I loved Role Playing, not just because it was clearly written for me, but because it's a great story.
I met my partner of 16 years after we'd been in the same World of Warcraft guild for two years. I grew up in a really small, white, insular town where your family's mess just follows you forever. I'm bi like Aiden. And I'm a grump who sometimes gets a little too hermit-y for my own good like Maggie.
All that aside, Role Playing is great because Cathy Yardley gave her fully grown characters (45 and 50, IIRC) room to grow. Growth isn't limited to our youth! Both characters have rich lives and they complement each other so well. The way Maggie stands up for Aiden and teaches him to stand up for himself? Perfect.
It's swoony and funny and geeky and made me cry, so you should just go read it.

Thanks to Montlake and Netgalley for this advanced copy!

What a wonderful, charming, delightful book! I adored Maggie and Aiden. I loved how these two took the friends to lovers path, using it for self-discovery as well as self-redemption, all while not changing who they are. Even as they wake up to their feelings, she still gets to be rough around the edges and he still gets to be his cinnamon role self and it's all fantastic.

I feel like some of the slow burn could have been a little faster, but really, who is complaining? Not me. This book felt like one of Maggies huge sweaters and whatever kind of hug I imagine Aiden giving. Just fantastic.

4 stars!

I really enjoyed "Role Playing" by Cathy Yardley! I love the middle age representation in this book -- more of this in romantic fiction, I am begging you! I loved the main characters, Maggie (48) and Aiden (50). They are two super relatable, nerdy people who thrive separately and together in their mutual geekiness. They have both been burned in the past and are wary and guarded. Some may call them immature characters, but I disagree. Just because someone likes to play video games doesn't make them immature. Maggie is the kind of friend you want to have in your life. When some not-so-pleasant things happen to Aiden later in the book, Maggie stands up for him in a way that all allies should stand up for their friends. She gives no f**ks and doesn't care who she disappoints: if you hurt her friend, you have to deal with her. She's grumpy, sure, but it wholly fits her character. I love it when ladies get to be grumpy! And Aiden... sweet, cinnamon roll-y Aiden. My god, I'd do anything for him. I love how organically their friendship grows from online to in real life, and then when they become friends in real life, they eventually, slowly, become more. Swoony! It takes a while for the spice to start, but I think it's worth the wait. And speaking of online, this is a book where the miscommunications that occur online actually make sense and fit into the story. Aiden assumes Maggie is in her 80s, while Maggie thinks Aiden is in his 20s. Because they never discussed their ages online, when they meet in real life, it's a shock that they are so close in age. Sparks instantly fly, it just takes them a while to do something with them (which again, makes sense within the context of the story because Aiden is demisexual! Yay!). This story isn't all about healers and guilds and fractured feet and cooking international cuisine. It also contains some heavy discussions about empty nesting, bullying, demisexuality, homophobia/biphobia, outing, abuse, racism, and family trauma. There is A LOT going on in this story, so much so that I think it suffers a little from the load it has to carry. Yardley is trying to do a lot within a short amount of time, and I think some of the information is glossed over a bit as a result. My chief complaint about the book is that most of the side characters are downright awful, terrible people. Deb, Sheryl, Davy, all of them! Straight to the trash with you all! Also, Malcolm, Aiden's friend, what a misogynist a**hole! I have to assume all of these other characters are bad to make Aiden look even better, but I sure hated them! They constantly bring Maggie down by crapping on her looks and her clothes and how she chooses to live her life! Yardley does a good job writing these characters in despicable ways, but gosh, I hated them. And Aiden's mom? I know someone like this in real life! Can you imagine being as clueless and selfish and rude as that?! It's deeply disturbing that his mom goes out of her way to hurt her son when he wants nothing but the best for her. I am glad what happens at the end happens.

"Role Playing" is definitely worth reading! Check it out!

Thank you to NetGalley, Montlake, and Cathy Yardley for the complimentary ARC of this book. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated for this review.

Thank you soooooo much netgalley, the author and the publisher for the advanced review copy if this book💗



Love it!!!

This book was not for me, but I so badly wanted to love it. I enjoyed the authors writing style, the gaming references and also loved the romance between mature leads (something you don’t see often in romance). But for me I felt the book touched on too many topics and didn’t give each its own room to breathe.

I also didn’t feel the book cover went with the story. It might be a little misleading for anyone who might pick up the book by the cover only (I have a couple of friends who actually do that!).

Maggie's son challenges her to live a little so she joins a gamer community. Her assumption is that she's playing with kids at least half her age but it's a fun pastime and can maybe get her son to ease off. Aiden is the leader of the group and meeting face-to-face surprises both to face their preconceived notions and adjust.
Role Playing had so much going for it. But, ultimately, I want my romance books to focus on the growth of the couple or as individuals. I don't care for extended diatribes on what's wrong with society. Aiden's character arc and his conflict with his family is really well done, but I struggled with one section that felt more instructional (like a google entry) and took me out of the story.
I loved Maggie and Aiden's relationship though. It is so refreshing to have mature characters with relatable issues. Cathy was smart to put them in a gamer setting where assumptions about ages got in the way but also allowed them to ease into a friendship that may not have happened otherwise.
Thank you to the author and Netgalley for the advanced copy. All thoughts are my own.

Role Playing by Cathy Yardley is a different take on a traditional romance book. The fact that the two leads are middle-aged nerds made this quite the refreshing read. This book was a little slow for me but I loved Maggie and Aiden. They didn't meet until almost halfway through the book and this is what made it seem slow for me.

Just finished my second reading of this wonderful book. I’m glad I went back for a second read (something I rarely do). When I read an ebook, I feel like the small page/few words affects my enjoyment (compared to either a print book or an audiobook). I really enjoyed meeting Aidan and Maggie and Kit again, and sure wish they were real and lived next door. I’m a person close to Maggie’s generation in age, and I can’t say enough about how I feel represented here. Maggie and Aidan’s story makes me hopeful, not only for my future but for the diversity/inclusion growing in the world in general. Ms. Yardley has written a story that has such emotionally believable detail. And the opening “meet-cute” part of the story is one of the best ever.

Full disclosure: I was gifted an ARC and requested to write a review.

Maggie joins an online gaming guild to cope when her son goes off to college. While she presents herself as a grumpy introvert, Maggie finds herself quickly bonding with this new virtual community, especially the leader who goes by the name Otter.

Role Playing is a diverse, contemporary romance full of diverse representation. This book is open-door. The author does a fantastic job using dialogue between the characters to explain certain concepts that may not be familiar to some readers regarding types of sexuality. This book has some of the most open and direct discussions on this topic that I’ve come across in a romance novel. I also appreciate that the author does not gloss over the real possibilities of dealing with difficult and unsupportive families.

I loved Maggie from the very beginning of the book and found her to be extremely relatable. It’s an emotional thing to watch characters who are both so different but also the same trying to figure out life all over again at 50ish. The personal journeys in Role Playing are just as substantial and important and its romantic storyline.

I highly recommend the audiobook. Elyse Dinh fully embodies the character of Maggie and really brinks out her delightful snark and no-nonsense attitude. Chris Brinkley was a surprising but welcome choice for Aiden. Both narrators did an excellent job bringing all of the characters to life.

Cathy Yardley is an exceptional writer. I’ve enjoyed her YA books and hope to see more adult fiction from her in the future.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to NetGalley and Montlake!

I did purchase copies of the paperback and audiobook on my own.

Maggie is a 48 year old single mother, whose kid has just gone off to college, and being an empty nester has turned her into even more of a hermit. She has always struggled with social anxiety and ever since her divorce 5 years ago she has no tolerance for crappy people in her life. She makes a deal with her kid to be more social, which leads her to joining an online gaming guild where she meets Aiden. Aiden is 50 years old, and has worked as a nurse and with the elderly for decades. He moved back to his hometown to take care of both his parents. They both assume they are very different ages based on their online communication and when they meet in person and realize they are similar ages, and have a lot in common. Can they build something despite past traumas that really affect the way they approach personal relationships.

The author knocked this one out of the park. I have never read a Gen X romance, and this was such a beautiful one to start with. Both characters were so real and flawed, and the way they built something between them was very beautiful. The representation throughout this book was great and so impactful. Most of the side characters really sucked as people and yet i could not stop reading. The only thing that didn't completely work for me was the 3rd act conflict but it was not a deal breaker. Thus I had a fantastically fun time over all and continue to look forward to future projects from this author

I honestly wanted to love this, and whilst there were some truly amazing moments throughout, ultimately, I was a little disappointed.

I expected a romcom, but this included so many heavy topics, things I tend to read books to escape.

It wasn't a feel good book for me, I actually just felt incredibly anxious and sad for the main characters, and that's not something I enjoy in romance.

It also felt like the romance was secondary to the overall plot, which was downright depressing - and I'm just not sure that it worked. The side characters took over too often and too much.

The writing overall was great though, and I loved the geeky gamer characters, who finally found their person later on in life.

4.5 stars — I kind of avoided this book b/c I was afraid it wouldn’t live up to my expectations, but the funny thing is that my expectations were kind of wrong in some ways, and it took me to places I wasn’t expecting but that seriously delighted me. So the lesson is: stop procrastinating out of fear, you might be missing something amazing.

I was a bit wary of Maggie at the start. While I enjoy grumpy/sunshine stories, occasionally the grump just baffles me. And initially I found Maggie to be almost over the top leaning on the introvert label, not sure if that makes sense. She really, truly, is anti-social, but as the story goes on you get glimpses of why she is the way she is, from her childhood upbringing to her disastrous marriage. While I will admit I kind of still wanted to learn more, I was given enough to have an idea of how those things impacted her, and how she was at a place in her life where she’d just gone full hermit. One thing I loved about Maggie is that she wasn’t perfect by any means — and specifically she wasn’t some super mom. Even at 48, she was still worrying over how she did with Kit (partially because of wounds from the ex). Which is kind of refreshing. But what we did see was that she truly wanted what was best for him, and she loved him…she was just also human and had some damage. Through her budding friendship (and more) with Aiden, we get to see the softness under her hard shell, and fell in love with her at the same time he did. She was snarky and bold, as well as caring and vulnerable.

And given I wrote a novel of a paragraph on Maggie, I bet it’ll be hard to believe that it was Aiden who truly impacted me the most in this story. He was so sweet, and caring, but had gotten used to being a bit of a doormat. He had so much he was struggling with, not the least of which was his relationship with his mom as her primary caregiver. That honestly broke my heart. His family just…was a bit of a nightmare situation when you got down to it. But it really showed how hard it can be to cut out toxic people from your life and not buy into their bullshit.

But it was his discovery (through the help of Maggie) of the ace spectrum that really hit home for me. There were so many moments where I just felt seen. I LOVED seeing the representation, and I ache for all the other aces out there who don’t even know about the spectrum, and that they’re not broken. Both the ace rep and the bisexuality rep (including his struggle with bi-erasure and all that comes with that particular brand of homophobia) were just refreshing to read about.

I adored the development of their friendship, the misunderstandings, the way things grew as they met IRL…it all just felt so real and satisfying. And the jump to more was perfect.

Lots of great nerdiness in this one, even if it isn’t my particular brand of nerdiness.

So yeah. I love it when a book hits in ways you didn’t expect.

Rating: 3/5⭐️

Publication Date: July 1st 2023

Author: Cathy Yardley

Review: I have to say I don’t think Iv ever read a book where the main characters were in a more mature role (50’s). I feel like that’s kind of unheard of in romance so that make the book stand out. But then it started to because kind of typical , nobody has anything figured out, no supporting family. Don’t get me wrong it’s definitely readable and enjoyable I just wanted something more to occur.

Thank you netgalley and Montlake for the eARC in exchange for an honest review #NetGalley #bookstagram #kindle #kindleedition #eread

DNF @ 25%.

Unfortunately, this book was not for me. I appreciate the author writing a romance with more mature leads (48 & 50) who don't necessarily have their lives fully together. But I have a really hard time with unsupportive families, and in talking with my friends I found out how toxic Aiden's family is, I just can't finish it. As an ARC reader, this could have used some trigger warnings and I wouldn't have picked it up.

I'm giving it 3 stars because the writing is good and the topics will definitely interest other readers. To me, a 2 star book is one I really don't like as opposed to one that I have a tough time reading due to elements that I avoid.

Thanks to Montlake, Netgalley and the author for an ARC of this book. I am leaving this unbiased review voluntarily.

I can honestly say that I have never read a book like this. First of all, the main characters are Gen X, and I have found it hard to find romance novels that feature people my age, which was really refreshing. Also, the book explores all kinds of challenges that people my age feel - sometimes it's easy to get left behind and misunderstood in a world that has changed so rapidly. Yes, we have been swept up by the 'woke' people and know more about ourselves and others, but at the same time, we are dealing with the expectations of our parents.

It's also wonderful to see sexuality in its different forms, but I don't want to ruin the story for you so I won't say more.

i read this book in one sitting and thoroughly enjoyed the characters and the writing style.

I was excited to read a romance where both MCs were over 30 - I feel like I haven't read many of these and being over 30 now, figured it would be fun and easy to relate to. This book gave me a good few giggles - the MCs met on a game online and he thought she was SUPER OLD and she thought he was SUPER YOUNG so when they first meet, it was hilarious when they turned out to be the same age. The couple in this book to me was the best part - I love that they met while gaming, love that Maggie is introverted but being around Aiden doesn't deplete her social battery and it's just so easy for them to be together. They are there for each other, support each other and respect each other's boundaries. I love how she supports the fact he is bi and demi sexual because his family sure doesn't.

My heart goes out to Aiden, I can't believe he endured his family demonizing him for so long. If I could tell you how bad I wanted to yeet some of these characters... They are the worst humans. His mother is a hateful bigot and racist - at first, the racism was subtle towards Maggie until it really wasn't. And his ex/soon-to-be sister in law... made me angry beyond belief for victimizing herself and blaming him/roasting him when he didn't do anything wrong. If I were his brother, I would've dropped her like a hot potato.

Ultimately, the way characters acted in this book made me really mad but I do have to say that it is saying something that the author dragged out that much emotion from me - my heart honestly ached for Aiden and I'm so happy that he found someone he could be himself with and who loves him for him. More importantly, I am so so appreciative of the fact there is no reconciliation in this book; Aiden's family is toxic (his brother could be redeemable... maybe) and I'm happy that Aiden walked away and focused on his HEA with Maggie.

Content warnings: homophobia, outing, emotional abuse, bullying, death of a parent, racism.

Thank you to Montlake, Cathy Yardley and Netgalley for the ARC for review. All opinions are my own.

ROLE PLAYING
By Cathy Yardley

Role Playing is a fun and romantic read - I am totally enamored by Aiden and Maggie - both of whom are mature characters closer to my age, so I found the themes and topics that are quite relatable. I found this cozy slow burn romance beautifully written found in cyberspace.

Wonderful book!

There is so much that I loved about this book. I love that Aidan and Maggie were 50 and 48 respectively. I loved how they actually met through online gaming without knowing each other’s identities and having the wrong thought about what each other’s ages were. But most of all what I loved was the way this relationship progressed was realistic and heartwarming, as well as showing different complicated emotions of both parties. The journey had to take to find love wasn’t easy, but it was entertaining to read.

I liked this one a lot, but wanted to love it more

What I liked -
Familiar setting of Eastern WA (and an author who knew enough about the area to not try to say it rains constantly)
MCs close to my age - They were a little older and geekier than me, but not so much that they weren’t still relatable
Demi-bi representation

What kept me from loving it -
I *hated* the majority of the side characters with the passion of a million burning suns. Which - okay - you aren’t supposed to like them. They are legit garbage people and purposely written that way. But it felt like I spent so much time being annoyed/furious on behalf of the MCs it was hard to fully enjoy their story. And they deserved it, because they were lovely.
This might be a “me problem” though. I also have a hard time with bully romances, even those that are popular, so ymmv (and that’s why I’m not rating too harshly)

Thank you to NetGalley and Montlake for the ARC

An absolutely adorable dive into romance again, I really liked the setup and execution on this one. It took me a minute to get to it, but I can't wait to send people its way. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for time with the ARC.