Reviewed by Cheryl

TITLE: Proficiency Bonus

SERIES: Roll for Love #3

AUTHOR:  Charlie Novak

PUBLISHER: Self Published

LENGTH: 269 pages

RELEASE DATE:  May 18 2021

BLURB:

Organising yourself is harder than it looks—Lewis may be a highly proficient PA for two very successful cosplayers, but that means nothing when you’re living at your parent’s house after yet another failed relationship and trying to find some stable ground.

Jason Lu, star of Celestials, is stuck between a rock and a hard place. When the show is cancelled and his character pigeonholed into a homophobic ending, Jason must choose whether to fall in line or break ranks. But one misstep will mean bumping heads with some powerful people.

Teaming up with the very cute guy he met at Comic Con seems like a natural first step and now Lewis and Jason must choose between heartbreak and justice. As they forge ahead, they realise there are no bonuses for navigating life’s challenges, instead they’ll just have to fight for what they believe in.

But sometimes overcoming the biggest hurdles yields the best results.

Proficiency Bonus is a 79,000-word contemporary MM romance featuring plushies, Pokémon, and a fight for the perfect ending. It is book three in the Roll for Love series and can be read as a standalone.

REVIEW:

I don’t know if this is the last book in the series, I hope not, but if it is, it sends the series off with a bang. Personally, I think this is the best of the three. I loved it.

Although all three books can be read alone, the experience is richer if they’re read in order. One of the greatest strengths of the author is in creating characters. I love them all, new and old. Jason is a perfect addition to their ranks. He comes in with a game (Pokemon) and goes out with a game (Dungeons and Dragons), and in between he is both a sweetheart and a revolutionary.

Jason is the joint lead in an extremely popular television series, in which he plays one half of a gay couple. When the network decides to not only bring the series to an end, but to bring it to the worst end imaginable. They not only deny their loyal fans the happy ending the craved, but they make a joke of the gay love affair that built on the hopes and dreams of queer fans for years, with heartbreaking betrayal. Jason knows their fans will be devastated. Throughout the course of the series, he has seen dozens of stories from fans who had literally lifechanging experiences through the way the gay relationship developed and knows they will be personally devastated by the betrayal, not only of the characters, but of the network themselves.

Fortunately for Jason, and his fans, he meets Lewis at a convention and through falling in love with the little, pink-haired, firecracker he finds the focus and courage to mount a defence on behalf of all those fans who had made his life so much richer for so long.

All the friends from previous books come together and there is a lot of plotting and planning, a fair amount of partying and lots of drama.

Of the three books, this one has the strongest and weightiest story and loved every word of it. There is much soul searching and many threads to explore and the characters, new and only really come into their own.

I heartily recommend this book, and also that it is read in order with its predecessors because although there is not an overarching story per se, there is a logical progression that it would be a pity to miss.

RATING:

BUY LINK: 

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