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A review by thebooknerdscorner
Dungeons and Drama by Kristy Boyce
5.0
A nerdy romance that combines theatre and D&D in an explosive fake dating arrangement that had me constantly giggling aloud!
Riley Morris isn't just a theatre kid—she is an aspiring director who will do quite literally anything to commit to the show. Even if that means "borrowing" her mother's car and driving without a license to see an off-Broadway production of "Waitress." Now, she is grounded and forced to work at her father's gaming store, which she has literally zero interest in. And to make matters worse, she is forced to work with the annoying Nathan Wheeler. After a series of unfortunate events, Riley and Nathan find themselves in a fake dating arrangement in order to make their ex and crush jealous respectively. Little do they know that a fake relationship is hard to keep up, even as a serious actor and roleplayer. The two begin to walk a dangerous line between what is real and what is fake. Is it so wrong of Riley to wish for more, even though she knows that Nathan's heart yearns to be with someone else?
I was so excited to read this one as soon as I realized it existed. I can't quite call myself a theatre kid or a D&D enthusiast, but they are both art forms that I have dabbled in and enjoyed my time with immensely. And this one did not disappoint! It fed both nerdy niches perfectly and combined them in such fun ways that had me fangirling alongside both Riley and Nathan.
Speaking of Riley and Nathan, these two are so cute together! I love their banter from their first interaction and every time they graced the page together, I knew that I was in for a treat. The way these two communicate with each other is adorable, and I love the inside jokes that form between them as this novel progresses. Uniting these nerds is so pure, and I was happy to see them slowly thaw to each other's presence as they spent more time together. I'm usually not a huge fan of fake dating, but I found myself immensely enjoying the romantic tension between these two that it created. I still don't love that they were only together to make others jealous, but the results were mostly harmless in the end.
All of the friendships presented in this book are also amazing. Everyone needs someone that they can unapologetically be themself with; Riley and Hoshiko are definitely that for one another. Their love for musicals really brought them together, but it is great to see all the other common ground that cemented their best friend status. The D&D troop features quite a bunch of colorful characters and I found myself appreciating what they each have to offer (even Sophia, who is a major jerk played her role well). Mr. and Mrs. Morris are also characters who I adore and came to love each in their own right. They are truly great parents to their daughter, despite their shortcomings they both possess. Also, I love when parents have personalities and hobbies; it makes them feel more real. Books often have pretty caricature parents in them, but Riley's are fully fleshed characters, which I picked up on right away.
The passion that Riley feels towards theatre is honestly inspiring. She will do anything in her power to ensure that the show goes on, even if it takes devoting most of her free time to do so. If everyone in the world cared as much as Riley does about theatre, the world would be a much better place.
One thing that still has me scratching my head about this book though is part of the premise. Riley takes her mom's car because Hoshiko's wasn't working and drives it some distance to see "Waitress." I understand why her parents were so angry at her for doing this for multiple reasons, but why didn't Riley let Hoshiko drive? Hoshiko at least has her license and Riley's parents would have been a lot less worried about their daughter's safety on the road at least. This is a minor thing, but something that had me wondering if Riley was just that stubborn or what.
Overall, "Dungeons and Drama" is the pick-me-up romance that I needed right about now. It is fluffy, nerdy, and even swoonworthy at times. It is also hilarious, and frankly, it's super adorable! The focus on acting is front and center in this book, which I am always a huge fan of. Exploring both theatre and D&D in great detail made this romance extremely comforting to me personally. I also loved the execution of fake dating, which isn't something that I can often say. This was the perfect book to keep me company on Valentine's Day, and I am super excited to check out the rest of Boyce's books in the future!
Riley Morris isn't just a theatre kid—she is an aspiring director who will do quite literally anything to commit to the show. Even if that means "borrowing" her mother's car and driving without a license to see an off-Broadway production of "Waitress." Now, she is grounded and forced to work at her father's gaming store, which she has literally zero interest in. And to make matters worse, she is forced to work with the annoying Nathan Wheeler. After a series of unfortunate events, Riley and Nathan find themselves in a fake dating arrangement in order to make their ex and crush jealous respectively. Little do they know that a fake relationship is hard to keep up, even as a serious actor and roleplayer. The two begin to walk a dangerous line between what is real and what is fake. Is it so wrong of Riley to wish for more, even though she knows that Nathan's heart yearns to be with someone else?
I was so excited to read this one as soon as I realized it existed. I can't quite call myself a theatre kid or a D&D enthusiast, but they are both art forms that I have dabbled in and enjoyed my time with immensely. And this one did not disappoint! It fed both nerdy niches perfectly and combined them in such fun ways that had me fangirling alongside both Riley and Nathan.
Speaking of Riley and Nathan, these two are so cute together! I love their banter from their first interaction and every time they graced the page together, I knew that I was in for a treat. The way these two communicate with each other is adorable, and I love the inside jokes that form between them as this novel progresses. Uniting these nerds is so pure, and I was happy to see them slowly thaw to each other's presence as they spent more time together. I'm usually not a huge fan of fake dating, but I found myself immensely enjoying the romantic tension between these two that it created. I still don't love that they were only together to make others jealous, but the results were mostly harmless in the end.
All of the friendships presented in this book are also amazing. Everyone needs someone that they can unapologetically be themself with; Riley and Hoshiko are definitely that for one another. Their love for musicals really brought them together, but it is great to see all the other common ground that cemented their best friend status. The D&D troop features quite a bunch of colorful characters and I found myself appreciating what they each have to offer (even Sophia, who is a major jerk played her role well). Mr. and Mrs. Morris are also characters who I adore and came to love each in their own right. They are truly great parents to their daughter, despite their shortcomings they both possess. Also, I love when parents have personalities and hobbies; it makes them feel more real. Books often have pretty caricature parents in them, but Riley's are fully fleshed characters, which I picked up on right away.
The passion that Riley feels towards theatre is honestly inspiring. She will do anything in her power to ensure that the show goes on, even if it takes devoting most of her free time to do so. If everyone in the world cared as much as Riley does about theatre, the world would be a much better place.
One thing that still has me scratching my head about this book though is part of the premise. Riley takes her mom's car because Hoshiko's wasn't working and drives it some distance to see "Waitress." I understand why her parents were so angry at her for doing this for multiple reasons, but why didn't Riley let Hoshiko drive? Hoshiko at least has her license and Riley's parents would have been a lot less worried about their daughter's safety on the road at least. This is a minor thing, but something that had me wondering if Riley was just that stubborn or what.
Overall, "Dungeons and Drama" is the pick-me-up romance that I needed right about now. It is fluffy, nerdy, and even swoonworthy at times. It is also hilarious, and frankly, it's super adorable! The focus on acting is front and center in this book, which I am always a huge fan of. Exploring both theatre and D&D in great detail made this romance extremely comforting to me personally. I also loved the execution of fake dating, which isn't something that I can often say. This was the perfect book to keep me company on Valentine's Day, and I am super excited to check out the rest of Boyce's books in the future!