Dungeons and Dragons is something I’ve played before and it can be a lot of fun. Which makes it even more fun when a book I’m reading incorporates it in any way. That’s why I was really excited to read Dungeons and Drama. I finally did, so today I want to tell you what I thought. Keep on reading to find out more.
A big thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with an eARC to read and 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…
Review
Dungeons and Drama caught my attention, because of the Dungeons and Dragons element, but also because it features fake dating. That is one of my favorite tropes. Both of these elements were a lot of fun in this story. The author did a great job referencing things that people familiar with the game understand, but not too much that someone who doesn’t know Dungeons and Dragons would become lost.
Riley was a great main character. She was very passionate about musical theater (so much so she got herself grounded by doing something she wasn’t supposed to to see a show). I love her talking about it and that she just seems to be herself. While grounded she had to work at her father’s store and that created a family story line I really enjoyed. The relationship with her father wasn’t the best before this and I think it brought them closer together and made her realize he cares more than she thought.
The Dungeons and Dragons game with Nathan and his friends didn’t take over the story either, but actually helped her theater loving heart a few times as well. I loved them talking about their characters and Riley really enjoying herself. When the fake dating came in, it was a lot fun. Nathan was genuinely a sweet guy and it was great seeing them slowly actually start falling for each other.
Dungeons and Drama was the perfect mix of teenage drama, romance, family, and having fun. I’ll definitely be reading more by this author.
Dungeons and Dragons is a book that I definitely recommend. If you enjoy fake dating and Dungeons and Dragons this book is for you! Have you read any books that incorporated a well known game? Let me know in the comments! I’d love to hear from you.
