This was such a cute read, I adored it! I’m just getting into my romance stride lately after avoiding these types of books for years, and Date Knight by Sam Parks was a brilliant book.
Amy is the little sister of a friendship group – it’s her big brother, Jack’s, friends, but she’s always been welcomed by them. And now she’s joined their D&D campaign after one of the group members has left. Meanwhile, Phil, Jack’s best friend, is caring for his ailing grandmother, creating costumes for an upcoming fantasy festival, doing online data entry jobs to make money, and still trying to hold together a social life, he doesn’t have time for a relationship. But when Amy’s past shows up on her doorstep, Jack needs to step in as the hero – her fake boyfriend. I’m sure you can figure out how the direction this takes!
I’m going to give you a bit more context for this romance book review before I dive all the way in, as there’s a bit of a story to it – the fantasy festival mentioned in this book is Fantasy Forest, which I went to for the first time with my sister. Look, here’s me at Fantasy Forest festival!
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I received the book as an ARC before going to the festival and was very excited that it mentioned a fantasy festival, then was more excited to find out the festival was supposed to be Fantasy Forest itself – check out the castle on the cover, that’s Sudeley Castle where the festival is held! Then even more excited when I got there to find a stall from Dryad Books selling signed copies of the book exclusively for the festival, and that author would be there…the next day. Womp womp, I only had a 1 day ticket!
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But they did have the first book, You’ve Got Chain Mail (it’s book 2 of the Roll for Romance series but I read it as a standalone which can easily be done. There were some references that I think would have had a little more impact had I known some of the group’s history, but it didn’t take away from the story at all). So I decided since I’d enjoyed reading Date Knight already, I’d pick this one up. Then when I got home, I regretted not getting an actual copy of Date Knight while I was there – luckily Dryad Books messaged me that they had 1 signed copy left, so I snapped it up quickly, which is how I ended up with this copy before it was actually published!
It’s a cutesy romance, and I like the small town setting with a nerdy group who are into fantasy – did I mention Fantasy Forest?! There is also emotional depth added with Jack’s grandmother’s dementia, how he, his friends and family deal with it. There is some spice, but it doesn’t take over the story and isn’t in too much detail – I’d say maybe 3/5 spice level.
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The chapters in this book alternate between Phil and Amy’s perspectives, but there are also chapters interspersed throughout the book from the D&D campaign that brings their friendship group together. This is a fun, unique touch and I really appreciated it being there as it adds a lot to a book that would otherwise be quite cookie cutter. The only complaint I have is that I didn’t click with these at first as the first chapter was one of these and I couldn’t immediately figure out who was who in real life – maybe this is the only part where reading book 1 might have been necessary, but while these chapters added something unique, I don’t think it would take away from the plot if you didn’t read them.
It’s a tricky rating as I’d say it’s closer to 4 stars than 5, but I’m rounding up as I want to see it do well – it’s one a lot of people will love!
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Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publishers for a copy of this book.
