Woooow! Ok I’m an adult romance book reader 99% of the time. When I jump to YA, it’s because I know I’m feeling something here. I loved this book! It had me giggling in the attic and on the pickleball court and soooo many other places. Logan is such a heartthrob and what every high school girl (or boy) could ever dream of. And Grandma… omg…new favorite geriatric book character of the year! Maybe ever!

I played Hearthstone and Magic The Gathering for many years so I was always in the same-ish community with Dungeons and Dragons and even still watch some
DnD on Twitch! Kristy put the spin on this that Ali Hazelwood puts on STEM imo and just has me actually geeking out and googling all the things 😂

Dating and Dragons made me miss high school soooo much and in the best way. I loved how Quinn found amazing friends, an even more amazing boyfriend all while getting closer to her family and her kick-ass Grandma.

This book is going to be ALL over the YA book community! You will definitely want to read it! Zero spice…just some sweet kisses. Loved this. Get it when it comes out!

Thank you, NetGalley and Delacorte Romance for the opportunity to leave my honest review!!

Overall:
I REALLY loved it! Boyce just knows how to write a leg kicking, squeal out loud, swoony YA rom-com that has almost nonexistent swearing and stays closed door.
This book had me reflecting on my high school experience while also having me strongly identifying with, relating to and loving the Grandma in this story!

Characters:
What these characters are going through is perfect for the genre and age group! Real life friendship problems that rattle your whole world, family drama and boys, boys, boys!
Our FMC Quinn is likable and has kind of a one track mind which fits the story well. Our MMC Logan is lovable, attentive and says the cutest things (too cute maybe because no 16/17 year old I ever dated was that smooth lol) The side character friends are awesome and the kind of friends you hope people find and wished you had had in high school!

Writing:
I enjoy Boyce’s writing. It flows, you are well oriented and her dialogue is so great!

Romance:
I’ve read both Boyce’s “Dungeons and Drama” and this one.
The romance in “Dungeons and Drama” was more prominent to me because it was fake dating x forced proximity, where in this one it is more forbidden love.
So I did miss having more FMC & MMC interactions in the first half of this book just due to the plot circumstances but overall I still liked it and the last half made up for what I thought I was missing in the first.

∞ stars!!!

This was the cutest YA forbidden romcom! I am so in love with this book and all the characters, especially our sassy matchmaker/pickleball-playing Grandma. I'm giving all my love to this book and Dungeons and Dragons. I will jump at the chance to read anything Kristy writes.

Vibes
🐍Dungeons and Dragons
🖤Hidden/Forbidden Relationship
🐍Awesome Friend Group
🖤D20 Jewelry
🐍Live Stream D&D
🖤YA Romance/ Wholesome cuteness

I think I liked this even more than Dungeons & Drama?? It was everything I wanted it to be. Super cute overall, the romance was warm and fuzzy, and all the characters were really fun. I especially loved the grandma! Everything with the friends group was very sweet, and I was just rooting for all of them to be happy. I really enjoyed the D&D campaign scenes, they were well written and made me want to jump in and play!

I really enjoyed this book especially since I read the first one when it came out! I'm amazed at how Kristy Boyce can come up with these D&D centered plots and can't wait to see the next one she invents. I do wish I could see some more alone time with Logan and Quinn to help build their relationship but other than that, I thought it was a cute and easy read.

As a D&D player, I was super excited that I got the chance to read this book!

Super cute! I loved the banter between Quinn and Logan! It did at times feel a little too YA for my taste but it was still a cute and fun read nonetheless!

Thanks NetGalley and Kristy Boyce for the chance to read and review this ARC!

I was skeptical about this book at first because I know absolutely nothing about D&D. Although that was the case, I found this story absolutely heartwarming! Quinn and Logan are so sweet and I was rooting for them from the beginning of the book when he takes her photo on the first day of school. I loved how this brought elements of forbidden love and turned them into a true understanding between the 2 characters. Overall I will give this book 4 stars only because there were certain parts of the book that dragged on and left me wanting more. I think that If you love a good forbidden love, strangers to lovers, and YA romance then you will love this! It is also a slow burn and man was is killing me because all I wanted was for our main characters to just give it up and KISS! I now need to go back and read the first book in the series because I need to know what that was about! Also... I NEED a book about Andrew! I loved his character throughout the book and an curious to see how he evolves as a person during his high school years!

I had adored the first dungeons and dragons book written by this same author so I was excited to read this one as well. It sadly was not as adorable as the first one and had a lot more issues between. the main characters that I found frustrating. They start as strangers and move to enemies and ulitmately end up friends who want to be lovers but can't be do to the rule in their D and D group that they can't date each other. Rules like this in books frustrate me becasue they are just designed to make the characters have to sneak around but the reason is very thin in the grand scheme of things. As someone who enjoys D and D that aspect is a lot of fun. Overall a cute but frustrating read.

Simply put, this is a cute YA romance. A fast and fun read.

Warning: I've only played D&D a few times, so I had a good understanding on that. Not sure how it'd be for someone who has no experience because D&D is a huge plot point. Regardless, I think it's easy to pick up in this story for those who are new.

This book is such a great read for the tween crowd! I would have devoured this in my middle school days! Such a fun way to bring a love of reading, romance and gaming together!

Disclaimer: I was given a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review

4.5 🌟's

stop this was so cute eee!!! this series has been so much fun and i loved this second installment. just cute, young love, nerdiness to enjoy - such fun reads and wud highly recommend :)

Dating and Dragons ✨
Did I stop everything and start this book after @bookreadrecipts posted about loving it? Yes I sure did and have no regrets.

This author has recreated the fun and magic of the first book with this one. I was so pleasantly surprised to be drawn in again to this world of dungeons and dragons. Quinn and Logan were adorable. Logan and his pining. And Quinn’s matchmaking grandmother was the best. The whole friend group was so good. I love the support and banter amongst all of them. Just a damn delightful read honestly. All the stars for being such a good time. 5⭐️

Thank you to Delacorte Romance for the advanced ebook via NetGalley!

This book follows Quinn as she and her family move to a new town to be closer to her grandmother. She enjoyed playing D&D with friends at her old school, but something happens that leads to a dramatic falling out. At her new school, she quickly meets a group of friends that invite her to come play D&D with them for their livestream. Quinn and a boy in the group, Logan, have an immediate connection from the moment they meet. One problem: there is a rule that players within the group can’t date each other.

I had the pleasure of receiving an advanced copy of Dungeons and Drama by the same author before it came out last year, and I can tell you that Dating and Dragons definitely has more D&D action on-page compared to Dungeons and Drama. It was actually very entertaining for me to read about as someone who has never played D&D before. The aspect of their D&D sessions being live-streamed was a cool touch that the author added as well.

My favorite part of this book was seeing how forming friendships with the members of the group changed how Quinn viewed herself after having the falling out with her old friends. The new crew really cares about her and genuinely just want her to be happy. I also liked the bond between Quinn and Grandma Barbara. Her grandma pushes Quinn to feel welcome in her new town and to make new friends. Quinn and her brother, Andrew, have great relationship growth at the end of the story as well. All of these connections felt genuine and real.

Personally, I didn’t feel a very strong romantic connection between Quinn and Logan. I feel like there weren’t enough emotional moments between them to make me feel any strong emotions towards them. The way they wouldn’t let their feelings for each other show just so their D&D group (who are also their best friends) doesn’t find out they like each other feels unrealistic to me. Since their feelings for each other were essentially forbidden, I expected there to be more tension between them than I felt. The love confession at the end was very unexpected to me, because I felt like they hadn’t spent THAT much alone time together. Granted they are only 16 year olds, it still doesn’t feel realistic to me.

Overall, I recommend this book to any YA romance lovers and gaming lovers. Kristy Boyce’s writing is very fast-paced and digestible and I will be reading more books from her in the future!

I like this book well enough, but I feel like the drama was misplaced. There’s the forbidden dating aspect, but neither character is much good at keeping away from the other. I thought the issue with her past D&D group was more interesting to explore, but it never got quite to the depth I wanted it.

This book also made me feel like I’m getting too old for YA, so take that as you will.

Overall, not bad but definitely not as good as Dungeons and Drama.

Thank you to Delacorte Romance and NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

⭐️ 5 stars!! ⭐️
received an ARC of this book via Netgally, in exchange for an honest review ❤️

God, what a gem. I loved this book. I read this over a few days and when I wasn’t reading it, I was WISHING I was reading it. As an avid D&D player this story scratched an itch for me in ways I can’t explain. I really appreciated how Kristy Boyce incorporated the game and other D&D related pop culture like Critical Roll.

The main character Quinn will forever be my girl, she felt like such a real teenager, and she reminded me a lot of myself at that age. Her problems might seem silly to us as adults now, but I remember how big they felt then. This author does a great job of reminding us of that and making us feel that same anxiety that Quinn is experiencing throughout the book. The romance was so sweet, it felt like a warm hug. I loved the random tidbits (like susie Q) and outings (like the soccer game or the convention) that she gave us along the way so that the story had more substance and didn’t lull in the middle like other YA romance books do.

If you enjoy Lynn painter, then you’ll love Kristy Boyce. She has easily climbed into my top favorite YA authors and I can’t wait to read more from her ❤️

wow what an absolute gem. as someone who loves D&D this book was just top tier. like genuinely the gaming portions of this book were some of my favorite parts to read! and they felt so authentic to me!

quinn and logan are such cuties. i really really liked them. quinn was so quirky but also had this part of her that was just so relatable? like i could just picture her so vividly in my brain tbh. and logan was just the best 16 year old boy ever?? he was so sweet and understanding and wow. and the rest of the gaming group was also just all so fun and so unique! i found myself enjoying and understanding all of them! the best character though was definitely quinn’s grandma. she made me miss my own grandmother so much! she was so outgoing and daring and adventurous and mischievous. i love her.

anywho this plot was so fun. it was an absolute slow burn with tons of drama and edge to keep the story moving along in an exciting way. i also liked the subplots of this book quite a lot. again a big favorite of mine was the side plot revolving around the gma. they just warmed my heart and yet were also so tragic and realistic! no spoilers, but the main drama of this book was also just so relatable and believable that i really wasn’t sure how it would get resolved!

overall i am so in love with this book and i can’t wait to not only get my physical copy in the mail, but to also watch all of my friends read it! i definitely recommend it! especially to the girlies who love D&D and everything related to it! disclaimer though: I don’t think you need any d&d knowledge to understand and love this book!!!


anywho i would absolutely recommend this book and i am so so so happy i got the chance to read and review this book for netgalley and random house publishing group! thank you so much for the opportunity!

Occasionally, I pick up a YA novel and feel like it’s just not for someone my age. But then, I come across a book that sweeps me off my feet and lets me relive those carefree teenage moments. Kristy Boyce definitely knows how to create that magic.
The first book I read by her, Dungeons and Drama, quickly became not only a top read of the year but one of my all-time favorite reading experiences. It brought back such vivid memories of high school. While Dating and Dragons didn’t quite hit me as strongly as Dungeons and Drama, it still gave me those fluttery, nostalgic feelings of young love, managing to avoid any overly childish vibe.
This story dives deep into the world of D&D, which, given the title, is to be expected. Unlike the first book, where the game played more of a background role, this one goes into the players' campaign in detail, exploring the group’s dynamic and their interactions. This was refreshingly different for me—I haven’t encountered many books that dive into tabletop gaming this way. That said, I did sometimes feel like the campaign details slowed down the romance a bit. I think many readers will appreciate this unique angle, even if it didn’t always hold my interest.
As for the romance, it was absolutely adorable—perfectly youthful, but clearly written that way on purpose. I loved our main female character from the start and grew to really like the male lead, too. I wasn’t entirely convinced by the “no dating” rule, which felt a little forced, like it was added mainly to extend the plot. While it didn’t detract from the story, it did seem unnecessary.
Overall, I’m thrilled to have read this one, even if it wasn’t a total knockout.
A huge thank you to Random House Children’s | Delacorte Romance for the ARC in exchange for my honest review! This was a highly anticipated release for me, and I feel incredibly lucky to have gotten the chance to read it early.

Gaming is a huge part of my life and to have a gamer themed romance is brilliant. My teenage daughter and I buddy read the first book and I can't wait to buy her a copy when it releases. Kristy does such an amazing job with the characters and the banter. Absolutely enjoyed this!

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House for the eARC!

I was SO excited to get this arc because I have thoroughly enjoyed all of Kristy Boyce’s previous books. Unfortunately this one was a huge miss for me.

First, what I liked!

I liked Kashvi- I liked that we got a nice supportive friend character who was honest and wholesome. She was refreshing and likable. I also liked Quinn’s brother, Andrew, as a character but not in the scenes with Quinn. 😂 It felt like she was too hard on him all the time and he was too mean. But I like the idea of him and I thought he was a bit adorable.

Anyway, that’s basically all I liked…

I didn’t like Quinn. She… felt like she had no personality. I can’t even begin to explain her at all. It’s weird. And Logan was, to me, a walking red flag. These two had insta-love. They “couldn’t help themselves” falling over one another after speaking like 3 times. Logan tries to be mean and rude to stay away from her? Um what? It was all so stupid and silly. I think if there wasn’t a rule about no dating and the two had naturally SLOWLY fallen for each other instead, this book would have worked. Unfortunately that’s not what happened.

My main qualm with this book is that there’s no real plot. The conflict is what: they can’t date because their D+D team said so? That’s the plot??? And Boyce fills the rest of the book with random grandma tidbits and adventures that have no real relevance to the barely there “plot”. I know others have said they liked the grandma but guys, she’s token “I’m so progressive and I want to meddle in my grandchild’s love life” grandma. She is not a new character in the world of books - and I thought her scenes were super boring, especially the Pickleball. God I had to skim that. It was so bad.

And also… I have played a tiny bit of D+D but more board games. I hated the excessive amount of D+D content in this book because it felt like I was listening to an entirely unrelated D+D podcast. It didn’t feel connected to the book - which I know makes ZERO sense. But because it’s all a separate story, it felt like…. If a character reading a fantasy book then read that book to us. 🙈 Please don’t hate me. It was boring to me and didn’t actually benefit the plot or romance or anything to have almost their entire session each time written out. And there were like 3? I was bored - I can’t even remember what happened in those sessions. It just felt extremely excessive!

Let’s also talk about the terrible parents of the FMC. We see them force the grandma into a retirement home because “they can’t house her” (rude) and there’s the suggestion that they like Andrew’s pastimes more than Quinn’s. This isn’t ever really… concluded. It’s skimmed past and Quinn just accepts it 🤷‍♀️ Honestly the parents were awful. I don’t understand how you can have a daughter who loves D+D that much and not at least try to understand it before all of this happened!!!

I think that’s all I had to say on this one. Overall, it was a disappointment and I’m so sad about that after loving her previous books. I’ll still read more from her but this one just wasn’t it.

4 ⭐️

Super cute and fast read. I thought the cover was cute and that's initially what grabbed me. I might not be the biggest D&D fan, but this book made me feel like I didn't have to be to enjoy it.

I think the characters are roughly 16 (?) and at times I forgot how young they were. I went to a small high school so maybe at larger schools you don't have any classes with your friends but hearing that they didn't have any classes together was a bit wild to me. It did make the D&D Saturday sessions crucial to moving the story along. I thought the group playing D&D was very well written and even had an extra complexity of the live streaming.

I loved all the characters. The drama was a bit much for high schoolers but it gave each character some extra flair. The issue that the grandma was going through and the whole family is very real and relatable. I thought the grandma was a hoot. I liked that Quinn was honest about what she had experienced in the past and the fears of history repeating. The group seems to collectively understand this and worked through it together.

The story was predictable but still fun and cute to read.

Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for the copy for my honest thoughts and opinions.