New Releases

Quit Playing Games with My Heart (Common Grounds 2) by Merry Farmer

Genre Gay / Contemporary / Chef/Foodie / Romance / Forced Proximity / Found Family / Small Town
Length Novella, 115 pages
Heat Level
Publication Date 21-August-2026

Book Blurb

Falling for your employee, who is also your brother’s best friend, isn't in the handbook. So he rewrote the rules of the game.

Brian

First rule of being a best friend: don’t fall for your bestie’s older brother. Especially if he’s your boss.

I've broken that rule spectacularly.

My crush is the last thing Common Grounds needs, what with construction ripping up the storefront and foot traffic disappearing by the day. I've got exactly one shot at saving the place I've come to think of as home and impressing Sam in the process: games night. It's the best idea I've ever had. It's also the perfect excuse to spend more time with Sam…who is off-limits and everything I want.


Sam

I wrote the rulebook. Literally. It's kept me professional, careful, and safely un-entangled for three years. But now the café is bleeding customers, and when Brian walks into my office with a games night pitch that might actually save us, and I realize the heart doesn’t care about rules. I’ve ignored my attraction to Brian for years, but I can’t ignore it anymore, especially when I have the sense Brian needs my help.

Is this the beginning of a beautiful love story or the beginning of the end for Common Grounds?


Grab your coffee and settle in! Common Grounds is open, and love is on the menu.





A small-town MM contemporary romance featuring a slow-burn boss/employee, best friend’s brother romance, a struggling coffee shop saved by one brilliant idea, forced proximity at work, a big-hearted hero with hidden dyslexia, a near-miss misunderstanding, found family, and a guaranteed HEA.

 

Additional Information

Format ebook
Publisher Independently Published
Length Novella, 115 pages
Heat Level
Publication Date 21-August-2026
Price $3.99 ebook
Buy Link https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0H8ZGVGRM