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Role Playing cover art

Role Playing

By: Cathy Yardley
Narrated by: Chris Brinkley, Elyse Dinh
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Summary

An AudioFile Best Romance Audiobook of 2023

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?

©2023 Cathy Wilson. (P)2023 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: Romance

Critic reviews

A New York Times Best Romance of the Year

“Chris Brinkley and Elyse Dinh pair up for a delightful performance in this fresh nerdy romance.… Dinh's and Brinkley's performances have the right intense beats when narrating gameplay. The romance unfolds more slowly so that listeners can savor its moments. Both narrators depict the genuine struggle faced by characters who are coping with life's new chapters and finding joy in unexpected places.”AudioFile Magazine, Earphones Award Winner

“If ever there were a story for our times, Role Playing…is it. …deftly narrated by the team of Chris Brinkley and Elyse Dinh who are able to bring the entire story along with its distinctive characters to life in a true theatre of the mind experience for the listener.”Midwest Book Review

“Elyse Dinh's narration…hits her stride once Maggie and Aiden meet IRL. Chris Brinkley, who narrates for Aiden, captures the rumbling, warm nature of this lovable character. Yardley's (Ex Appeal) latest is a perfect fit for patrons looking for heartwarming, slow-burn romances featuring middle-aged characters.”Library Journal

What listeners say about Role Playing

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Unexpected details that gripped

This was an unexpected journey that I utterly lapped up.
I enjoyed following the characters along through this story and as a fellow geek, utterly squealed at the references. it was refreshing to read a story that followed people at later stages in life.

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4.5 wonderful stars

Ohhh lovely middle life romance - our wonderful MCs are in their 40s 
 
I devoured this book, being on a bit of an audio binge finding this had audio available via KU was a treat. 
 
There was strong Bisexual/Demi/Ace MMC rep. I appreciate seeing a bisexual MMC in a mixed gender relationship and the SUPPORT from his leading lady was top notch. 
 
Low heat but I didn’t notice until the “Are we going to have sex?!” at 79%. 
 
TW: LOADS of Biphobia, an outing, and mild Asiaphobia

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