This was so much fun! The narration was fantastic and really brought the humor and setting to life. I will always adore an Ali Hazelwood and this was a return to her original formula after branching out to slightly different styles. It was comforting and romantic and I loved the video game creator aspect since I haven’t read about that before. And as usual, the pining was exquisite and everything I needed. I highly recommend this one!

Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️
Narrated by Kelsey Navarro Foster

🎮Enemies to Lovers
🎮Grumpy-Sunshine
🎮Forced Proximity
🎮Workplace Romance
🎮Video Games
🎮Open Door Romance
🎮Novella

This was such a fun book! We get the classic Ali Hazelwood vibe, but with a ton of spice and gamification, and I loved it!

Viola Bowen and Jesse Andrews really grow on you, and charming Jesse definitely leaves a lasting impression😍

Narrator Kelsey Navarro Foster did a fantastic job bringing both Viola and Jesse to life! 🎧

Ali Hazelwood for President, all of Congress, and Inspector General. I love everything she does and this is no exception. This audio novella follows Jesse and Viola, rival video game developers as they embark on a retreat that aims to mend the broken relationship between their two companies. If you like other Ali Hazelwood books, you'll like this one. It's spicy, nerdy, and swoony.

Things I liked: secret crushes, misunderstandings, nerdiness, STEMinism, spiciness, winter wonderland setting, chemistry, men fighting misogyny.

Things I didn't like: I wish it was longer!!!

Thanks to Spotify Audiobooks and NetGalley for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

thank you to the netgalley gods for an advanced listeners copy of this book, and thank you to the queen ali for writing this perfect story !!

two can play was short and simple, but there was gratifying dimension to the plot line and the perfect bit of emotional depth to the characters. i loved the way ali curated viola and jesse, from start to finish of their long standing connection... the longing, the back and forth, the satisfying-as-HELL culmination of their true feelings !!

SCREAMING FROM THE TOP OF MY LUNGS !!!

absolutely would recommend !!!

My only complaint on this was that it wasn't longer. It entirely felt like it missed the usual third act in a romance where something is misunderstood and drives the characters apart before they get back together again.

But that's just what you get in a short Spotify special, I suspect.

Realistically, it didn't hamper my enjoyment of the story as a whole. This book leans away from STEM to Ali's other interest of video games. Both Viola and Jesse work as lead designers in opposing video game companies.

Well, they're opposing at the beginning of the story anyway. Until it's released that a company is coming to both of them with a game both Viola and Jesse wanna work on. And, as luck would have it, this company wants to work with the best of both companies.

Cue a getaway to the snow where the aim is team building between these two incredibly disparate companies with all too much water under the bridge.

Viola thinking Jesse hates her really is the tip of the iceberg on this enemies to lovers trope.

This was the perfect bite of a short story! Even better on audio.
Its a cute thought we were enemies to lovers when all along our two have been pining for each other.
it was so cute! And a few good spicy scenes were just enough,
I almost wish it was longer or that we get to see what happens...later lol.

Thank you to NetGalley for the audiobook. All opinions are my own.

Jesse and Viola are both video game designers, however they work for rival companies and DO NOT get along. When their bosses set up a team building company retreat, no one is happy. Viola doesn’t understand why Jesse doesn’t like her. Over the course of the retreat the employees of the two companies come together and overcome their differences. Can Viola and Jesse work through their issues? How thin line is the line between love and hate?
I will admit I am a big fan of Ali Hazelwood, but I just couldn’t finish this one for some reason. The chemistry between the two main characters was great, but I just didn’t really connect with either one of them.

Two video game designers and their rival companies are forced to work together in order to design a high-profile video game that the two MCs have been dreaming about their whole lives based on their favorite book series. The two companies agree to a team building retreat in what seems like a futile attempt to create some peace. In the process, Viola and Jesse, lead designers from the rival companies, are unable to keep their feelings for one another hidden for too long.

Started off at about a 3 star read and felt like it was maybe too much of a YA tone for me (even though its not meant to be YA) but it grew on me and got spicy 🔥🔥🔥. I’ll read always anything Ali writes!

I listened on audio and it was a very quick listen with an enjoyable narrator.

Thank you to Ali, Spotify Audio, NetGalley for the advance listen!

A new Ali Hazelwood that I had no idea about? Absolutely I’ll be reading this lol There really was no question about it. This one is still about STEM, but it’s the part that actually interests me, so who am I to turn that down?


Ok so the immediate thing that stuck out to me was the characters. I hate enemies to lovers, but it’s even worse in novellas. They were so mad at each other over a thing that shouldn’t even count as a misunderstanding. And I think since this is so short, it took too much time for them to be together? I would have rathered them tell each other at that one scene instead of when they did. The ending felt rushed because of it.


The romance itself was ok. It was like mutual pining which I love, but we don’t really see the pining. Just them being jackasses to each other lol When they finally do fall for each other, it’s like hard and fast. They were seriously making up for lost time lol But to me this is why I don’t care for enemies to lovers. Especially as novellas. We saw them being jerks to each other but we hardly saw them as nice to each other. It always weirds me out as a Scorpio. If you can’t tell, YES I hold grudges lmao

The plot was fine. I wish we saw more of the game side because the book and the plot both sounded incredible. Maybe it’s the story nerd in me, but I was hopeful that they were going to give us an excerpt or something, but it seems that the two main characters were “living” it so it was fine.i do have to say tho, this is EXACTLY like her other ones. I wish she would try like friends to lovers or a meet cute or SOMETHING other than enemies to lovers. They all feel the exact same, just dressed up differently.


It wasn’t bad, but I do wish some things were different. If you’re an enemies to lovers girlie and you don’t mind reading the same thing over and over, you’ll be fine. But if you wanted a bit more or a bit different even, then you might understand where I’m coming from.

This book was exactly what I needed to cure my reading slump!! The story was so cute and wholesome and the perfect audiobook to listen to while the seasons transition to colder weather!! The male main character was absolutely adorable and it always makes my cheeks heat up and giggle whenever they have a HUGE crush on the female main character!!

Just like the rest of Ali Hazelwood's shorter books, this was cute and just the right amount of fluff. It's got that snowy cabin, cozy winter vibe that we all love in our romances. I *love* that the drinking game is rigged in their female co-worker's favor (by her design of course) and that they're all giant nerds who love this series of books so much they are willing to put old differences aside to do it justice in a new format.

That being said, I do have a few bits of criticism I'd like to share. I don't normally go in for the "Force Proximity" trope and this was no exception. The secluded cabin, room switching, and convenient snow storm all had me rolling my eyes. For me, and I cannot stress this enough, PERSONALLY, it was all too much in such a short amount of time. My only other point of contention is the reason for their supposed "love/hate" relationship anyways. I won't give it away here (spoilers, sweetie) but I will say that I found it a bit too far fetched to be believable. Again that could just be me and not wanting to playing into the hyper-romanticism of it all, but I couldn't quite get over that being the reason for all the animosity.

All told, though, it was a sweet, mildly spicy book compared to her others. A fun romp that you can speed through while commuting, working, or doing whatever else it is we do while listening to audiobooks.

Thank you Netgalley and Spotify Audiobooks for the ALC.

Story: 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Narration: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Overall: 🌟🌟🌟🌟

Ali Hazelwood is back with another adorable romcom set in the world of video games.

This was such a fun, quick story with excellent narration. I enjoyed the video game world and found Jesse to be very swoony. I will read whatever Ali Hazelwood writes.

ALC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Another cute novella from queen Ali Hazelwood - enemies to lovers, workplace rivals - this book was fun and sexy at the same time - the classic Hazelwood we've come to love!

Two Can Play by Ali Hazelwood is an adorable workplace romance where our two leads go on a work trip to resolve the differences of the two companies so they can develop a videogame passion project. This novella read much like Hazelwood's earlier work, The Love Hypothesis, in that it was not to be taken too seriously, had a bit of a miscommunication trope, the heroine reads into the situation too much (and incorrectly), and read a bit like fanfiction (but in that fun, tropey way).

I honestly loved this and finished it in a single sitting, brushing off my children's attempts to get me to play with them so I could finish the book. The narrator does a great job and has a pleasant voice.

As usual, Hazelwood writes the best smut scenes, though these lacked the detail and depth of some of her other novels. That was a little disappointing, but it was still plenty spicy.

Fans who loved The Love Hypothesis will love this novel as well!

This was a delightful audiobook. It was a fast-paced romance story about video game designers from rival companies. The tension between Jesse and Viola was great. This book reminds me of Ali Hazelwood’s other novellas where there is A Misunderstanding that drives the story. I love it every time. If you’re looking for a short and addictive audiobook, I highly recommend checking this out!

Ali Hazelwood does it again. I’m seated for any and all of her books and this one was no different. A fun, quick listen about two video game designers forced to work together on a new game based on the main character’s favorite book series. Could it get better than that? The answer is YES because it’s set on a wintery ski resort so this book is absolutely perfect for the holiday season, which is basically here!

I had so much fun listening to this. I love a love interest who is utterly and completely obsessed with our main character. And I’m pleased to report that Viola and Jesse fit that bill. So cute!! The vibes were immaculate so I definitely recommend, especially when the weather starts cooling down 👀

A cute, quick, STEM novella set in the world of video game design. This audiobook has everything you love about an Ali Hazelwood book:
A hot geeky STEM girl
A manic pixie dream guy who is also into science and somehow opposing her
Lots of spice
Obstacles and discrimination women face in STEM and the world as a whole
Fun side characters
Love that this book takes the unrequited love trope (limerence- cute) and spins it with the guy being the stan
The one problem I had with this was the narrator's super dry reading. Its weird hearing spicy scenes narrated by a Daria-sound-alike.

A fun Hazelwood romp that is enemies to lovers and more. Funny and sexy in the author's STEM driven narratives.

This is a super cute little novella with a cosy wintery feel and lots of gaming references and elements. Although I usually hate the miscommunication trope it actually worked quite well in this story and I felt like it helped move the story on very well. 100% recommend you pick this up as a short little read if you like Ali Hazelwood’s writing or if you’re just looking for a cute cosy romance read!

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There is nothing Ali Hazelwood can't do. An audio only story for the Ali-verse is something none of us knew we wanted until we had this gorgeous romance singing love songs in our ears. What a compelling listen, my ears want more already!