Hotel Games

The Game #2

by Cat Wynn

Hair stylist Olivia Couper can’t wait to celebrate Friendsmas with her besties in a secluded mountain house. So, when Olivia asks Henry, her best friend’s grumpy surgeon brother, to carpool, she swears it’s a matter of convenience and not a bid for Henry’s attention. Sure, they’ve been hooking up for years, but they always followed one unspoken Never talk about the hook ups. Unfortunately, a blizzard hits while Olivia and Henry are on the road, stranding them in the last hotel room available. And suddenly, Henry wants to break all the rules. Olivia’s left with a confront her real feelings for Henry or flee to the mountain house with all her walls intact. It’s a game she isn’t sure she’s ready to play and a hotel stay she isn’t soon to forget.

Genres: Christmas, Novella, Holiday, Enemies To Lovers, Forced Proximity, Romance, Contemporary Romance

Paperback

Published November 28, 2022

About the author

Cat is a writer, a night owl, and a lover of dogs. She often stays up deep into the night crafting her stories for hopefully lots and lots of people to read. She also really enjoys being home and doing things that people do at home like lounging in sweatpants and staring at instagram.

www.catwynnauthor.com

www.instagram.com/catwynnauthor

www.twitter.com/catwynnauthor

Reviews

[Romantically Inclined Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book cracked me up. Definitely hot. Some tit action. And just the right amount of ridiculous for a novella.

[Becky (romantic_pursuing_feels) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Note: Some of my goodreads shelves can be spoilers

Overall: 2.5 rounded to ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Readability: 📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥
Humor: A bit – definitely plenty of frenemies banter
Perspective: Third person from the heroine
More character focused or plot focused? character
How did the speed of the story feel? fast
When mains are first on page together: immediately
Cliffhanger: No, this ends with a happy for now
Epilogue: Not really, but they do arrive at the holiday get together at the end
Format: read an e-book through kindle unlimited
Why I chose this book: I loved book 1 of this series, Holiday Games and always meant to come back to finish the series!
Mains: This is a M/F relationship between a cishet hero and heroine
(Descriptions found at end of my review)

Should I read in order?
This is fine to pick up alone, but the series is kind of happening concurrently as they are heading towards the holiday get together during a winter storm.

Basic plot:
Olivia and Henry are snowed in at the hotel during a blizzard before their Friendsmas event.

Give this a try if you want:
- contemporary romance
- best friend’s brother
- snowed in
- one bed at the hotel
- hero is a cardiothoracic surgical resident
- hairstylist heroine
- holiday romance
- enemies to lovers vibes – not true enemies but definite animosity banter between them
- shorter novel
- medium steam – 2 scenes within a shorter page count

Ages:
- both mains are 33

First line:
Olivia Couper sucked on the minty loop of a miniature candy cane.

My thoughts:
Maybe my expectations were too high for this one, because I enjoyed the first book so, so much. But I didn’t like this one much. It was more of a ‘enemies to lovers’ feel with prior hook ups and it felt like they were just left with bickering and animosity.

I liked the hints of unrequited longing from the hero, but overall I didn’t like much about this story except the sex. Which was great. 😆
I think if you love animosity between your mains, and that back and forth banter you will enjoy this one a lot more than me and should give it a try!

Few random reading stats for this author
# of books read: 3
Average rating: 4 stars
Favorite book: Holiday Games

Quotes


She threw a packet of salt and vinegar chips at Henry. “Since you’re so fucking salty and sour all the time.”
He sat at the end of the bed, bag of chips on his lap. “I actually do like these.”
She watched him with furtive interest as Henry fiddled with his car keys, working the jagged end into the cork of the bottle of wine he’d brought back.
“What kind of wine is that?” she asked.
“Pinot Noir.”
“Hmm. My favorite kind.”
Henry glanced up, his forearm muscles tensed and veins bulged down to his wrist as the cork popped out. “Yeah, I’m aware.”



Locations of kisses/intimate scenes, safe sex aspects, consent, pregnancy/child in the story:

Safe sex: Heroine is on birth control, but he doesn’t pull out or use condoms
How’s the consent? It’s good
Pregnancy/children in story? No children or pregnancy or talk of future children
40% - remembrance of a prior hook up handy for him (short)
69% - 🔥 sex against the wall in the hotel room
85% - 🔥 oral/fingering for her


Extra stuff like what my review breakdown means, where to find me, and book clubs


Full break down on what my ratings above mean here:
Overall: How I felt about it everything considered!
Readability: How ‘readable’ was the book? Did I fly through it? Did I have to tell myself to pick it back up repeatedly? Were any passages confusing? (I will probably score like (1) is literally unreadable due to formatting/typing errors, etc (2) There were lots of errors that made it difficult to read OR It was extremely confusing and I had to reread passages to make sense of it OR I disliked it so much I had to bribe myself to keep reading (3) I didn’t really want to keep reading and would have preferred to abandon the read and start something else OR some minor continuity issues/confusion (4) I liked it fine, maybe a minor error or 2. I was happy to pick it up when I had time. (5) I never wanted to put this down. I thought about it when I wasn’t reading it. I hid in the bathroom from my kids to read. I threw inappropriate food at my children for dinner so I could read instead.)
Feels: Totally subjective to each person but did the book give me any tingles? Any butterflies? Did it rip my heart out (in a good way?)
Emotional depth: How well do I feel I know the characters at the end? How much did I feel their emotions throughout the story?
Sexual tension: Again, subjective, but how strong was the wanting and longing to me between the characters? A book might have strong sexual tension without a single touch.
Romance: Was there romance? Did romantic things happen? This can be actions/words/thoughts of the characters and again is subjective.
Sensuality: This is how the intimate scenes are written. Kisses and sexual scenes – how sensual were they? Were they on the mechanical side? Was there emotional pull tied in? Were the details explicit or flowery? These are subjective but generally (1) too short to get a good judgement (2) not all what I'm looking for - very vague or flowery prose (3) either not explicit enough or not enough emotional pull (too mechanical/physically descriptive without the emotions) (4) what I love in a scene (5) absolute perfection - perfect balance of emotional longing and explicit descriptions
Sex Scene Length: How long the bedroom scenes are (generally (1) is 1-3 sentences (2) is a few paragraphs to a page-ish (3) is about average, a few pages (4) more well developed scenes, quite a few pages with descriptions (4) the majority of the book takes place in the bedroom. This is always hard to tell for me on audio!
Steam Scale: Generally, each flame is a scene. If scenes are super close together I sometimes combine them. If a scene is super short or so vague I don’t know what’s happening, I don’t count it. There’s some levels of grey but generally the number of flames is how many sex scenes there are (I max out at 5 so I’ll put a + after if there’s more than that)


Find me
Instagram || The Storygraph || Bookbub ||

Book Clubs
The Ton and the Tartans (Historical Romance)
Upturned Petticoats and Undone Cravats (Historical Romance with Steam Requirements)
A Love Less Ordinary (Science Fiction, Paranormal, Monster, Fantasy)
Modern Manuscripts (Contemporary Romance)
Words for the Wicked (Contemporary Romance with Steam Requirements)
Vintage Romance (Old School Romance – published 2000 and prior)

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m a sucker for a best friends brother, mutual pining, forced proximity story. Olivia and Henry have a history of secret hook ups, and are now stuck in a hotel room with ONLY ONE BED together for the night because a snow storm had closed down roads.

Stuck with each other, they’re forced to confront their feelings.

Looking for a short, sexy holiday novella to kick off the season? I highly recommend picking this one up! This one packs the best tropes with the perfect amount of spice and just enough plot!

[Lyrik · Rating 2 out of 5]

The sex part was hot. The FMC was fairly insufferable for 60%. She's a "play the game better than a man so they don't get the upper hand" kind of heroine. And she was bound and determined to misconstrue everything the MMC said or did. She was also 33ish(?) acting like a 23 year old.

I read this mostly because I couldn't decide which full novel to start my 2024 reading with.

Best Friend's Brother
Snowed In
Animosity
Right Person/Wrong Time
History of hookups

[Mikayla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best friends brother, a history of secret trysts, snowed in, mutual pining AND ONLY ONE BED?1?171?1 Reader, when I tell you this book is the pinnacle of holiday fulfilment! If I could accurately relay a chef's kiss through your screen, know that's what you'd be getting from this review. I

[jessica · Rating 1 out of 5]

she dyed her pubic hair hot pink????? GIRL

[Kateryna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun novella with a great set of tropes. Best friends brother, snowed in, one hotel room. There are so many sweet moments in here as well as heat. These two MCs know how to play hottt games.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick read, spicy, brother and best friend, forced proximity, a whole mood..all of the feels. They bicker a ton and it was pretty entertaining

[Talia · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5 stars

[ash ୨୧ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute read! Wish the ending was diff or gave a little more to the characters but pretty good nonetheless

[☾⋆⁺ Nurse After Dark · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Hmm. My favorite kind.”
Henry glanced up, his forearm muscles tensed and veins bulged down to his wrist as the cork popped out. “Yeah, I'm aware.”

I liked that this second installment in the series followed characters we briefly met in book 1! Some of the back and forth dragged a bit, but I do love a good "we've got history" backstory and the short length wrapped things up without it dragging too hard!

[Valeen Robertson (Live Thru Books Blog) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazon



Olivia (August's friend) and Henry (August's brother) have been hooking up for ages now. But they go on after acting as if each encounter hasn't happened. But what will happen when the same storm that snowed in August and Jack, forces this fwb into close proximity that they can't get away from?



This is another yummy holiday read. I love this couple, especially Henry. They've long had strong feelings for each other even though they never let on to the other. The snowstorm was just the ticket to getting them together and on the same page and I love how sweet they were once they got together.



ARC provided by Wordsmith Publicity for an honest review.

Review Tour: Live Through Books Blog.

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[Elena · Rating 2 out of 5]

This review is just me recounting the events of what happened in the book so I can I remember what I've read.

I suggest not reading this if you don't want to know all the details I'm recounting.

This one is covering Olivia & Henry's story from August & Jack's story. We'll see if these two fair any better. Their story is in the middle of August & Jack's story. When they finally arrived to friendsmas & wading through a blizzard because selfish August couldn't cope & wouldn't shut up.

I just want to know, does this author hate women? Cause if so, it explains why she's painting both her women characters as high-end b****es. Cause wth, how is anyone to endear themselves to these characters from the way they are coming off? This isn't hot or attractive or even nice. These girls are vain debutante w/no substance once soever.

The sex makes it ⭐️, Olivia gets no stars, & Henry can share the 2 stars the sex gets. They beennpining over each other for yrs, hooking up on occasion, but apparently after coitus, they both react badly & beleive the other one is rejecting them which made them go round & round snapping at each other for yrs. They get stuck at a motel, one bed that Henry refuses sleep on the floor (thank god) finally manages the long awaited I love u after alot of bickering, random dating apps matches spiel, awkward porn site watching (when all he was originally doing was watching the news, but apparently she got another bee up her bonnet), & some erects that's shes completley stupid to, ecen after constantly provkijg him & watching points w/him, but whatever. They finally manage to get there, I guess. Though, I'd drop her ass & go for someone else.

[•Cici• Theory of A Dreamer Book Blog♥ · Rating 4 out of 5]

After having read Holiday Games i started looking forward to more from this world and author! I picked up this installment right away and got right back into The Game world! I so enjoyed it!

Olivia's journey had my attention quickly! Olivia is supposed to at a mountain house for a Christmas getaway with her friends. Along for the ride is her best friend's brother, Henry, AKA the man she's been having a thing with for some time. As a blizzard comes through and changes their plans, can Olivia and Henry face what's between them?

I really liked how Olivia and Henry got me right back into The Game world! I was so glad these two got their own story. I enjoyed the way they were brought closer together and getting to see how they'd tackle their feelings. The chemistry between these two was so great!

With Hotel Games, Ms.Wynn has created such a good read with heat that'll keep you turning the pages! Definitely check out The Game books this holiday season! I can't wait to read what this author comes up with next!


*I volunteered to read and review a copy of this book from Wordsmith Publicity / the author*

[Emily Johnston (Booked.Up.With.Emily) · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Olivia’s holiday plans get delayed by a snowstorm, she finds herself stuck with the one person she loves to hate, but also hates to love.

Henry is August’s (from Holiday Games) older brother. He decided to join Olivia for the drive to his family’s house to join his sister for the holidays. But when the snowstorm delays their trip, Henry is dreading every moment that he has to be with Olivia. Since he has been in love with her for years.

Olivia and Henry have both been denying their feelings for each other for years, but now that they are stuck together in a hotel room, with only one bed of course, they come face to face with their feelings. Will they continue to loathe each other in secret, or will this time together open the floodgates to start something more between them?

This was a great, quick read! These characters both showed how much they were harboring deep feelings for each other and they exploded once they were forced to spend the night together.

[Tammy - · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hotel Games is the second novella in The Game Series and it's a really quick little read. If you've read the first book, then you'll have already met Olivia and Henry.

Olivia is excited to attend a "Friendsmas" celebration with her best friends and she invites her best friend's brother, Henry, to carpool with her. They end up getting stuck in a snowstorm though and are forced to share the one hotel room that's still available. Apparently these two have been hooking up for years, but they never talk about it. Now, Henry seems to be breaking their rules, and Olivia isn't sure if that's a game that she's ready to play.

I loved the "enemies-to-lovers" feel of this story along with the banter and chemistry between these two characters. There were a couple of laughs, some steam, and a couple of moments that tugged at my heartstrings too. I really enjoyed this one!

[LA ReadsRomance · Rating 4 out of 5]

short sexy holiday read

Okay, so I’m going to be brutally honest here. I have a hard time reading 3rd person romance. All those 1st person contemporary romances have ruined me.

But….

Hotel Games was so good, I didn’t mind, AT ALL.
The steam, the spice and the sweetness were top notch. Henry was sexy AH and I loved the sweet alpha vibes…aka he was a dominant good guy that wasn’t always so good if you know what I mean **wink wink**

Hotel Games - Henry and Olivia have been playing hookup games for the past 10 years. Being stranded in a hotel during a blizzard puts them in a position to finally confront their feelings. The tension was high and when they finally got together I laughed and fanned my face.

[Wendy Livingstone · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second book in this series, and this is Olivia and Henry’s story. Olivia is looking forward to spending the holidays with her best friend August, and she is carpooling with Henry, who is August’s older brother, a grumpy surgeon. All goes well until a snowstorm has them stranded together, and they are forced to share a hotel room with only one bed. This is an enjoyable story which is a quick read, with forced proximity, emotions, humor, and is an entertaining read.
I look forward to reading more from this talented author whose work I highly recommend.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this novella Olivia and Henry are forced to face their feelings for one another. Stranded in a hotel these enemies with benefits decide to finally talk to one another. This is a quick story with spice. We are introduced to Henry’s sister which is Olivia’s friend in this story as well. The next book. This was a quick read with a good story over all. I feel like it could have kept going a little bit longer but it was nicely done.

I received this ARC through the publisher and I am voluntarily reviewing this book, opinions are my own

[Kelsey Gustafson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Talk about a feisty pair. Olivia is a hairstylist who is definitely mouthy, but secretly crushing on Henry after multiple steamy encounters. Henry is equally as infuriating but seems to shoot the hip more. These two have intense sexual tension and ultimately put their sass aside to chat with one another honestly. It takes a lot of bickering and “hate” but they know they’re it for one another.

This was part 2 to Cat’s new series. It can be read as a stand alone, but was very fun to see how different all these BFFs were! Can’t wait for book 3!

[J · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is book 2 in Wynn's The Game series. The timing of these books was just perfect as they are holiday themed and well, we're jumping right into the holiday season right now. Irregardless of when you read this it's sure to please. Amazing man characters - Olivia and Henry's story was so fun. A well written romance that is on the shorter side but full of fun, sweet and steamy romance that is sure to warm your heart right up!

I received a free copy of this book at my request, and I voluntarily provided this review.

[Katherine Gisleson · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5/5 ⭐️s
🌶️🌶️ - medium spice

Thoughts:
- I love their history of random hook ups that they try not to think about and just continue to banter and give each other grief instead
- The way she goads him is so weird hahaha but it works
- I was absolutely not about him putting down her career 😠 and he never even apologizes
- They’ve both been in denial for so long. It’s great that they finally talk and wade through all the BS. Plus, the spicy culmination of their conversation was 👌
- Was hoping for more by the time the ending came around, but I’m expecting to see more in the last of the series

[Victoria Wyatt · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is Olivia's story, while she was on her way to her family's home, where she was supposed to meet August and Jack from Holiday Games, she gets caught in a snow storm. She is stuck with Henry and these two have a love hate relationship. They two are forced in a close proximity situation as well, only they know each other. This was another fun holiday read. I recommend reading Holiday Games book 1.

I received this copy and my spoiler free review is voluntary.

[The Doctor's Companion]

It’s incredibly rare for me to DNF a short story, but I couldn’t stand either one of them.
They’re in love, but their interactions have only been sexual or bickering? And not the sexy kind? It didn’t feel like the typical enemies to lovers. There was something really biting that felt wrong.
This was very different from the first book.

[Dominique Jackson · Rating 4 out of 5]

How fun! Hotel Games is book 2 in The Game series and definitely a good read. Everyone going into the novella should know that it is 3rd person, so as not to be surprised, but I don't think it took away from the story at all. While I liked the first book better, I definitely think this one is worth the read.

[Piper Brintnall · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m not sure 66 pages enough to develop a short story. This book requires the reader to have read the first book to get some of the backstory of Henry and Olivia, which is basic at best. And then the book just jumps into these two getting stuck.

Their past history is briefly touched upon but again, not enough time to flesh everything out. This book is underwhelming.

[Rae Z · Rating 5 out of 5]

A tempting holiday romance. Will they ? Won’t they? When Olivia and Henry are stranded in the last available hotel room in a snowstorm in their way to Friendmas in the mountains, all bets are off. Will these frenemies even survive the night?

A steamy holiday novella, perfect for a quick read!

[Tara · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a super fun holiday read. Forced proximity is always a fun trope and this one did not disappoint.
Olivia and Henry have a fun history that neither wants to admit to until they have to because they are stuck in a room together.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Snowed in with your frenemy who is your best friend's brother and only one bed? Constantly snarking at one another? Yes please! Curvy FMC too, so you've me hooked! This was such a fun read, and I look forward to more books from Cat Wynn.

[Francis M. Prensa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This had one of my fave tropes, enemies to lovers, this is her Olivia’s best friends brother, and hes a grump, and there was a ton of humor, so I kept laughing my way through this book. Like the first one, I loved the spice and the this one was actually my fave, I wish it was longer.