Taking Initiative available now!


Taking Initiative cover with redheaded woman tossing a d20 in the air and dark haired man in button down shirt and rolled up sleeves looking at her. Icons in the background show dragons, swords, books, and dice.

$16.99 print | $4.99 ebook

Print ISBN 9798990321212

Ebook ISBN 9798990321205

358 pages

After having her heart broken, Jo Rainier is eager to start fresh in a new town in Kansas. When she walks into her local library’s first-ever game night, she expects to roll some dice and maybe even make some Monsters & Mythology friends. But instead of finding a friendly group of gamers, she stumbles upon a gorgeous librarian seriously in over his head.

Felix Navarro is desperate to save his job so he can take care of his aging grandfather. He hopes a game night will boost the library’s patron numbers—and its budget too. The only problem? He’s a buttoned-up pragmatist who’s never roleplayed a day in his life. Luckily for Felix, Jo is an experienced MnM Game Master, and she’s willing to teach him… especially if that means time alone together.

As they gather at the gaming table, Jo uncovers Felix’s soft heart (not to mention his killer forearms), and Felix finds himself falling hard and fast for Jo’s charm, wit, and creative mind. The spark between them grows into a flame when they wind up sharing the only available hotel room at an MnM convention. But back home, not everything is fun and games. As their connection deepens, old wounds left by Jo’s toxic ex begin to surface, and Felix’s earnest affection suddenly feels too good to be true. If they want to create something real amidst a world of fantasy, Jo and Felix will have to roll the dice and take a chance on love.

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What Reviewers Are Saying

“This was such a fantastic journey of a book. The elements of TTRPGs were woven in so well that both fans and strangers to TTRPGs can enjoy the game elements but also enjoy the romance… The spice was STEAMING. Truly some of the best romance I've read in a while.

- Elizabeth Carter Fayers, Goodreads reviewer

“What an absolute love letter to the TTRPG community in a book—reading this made me fall in love with D&D all over again while being completely enamored with Jo and Felix.”

- Carrie Templeton, Goodreads reviewer

“This book provided a perfect blend of humor, nerdy references, and heartwarming romance. I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a heartwarming and fun romantic comedy with a nerdy twist.”

- Brandis Tenbarge, Goodreads reviewer

“I genuinely could not put [it] down. There’s so much to love in this book, from the realistic representation of past relationship trauma, good faith efforts to communicate between two people, to [the] responsible way both characters stepped back to evaluate their own issues before continuing in their relationship (and I haven’t even gotten to the spice yet). Truly, this book was beautiful and fun to read—I can’t say enough good things about it!”

- Jemms, Spicy Peps

“Elle Stewart rolled a Nat20 in the RomCom community with her debut novel. Taking Initiative hit every single mark that I like to have in a RomCom. It was funny, sexy, relatable, scary, and sometimes sad… I cried happy tears so many times. It was genuinely healing for my soul.

- Bookish.redhead, Goodreads reviewer

This book was everything I wanted! I’ve been struggling to find a book to get into lately and this one cured me. Finished it in a day and absolutely loved it.”

- Kayla, Goodreads reviewer