Quit Playing Games with My Heart
(2026)(The second book in the Common Grounds series)
A novel by Merry Farmer
Falling for your employee, who is also your brother’s best friend, wasn't in the employee handbook. So he rewrote it.
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 infuriatingly, everything I want.
One kiss during cleanup changes everything. Sam and I might just have a chance after all. Until I overhear something I shouldn't, and it sends me straight back to old shame I've spent years hiding from. Including the one thing I've never told anyone at Common Grounds.
Sam
I wrote the rulebook. Literally.
After one very avoidable workplace scandal, I drafted an employee guidelines document so airtight it should come with a warning label. 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.
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.
Genre: Gay Romance
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 infuriatingly, everything I want.
One kiss during cleanup changes everything. Sam and I might just have a chance after all. Until I overhear something I shouldn't, and it sends me straight back to old shame I've spent years hiding from. Including the one thing I've never told anyone at Common Grounds.
Sam
I wrote the rulebook. Literally.
After one very avoidable workplace scandal, I drafted an employee guidelines document so airtight it should come with a warning label. 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.
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.
Genre: Gay Romance
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