Proficiency Bonus

Roll for Love, Book 3

By: Charlie Novak

Narrated by: Joel Leslie

Organizing 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 realize 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 listened to as a stand-alone.

©2021 Charlie Novak (P)2022 Charlie Novak

Such a fun story

I love this book and it’s unique plot… gamers and a Hollywood star and cosplayers. It’s just so different and fun. And I absolutely adore Lewis and Jason. Their friendship and relationship is impossibly sweet and SO SO sexy. And hooray for ADHD representation! Joel’s narration just takes the story to another level, as always.

Final book of this trilogy ended on a great note!

This book has some of my favorite tropes in it: texting, friends to lovers, and a celebrity MC.
Both the MCs in this book balance each other out in a lot of ways. Lewis needed someone to need him and be accepting of his ADHD and certain personality traits that come with being neurodivergent. Jason needed someone to want him enough to stay around and push him to stand up for what he believes in.
One of the best aspects of this book is that they had a texting relationship months before they met in person and decided to date. They really bonded together over liking similar shows like Pokémon, and they helped one another with their personal trials they were going through. 
Lewis' huge family felt so comforting and wholesome and the same could be said for Jason and his brother. The family elements were great to read about because often times family is left out of queer novels and I loved that their families were both accepting of them and just wanted them both to succeed.
The narrator knocked this one out of the park as well. I didn't anticipate what I wanted Lewis and Jason to sound like but they definitely sounded like I imagined. I really appreciated the sort of fast-paced stream of consciousness that sometimes happens with Lewis and how that was portrayed with the audiobook.
Overall a great final book to this series. I'm really looking forward to upcoming books that follow Lewis' siblings!

(Thank you to the author for the ARC of this audiobook!)

Love this series

I am a big fan of this series, it’s my favorite from this author. I’m a sucker for nerdy characters and they are unique and surprising. The whole series has just been fun. I love Lewis’ and the way that Jason just loves him as he is. Also the situation with the TV show could very well happen and executives need to start thinking of the impact that they can have on people not just the bottom line. I like Joel Leslie as a narrator BUT I did think that he was off his game a little with this one. I didn’t think he had Lewis nailed until chapter 5, as before then he sounded more like Edward and it was like Joel realized that he would have to voice characters from all the previous books and that Lewis needed to be a little more young and less pretentious. I’m glad for the change because I was a little put off at first, but I still loved the story so I was still going to finish it. And seriously, I hope they kept the mice!

Absolutely loved this

I absolutely loved this sweet opposites attract contemporary romance!!

This was such a sweet, steamy, wholesome and fun listen.

The narration was enjoyable and engaging


Absolutely recommend

Loved Lewis and Jason!!! Phenomenal!!

Oh my gosh! This was flippin phenomenal! I seriously was sooo freakin excited to listen Lewis’s story!! Add in Jason and it was perfect!! I understood so much of Lewis’s personality having ADHD myself. I felt so many emotions regarding the direction that Jason’s employers took their show in, made me so mad and anxious at times. I loved Jason and Lewis’s messages and texts, made them stronger starting as friends first. I loved their chemistry, it felt so real. I loved everything about this story!! Joel Leslie did such an amazing job on the narration. His distinct style made each character come alive!!