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A review by mspilesofpaper
Role Playing by Cathy Yardley
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