The No-Girlfriend Rule

By: Christen Randall

Narrated by: Natalie Naudus

An instant USA TODAY bestseller
Four starred reviews!

Julie Murphy meets Heartstopper with a D&D twist in this “magical, heartwarming” (Rachael Lippincott, #1 New York Times bestselling author of She Gets the Girl) queer romance about a teen girl whose foray into fantasy tabletop roleplaying brings her new confidence, true friends, and a shot at real, swoon-worthy love.

Hollis Beckwith isn’t trying to get a girl—she’s just trying to get by. For a fat, broke girl with anxiety, the start of senior year brings enough to worry about. And besides, she already has a boyfriend: Chris. Their relationship isn’t particularly exciting, but it’s comfortable and familiar, and Hollis wants it to survive beyond senior year. To prove she’s a girlfriend worth keeping, Hollis decides to learn Chris’s favorite tabletop roleplaying game, Secrets & Sorcery—but his unfortunate “No Girlfriends at the Table” rule means she’ll need to find her own group if she wants in.

Enter: Gloria Castañeda and her all-girls game of S&S! Crowded at the table in Gloria’s cozy Ohio apartment, the six girls battle twisted magic in-game and become fast friends outside it. With her character as armor, Hollis starts to believe that maybe she can be more than just fat, anxious, and a little lost.

But then an in-game crush develops between Hollis’s character and the bard played by charismatic Aini Amin-Shaw, whose wide, cocky grin makes Hollis’s stomach flutter. As their gentle flirting sparks into something deeper, Hollis is no longer sure what she wants…or if she’s content to just play pretend.

Critic reviews

"Narrator Natalie Naudus voices the teen characters authentically. Naudus is able to help guide the listener by ciphering subtle changes among the wide cast of characters, making it easy to follow the character-driven narrative...An excellent listen for teens who enjoy true-to-life stories with a wide cast of characters." (Michelle Kilty)

Every emotion experienced!

Read this book after a glowing recommendation and boy was I pleasantly surprised! I felt every emotion reading this from fear and frustration, joy, sadness, excitement, anger… all of it! I cheered along with the story and cried happy (and sad) tears alongside the MC! Must read!

super relatable

I love this story!! Lots of excellent nerdy gaming references and inclusive, relatable characters, significant character growth, and some sweet romance.

The second it was over, i wanted to read it again!

Adored all the characters, the messages of finding yourself and finding a group of friends who love you for who you are - all while playing "D&D". So much fun!

loved it

great story, great characters, and great narrator. I'll definitely return to this story again and again.