Have you ever read a book that you wish younger you could have read because Dungeons and Drama would have been PERFECT for high school theater kid me! I didn’t start playing D&D until I was in my 20s and I think this book absolutely would have inspired me to pick it up sooner and also, I am a sucker for anything with a theater kid main character! I loved all the references to nerdy things and musical theatre! I also went very hardcore to see broadway tours including bothering my mom for a month and a half to ensure she got us tickets to see Rent with Anthony Rapp!

Seeing Riley’s relationship with her father grow and not at the cost of her relationship with her mother was lovely and I think the conversations she had with both of her parents were healthy and full of a lot of depth and emotional intelligence. I loved watching Riley and Nathan’s relationship take off, especially because I absolutely love fake dating and that trope was done SO WELL in this book!

4.5/5 stars!

An excellent starter romance - forced proximity, fake dating, oh no real feels - with big swoon and full of so many fantastic characters and relationships. Musical scores and 20-sided dice for everyone!

Thank you NetGalley for the free ARC. Well past the publish date, but better late than never.

This was cute. A little too young for my taste, but it was fun. I hated Riley at first because she was very full of herself, but her character development was nice. I love the fake dating trope, not so much the miscommunication trope. Overall easy ready and would recommend to anyone that’s nerdy.

This was a cute and quick read. I enjoyed the setting and wished for more time in the store. The friend group dynamic was well crafted, but the pacing for the story line seemed off. The D&D character creation was my favorite part of the story.

"Dungeons and Drama" by Kristy Boyce is an absolute blast! It’s the perfect mix of humor, heart, and a touch of nerdy charm. The story pulls you right into the world of high school friendships, D&D, and unexpected romance. I loved how it captured the feeling of finding your people in the most unlikely places. Big thanks to the publisher for the ARC! I couldn’t resist picking up a copy for my library system. If you’re into quirky romances and relatable characters, this one is a must-read. Highly recommend it for anyone who enjoys a good laugh with their love story!

After “borrowing” her mother’s car – and driving it without a license - to see a touring production of a Broadway show with her best friend, theater-loving Riley’s parents not only ground her, but sentence her to spend the next eight weeks working at her father’s gaming store. Things get complicated when Riley finds out her school has decided against having the spring musical after budget cuts. Riley is caught between spending her now-limited time secretly coming up with a plan to convince school administration to let them go forth with a musical, while also working at the store – including getting roped into being a part of nerdy-but-cute Nathan Wheeler’s Dungeons & Dragons campaign. To make things more complicated, the two come up with a wild fake-dating scheme to make both Riley’s ex-boyfriend and Nathan’s D&D-playing crush jealous, but as they spend more time together their feelings predictably get more complicated. Dungeons and Drama by Kristy Boyce is a fun, YA take on the fake-dating trope. The romance is innocent enough that this book could be enjoyed by younger readers, but should still keep older teens interested.

I am absolutely obsessed with this book - it is exactly what I want in a nerdy YA romance. I seriously wish this had existed when I was a teen! The title couldn't be more accurate and the drama was super fun. I loved the DND representation and found it very realistic. I love character growth and we see a lot of it with the FMC. This is definitely a lighthearted romance with some heartfelt moments. 4.5 stars!

***In Kristy Boyce's young-adult charmer, high schoolers Riley and Nathan, coworkers who have nothing in common, end up in a fake-dating drama as they try to win over their love interests.***

High schooler Riley has a grand plan to become a Broadway director. But the always-epic school musical has been canceled because the school thinks there isn't enough support for it. So first she wants to get the spring musical set, then she'll mastermind her future.

But when she borrows her mom's car without permission (to go see Waitress out of town with her best friend, so: worth it) and gets grounded, she suddenly has to spend afternoons working at her father's game store instead.

Determined not to give up on the musical, Riley sneaks and works on a master plan for a performance--and talks her unfriendly teen coworker, Nathan, into making his gamer crush jealous by doing some convincing flirting with him. Meanwhile, she agrees to take part in some nerdy game play.

But role-playing in Nathan's Dungeons & Dragons game turns out to be...fun. And liking Nathan is starting to feel like less of an act than simply a reality.

I love a fake-dating premise, and the Nathan-Riley setup is irresistible. I was hooked on their ups and downs--and the reasons for their "downs" are plausible enough that I loved rolling with them. The supporting characters and their side plots are funny and oddball and cute. This was a sweet world that I loved spending time in, and the fact that absolutely everything works out is immensely satisfying.

I received an electronic edition of this book courtesy of NetGalley and Random House Children's, Delacorte Press.

For more Bossy reviews of rom-com stories I've loved, please check out the titles at the link on Bossy Bookworm, the blog!

The second book in this series is Dating and Dragons.

As someone who only has a high level understanding of D&D, I found this to be a cute and fun read. The characters were interesting & well developed, the D&D references/scenes were easy to understand, and I liked development of the enemies to friends to lovers between the main characters.

Riley is a full-on theater kid—Broadway-obsessed, musical-loving, and absolutely determined to direct a show of her own one day. But when her school cruelly slashes the budget for the annual musical (gasp!), she makes it her mission to bring it back. There’s just one tiny problem—she’s grounded for, uh, “borrowing” her mom’s car without permission. Now, instead of saving the arts, she’s stuck spending her afternoons working at her dad’s gaming store.

Nathan is a totally adorkable nerd with a major crush on one of his fellow Dungeons & Dragons players. When he offers to cover for Riley so she can work on her musical (and low-key get back at her ex), she agrees to help him out—by fake-flirting with him to make his crush jealous. The only catch? She has to actually join the D&D campaign. What she didn’t expect was to actually enjoy it… and maybe catch real feelings along the way.

This book was adorable. It’s packed with some of my favorite tropes—opposites attract fake dating, even a little “she’s mine” energy (but, like, in a super nerdy way). The side characters were just as delightful, and the ending? Absolutely melted my heart.

4.5 stars rounded up to 5

This was a really cute and sweet YA book. I loved the combination of D&D and theatre elements. The romance was very YA appropriate and sweet, which I always appreciate in the YA genre. For sure will be reading the next one

Dungeons and Drama was by far one of my favorite reads in 2024. I don't read a ton of YA romance these days but when Dungeons and Dragons is involved, I am there and ready to have a good time. This book definitely didn't disappoint. It was really cute and light and I loved the fact that we got to experience their game along with them!

Okay, so, Dungeons and Drama? Five stars, easy. Seriously, I'm kind of obsessed. Kristy Boyce totally nailed this nerdy romance. I was hooked from page one. The fake dating thing? Usually not my cup of tea outside of fanfic, but this was so well done. The jealousy, the little "fake" sweet moments, the kissing – it was all just perfect. Like, give me more!

This book is such a treat if you love sweet YA romance. It's that perfect mix of nerdy and heartwarming. The characters felt so real, like actual teenagers, which is something I really appreciate. The romance was just the right amount of swoony – it gave me all the warm fuzzies. There was a little miscommunication towards the end, but honestly, it felt realistic given their ages, so it didn't bother me. I also have to say, the D&D stuff was great. I'm not a huge D&D player myself, but I could totally follow along with what was happening in the game, which was cool.

Seriously, Dungeons and Drama is a must-read for any romance fan. I can't recommend it enough.

Thank you to the publisher for the review copy! I just couldn't get in the mood for this one, but I do love this author!

I was (am?) a TTRPG loving, cosplaying and LARPing, video game loving kinda girl. This book sounds like it was plucked out of my interests and dropped into my hands.

When theater kid Riley lands herself in hot water after a rebellious NYC musical adventure, she's sentenced to the worst fate imaginable: working at her estranged dad's game store. That's where she meets Nathan, the annoyingly cute D&D dungeon master who's about to show her that rolling for initiative is just improv with dice. Riley reluctantly joins his gaming group and discovers that battling dragons might be the perfect distraction from her ex-boyfriend drama and her desperate mission to save the school musical.

But here is what my inner teenager was kicking her feet over. Riley and Nathan come up with a fake dating scheme! Unfortunately for them, it's hard to stick to a script and with each level up of their pretend romance to make their crushes jealous, the line between fake and real blurs. Riley's summer quickly becomes an adventure she never anticipated, and one that is sure to make any nerdy teenager jealous.

If you want a blend of High School Musical and Critical Role, this is a fantastic read.

The book Dungeons and Drama was a wonderful and fun read. It had an engaging plot, a budding romance, and the subjects of Dungeons and Dragons and theater were interesting to me. It had intriguing characters and hilarious banter. It was sarcastic and left me wanting more. There was one thing that I didn’t like so much. While there was an excellent plot, I struggled to understand some of the logic behind the characters' actions. There are a few scenes in this book that I have a hard time believing could happen in a real-life setting, and that could make it harder to relate to the characters' struggles. Besides this one downfall, I really enjoyed reading this book, and recommend it to others!

I thought this was really sweet!! I am always super excited to find books with no spice that are still good romances to read! I thought this hit all the right notes of the trope without being too cheesy and I was rooting wholeheartedly for Riley and Nathan!

Dungeons and Drama is the perfect read for readers who love fantasy and roleplaying, theater, and rom-coms. This book reads like a Young Adult version of Jen Deluca, with just enough romantic tension to hold your romantic nerdy teenagers.

Get ready for musicals, roleplaying, and all the ways these nerds worlds collide.

I received an eARC of Dungeons and Drama on Netgalley, and I and kicking myself for not getting around to this sooner!

This book was perfect! First of all, I'm a sucker for fake dating. I love it, pretty much always. Add in the high school nerd love and you're pretty much guaranteed a winner!

I knew I would like this book, but I was surprised by how much I absolutely loved it. Even though we have a dramatic theater kid main character and a fake dating set up, this honestly felt more realistic than most of the romance I read. The teenagers thought like teenagers and felt like teenagers. They struggled with their relationships with eachother and parents, and with the responsibilities of being high school kids. There were real life topics brought into the story that made it more relatable than just a cute little love story. And the found family? Ugh! I want that in my life like yesterday ❤️

As a nerd little emo girl who fell in love in high school with a nerdy DnD player, I don't think I could find a more perfect romance if I tried.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me this reading experience. I can't wait for the next one!

"Dungeons and Drama" had fun moments, and the plot and characters were cute, but I didn't feel compelled to read this book.