Roll the dice, strike up the band, and get ready for a swoon-worthy summer! A charming gaming romance that blends the magic of D&amp;D with the camaraderie of band camp&mdash;from the bestselling author of <Dating and Dragons!<

Questing for love . . .

Hazel Buchanan has her senior year mapped out: Win respect as color guard captain, kick off her first D&amp;D campaign, and steer clear of distractions. But her plan takes a critical hit when Max&mdash;her former best friend and longtime crush&mdash;returns to town with drumsticks in hand and an unexplained chip on his shoulder.

Hazel and Max can&rsquo;t help bickering every time they&rsquo;re together, and thanks to meddling parents, he&rsquo;s invading her D&amp;D game too. As Dungeon Master, she&rsquo;s ready to shut him down, but D&amp;D has a way of bringing people together like nothing else. Is this rivalry masking something more? With dice rolling and emotions spinning, Hazel might be in for more than she planned . . .

Autorentext
Kristy Boyce played her first role-playing game in high school and has been friends with that group ever since. In fact, she married the DM. Nowadays, she teaches psychology as a senior lecturer at the Ohio State University. When she’s not spending time with her husband and son, she’s usually writing, reading, or watching happy reality TV. Kristy is the New York Times bestselling author of Dating and Dragons, Dungeons and Drama, Hot British Boyfriend, and Hot Dutch Daydream and lives in Pickerington, Ohio.

Klappentext

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • Roll the dice, strike up the band, and get ready for a swoon-worthy summer! A charming gaming romance that blends the magic of D&D with the camaraderie of band camp—from the bestselling author of Dating and Dragons!

Questing for love . . .

Hazel Buchanan has her senior year mapped out: Win respect as color guard captain, kick off her first D&D campaign, and steer clear of distractions. But her plan takes a critical hit when Max—her former best friend and longtime crush—returns to town with drumsticks in hand and an unexplained chip on his shoulder.

Hazel and Max can’t help bickering every time they’re together, and thanks to meddling parents, he’s invading her D&D game too. As Dungeon Master, she’s ready to shut him down, but D&D has a way of bringing people together like nothing else. Is this rivalry masking something more? With dice rolling and emotions spinning, Hazel might be in for more than she planned . . .

Leseprobe
Chapter One

Coming into senior year, I thought there was nothing left at band camp that could surprise me. But one step into the band room shows me I was mistaken. Past the plastic chairs, black instrument cases, and clusters of excited students is my childhood crush, Max Coleman, chatting with my best friend, Nova.

I freeze at the sight. Mom mentioned his family was moving back, but I hardly let myself believe it. I haven’t seen him in three years. Our parents played D&D together on Sundays when Max and I were in junior high, and we spent countless evenings hovering over board games, watching YouTube, and messing around with D&D ideas we never actually got around to playing. He’d been a great friend . . . who also happened to be very cute, even during that gangly, awkward middle-­school phase. And I was maybe, possibly, obsessed with him.

In the past, of course. Not now.

Though seeing him again after all this time is making it hard to breathe.

He points to Nova’s shirt and says something that makes her smile. That, in and of itself, is enough to catch my attention because Nova does not smile easily. Once she trusts you, she’ll be loyal forever, but otherwise she kind of hates everybody.

Before I can get ahold of myself and walk over to them, a very familiar voice snags my attention.

“Hazel!”

I whip around to see my mom bustling into the music room. She takes a moment to smile fondly at the space, like she does every time she walks in. She played first chair trumpet here in high school, and I doubt there’s another alum alive who loves this band more than she does. But that doesn’t mean I want her hanging around. It was one thing when I was a freshman, but now I’m a senior and I don’t need her fussing over me.

“You hurried away from the car so fast that you forgot your lunch!” She holds up the insulated lunch box like she’s holding baby Simba for the entire animal kingdom to witness. “I was almost out of the parking lot when I noticed. You’ll be starving without it.”

I catch Max’s eye for a split second, but he turns away and looks back at Nova. I was half wondering if he’d come over to say hi to Mom and me since he’s also known her for years, but I guess I can’t blame him for not wanting to engage so early in the morning.

“Thanks, Mom.” I take the lunch from her. “I guess I was just excited to get started.”

“Of course you are! I’d be shocked if you weren’t sprinting into the building. Big things are going to happen for you this year, I can just feel it.” She turns in a dreamy circle to fully take in the surroundings. “Good morning, Sire!” she calls and waves to my band director, who was fondly given that nickname years ago since we’re the Glen Vale Marching Knights.

He waves back warmly, but I’m not loving this. Mom (and Dad as well, honestly) is already overly invested in every aspect of band. The last thing I need is for Sire to ask her if she’d like to oversee first-­day rehearsals. She has a hectic job as the project manager of a local construction company, but she’d 100 percent whip out her phone and call in sick if given the opportunity.

“Okay, well, thanks again,” I say, my voice louder than before. “But I should really start getting prepped and I know you need to get to work, so . . .”

She frowns. “And you’re sure you don’t need anything?”

“Yep. Totally fine.”

“All right, I’ll get out of your hair, then.” She pulls me into a tight hug, and I wither in her arms. I know she means well, but I didn’t want to start band camp looking like a coddled baby who still needs her mom to bring her lunch and give her hugs.

It’s only after she’s walking out the door that I finally look back at Nova and Max. Except that Max is nowhere to be seen and Nova’s watching me with an amused expression. I race to her side.

“Your mom loves band so much I’m surprised she doesn’t try kicking Sire out of his job.” She stands and pushes her short hair away from her pale face. Nova isn’t goth, exactly, but the girl does love her black. She’s been dyeing her already dark brown hair black ever since her mom gave permission when she turned fourteen, and she loves chunky silver jewelry and fitted black clothes.

“You talked to Max?”

She glances around in confusion. “The guy from a few minutes ago?”

“Yeah. He’s the one I told you about before. Remember, the kid who used to come to my house all the time in junior high?”

“Wait, that’s the same kid?” She shakes her head in surprise. “He came up and started talking to me about D&D after seeing the mind flayer on my shirt. You know I hate when strangers talk to me, but . . .” She purses her lips like she’s debating. “He actually wasn’t the worst.”

Whoa, high praise. I need all the details of their conversation, and I need them now, somep…