“She really did not want to die at the hands of undead bugbears at any time, but she was particularly angry that she was going to die by zombie bugbear in the middle of a date.”
Blind dating has never been more high stakes than in Dungeons & Dragon Dating. Featuring dangerous DnD adventuring, fighting zombie bugbears in a cursed forest, forced proximity in a pocket dimension, and delicious banter and sapphic yearning, this is the light-hearted queer fantasy romance romp you never knew you needed.
A grumpy battle mage who doesn’t believe in love and a curvy café owner with a giant panther companion find themselves on a blind date from hell after reluctantly being set up by a deceptively innocent tiny dragon matchmaker; it might sound like the start to a bad joke, but it’s actually the hysterical and surprisingly genius premise of Dungeons & Dragon Dating.
Right from the very first page, McClain just set the tone and completely pulled me into the delightful chaos. Both Lyra and Kiara are absolute disaster queers in the best way possible, and I loved seeing them reluctantly bond throughout this unhinged first date. Sure, sometimes they were maybe a bit TOO INTENSE in their feelings and reactions (or maybe I just hate all caps in inner monologue/dialogue), but ultimately I was just utterly charmed by their delightful grumpy/sunshine dynamic.
Though as fun and cheeky as Dungeons & Dragon Dating is, I would personally hesitate to label it as cozy fantasy. See, not only do we have quite a bit of relentless gory action, but it’s also got a deeply emotional undercurrent exploring themes of grief, self-worth, and the trauma of toxic past relationships. Personally, I would not have minded a bit less action to let both these heavy themes and the fun romantic shenanigans shine even more, but I can’t deny that McClain balanced the darkness with the silly, giddy joy surprisingly well.
Ultimately, I could not stop myself from devouring this charmingly messy romp in a single day, and I already can’t wait for more instalments in this series to warm my heart and soothe my soul. If you like fantasy romances in the vein of T. Kingfisher’s Swordheart and Saint of Steel series or Rebecca Thorne’s Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea, except with maybe a bit more amusing profanity, then I can’t recommend Dungeons & Dragon Dating highly enough.
Thank you to the author for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. Dungeons & Dragon Dating is scheduled for release on February 3, 2025.
