Overall: 4/5
Characters: 4/5
Plotline: 4/5
Writing: 4/5
Tropes: MF; YA Romance; Forbidden

Themes: 4/5
Romance: 4/5
Spice Factor: .5
Enjoyment Factor: 4/5

Review: This was a super cute YA romance; the slow burn was super fun, and the romance build-up was significant! I loved the DND aspects and felt like reading critical roles as if made by teenagers, which was on par with what was happening in the story. I wish we had more of a resolution with the old friend group, but overall, this was super cute and light-hearted.
I received an ARC of this title from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Kristy does it again. Another fun D&D story with great characters and an interesting twist on forbidden romance. The book starts with an enemies to lovers vibe too, which was fun. Definitely still think that Boyce's writing can be strengthened, but the book was fun and I enjoyed the story. Great pick for your nerdy romance teens (and adults too)

Dating and Dragons was adorably cute! I have never played D&D so it was fun learning about it while reading. Quinn and Logan make the sweetest couple; I was rooting for them from the start! I liked that the tension from her old D&D group of friends was part of why she was hesitant to take the leap with Logan, along with the current group’s no-dating rule. I’m a sucker for a forbidden love trope. Quinn’s grandma was a fun side character who added a lot of interesting scenes to the book. Overall it was a great palette cleanser if you need something to read in between other more intense books. (I’ve been on quite the Romantasy kick lately).

Kristy did it again with this YA romance! I have never played D&D but I love learning about it and how these kids all connect through this shared love of the game. The sparks between these two were sweet and I loved how they slowly grew over time as they get to know each other. I enjoyed the forbidden romance aspect through the group rules and I like it all worked out in the end on that front. The friendship side of these was very realistic to what teens deal with and I also liked the family dynamics as well. Overall, this is a gem of a book that I will definitely be recommending to all my students and fans of YA!

FULL REVIEW
This young adult romance was the sweetest! You can read both books in this series in any order as they are complete standalones and I highly recommend both! Quinn and Logan’s chemistry had me hooked from the start. What begins as a rivalry in their D&D group quickly evolves into something much more as their playful bickering and banter turn into heartfelt moments. I loved how Quinn wasn’t afraid to stand up to Logan’s charm, and how the rules of the group—no dating among members—created the perfect tension for their growing connection. The D&D setting was so much fun and added an extra layer to the story, with the group’s strict “no phones, no dating” rules creating all sorts of dilemmas and opportunities for Quinn and Logan to realize their feelings. It was the perfect blend of nerdy fun and sweet romance!

TROPES
😈Enemies to Lovers
🧲Opposites attract
🏫High School Romance
🤐Secret Feelings
💞Forced Proximity
🤓Nerdy Romance
🎲Dungeons & Dragons

This is a romcom for all the D&D lovers about there! (But there’s plenty to love even if you know nothing about it.) Quinn is struggling with switching schools in the middle of the year until she finds a D&D group to join, made even better by the presence of her new crush. The problem? This group streams their sessions, meaning they take things pretty seriously, including a no dating rule. 🎲

I had so much fun with this one. It included more of the actual game than the first book, Dungeons and Drama, which was something I was missing although I still love both. It was nice having the FMC already be familiar with the game this time around.

The friend group is so cute. Her growing bff-ship with one of the players is adorable, and I liked seeing a relationship besides just the romantic one develop. The way the group takes her in and accepts her is so sweet. 🫂

Her romance with the MMC is great. Forbidden love but done in a very low stakes way compared to some of the darker books I read. So it had that good tension and angst but in a light hearted way that I enjoyed. ❤️

Overall, this is a really fun read for D&D lovers or just romcom lovers in general!

Thanks to the author for the copy.

9.77-9.80/10

What Worked For Me

Characters-10

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I loved the characters in this! Quinn and Logan were both lovely and so cute. I loved the DND group in this one and how they treated each other like found family. The group dynamic was great, and they worked great together both in and out of the game. Quinn’s parents and Quinn’s brother were great additions to the story. This book had a journey for all the characters, which I enjoyed.

Writing-10

Dating and Dragons had a fun writing style that was easy to read. There were fun scenes in this book where the group was hanging out, and being teens which is what I love in YA novels. These scenes bring the characters together and explores the relationship dynamics. This book was also filled with important topics, such as a grandparent moving into a retirement community, and dealing with past friends through internet trolling. The dialogue was funny and interesting, and I enjoyed the DND game, as well as the references to DND in this book.

Plot-9.7

While this book was a romance subplot, and the romance was a slow burn, I loved how the characters had a connection as friends before they started dating. This was also a journey of healing, and moving on from past friendships, and a former DND group. I loved how the DND group came together and helped Quinn move on.

Romance-9

As a fan of DND fan, I loved the romance in this. I thought both characters were sweet, and looked out for each other. I love a slow-burn romance, and enemies/friends to lovers.

Rating: 🐇 🐇🐇🐇🐇/5

🩷Forbidden Romance
⚔️ Dungeons and Dragons
🩷 Slow Burn
⚔️ Found Family

I am completely and utterly obsessed. Kristy did it again! Another 5-star read!

This book, once again, had me squealing and giggling like a schoolgirl. I have zero shame. I loved Riley and Nathan so much; I didn’t know that I could love Quinn and Logan just as much (maybe even more but I refuse to pick favorites). THE INSTANT CHEMISTRY. THE FORBIDDEN ROMANCE. THE TENSION. THE SLOW BURN.

Kristy does a wonderful job truly capturing that youthful spirit and the joy (and fear) of falling in love with the backdrop of Dungeons and Dragons. I really appreciated that we got even more involved in the campaign itself, meeting the creative characters, and experiencing firsthand how they all interacted with each other. I also really appreciated the highlighting of the streaming community!

All the side characters are such a treat. The interactions and banter feel so unique but also so authentic. The features on her found family + her biological family are so touching. Quinn is truly surrounded by such a loving support system.

If you are a book lover who has been interested in D&D and want to carefully dip your toes into the universe, I think these books are wonderful, heartwarming introduction!

I absolutely cannot wait for more. I am so hooked. I need my fix.

As always, I received this arc in exchange for my honest opinion, voluntary opinion.

⋆｡ﾟ☁︎｡⋆｡ ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡⋆ “𝓛𝓲𝓿𝓮 𝔂𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓵𝓲𝓯𝓮, 𝓠𝓾𝓲𝓷𝓷. 𝓔𝓿𝓮𝓻𝔂 𝓶𝓲𝓷𝓾𝓽𝓮 𝓸𝓯 𝓲𝓽. 𝓓𝓸𝓷’𝓽 𝓭𝓻𝓲𝓯𝓽 𝓽𝓱𝓻𝓸𝓾𝓰𝓱 𝓲𝓽 - 𝓵𝓲𝓿𝓮 𝓲𝓽.” ⋆｡ﾟ☁︎｡⋆｡ ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡⋆

4.25/5

Tropes:
🎲 Forced Proximity
🎲 Yearning
🎲 D&D Party Members

What I Liked:
🎲 Quinn’s love for D&D and not being shy about defending it as a hobby to people who doubt its merit & importance in her life
🎲 Logan’s whole vibe. He was so charming, and his yearning was so sweet
🎲 How careful Quinn and Logan were regarding the feelings and rules of their other D&D party members
🎲 The found family, and seeing Quinn getting to join another group who loves her for who she is and didn’t stab her in the back

Final Thoughts:
🎲 This was so good. I loved Dungeons & Drama, but this had so much more established D&D and it felt like another love letter to it. Seeing the second love of my life, next to reading, celebrated in this way makes this an automatic win in my book. Thank you NetGalley and Delacorte for the advanced copy and the opportunity to review this early!

📚 Book Tour Review Dating and Dragons
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
By Kristyl Boyce
Pub Date February 4, 2025

Thanks @tbrbeyondtours & @kristylboyce for allowing me to be apart of this tour. Thank you Netgalley for the ARC.

Please follow the tour schedule at https://tbrandbeyondtours.com

Quinn Norton is starting over at a new high school and hopes that joining a D&D game will be the trick to making friends. The plan sounds even better when she’s invited into a group that includes Logan Weber, the cute and charming guy she met on her first day of class. But this isn’t your average D&D campaign— this group livestreams their games and enforces strict rules: no phones allowed, and no dating other group members.

Quinn is willing to accept the rules, even if it makes Logan off-limits. And she quickly learns that doing so won’t be a problem, since Logan goes from charismatic to insufferable as soon as she agrees to join. As their bickering—and bantering—intensifies inside and outside the game, Quinn can’t help wondering: Is Logan’s infuriating behavior a smokescreen for hidden feelings? Quinn is risking it all, and the twenty-sided dice are rolling!

💭 My Thoughts:

This is a great Y.A. book for high school students. Especially for any that had to make mid school year changes (me). Quinn Norton story is great example of how students in high school feel while looking to migrate into new friendship groups when you literally know no one. This is an inspiring tale that shows that there is hope after friendship loss. The author did a great job capturing the emotional state of dealing with such transitions. I also enjoyed the family dynamics and their relationship with the grandma. She was hilarious throughout. If you like a story full of witty banter and teenage relationship drama this is a good one.

#kristylboyce #TBRBeyondtours #datinganddragons

A cutesy, little, ya romance for all the gamer nerds! I don’t know anything about Dungeons and Dragons but it was not hard to comprehend. Sometimes YA romance feel so juvenile but Kristy was able to transport the reader back to simpler times and still make it fun and relatable.

I'm not quite sure how Kristy Boyce manages it, but she can make me smile through an entire book. I loved Dungeons and Drama last year, and her sequel, Dating and Dragons, is every bit as delightful! You don't have to read the first book to dive into the second—each stands on its own in this lighthearted D&D series. BUT you’ll definitely want to read both!

Quinn (our MC) transfers to a new high school midway through the year after a disastrous fallout with her former friend group. On her first day, she meets Logan, and there is an undeniable spark between them. Later, she is invited to join a high school Dungeons & Dragons club with a strict rule against dating fellow club members. The catch? Logan is also a member of the club.

What I loved:
✨Fun Romance Tropes: gaming romance (dungeons & dragons - live feed), slow burn/forbidden romance with the “no dating” rule in the D&D group - so cute, so sweet
✨Wonderful Side Characters (great representation): a friend group that proves how real friends act, and I especially loved Grandma (my favorite character). The pickleball chapter—what a hoot!

Abigail Reno delivers an outstanding narration of this story. She captures Quinn’s voice and essence flawlessly! Her portrayal perfectly embodies teenage angst and that swoony yet awkward experience of young love. I love how she also changes her voice for the other characters, making it a thoroughly enjoyable audiobook.

What a perfect YA romance. Kristy Boyce created an equal balance of teen drama, D&D and relationships. What set this book above all other YA romances I have read was the different relationships that are so important to the idenity of our FMC, Quinn. Of course there is the romantic relationship that blossoms between Quinn and Logan, they are so adorable, just the sweetest. I loved the interactions between all of the members of the group. Each of the members played their own role in the game in their relation to Quinn. The dialogue between Quinn and her brother Andrew was a typical brother-sister relationship but it was so heart warming, I defintely could relate and it made me smile. Now, the realationship between Quinn and her Grandma Barabara was so full of heart and we were able to see a sneak peak into her declining health. It is not a main plot point, but I did appreciate the layered issues that the reader was able to see that all affect and made Quinn into who she was. Even though this is a story that has a central commonality between all of the friends, they play D&D together, it is so much more than that. If you aren't familiar with D&D Boyce makes the game easy to follow for the novice and doesn't overwhelm the reader. While this is a second in a series, you don't need to read the first book to understand this story, it seems to be more of a companion novel to the first.

This is the coziest YA romance!

This book is the second installment in Kristy Boyce's Dungeons and Drama series, but you don't need to have read the first one, Dating and Dragons is a standalone. I’ll preface this review by saying that I haven’t read the first book, but after finishing this one, I definitely plan to!

Quinn is new at school and believes that joining a Dungeons and Dragons campaign is the perfect way to make friends. The group has two rules: no phones and no dating other members. What could possibly go wrong? Ha!

It features a very low-stakes forbidden romance, complete with charming teen banter and plenty of pining.

I feel like this book healed a part of my past teenage self. Even as a 30-year-old woman, I found it to be a warm, cozy hug. It’s the perfect read for snuggling under a blanket with a D20 mug!

Thank you to Kristy Boyce, Random House Childrens, Delacorte Romance, and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Please know the drama in this book is very low stakes, so I actually consider this a cozy book. The romance between new girl in school Quinn and Logan has a lot of smoldering but the D&D group's rule of no dating other group members puts a hamper on it. It forces more character development and more of a buildup. The side characters are easy to tell apart and some are very fleshed out (looking at you, Barbara!) I love how the drama of Quinn's former group did play a part in her story, but not in a crazy wild unrealistic manner. It was honestly refreshing how real this book was. I kept expecting something overly dramatic and chaos inducing, but it was grounded and sometimes I need something like that.

Dating and Dragons by Kristy Boyce is the second book of the Dungeons and Drama series, but it is a standalone novel with a separate set of characters from Kristy Boyce's first novel. This book is absolutely just as heartwarming and precious as the first novel. Quinn just moved to a new town and new school with her family in the middle of the school year. When her grandma makes some random kids take their pictures, she quickly finds a group of friends in them. This book is a fun, flirty, and sweet young adult romance novel, With themes of found family in true friendship. The drama and gaming in this book were fantastic and fun. Dating and Dragons are whimsy and represent real struggles with friendships, crushes, and ex-friends. Overall, I had a great time with this book and would highly recommend it!

Thank you to Net Galley and Kristy Boyce for the review copy!

4🌟

This book was SO fun & so cute!! I haven’t read YA romance since i was in highschool, but this one 100% was the perfect reintroduction to them! I loved how the story developed and also focused on friendship, their D&D campaign (loved this as a d&d nerd), and the relationship between her and her grandma!

Logan and Quinn were so so fun to read about. The slowburn and tension between them was so well done! I loved the mix of forbidden romance and teenage love, it was so cute! I also LOVED how the quality time they spent together mixed with Logan being a genuine friend added so much to their development!

Also, love love the female friendship in this book and how Quinn finds new friends that respect & love her! It was so cute.

Even if you are not familiar with D&D or even YA romance, I highly recommend giving this book a try because it was adorable :)

i thought this series would be interconnected and I’m a bit sad it isn’t, but this was still a fun standalone in the series. Quinn starts a new school and joins a dnd grouo with a no dating rule but of course she’s very interested in her forbidden fellow player Logan. I thought this was cute and I love that the author in inclusive and merging dnd with romance, this book had a lot more actual game play in it too which I think dnd fans will appreciate!

This book was a fun read with plenty of cute moments, especially if you're into nerdy characters and quirky dynamics. The romance had its ups and downs, but overall, it was sweet and engaging. Some parts felt a bit predictable, but if you're looking for a light-hearted, feel-good story, it delivers. Definitely worth checking out if you're in the mood for something heartwarming!

I simply adored this book!

Kristy Boyce’s books are like a warm hug, and I swear this one healed a bit of my inner high schooler. While I can’t relate exactly to what Quinn went through, I did go through my own friend group implosion and watching her open up and find a new friend group that welcomed and protected her was so satisfying.

What I appreciated about Quinn and Logan’s relationship was that none of the conflicts felt too contrived. You could feel the pull between the two characters, top-notch chemistry, but you could also understand why they wouldn’t want to break the rules and act on their feelings for the sake of the group.

An unexpected highlight for me was the depth to the relationship between Quinn and her brother. While he seems like a jock who gets whatever he wants at first, you come to see how deeply he cares for Quinn, and I loved reading the scenes where they get more vulnerable and open up to each other.

From the romance to the lovable supporting characters, this was such a lovely YA romance and I highly recommend picking it up!

This was so fun and cute! I love that dungeons and dragons gets it's romance moment in a flirty YA book