Will I love Role Playing?

Role Playing is a sweet contemporary romance. Two 50-year-old characters meet online while gaming; she assumes he is a college student, and he assumes she is retiree-aged. They meet in person when he is sick and she brings him food, and they are surprised to learn they are the same age and like each other. Most of the conflict comes from other people in the book, like the hero's aging mother who is homophobic. The hero has a friend from high school who’s constantly pushing him to find women to hook up with, even though the hero is obviously uncomfortable… show more.

RPGs and romance novels are two of my greatest passions in life, and this book perfectly combines the two. It’s not often that a book feels so realistic and relatable and yet swoony and exciting at the same time, but this book nails the combination.

And bonus points for featuring more mature characters and for integrating the families so expertly. Both main characters are walking green flags, which is so refreshing!

I’m a sucker for an apologetically prickly heroine with a sweetheart love interest.

Maggie and Aiden are complex relatable characters who balance each other perfectly. I loved how they were attracted to each other’s minds through the online video game they play together and each other’s physical presence in their in-person interactions (even though they didn’t know they were interacting with the same person!) 

I also enjoyed how both characters helped each other blossom during the course of the book, backing each other up as they figured out elder care, isolation, questions of sexuality and more. Seeing characters who were… show more.

Another Gen-X special, this delightful book has a Shop Around the Corner/You’ve Got Mail plot that plays out in an online role-playing adventure game.

Her nom-de-game is Bogwitch. His is Otter. Before they realize they’ve met in person, she thinks he’s a teen, he thinks she’s an octogenarian. In reality, they’re only 2 years apart in age (48/50). Under her prickles hides a deep well of compassion and under his caretaking is an enormous need to be able to maintain boundaries.

They complement each other so well and the book rips along at a cracking pace.