Dungeons and Drama by. Kristy Boyce | Book Review

When it comes to romance, sometimes it doesn’t hurt to play games. A fun YA romcom full of fake dating hijinks!

Musical lover Riley has big aspirations to become a director on Broadway. Crucial to this plan is to bring back her high school’s spring musical, but when Riley takes her mom’s car without permission, she’s grounded and stuck with the worst punishment: spending her after-school hours working at her dad’s game shop.

Riley can’t waste her time working when she has a musical to save, so she convinces Nathan—a nerdy teen employee—to cover her shifts and, in exchange, she’ll flirt with him to make his gamer-girl crush jealous.

But Riley didn’t realize that meant joining Nathan’s Dungeons & Dragons game…or that role playing would be so fun. Soon, Riley starts to think that flirting with Nathan doesn’t require as much acting as she would’ve thought…

Content Warning:

Riley is a theater kid who loves musicals and for punishment she is forced to work at her dad’s game shop. A boy from her high school who she’s never talked to named, Nathan also works at the store and she goes from a girl singing musicals to learning how to play Dungeons and Dragons with him and his friends. Riley working at the shop is not quite the punishment after awhile as she forges a growing bond with her dad and make a lot of new friends.

This is a fun young adult story, perfect for teen readers. I adored Riley and her best friend, Hoshiko and also Riley’s relationship with her mother. I enjoyed seeing her open her world and learn more about her dad’s love for gaming! I have minimal knowledge of D&D but I know enough from my husband and son about the game and it was cool to see how Riley learns and joins the game.

The fake dating was super cute!

My Final Thoughts:

I really enjoyed this one! I feel like the book cover captures this book so correctly. It’s sweet, funny and heart-warming. It’s filled with theater kids and gaming kids and when the two worlds combine it’s so much fun!

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