I really wanted to like this one, but in the end it was just too cringey for me. I really don't know many teens who would enjoy Riley's personality and her "quirkiness"; instead coming across annoying and "not like other girls". I did not feel the chemistry between the two characters at all and was just generally unimpressed by this one.

Riley gets sentenced to 8-weeks working at Swords and Boards, her estranged father's gaming store, tor taking her mom's car with no driver's license to see a musical with her best friend. To make matters worse, the school is canceling the spring musical which Riley wants so badly to help direct and her ex shows up at the store. In a panic, Riley claims that Nathan, a co-worker and D&D geek at the store, is her boyfriend. When Riley assures Nathan the ruse will help him win his crush he reluctantly agrees. Things don't always go as Riley planned - building a better relationship with her father, learning she actually likes D&D and the gamers, that the store is more of a community than she ever thought. When life strikes a hard blow, Riley's friends step in to help her save the musical. A clean rom-com that balances friends and family with the hardships of growing up. A pleaser to gamers and non-gamers, theater buffs and non-theater buffs.

I was pleasantly surprised by this book! I love the fake dating trope and how both main characters are so different, yet find so much common ground. The subtle discussion and discovery about how to navigate life as a child of divorce is something I relate to and was comforting to see, especially in a YA novel. I think it’s an important message for young people experiencing their parent’s divorce to read.

I couldn’t put this boon down once I finally got into the main overarching premise and I have to say it is one of my favorite YA books. I will definitely be recommending this book to others when it comes out!

Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me access to this novel!

this is my first ever YA romance read and it is the most absolutely adorable book i have ever read. i was thoroughly impressed about the introduction to D&D in this book, a very easily digestible explanation of how to play. as someone who loves to play as a bard it was *chefs kiss*

the references were an absolute joy to read but not too niche must readers wouldn’t understand them.

This was a fun light read. I loved the combination of drama and dungeons and dragons. There is enough of an explanation of DND to make it understandable to readers but not take over the storyline. I also loved the development of new friendships and the relationship that was built between father and daughter.

A super cute YA romance. Riley is super into musicals, and when she gets grounded and forced to work at her dad's game shop, the last thing she wants to do is spend time with Nathan, another employee and huge D&D fan. Still, when they get into fake dating, of course you know it's going to turn into something more. This was predictable as many romances are, but still super sweet and satisfying.

Very cute enemies to lovers YA book focused on Riley, the theater-obsessed girl who is forced to work at her slightly estranged, divorced father's local board game shop as a punishment. While there, she snares Nathan, a schoolmate who also works there into a plot to make her ex and his crush jealous.

Besides the shenanigans that arise from their plan,the book also touts friendship and consistent work on passion.

Well done!

I cannot say enough about this book! This is the cutest YA romance! A theater girl gets in trouble with her parents and the consequence is that she now has to work at her dad's gaming store, which she doesn't like. And the other kid working there is a boy from her high school, whom she doesn't like. It's going to be a long few months. But then these two high school kids figure out that they could help each other with a fake dating plan (I love a good fake dating plan!).
I loved it. It's cute and wholesome and something I will happily recommend to my YA students to read. There's lots of feelings involved and anticipation, but no spice. There's a great dive into relationships, between friends, parents, and SOs. It's a great representation of high school cliques that are seen as nerdy and therefore often overlooked.
Yes yes yes! Add this one to your TBR!

This story was unbelievably cute! Perfect for the YA audience.
Fake dating, musical references, and dungeons and dragons

I would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for this eARC.

Riley dreams of becoming a director of musicals on Broadway. So when she "borrows" her mother's car to go see a musical with her best friend, she doesn't feel like she's doing anything wrong. Her parents feel differently. As punishment, Riley must spend her days after school working at her dad's gaming store. This is the last thing Riley wants to do. She has seen her coworker, Nathan, around school, but they don't really know one another, which becomes an issue when Riley tells her ex-boyfriend that they are dating. She and Nathan come to an arrangement to make both her ex and the girl he likes jealous. Who would have thought that this plan would backfire on Riley when she starts to realize that she actually likes Nathan? This was a very sweet YA romance.

4.5/5 ⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this arc!

I checked almost daily to see if I had gotten approved for my request of this book because, being married to the D&D/MTG/board game nerd and best friends with the musical theater kids in high school, this book was practically calling to me.

Nathan and Riley were the most *authentically themselves* characters, and the entire book just felt like one big hug to the nerdy part of myself I tried to shove down in high school and got to reclaim as an adult.

I freaking loved this book.

An FMC who's "not like other girls" but not in an obnoxious way? Excellent! She owns her love of theater and choir and her loud clothing. She's unapologetic about it, but in a normal way. Riley was great. Nathan was even better. A nerdy, keeps-to-himself kind of guy who doesn't act like this is the first girl he's ever encountered in life? Double excellent. Their fake dating was so cute. I loved that they both had reasons for wanting to do it--it wasn't just one sided with someone pining for the other.

I love love loved how respectful Nathan was to Riley's boundaries! Especially in a YA novel! He was kind and considerate, and his worry over her was so endearingly precious.

I am not a gamer. I am not a D&D person, and this book did such a great job of explaining things without going overboard or making me feel like the author was being condescending about it. Don't let the fear of not knowing Dungeons and Dragons stop you from picking this one up! It is for novices and experts, both.

All in all, I really don't have complaints about this novel. It was so enjoyable, and I can't wait to read it again. Ms. Boyce will be on my list of authors to keep an eye on. 5/5 stars, absolutely recommend to everyone.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This book came onto my radar when the amazing Liz Parkes revealed her cover illustration.
This is a fun, flirty YA romance full of teens just being goofy teens, with a note of found family thrown in. Riley and her dad's relationship is limping along until she is 'grounded' and put to work in his game shop. What seems to be a drag turns out to be the best thing for her - she and her dad find connection and she also finds a set of supportive, accepting friends. One of which is Nathan, who is more like a son to her dad that she is a daughter. Boyce plays all of these dynamics pretty well and it's great to see that she doesn't jump for super-dramatic, over the top reactions with her characters. Nothing is more of a turn off to teens (trust me, I talk books with high schoolers all day, every day). This is all Riley's POV and it would be fun to have a little more insight with Nathan as their relationship develops, maybe a revealing slip from a friend or something, but alas, his friends are loyal and trustworthy and he is pretty tight lipped as a character. A fun read that reminds of that the worlds of Theater geeks and D&D geeks are pretty much 99% overlapping circles.
Thanks so much for the ARC!

Well, if this wasn't just a damn delight. Let me give you the premise, so you can instantly fall in love. Riley borrows her mom's car without permission to drive her and her friend to a musical (so totally legit reason!), and as punishment, she has to work after school at her dad's game shop. One of her co-workers is Nathan - They get off to a rocky start, but soon realize they can help one another out by pretending to be dating. As a subplot, Riley is also working to bring her school's spring musical back by leading student efforts to make it happen. I adored these characters and all their nerdiness, and it was such a wonderful read. I cannot tell you enough how much I loved it. Thanks to NetGalley for the early look at this January 2024 release!

I adored Dungeons and Drama. This follows Riley, a musical-theater enthusiast, after she is grounded for sneaking out with her best friend Hoshiko to see a musical. Her punishment is that she has to work after school at her dad’s game shop which is where she meets Nathan. He is a D&D gamer who spends all his free time in her dad’s shop and is obsessing over another player in their campaign. Not only does Riley uncover the world of Dungeons & Dragons, but she also makes a group of new friends, gets close to her father who she's been distant with since her parents divorce, and she also begins fake dating Nathan to make his crush and her ex-boyfriend jealous. What could go wrong? Did I also mention that she is simultaneously trying to save her school's Spring musical after it was cut for budgeting?

The plot was full of both D&D and musical fun, a wonderful cast of supportive friends, and even giggle worthy romance. It was sweet in its coverage of parental relationships (the struggle of having divorced parents and not wanting either one to feel like you are choosing sides), friendships, relationships, and a wonderful message about leaning into your passions even if it makes you over-the-top. The right people will accept you as is, no matter if you sing show tunes or play fantasy games!

Thank you NetGalley for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Dungeons and Drama was such a FUN read! I had really high hopes when starting the book and was not let down. I wish there had been more books like this when I was in middle school or even high school.
Riley is a die-hard theatre kid. Nathan is gamer boy who works at Riley’s dad’s game shop. If you asked them, they could not be more different. They soon discover that playing a character in D&D isn’t so different from acting in plays and musicals. Riley and Nathan may have more in common than they think.
Riley gets stuck serving out punishment in the form of working at her dad’s game shop. Riley concocts a fake dating plan to get her jerk of an ex to stop pitying her. Nathan is on board when Riley tells him it’ll make the girl he has a crush on jealous and give him a better chance.
I love how unapologetically over the top Riley is and how immediately Nathan not only expects it but also embraces it.
In addition to the wonderfully written teenage chemistry, we get to see Riley’s relationships with her parents evolve throughout the book as well. I really enjoyed this book. I can’t wait to buy my 13 year old sister a copy.
Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Children’s for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

A very cute fake-dating romance. They had such believable banter that it made it easy to feel like they were falling for each other and it made sense that the flirting was impossible to tell how much was fake or real. I enjoyed that the audience could tell that Nathan was being genuine even though Riley was unsure. I loved the friends she makes at the D&D game and it made it even better that she was able to successfully bring her awesome best friend in as well. It makes sense that a theater kid would enjoy the acting part of the game and play a bard. I did feel a bit annoyed with how Riley started out whiny and over committing, but it also felt like something teens would actually do, so I have to give it a pass. Overall, I would recommend it to anyone looking for a clean romance, and certainly to any theater or gamer kids.

Riley, a musical enthusiast, lands a job at her dad's game shop as punishment for taking her mom's car without permission. She's not a fan of board games or Dungeons & Dragons, but soon finds herself drawn into the magical world of D&D. She starts hanging out with her classmates, including her coworker Nathan. They strike a deal to pretend to date each other, but soon can't tell if their feelings are real.

This book is a charming mix of fake dating, friends-to-lovers, and coming-of-age themes. It's fun to see theatre kids and gamers finding common ground. The romance is fast-paced, fitting the short book, it doesn't feel rushed despite the pacing. The story is full of fun references to fake dating, D&D, LARPing, board games, and musical theatre.

This is a sweet and fun read with lovable characters and a good plot. It's great for romance lovers, especially if they like musical theatre or D&D.
𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘙𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘮 𝘏𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘊𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯'𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺.

This was such a cute book! It was a little hard to get into but it didn't take long until I was hooked. Nathan and Riley were soo cute! I can't wait to read more books by Kristy Boyce!

Thank you netgalley for the arc

Dungeons and Drama is perfect for the students who wants a fun romance. I kept turning the pages late at night even though I knew I needed to turn the light off.

Riley and her mom enjoy being together and watching musicals. Riley isn't as close to her father because he's more into dungeons and dragons, even owning a gaming store where people play games in the back. She really doesn't enjoy her weekends, feeling that her dad fails to recognize and appreciate her musical talents. After Riley drives her car to a musical without a license and without her parents' permission, she is grounded. She must work for her dad in his store after school and no school activities. Upon arriving for her first day, Riley finds Nathan, a weird gamer who seems to live at her dad's store. There are games going on in the back where she meets other nerdy gamers, both old and young. This punishment is going to be a nightmare.

Riley and her best friend decide to save the school musical when it's cancelled for lack of funding and lack of interest. Now Riley has to put together a budget, pick a musical that people would be interested in, and find a way to make it interesting for the principal to back. She can't tell her parents because she's grounded from all things musical. Now she's keeping up with homework and working at her dad's store. She ends up joining the Dungeons and Dragons game in the back with Nathan and the other gamers when she cooks up a scheme. Nathan wants to date Sophia. Riley wants to make her ex regret breaking up with her, so she suggests they fake date. Yes, I know. Another fake dating book. Please. Rest assured. It works. It works well. Riley finds that playing D & D is much like theatre. There's a story and props.

As the novel progresses, Nathan and Riley find that pretending has made them really know the other person. Riley balances everything, finds that her father and his business are actually more interesting than she ever thought, and discovers the value of friendships and family. It's a lovely rom-com that teenage girls will greatly enjoy for a nice Friday afternoon or weekend reading experience.