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mspilesofpaper's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Maggie a grumpy 48-year-old introvert (with a touch of social anxiety) who lives more or less like a hermit ever since her son went to college. Divorced since five years, she's not even keen to find a new man in her life or to find friends in the small town of Fool's Falls. Until her son makes a deal with her: he will become more social when she does the same. So, she joins an online gaming guild that is led by the calm and friendly healer named Otter whom she believes to be a college student. Otter, who is Aiden in real life and a 50-year-old introvert who takes care of his mother (against her will) and uses the guild as an emotional outlet from his family drama. Otter who becomes quickly friends with Maggie who he only knows as Bogwitch and "I'm old enough to be your mothers". When they finally meet face-to-face, they have to realise that their online friendship works well in real life as well. There's only the issue of being attracted to each other ...
TW: toxic family members, homophobia, latent racism
I didn't realise it when I got the book via Kindle Unlimited but I did read another book by Cathy Yardley; Love, Comment, Subscribe, which I disliked so much because it was very swallow and was based on stereotypes and had a clunky writing style. (Also, there's the issue of it being marketed as "enemies to lovers". I hate marketing that is just based on tropes and not on the plot.) It's good that I didn't realise it because otherwise I wouldn't have gotten Role Playing. While it won't win any literary awards, it's a cute and cosy romance with older main characters and bi- and demisexual representation.
Character-wise, it's the reversed "sunshine and grumpy" trope because Maggie is the grumpy, bitter one (though it's more hard shell, soft flesh) while Aiden is the cinnamon roll who's extremely positive in his outlook (and tends to let people steamroll over him). Neither of them is fit or ripped. They are very normal and I prefer such characters. My critique, character-wise, is that they sometimes felt a lot younger than they are in terms of behaviour because they tend to be rather indecisive and not as mature as you would a Gen X to be. If the age and grey hair hadn't been mentioned, these two could be easily in their 20s.
Story-wise, it could have been better in terms of pace. There's a lot of repetition of how introverted they are/how anti-social/lonely/... (not just monologue-like but also comments from other characters), which gets boring. While it's a large part of the plot that Maggie is certainly too anti-social and that Aiden requires a date for an event, I don't need to read constant comments about it. Plot-wise, it's pretty much a slow-burn small-town romance novel that is built on the "friends to lovers" and "reversed sunshine and grumpy" trope. There's not a lot going on but I liked the focus' on their relationship's development instead of having a case of insta-lust/insta-love.
Spice-wise: it's 2.5 🌶️ from me. There are two somewhat explicit scenes towards the end but they aren't extremely graphic. Compared to other sex scenes, I didn't mind reading them because they felt natural and realistic (including laughing etc) and not like a porno.
As for the bi- and demisexual representation: we need more asexual/demisexual (and aromantic) representation in books, movies and series. Personally, I'm asexual and I struggled for years with "Am I broken? What is wrong with me? Why don't I feel like this?" when everyone around me talked about their crushes and how they wouldn't mind having sex with a specific real-life crush/a celebrity crush/... - Granted, the internet allowed me to realise my own sexuality earlier than Aiden because I stumbled upon asexuality and aromanticism and had my moment of enlightenment, but I wish I had it earlier. It would have made things easier in my 20s. And it hurts me to read 1-star reviews that criticise the representation because "it's silly" and "progressive ideal". It isn't silly. It isn't some political movement. It's someone's sexuality and representation matters.
Read if you like:
✔️ Slow Burn Romance
✔️ Small Town Romance
✔️ Older Characters
✔️ Reverse Sunshine & Grumpy trope
✔️ Friends to Lovers
TW: toxic family members, homophobia, latent racism
I didn't realise it when I got the book via Kindle Unlimited but I did read another book by Cathy Yardley; Love, Comment, Subscribe, which I disliked so much because it was very swallow and was based on stereotypes and had a clunky writing style. (Also, there's the issue of it being marketed as "enemies to lovers". I hate marketing that is just based on tropes and not on the plot.) It's good that I didn't realise it because otherwise I wouldn't have gotten Role Playing. While it won't win any literary awards, it's a cute and cosy romance with older main characters and bi- and demisexual representation.
Character-wise, it's the reversed "sunshine and grumpy" trope because Maggie is the grumpy, bitter one (though it's more hard shell, soft flesh) while Aiden is the cinnamon roll who's extremely positive in his outlook (and tends to let people steamroll over him). Neither of them is fit or ripped. They are very normal and I prefer such characters. My critique, character-wise, is that they sometimes felt a lot younger than they are in terms of behaviour because they tend to be rather indecisive and not as mature as you would a Gen X to be. If the age and grey hair hadn't been mentioned, these two could be easily in their 20s.
Story-wise, it could have been better in terms of pace. There's a lot of repetition of how introverted they are/how anti-social/lonely/... (not just monologue-like but also comments from other characters), which gets boring. While it's a large part of the plot that Maggie is certainly too anti-social and that Aiden requires a date for an event, I don't need to read constant comments about it. Plot-wise, it's pretty much a slow-burn small-town romance novel that is built on the "friends to lovers" and "reversed sunshine and grumpy" trope. There's not a lot going on but I liked the focus' on their relationship's development instead of having a case of insta-lust/insta-love.
Spice-wise: it's 2.5 🌶️ from me. There are two somewhat explicit scenes towards the end but they aren't extremely graphic. Compared to other sex scenes, I didn't mind reading them because they felt natural and realistic (including laughing etc) and not like a porno.
As for the bi- and demisexual representation: we need more asexual/demisexual (and aromantic) representation in books, movies and series. Personally, I'm asexual and I struggled for years with "Am I broken? What is wrong with me? Why don't I feel like this?" when everyone around me talked about their crushes and how they wouldn't mind having sex with a specific real-life crush/a celebrity crush/... - Granted, the internet allowed me to realise my own sexuality earlier than Aiden because I stumbled upon asexuality and aromanticism and had my moment of enlightenment, but I wish I had it earlier. It would have made things easier in my 20s. And it hurts me to read 1-star reviews that criticise the representation because "it's silly" and "progressive ideal". It isn't silly. It isn't some political movement. It's someone's sexuality and representation matters.
Read if you like:
✔️ Slow Burn Romance
✔️ Small Town Romance
✔️ Older Characters
✔️ Reverse Sunshine & Grumpy trope
✔️ Friends to Lovers
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Toxic relationship, and Biphobia
Minor: Death of parent and Racism
ravenk28's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Who knew a story about two people finding each other through their love of video games would be so sweet.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Biphobia, Outing, and Homophobia
Moderate: Acephobia/Arophobia, Toxic relationship, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Racism, Cancer, and Death of parent
ta2dlibrarian's review
challenging
emotional
inspiring
lighthearted
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The perfect, inclusive romance for gamers doesn't exi . . . *record scratch*
Calling all MMORPG fans! This is the romance you've been waiting for. The author has done their gamer research and it shows!
My only gripe is the quick resolution between the protagonists and their toxic past, which is anything but realistic.
Calling all MMORPG fans! This is the romance you've been waiting for. The author has done their gamer research and it shows!
My only gripe is the quick resolution between the protagonists and their toxic past, which is anything but realistic.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Biphobia, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Outing, and Sexual content
mshai's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This was just so sweet! A hidden gem
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia and Biphobia
Minor: Racism
hopeamarsu's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia, Biphobia, and Outing
Minor: Racism and Death of parent
the_vegan_bookworm's review
emotional
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
A charming, fun read! It was a fresh take on an enjoyable premise with characters who don't need to change to be loved. I love a prickly FMC who stays prickly and is appreciated for who she is!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Biphobia, Acephobia/Arophobia, Outing, and Sexual content
Minor: Racism
thenextbookdilemma's review
emotional
funny
lighthearted
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Emotional abuse, and Biphobia
Minor: Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Car accident
chelseazhao's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
slow-paced
5.0
This had so many things that I loved!
- Older characters (48 and 50)
- Geeky Gamers
- Bi/Demisexual rep
- friends to lovers
- hilarious mix-up (she thought he was 20, he thought she was 80)
- teens who felt like teens
Keep in mind that we do have some harder topics: biphobia, homophobia, mentioned death of a parent, talk of end-of-life care
I seriously loved these characters and their relationship so much. I loved how snarky and funny that they could be. And I loved the demisexual representation!
- Older characters (48 and 50)
- Geeky Gamers
- Bi/Demisexual rep
- friends to lovers
- hilarious mix-up (she thought he was 20, he thought she was 80)
- teens who felt like teens
Keep in mind that we do have some harder topics: biphobia, homophobia, mentioned death of a parent, talk of end-of-life care
I seriously loved these characters and their relationship so much. I loved how snarky and funny that they could be. And I loved the demisexual representation!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Outing, Biphobia, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Pregnancy and Death of parent
garbage_mcsmutly's review against another edition
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Biphobia, Toxic relationship, and Sexual content
petite_madeline's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Read this book if you like:
- Black cat / Golden retriever pairings
- Queer representation (Bi/demi)
- Mature characters
- Friends-to-lovers
- Dual POV
Skip this book if you don't like:
- Slow Burn (like really slow)
- Pop culture references
- Third Person narrative
- A smidge of spice
I picked this up because I was excited to see a romance between two mature characters (not your usual 20-somethings). AND they're gamers?! Love!
Overall, I enjoyed this book. It was a fun and easy read. I wish there was more romantic tension spread throughout. Most of that delicious tension happened in the last 1/4 of the book. The mutual pining in the beginning and middle just didn't hit the way I usually like it to. Perhaps that made it more realistic? It did allow for a more natural friendship to bloom first.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content, Acephobia/Arophobia, Outing, and Biphobia
Minor: Death of parent