Release Day Review: Role Playing by Cathy Yardley

From Cathy Yardley, author of Love, Comment, Subscribe, comes an emotional rom-com about two middle-aged gamers who grow their online connection into an IRL love story.

Maggie is an unapologetically grumpy forty-eight-year-old hermit. But when her college-aged son makes her a deal—he’ll be more social if she does the same—she can’t refuse. She joins a new online gaming guild led by a friendly healer named Otter. So that nobody gets the wrong idea, she calls herself Bogwitch.

Otter is Aiden, a fifty-year-old optimist using the guild as an emotional outlet from his family drama caring for his aging mother while his brother plays house with Aiden’s ex-fiancée.

Bogwitch and Otter become fast virtual friends, but there’s a catch. Bogwitch thinks Otter is a college student. Otter assumes Bogwitch is an octogenarian.

When they finally meet face-to-face—after a rocky, shocking start—the unlikely pair of sunshine and stormy personalities grow tentatively closer. But Maggie’s previous relationships have left her bitter, and Aiden’s got a complicated past of his own.

Everything’s easier online. Can they make it work in real life?

**ARC provided in exchange for an honest review**

"Role Playing" by Cathy Yardley is an entertaining and unique romantic comedy that exceeded my expectations. The captivating cover art perfectly captures the essence of the story. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the book, not knowing what to expect beforehand. The novel follows Maggie, a freelance editor in her late forties, and Aiden, a retired businessman in his fifties who previously ran a hospice business. The two characters reside in the same town but only cross paths when Maggie joins Aiden's online gaming guild.

The witty and humorous online interactions between Maggie and Aiden were a highlight of the book. Maggie's sarcastic and snappy personality was endearing and charming, while Aiden's bravery, intelligence, loyalty, and humor were equally impressive. Maggie's character development was particularly remarkable as she stepped out of her introverted shell to support Aiden. Both characters underwent significant transformations, and it was heartwarming to see them take care of each other.

The story was well-developed and engaging, keeping me hooked from beginning to end. Yardley did an excellent job of creating a fun and sometimes emotional romance novel that will appeal to a wide range of readers. I am eagerly anticipating reading more books by this author. Overall, "Role Playing" is a delightful rom-com that I would highly recommend.

About the Author

Cathy Yardley is an award-winning author of romance, chick lit, and urban fantasy, who has sold over 1.2 million copies of books for publishers like St. Martin's, Avon, and Harlequin. She writes fun, geeky, and diverse characters who believe that underdogs can make good and sometimes being a little wrong is just right. She likes writing about quirky, crazy adventures, because she's had plenty of her own: she had her own army in the Society of Creative Anachronism; she's spent a New Year's on a 3-day solitary vision quest in the Mojave Desert; she had VIP access to the Viper Room in Los Angeles. Now, she spends her time writing in the wilds of East Seattle, trying to prevent her son from learning the truth of any of said adventures, and riding herd on her two dogs (and one husband.)