This novella was my palate cleanser after Alchemised. I went into a real funk after leaving that world — I tried four different books that couldn’t hold my attention before I met Viola and Jesse. This modern, sweet love story was exactly what I needed to get over my book hangover.

Viola and Jesse are video game designers at competing companies. When the chance comes up to build a game based on a beloved book series, the owners of both companies know the end product will be so much better if the two teams work together. That won’t be easy — there’s a lot of history, and even more animosity, between them.

The solution: a mandatory dual-company retreat. At first, each team keeps to itself; no one’s willing to make the first move. For Viola, there’s even more going on under the surface — she has history with Jesse that goes well beyond professional overlap, which gives her every reason to want to avoid the lead designer of the competing company. But it quickly becomes clear that Jesse and Viola, as the two leads, are the ones who have to pull their teams together.

When Viola learns how much this game’s origin story means to Jesse too, she knows she’ll do whatever it takes to win the contract. But before she can think about a future, Viola has to work through her past with Jesse. Both of them have been carrying a torch for the other, and misunderstandings have colored how each of them sees it. Once the truth finally comes out, Two Can Play becomes a sweet, slightly steamy love story I really enjoyed.