Okay, so Two Can Play was... fine? But honestly, it felt like every other Ali Hazelwood book I’ve read. If you’ve read one, you’ve kinda read them all at this point. Viola’s small, Jesse’s huge, and surprise! He’s been in love with her the whole time while she thinks he hates her. 🙄 It’s the same dynamic we always get from Hazelwood: big guy, tiny girl, secret love, and then a snowed-in situation. I mean, at this point, I’m practically filling in the blanks.

I really thought her last book, Not in Love, was a step in the right direction. It was finally a little bit different, so I had higher hopes for this one. But nope—same formula, same everything. I wish she’d just try something new! It’s a novella, so it’s a quick read, but it’s too predictable. This is a skippable Ali Hazelwood book for sure.

If you liked her original STEM romances, then you'll enjoy this. I really wanted to like it because I love the video game studio setting, but it really is just more of the same. Same formula, same tropes, just plug in a different industry.

Very fun. Very nerdy. And very, very hot. I had such a fun time listening to this rivals to lovers, gamer romance that had all the elements you know and love from an Ali Hazelwood book! The forced proximity in this book kept the tension between these characters at an all time high!

✨Book Review✨

Two Can Play - Ali Hazelwood

📖 Viola has an amazing opportunity to design a video game based on her favorite book series. The catch is that her nemesis has been named the co-lead on the project. Jesse has made it very clear over the years that he does NOT like Viola and wants nothing to do with her. When their bosses agree a winter retreat to “bond” the teams is a good way to kick off the project Viola is dreading the trip. Will she and Jesse be able to put their differences aside to work on the project together?

📚 I was able to listen to this AudioBook ahead of its release thanks to Ali Hazelwood and @NetGalley - thank you! This felt like a novella with its shorter length and easy story plot. I enjoyed that it was straightforward and had a happy ending. The narrator was easy to listen to and I was glued to my headphones for a few days!

🌟 If you love a contemporary romance with some gaming aspects you will love this book! It published on October 1st - so add it to your TBR now!

#BookReview #TwoCanPlay #AliHazelwood #BookRecommendation
#Bookish #BookLover #Bookstagram

Ughh. Okay, so I liked the idea of game designers and them being from rival companies. The premise of the work retreat and the ski resort vibe was also super fun.

However, this feels like this is reverting back to the “girl makes up imaginary reasons to hate guy even though he’s actually done nothing to her” trope and it’s a little exhausting now. They go from hate (her hating/him oblivious to it) to smut extremely fast, and it’s pretty cringey. I just don’t think there was enough room for character development or slow burn since this is a short story. It might’ve been better if they were friends to lovers in this case, so at least they have someee history.

After enjoying Bride, Love Theoretically, and Check and Mate, soooo much I really had high hopes that we were leaving the overly quirky, entitled fmc behind, so unfortunately this is a miss for me. I would still love to read Ali’s future work because collectively I really enjoy her books.

At this point, I don’t think Ali Hazelwood is capable of missing. I eat up every single book she releases and I’m not ashamed to admit it. Her formula works (for me) and I am never disappointed. I know what to expect and I am satisfied each time. So, of course TWO CAN PLAY was a hit to me! I’m a really picky person when it comes to audiobooks but the narrator did a phenomenal job!

TWO CAN PLAY brings us back to what we all fell in love with Ali Hazelwood for. NOT IN LOVE and BRIDE were obvious shifts from her OG formula but she is back to her ways in TWO CAN PLAY. Expect a BIG boy-obsessed mc who towers over the petite fmc, rival to lovers, and forced proximity.

I devoured this audio in one sitting, which honestly wasn’t hard considering how short, fast paced, and fun this was. Overall, if you loved her STEM books, you’re going to love TWO CAN PLAY.

I have previously really enjoyed several of Ali Hazelwoods romances and was excited to have been approved for this ARC audiobook title. However, for several reasons, this one didn't work for me.

I'll start with what did work. I enjoyed the setting of game designers and think if you are someone who loves video games you will love the references. I loved asking my fiance lot's of gaming questions, and from his expert opinion these references were accurate and well done. I also enjoyed the snowy cabin, a rival company's work retreat set up that made for lots of fun scenarios.

Because it's a short story, there was significantly less character backstory and development then Ali Hazelwood's novel typically includes. I also think after reading so many of Ali Hazelwood's romance novels, the Hazelwood formula is starting to become overdone for me. And especially in this short story, where it's missing all the extra development of a full novel, the overdone formula became very apparent. This formula is of course, the girl thinks the guy hates her because he is brooding and grumpy but is actually obsessed with her and acting like that to resist his feelings.

At times the writing was cringey with mentions of a side character standing up and flossing with excitement... yes really.

I'll still be up for reading another Ali Hazelwood book if I like the premise, but I think I'm giving up on her short stories.

✨Rivals To Lovers
✨Workplace Romance
✨He Falls First
✨Forced Proximity

I had a lot of fun listening to this this story, the narrator did a great job bringing it to life! She was easy to listen to, I would definitely listen to this one again.

The author is an auto-buy author for me and I feel like I generally know what I am getting when I head into her novels (that's a good thing). This a quick listen but at times I find that refreshing. The storyline still progressed at a very natural pace and I really enjoyed the leading characters.

I'd definitely recommend checking it out!

Thank you Ali Hazelwood, Kelsey Navarro Foster, Net Galley and Spotify Audiobooks for providing me with an ALC of this audiobook!

Before I get started, I just want to share how happy I am that this cover was picked! Okay, here we go. Two Can Play was a quick listen! This book reminded me of Ali's classic books. It had all of her familiar tropes: work place romance, miscommunication, STEAM... Being a novella, I thought this book held up fine. Hazelwood did a decent job creating a well-rounded story. I felt like I had a good sense of who all the characters were. I liked the Limerance story and the whole "enemies" to co-worker's plot line. The whole video game aspect was cool. I think gamers will really enjoy this one. For the size of the book, I thought Hazelwood added in a lot of things. Jesse and Viola's relationship progressed pretty quickly. A lot of their relationship was based off of little interactions over the years. I would have liked a few more getting to know each other in the present scenes. I will admit that I found some of Viola and Jesse's dialogue cheesy 😅 I thought Viola and Jesse's ending was quick and abrupt. I wish Hazelwood spent more time on the ending. The audiobook narrator, Kelsey Navarro Foster, was the right tone for the story. I had a great time listening to this story. Thank you to NetGalley and Spotify Audiobooks for the ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley and Spotify Audiobooks for the “ARC” copy of Two Can Play by Ai Hazelwood.

I absolutely DEVOURED this story in less than 24 hours. I love anything Ali puts out and I am happy to get an advanced copy. Lately, I’ve been really into audiobooks because it’s a great way to get more reading in, so when I saw that she had a novella coming out that was strictly an audiobook, I was all over it.

Let me first start off by saying: WHY was this a novella? I WANT MORE! I want to know what happens down the road with Jesse and Viola. Please give us more!

In true Ali fashion, this is a workplace romance between two “rival” game designers. Both companies find themselves vying for the rights to design a game based on a series that - it turns out - both Jesse and Viola love. When the company creating the game decides both design companies have assets and must work together, they are forced on a retreat to make nice.

It comes to light at the retreat that both Jesse and Viola have had unrequited crushes on one another for years but due to a series of misunderstandings and missed communication, they were unaware of the other’s feelings.

One night, this changes, and they spend the rest of the retreat “getting to know one another” to see if they could make a real go of it outside of the gaming world.

This has all the tropes you know and love, including: “enemies” to lovers, he falls first (and harder), and a workplace romance/ touch her and die vibe.

In true Ali fashion, you have some steamy sex scenes but a lot of witty banter and smart workplace dialogue.

Honestly, give this a listen. It’s short (less than 6 hours) and so worth it.

I can’t wait to see where she goes next!

Another Ali Hazelwood masterpiece, but who’s surprised?

I have fallen in love with every single one of Ali’s mmc’s when I’ve read them, but listening to this just hit differently. Jesse and Viola’s chemistry was intense and the spicy scenes were HOT (windows closed whilst driving, HOT). The voice actor, Kelsey, was brilliant. Her tone was perfect and the switching to and from characters was spot on.

Thanks to the Publisher and NetGalley for the arc.

This is a typical Ali Hazelwood in short story form. Grumpy hero is in love with her and she has no idea why he acts like he hates her. Huge misunderstandings throughout the years. Even though this is the usual plot of her spicy romances, this was so good! Highly recommend!

Is this book wildly different from Ali's other books? Not at all. You know what to expect from her writing and this is more of that in the best possible way. The only other book I've read with video game development as part of the plot is Tomorrow Tomorrow Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin and while this is nothing like that it is a trend that I am following in love with for sure! Forced Proximity/Enemies to Lovers tropes executed well and just so truly Hazelwood!

I was very excited to see Kelsey Navarro Foster as the narrator and was quick to request it for that reason. She does a lot of audiobooks I enjoy and she did a great job here! Despite feeling lukewarm towards the story, the narration was very well done.

I’ve learned, and this one solidified this thought, that Hazelwood’s novellas are simply not for me. They all feel the same and don’t bring anything new to the genre. Maybe I’m just not in my romance era right now but there wasn’t much I liked about this. Nonetheless, glad to see it’s a spotify exclusive because I know a lot of people will be excited for this one!

I absolutely loved this audiobook. My little gamer heart was so excited when I saw the announcement and cover and I screamed at the top of my lungs when I saw I was accepted to listen to this ARC.

This audiobook is quite short, but I think it does a fantastic job of telling their unique story from beginning to end and getting you invested in them both, (and also even with the side characters!) The video game conversations had me completely nerding out - especially the hot tub conversation about Fallout 76 - I was cracking up because I have never related to anything more & it really told me everything I needed to know about Otto.

I really loved Viola & Jesse’s story, and I was incredibly curious for the entire beginning of the book why Jesse was so cold towards Viola and couldn’t wait to hear the explanation of why he acted that way. I think the miscommunication and misunderstanding between them is very realistic and the cold but secretly obsessed MMC is one of my favorite parts about Ali Hazelwood’s books. I will eat it up til I die.

The entire explanation of Limerance was also really epic and I love how that word was used to reflect their feelings and experience with each other.

The spicy scenes were also SO GOOD and had me blushing listening to this audiobook in my car.

Thank you so so much NetGalley, Spotify & Ali Hazelwood for allowing me the pleasure of listening to it early, I already can’t wait to listen to it again!

In this new audio novella, two rival video game designers are forced to work together on a new game. She’s had a crush on him for a long time but thinks he doesn’t like her, until they get snowed in at a retreat. It’s super fun - I just wished it was longer.

Viola is one of the lead designers at Fly Butter, an Indie Video game studio that is doing really well after their latest game sold millions of copies. A major videogame publisher, Star Play, wants them to submit a proposal to develop the third game in their Limerence series (the first two were very popular). This is Viola’s dream project because the Limerence Saga books were her favorites ever since her father read them to her when she was young. The only problem for Viola is her boss, Mike, thinks they need to collaborate with their rival, Nephalum, who just released the combat game of the year. Fly Butter is good at role play and character stories and Mike thinks they should team up with Nephalon, who are known for combat, action and adventure. There has been drama between the two companies and so the bosses plan a winter ski retreat to see if they can put aside their differences and work together as a team.

Viola first met Jesse six years ago when she was in an interview for a job after college. The CEO in the interview was rude to Viola and Jessie, who saw it all, apologized to Viola and told her he heard there was an opening at Fly Butter. Jesse then left and went to work at Nephalon where he became the lead designer and well known for his work. Viola started running into him at work events and her best friend Mila told her she knew him in high school and he’s a really great guy. Viola noticed he was really cute but whenever she tried to talk to him, he ignored her. Then, a year ago, something happened when she saw him at her cousin's engagement party and she felt really hurt by it - she couldn’t understand what she had done to make him dislike her so much. I couldn’t wait to find out what was really going on!

When they got to the retreat, everyone settled in at the lodge, the snow began to fall and the fun started! I don’t want to reveal too much but it was special when Viola and Jesse finally get a chance to talk and even though the story is a novella, Hazelwood made room for some spicy scenes.

One of the things I liked most were the witty conversations and banter between all of the characters and I liked it when the story they were writing in their game seemed to resemble their romance. I thought the voices the narrator used for all of the characters were perfect. I guessed on some of the spellings of the names in my review and may not know how close they are until the book comes out in print.

This story isn’t as complex as some of her recent books, (Bride and Not for Love) and reminded me more of Love on the Brain. The only problem for me was the ending felt abrupt and I wished it was longer. Other than that, I thought this was a lot of fun and entertaining listen and will have romance readers, especially Hazelwood fans jumping for joy. Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

Two Can Play by Ali Hazelwood felt very much like a Ali Hazelwood story. It was fun, entertaining and I flew by it. I love to read Ali Hazelwood's works and this felt very much like her first novel (I might say it felt a little too much like her previous work) but it was still entertaining. The narration was done very well and enjoyed my time listening to it.

"Two Can Play" is a very fun audiobook novella from Ali Hazelwood. If you've read any of her other novellas, this will be very similar with great banter and enemies-to-lovers, this time set in the videogame industry. While not really exploring new territory, this was highly enjoyable and a worthwhile listen.

I was hooked from the get-go. I devoured this book - it had me returning for more. I hope there is a part 2 because I want more of this duo. I want more! I love the enemies-to-lovers trope - especially when there's an underlying misunderstanding. It's almost comical how much we do this daily, misconstruing things because we're so afraid to ask or be honest. Imagine how much time we'd save if we just said how we felt and asked what we were curious about. I loved it and it was an easy 5 Star read for me.

It’s really cute.
As a gamer who also loves to read this was the perfect book haha
My biggest critique is the hatred for Fallout.
Lol as a die hard Fallout fan, the second there was something mean said about it, it instantly went down a star.
I know that’s personal preference though 😂
It’s a simple cute romance, nothing super high stakes or anything.
He acts like he hates her, she doesn’t get it, then she finds out he didn’t.
That’s pretty much the whole thing, but with cute banter and a cute story in general with the other characters