Natural Twenty

Roll for Love, Book 1

By: Charlie Novak

Narrated by: Joel Leslie

Length: 8 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's Summary

Plants are easier than people - that’s Leo’s rule of thumb. After all, nobody really wants a man who looks like he belongs in a biker gang but would rather spend his time buried in books and flowers. It’s just easier to be single. Until he meets the owner of the new book shop. 

Jacob Morris knows two things: He’s really attracted to the man who runs the local flower shop, and he doesn’t date. Not when he’s still healing from a bad breakup, has a new business to run, game nights to organize, workshops to host, and a website to build.

When friendship blooms into something more, Leo and Jay must decide whether to roll the dice and take a chance on love or keep forging ahead on their quests alone. Will their roll yield a one or a perfect, natural 20? 

Natural Twenty is an 80,000-word contemporary-MM romance featuring Dungeons & Dragons, secret flower language bouquets, a spoiled Staffy (or two), and a best friend who is basically a gothic prince. It is book one in the Roll for Love series and can be enjoyed as a stand-alone.

©2020 Charlie Novak (P)2021 Charlie Novak

Utterly sweet and so full of perfect feels!

This book hit all the right notes! It’s a wonderfully heartfelt story with believable characters and plot, soooo many feels, and the happy ending we all deserve. Plus, some really steamy scenes that will have you needing a cold shower.

I want to hang out with all of these characters and am so looking forward to book 2 in this series!!

As usual, Joel Leslie gives an amazing performance, with wonderful accents and delivery that pull you into the story immediately.

What a winning combination!! Definitely give this a listen! You won’t be sorry!

Low Angst and sweet

Not bad, but I got a little bored. There weren’t a ton of hot scenes, but they were too long for my taste and I started skipping through them. The main source of drama came from a reluctance to ask for help, and I didn’t have a lot of patience for it. Leo and Jay were very likable though and I liked the supporting characters.

Great book!!

This is really well done. A classic, sweet m/m story about two nerdy shop owners. I took a chance on this book because of Joel Leslie and he is at his best. Great writing, with interesting side characters. A few chapters end abruptly and one ended mid-sentence, which was off putting, but I don’t even care, I liked the book so much it didn’t bother me.

Books and Flowers

This story was really sweet. I loved that it takes place around a bookstore and flower shop. Listening to Joel's accents is always a treat. You get so engrossed in hearing him voicing these characters.

JACOB AND LEO

Leo believes that flowers are easier to deal with than people. Awkward in social situations, he doesn't do relationships. Jacob has moved to town and opened a book store. He is trying to recover from a BAD, long term relationship that has left him with serious self worth issues. They meet and are attracted to each other, but afraid to go forward..
Great story, lots of humor, some angst, and steamy. Love Charlie's books and this one is no exception.
LOVE Joel Leslie as a narrator, he did his usual superb job.

A nice romance

A nice enough romance, very low angst and the one that there is here is blow out of proportion, so you know that things won't be bad for too long :P

And I must say that, with this title, I was expecting a lot more of D&D that we actually got :/

Strangely, the one character I fell in love with wasn't one of the main characters but Edward which might be the main reason to not give up this series.

Joel Leslie's narration was really good.

An endearing story!

Natural Twenty was a very sweet story, made even better by the narration of Joel Leslie! There was a lot of internal dialogue, which, if I was reading instead of listening, would have probably taken me out of the story a little. But thanks to the wonderful Joel Leslie, I didn't mind it so much! I'd listen to him read a phone book if it came down to it.
Leo and Jay were so cute together. That's what really stood out to me about this story- just how sweet and cute the whole thing was. It's a very light-hearted read, with just a tiny touch of angst, that thankfully didn't play out too long.
Both Jay and Leo wanted to take things slow, but things actually moved at a pretty quick pace between them. It wasn't quite insta-love, but it was close. Although I didn't mind because they were so good together, so good for each other.
The secondary characters were great, especially Edward.
I loved the epilogue! It was exactly what an epilogue should be, it even made me tear up! Although it did give away Edward's story to an extent, I'm still looking forward to reading his book.

I loved the small town feel, how it seemed like such a wonderful place to live.
I've read so many books this month that take place in small towns, with a bookstore as a main focus, I think they're all trying to tell me something...

Fantastic

Natural Twenty by Charlie Novak is the first book in the Roll For Love series. This is a contemporary MM romance that is sweet, nerdy, flirty and fun. Leo and Hay made me smile while they found their way to luck in love. Joel Leslie does a fantastic job as narrator.

Rolling the Love Dice

Natural Twenty made me want to buy a bouquet of flowers and join a Dungeons and Dragons group as soon as I finished the book. I have never played a Dungeons and Dragons game in my life, but I really want to change that after reading this book. This was such a fabulous, sweet book about a stoic florist and a gregarious bookshop owner. This romance had it all: humor, cuteness, awkward flirting, supportive best friends, adorable dogs, flowers, games, and fandom. I thought all the characters were wonderfully developed and were full of depth and feeling. The writing was well done and flowed smoothly which made the entire book a joy to read.

The audiobook was narrated by Joel Leslie who did an incredible job. The characters were perfectly voiced and I could feel the emotion and energy, but the performance never became over-the-top – it was just right. I found listening to this book enjoyable which was enhanced by the well done audiobook production.

Liked it

Audiobook Review by Mel
4 Blue Roses

4 Blue Flames

5 Headphones 🎧 🎧 🎧 🎧 🎧

Narrator Joel Leslie delivered a 10/10 performance (as usual). His knack for English, Irish and Scottish dialects guaranteed well distinguishable dialogues and personalities. I started out listening at 1.3x speed and quickly had to reduce it to 1.2x as his natural cadence is on the faster side (which I generally like). Joel has a beautiful voice and does narrate as an A+ narrator. This delivery lacked a little humour and deeper connections to the characters. But, it’s my opinion that the narrator did his best to bring to life what was written and given to him.

The author wrote a wonderful and perfect love story, but I struggled to like the characters or connect with them. I really wanted to, they should be likeable, but I feel we rolled too fast from the setup to the confrontation and then to the resolution. If that makes any sense. I did dit not have time to get to know the characters. Otherwise, it was perfect, all the t’s were crossed and i’s were dotted. Wrapped up in a perfect contemporary romantic bow.

I do recommend this audiobook, I did like it. Listeners who love their romances on the serious side with medium drama, may like it more than I.

Happy Listening

Sweet, steamy and nerdy!

This book is so sweet, steamy and nerdy; I can’t even begin to express how much I loved it!
Leo and Jay are both such lovely characters!
Leo, who looks like he belongs to a gang or a MC, but instead he’s a big softie at heart, even if he’s a bit grumpy. He’s so used to not being what people expects him to be based on his looks, that he’s taken to keep everyone at arm’s length.
Jay has moved to Lincoln after a nasty breakup, he’s thorn between anger and self-doubt, and he’s certainly not ready to put himself out there again.
Leo starts a wooing suited for Victorian times, with cute flower bouquets each with its own hidden meaning and Jay is unable to resist.
I loved their banter, the super sweet moments and the lovely group of side characters!
Do I really need to express my opinion on Joel Leslie's narration? Superb, as always! I have yet to find a book that he doesn't make spectacular!