table. YMMV, obviously, some people will love this dual story situation, but it was a choice that didn't work for me.

This was such a cute read! I loved the friend group and how the reader got to watch the group develop and grow together both in real life and in the D&D world! Noah and Sadie were so cute throughout the book. I thought that swapping the storyline from the real world to the D&D world was really effective in allowing the reader to connect with the characters and was really cool. I loved the different formatting throughout, whether it was the D&D storyline, the fanfiction storyline, and the real life storyline. Defintely check this one out when it releases in July!

Thank you Netgalley and Dell for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

‘Roll for Romance’ was seriously an amazing debut! The chemistry was perfect right from the start. Noah and Sadie were such a breath of fresh air, I really appreciated how supportive they were of each other. The spice was brief which is great for people who prefer books without it. I also loved the genre bending! Reading through the lens of their DnD game as if it was its own fantasy was great to introduce new Romantasy readers without heavy world building. All around a great story that I truly savored!

This was such a cute and fun - nerdy read! I don’t play D&D myself but this is my third book I’ve read with that as a heavy theme and I just love reading books with that incorporated.

I really enjoyed this creative story style the author chose. I liked the back and forth with the inclusion of the D&D game. The main characters were well thought out and had me rooting for them from the first meeting! I highly recommend!

Thank you so much to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I had so much fun with this book. It was the perfect amount of wholesome and sweetness. I appreciated how the author took such care in talking about anxiety and the importance of a friend group/found family to help navigate the uncertainty of big life changes.

My geeky heart was so happy reading a book that’s based on DnD. The way the campaign was integrated into the main story was especially charming.

I will definitely pick up more from Lenora Woods in the future!

Thank you Netgalley and Random House Publishing for sending me this ARC, all opinions are my own!

I really enjoyed this book! I have never actually played DND, but I’ve always wanted to learn how to. I was a little worried that I wouldn’t understand some of the terms in the book since I’d never played DND, but the author did a great job of explaining everything! You don’t feel left out or wondering what the author refers to when discussing DND and the terms within the game.


The book follows Sadie, who recently was fired from her job in New York. Sadie decides to take time for herself and goes to Texas and stays with her friend Liam whom she’s been friends with since High School. Liam’s only stipulation for Sadie to live with him is that Sadie has to play DND with some new friends he made. The story follows the storyline of Sadie and her relationship with everyone in their DND group as well as their campaign in DND.

I liked how the chapters followed Sadie, but we also got to see the point of view of the campaign they were doing. It was so cool to see what their characters in DND were doing, and also what their relationship with each other in the game vs real life was like. I know that hearing the storyline in the game might not be for everyone, but I enjoyed it. It was like hearing two different stories in one book.

I really liked that the romance wasn’t between the two friends, Liam and Sadie. I’m over the whole ‘she moves in with her best friend and they just happen to fall in love and live happily ever after.’ It’s overdone, and I’m glad that the love interest was someone else. I loved the relationship between Noah and Sadie. They honestly were so cute together, and I loved how at first she did not want to admit that he was cute and someone that she liked. It was also cute to see their relationship grow within the DND game as well. I kept rooting for them the whole time, hoping that it would work out for them.

Overall it was a really cute book that I would give 4/5 stars!

Roll For Romance by @lenorawoodswrites

Sometimes I finish a book, and I loved it so much, I don’t even know where to start with a review. This book was so fun. So unique. So refreshing. Not only do we get a solid contemporary romance, but as the characters are embarking on a D&D game journey, we also get an entire fantasy book inside of this. It alternates between what’s happening in the real world, and what’s happening in their game. They’ve chosen these characters that are so much like them, but also so much like what they aspire to be. It was just… SO FUN. It makes me want to get into D&D so badly! I loved Sadie’s personal journey, as well as seeing her and Noah grow closer and fall for each other. Noah was a big golden retriever ball of sunshine which is my FAV! I love an enthusiastic MMC. I loved their little town, their book store, their brewery, and their found family that came together over this beautiful game and they got so invested in the journey their characters were taking. Also, the spicy scenes were GOOD! I have such a love hate relationship with intimate scenes in contemporary romance because they can get so trope-y and cringe really easily and I felt ZERO cringe reading theirs. Pure sexiness. 🤌🏻 I want to shout from the roof tops… READ THIS BOOK! 💛🎲🐉🗡️🧙‍♂️🧌🧝‍♀️

Thank you to @netgalley and @dellromance for the arc!
Pub date: 7/15/25

Dnf
I had no idea what DND is but once I started reading about spells and things like that I couldn't finish reading this just goes against my beliefs and now I know what DND is and is about do I can refraind from reading other books with the same plot.

I was SO excited to receive this ARC! My boyfriend is a huge DnD player so these types of books interest me a lot! As someone who hasn’t played, but hears about it all the time it was so interesting to see the dynamics of a DnD game written out in a romantic storyline.
The relationship between the characters was so cute and I think it progressed so beautifully. SUCH a quick, enjoyable read for me!

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!