Riley is a teenage musical fanatic and has been dreaming of being the student director of her school's spring musical since she became a high schooler. There's only one problem - the school has canceled the musical, citing lack of interest and funding. Even though she's being forced to work at her dad's game store as a punishment while she's grounded, Riley is determined to find a way to bring her theater dreams back to reality. But when Riley panics after running into her ex with his new girlfriend, she's forced to deal with another unforeseen issue: convincing everyone, including her ex, that her cranky coworker Nathan is her new boyfriend. Nathan agrees to the scheme since his crush pays heightened attention to him any time Riley is nearby. Between work, finding a way to save the musical, learning how to play D&D, and possibly convincing Nathan to be her date to homecoming, Riley has her hands full.

This book is just a straight-up delight. As a YA novel, the stakes are reasonably low, but the characters are written in a way that you understand why the stakes seem impossibly high to them. You remember what its like to want to impress the people around you, maintain the hobbies you love, and maybe catch the eye of your crush who gives you butterflies when they're nearby. 

Maybe it's because I was a wannabe theater kid (and actual speech & debate kid), but I was thoroughly charmed by Riley. She had reasonable angst about her parents' divorce and having to spend time with her dad. Making a fool out yourself in front of your ex? Totally relatable. Convincing yourself that you're merely bending, and not breaking, the rules set by your mom? Also totally relatable.

Nathan was the perfect foil to Riley's bubbly extrovert. He was slightly moody, protective of his friends, defensive about his interests, and exactly the type of nerdy smart boy that would have been my catnip in high school. I loved his interactions with his friends, and how immediately his indifferent facade would drop when his crush was around. Honestly, I loved all of the D&D guys - they were a great group of different personalities while still being a believable group of friends. 

I don't usually go for YA, but this was the exact low-stakes, high entertainment, easy read I hoped it would be.