A new teen romance about Riley, a musical theater loving teen, who has recently been grounded and must work in her dad’s gaming store as punishment. When her ex comes in, she accidentally blurts out that she is dating Nathan, the other teen employee who happens to dislike Riley. Nathan agrees to help Riley to try to make the girl he is interested in jealous. However, of course, the relationship starts to feel more real.

We get two romance tropes here - fake dating and enemies to lovers. I overall thought this was a really cute romance, and I especially loved all the side characters! I do wish (like with all teen romances) that they hadn’t just jumped into I love yous at the end. It’s hard sometimes with younger romance to balance realistic with book tropes. Despite that, still a cute read!

I received my copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

"Did you or did you not just kiss my arm?"

Enter Riley—A theatre lover who just got caught driving her mom's car (without a license) and, as punishment, has to work at her dad's store, Sword & Board, for the next eight weeks.

Enter Nathan—A gamer from Rileys High School who "lives" at Sword and Board, not only to do an actual job but as an excuse to spend his free time playing Dungeons and Dragons with his friends.

Even though Riley and Nathan don't love the idea of working together, there is one upside. With Riley desperate to escape humiliation from a "tiny" lie, she tells her ex-boyfriend, Paul, and Nathan, attempting to make Sophia, who is part of their D&D group, jealous, they have the perfect solution—Pretending to date each other! What could POSSIBLY go wrong?

I'm a sucker for "Fake Dating" plotlines. Well, when it's done right. And Duneons and Drama by @kristylboyce, @underlined, was staged perfectly.

Although I know nothing about gaming, I breezed through D&D. In fact, my lack of knowledge (LARPing? Tiefling? Halfling?) made Riley's story that much more enjoyable because it was exciting and new!

I'm one of the lucky few who received an ARC of Dungeons and Drama, and I suggest you preorder it before the release date on January 9th. (I'm going to!) The author has a nice preorder campaign going on as well! Just visit her page for more info.

I also love that the inspiration for Dungeons and Drama began when the author and her best friend joined a D&D group in high school. Even better is that they both married members of that group later in life!

Cover art by @eklixio-One of the reasons I was drawn to this book!

When Riley is grounded and forced to work in her dad’s game store she thinks her life is over. He’s always cared more about the store than her anyway and she just has to make it through the 8 weeks and until the school spring musical. When the administrators cancel the musical however, Riley is desperate to save it, all while her ex keeps pitying her which forced her hand into fake dating the nerdy boy at the store, Nathan. Luckily for Nathan, this works for him too since he’s been wishing for Sophia to like him back so together they make a plan but can they stay just “annoying co workers playing at dating”? Or will the feelings come?

This was a very cute YA rom com and I loved all of the gaming references AND musical theater references! It’s like this book was MADE for myself as a teen!

Thank you to NetGalley and Kristy Boyce for letting me read the arc of this adorable book.
I will start by saying that I have never related to a story more than I did when reading this. As I was reading about Riley’s experience working at her dad’s game store it felt like I was at work but, not in a bad way. I love my job and while it’s frustrating at times I have made so many geeky friends just like Riley did in the book. This book perfectly captures the beauty of bonding over the love of a hobby.
Another thing that I absolutely love about this book is the romance and friendship between Riley and Nathan. They are adorable and must be protected at all costs. If you love geek culture and cute romance stories in general I think you’ll enjoy their story. 💕🫶🏻

This was super cute and adorable. I liked it much more than the author's previous books. Part of that is the characters are brimming with personality here. And with our main characters and their friend group's obsession with musical theatre, D&D, tabletop gaming, working in a game store... it was all very nostalgic and brought back so many memories of high school.

Did I spend all my time with the theatre and artsy and nerdy kids? Yes. Did I dress like Riley (as loud and colorful and eclectic as possible) and date guys like Nathan? Uh... yes to that also. It was basically one big nostalgia trip and I had a huge smile on my face the whole time I was reading.

The writing was cute and funny and the fake dating scheme hit all the right romance notes. And the characters really sold it. They all jumped off the page and felt very real. It's going immediately on my shelf of comfort reads.

*Thanks to NetGalley and Delacorte Press for providing an early copy for review.

Thanks so much to NetGalley for the ARC!

I LOVED this and cannot adequately express the unfettered joy I experienced while reading it. I laughed, I cried, I smiled, I groaned....it was amazing. Now I will say: I am a big theatre nerd and I play D&D, so this was literally made for me on both counts. But the writing was great, the tropes were well handled, and the characters were just adorable.

I normally an pretty ambivalent to fake dating and I hate the miscommunication trope....but this book handles both perfectly. It made sense how it all played out - it didn't make me want to punch the characters like it usually does. And even though this focuses on high schoolers, I wasn't annoyed by their immaturity or childish antics. They felt like real teenagers but not in a "ugh, I hate this" kind of way. Basically, this book had all the makings of being really annoying but Kristy Boyce made a perfect YA romance instead.

This is the perfect YA Romance with fake dating, miscommunication trope, D&D, and musical theatre. It has found family, both with friends and biological family, and just some of the best banter. I honest to god laughed out loud, cried, squealed....it was amazing and is a lifetime favorite for sure.

this was adorable! I've been in a d&d kick so this was just up my alley. It was cute and fluffy and I absolutely loved both RIley and Nathan.

Words cannot describe how much I loved this fake dating high school romance. Theater geek + D&D gamer= ❤️❤️ This book made me smile and literally squee for the name couple. It perfectly captures their individual personalities and highlights why they work so well together.

3.5 stars. This was a cute romance and I am a huge D&d nerd so that side of things spoke to me. The romance was cute between the characters but there was miscommunication and that is my most hated trope in a book. Also the physical description of characters were constantly “a white man, a white girl” which was repetitive. Thank you netgalley for the arc.

Thank you to netgalley and Random House Children's, Delacorte Press for allowing me to read this book. This book was so stinky cute I loved the characters in this book.

When Riley steals her mom's car to go see a show, she doesn't think about the consequences. But oh, boy are there consequences: Riley is grounded and has to work at her father's game store. Riley has other things to be worrying about, like how to save the school musical. When Riley's ex visits the store, she panics and says she has a new boyfriend, her nerdy co-worker Nathan. Riley proposes that they play out a fake dating charade to help her stick it to her ex and to make his crush jealous. They agree to fake-date, but Nathan is a really good boyfriend and Riley ends up loving playing D&D with him. Unfortunately, Nathan is too good of an actor and Riley can't tell if he's faking it any more.


I really loved this novel. I haven't read YA in a minute and this made me remember how good it can be. Riley was outgoing and fun, and Nathan was adorable and such a nice guy (albeit reluctantly). The ending felt a little bit rushed, but it was so nice to see how Riley's relationship changed with her father and to see her accomplish her goals with the school musical.

This was incredibly beautiful and i’m so glad I read this. It was so much more than a cute and silly little romance book. The exploration of the FMC’s relationship with her father added such a layer of depth to the storyline. Their relationship just felt so raw. In the beginning, I was giggling and kicking my feet because of Riley and Nathan’s cute moments… by the end I was ugly crying because of the development between her and her dad! I loved everything about this book, I’m overjoyed that it was my first read of 2024!

I really enjoyed this one! I originally requested it because my friends were discussing starting a DnD group (hasn't happened yet, but there's still hope!), so the gaming aspects caught my eye. But, by the time it got delivered to my Kindle, it being YA was worrying me. I'm so happy I finally took the plunge and started it though, because I enjoyed every minute of it! I did have some minor irks with some of the characterizations (Riley's fashion choices and Nathan's messy car), but if I ignored those, I really liked the characters. I'm not the biggest fan of fake dating, so by the end, I was ready for it to end and for things to be real, but again, that didn't bug me too much. The DnD campaigns were so fun, and now I'm hoping my friend group gets ours up and running. I'd recommend this!

Thanks to Netgalley for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review!

This book was adorable. I’m typically not a fan of the fake dating or miscommunication tropes but given the characters ages (high school) and personalities, it really worked and was on brand here. This was such a fun read and really brought back memories of high school and what it was like to be a teenager going through relatable teenage drama. Also as someone who played D&D with a group of friends for a couple years, I really enjoyed those added elements. If you’re looking for a feel good read that does hit too deep but is sure to be enjoyable, look no further.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advance copy of this book!

If you like fake dating, musical theater, gaming, or a combination of those, you're bound to love this book.
When Riley's punishment for an ill-advised night out is working in her dad's game store, the last thing she expects is having to team up with fellow coworker and schoolmate Nathan to help him win the girl he likes and help her avoid condescending comments from her ex.
With lots of funny moments and a bit of tension paired with some miscommunication and true friendship, this book is fun, easy and entertaining.

I received an arc from Netgalley in exchange for an honest and fair review.
I really enjoyed this book.
I loved all the characters.
At first, Riley got on my nerves but as the story went on, she really grew on me. I also had to remind myself that she's still pretty much a kid. Her character really grew throughout the book. I ended up really enjoying her journey.
I loved her dad. He was one of my favorite characters. Everyone at the game shop was someone I could easily picture at my local game stop. One of the scenes towards the end with Riley and her dad had my tearing up. It was very lovely.
I loved all the theatre and dnd references.
As a theatre professional and dnd lover, this was a great book for me! It was a really feel good book.

Absolutely adored this.
It’s definitely your normal fake-dating-to-make-someone-jealous situation BUT against the backdrop of gaming nerds and musical theatre geeks, it’s perfection.

The writing was super fun and the story moves quickly. I literally loved every single character and pop culture reference.

Happy to be finishing the year on a such a great read!

Thanks to NetGalley for the review copy!

This book is SUCH GOOD FUN. Outside of being a seriously swoony romcom, it’s got nerd appeal across several different subcategories of geekery—the D&D kids, the musical theatre kids, even LARPers! Main character Riley has a fun, infectious joy through her narrative perspective, making this read quick, exciting, and full of big feelings. This would be a perfect read for anyone who has ever played D&D, sang a show tune, or thought about doing either. I can’t wait for this to hit shelves!

This was a cute YA romance. I've always been interested in dungeons and dragons and have a lot of friends who play it(will def be recommending this one to them!) I really like how because she was a singer her character is a Bard, that fit so well with her character and showed how you can combine interests in this game to have more fun. Fake dating is also one of my favorite tropes. This felt a bit short though

I absolutely loved this book. It was such a cute YA fake dating romance, and what drew me in was that it involved D&D and musical theater. I'm a total amateur regarding both of them, but I think the book greatly executed the subjects. The characters were well written given that most of them were of high school age, even though they may seem annoying at times (which is true of teenagers!) The side characters were also great; it was cute seeing another relationship blossom between the two main characters' best friends. This was such a fun read!

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Children's for the ARC!