Review

(Please be advised that this is an adult romance.)

Viola is a game designer whose mid level company is pitching to design an adaptation of a cult classic fantasy series that will keep the company bankrolled for years. The good news? The client loves their pitch and wants them to do it. The bad news? They want them to work with a rival company — rivals with A LOT of history — to get great action sequences as well as great characters and narrative.

To prove that everyone can get along, the company directors order their teams to a luxury snow resort for a few days. Cue grumbling, stolen suitcases and not-so-accidental spilling of hot eggnog in other people’s laps.

Unbeknownst to everyone else, Viola has her own particular reasons for feeling nervous about this forced proximity. She’s had a crush on gorgeous Jesse Andrews, rival game designer, for years, but he’d always politely avoided her, or point blank refused to have anything to do with her. Viola doesn’t know why.

But she’s determined not to let his weird attitude get in the way of designing the game of a book series that means everything to her. She has to make sure that the two companies get along. And that includes her and Jesse.

*

Do I love Ali Hazelwood’s writing? Yes I do. She’s so clever and funny. I’ve read several of her books now (The Love Hypothesis, Bride and Checkmate), and they’re such fun for anyone who loves witty adult romcoms. (Checkmate is her only YA novel.)

This one is a special release — an audio novella (4 hours), not available in ebook or print form, written as a special promotion for Spotify Audio.

It’s great. The characters are so funny, and the situations are just hilarious. Her heroine is relatable and her hero is swoonworthy. Also, a big shout-out for consent, which is modelled beautifully by all the best romantic heroes these days.

Because it’s only four hours long, it doesn’t have the length to get into the usual romantic complications, which is absolutely fine by me, but your mileage may vary. I initially found the narrator’s voice a little off-putting (kinda drawling), but I got used to it pretty quickly once the narrative got going.

Suitable for adults only — not suitable for school libraries.

> Click here for content info — spoilers, enter at your own risk!

Swear words (mostly f-words used comically); sex scenes; Viola’s dad dies young (backstory); some sexism in video gaming industry (backstory and extensively criticised). Main romance is mlw; minor romances are mlw and mlm.

*

Hazelwood, A. (2024). Two can play (K. N. Foster, Narr.) [Audiobook]. Spotify Audiobooks.

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