End Game by Monica Murphy is a fun, addictive college sports romance that had me hooked from start to finish! Everleigh and Nico’s chemistry is undeniable, and I loved watching their relationship evolve from friends to something more, despite their differences. Everleigh’s new “family” of roommates added depth to the story, with plenty of humor and support, especially when Nico was being difficult. The close proximity trope worked perfectly here, and I enjoyed the way Everleigh found her place both in Nico's life and with her friends. This is a great start to the Kings of Campus series, and I can't wait for more!

Everleigh has just transferred to UC Santa Mira and ends up becoming roommates with three hot members of the football team: Cooper, Frank and Nico. While Everleigh is the relationship type of girl, Nico is not looking to commit. Hence, despite their mutual attraction, they decide to remain as friends.

As time passes, Everleigh is entrenched in his life and it gets harder to stay friends. But is Nico finally ready to stop his playboy lifestyle and is Everleigh ready to take a risk with him?

Besides the romance, I enjoyed seeing Everleigh finding her “family” in the form of her roommates and Sienna. It was lovely to see how they supported her, when Nico was acting like an @sshole. 😆 And I liked how Cooper gives it to him. As for Frank, I hope he finds someone who loves him for who he is soon!

End Game is the first book in the new Kings of Campus series. I enjoyed the relationship development between Ever and Nico. I loved the friendship between the roommates and I'm really looking forward to read the next book.

Tropes:
College Football romance
Forced Proximity
Bad Boy/Good Girl
Roommates to Lovers
Opposites Attract

End Game is the first book in Monica's new Kings of Campus series. If you love sports romances with wonderful characters this may be the book for you! It was a great slow burn romance and I really enjoyed Nico and Ever's journey. Overall an enjoyable read!

TROPES-
College Football Romance
Reformed Playboy
Roommates
Friends to lovers
Found family
Forced proximity
Banter
Slow-burn

✨️ This book 🙌🫶! Some of my favorite tropes- forced proximity, reformed playboy, and found family, checked off by this book! So it should be no surprise that I ate this book up and had it read in less than 24 hours! The chemistry and build up between the couple was so good! I absolutely loved the friendships between all the players with Ever! I can't wait for more books in this series! If you love a college football romance, I definitely recommend you give this a read! ❤️

Thank you to Monica Murphy, Valentine PR, and Netgalley for allowing me to read and review this ARC!

Monica Murphy does college sports romances unlike anyone else. I love each book, and they are all so different it makes each series stand out in their own way. Nico, Cooper, Gavin, & Frank are all so different and I love their complicated friendship and teammate relationship. So many underlying secrets, hidden tension over the past, and the way they both seem to ignore issues and tackle them head on at the same time. So when Everleigh joins their house, and becomes best friends with Cooper's sister Sienna, everything starts to come to head.

For a first book in the series, it is set up so well, with being able to start to see some relationships build, along with Nico and Ever, and get me so excited for future books! Ever and Nico are a slow burn, this is a new adult book with a few spicy scenes, but the romance in this is so so good. The pining, the fear of being hurt, the denial of feelings with have you hooked from the first scene in the coffee shop!

I loved this one and can't wait to continue the series!

this is my first monica murphy book, and i was excited to have the chance to read it early after reading the blurb! forced proximity, roommates, sports romance - all tropes i love. however.. this didn’t quite meet the mark for me :( the writing style was not my favorite because there was a lot of telling but not showing. for ex: “i did this.., she said that.., we went here..” i wanted to actually BE IN those scenes. i also couldn’t feel connected to the characters or the romance. nico frankly rubbed me the wrong with with how he acted throughout the book. the way he treated dollar was off putting because it seemed like he wasn’t even friends with him or enjoyed his company. his jealousy and possessiveness with everleigh was weird and unwarranted. safe to say i will probably not continue with this series :/

Rounded up to 4🌟🌟🌟🌟

Tropes:

💗forced proximity
🏈football hero
💗roommates to lovers
🏈found family
💗college romance
🏈reformed playboy
💗 banter

I've read a lot of Monica's books and I'm a fan of her work. I was able to get this opportunity to get an ARC for this story, which is the start of a new series. this was a short and sweet story and great to fit in between longer stories.

This story follows Everleigh. She is homeless as she lost where she was supposed to live but ends up roommates with Cooper, Nico and Frank. She has no idea they are football Gods on campus

The relationships that develop between the roommates and their banter made this a fun read. I loved all the dynamics with them.

Overall it was a cute fun book, I just had a hard time connecting to these characters in this one.

I'll start with the good! This book was fun, it had sort of a New Girl but set in college sort of vibe, and I had a good time. I liked that Everleigh became friends with Nico first before they did anything else.

Unfortunately, this book focused so much on telling us how these college football players were "like celebrities". It was repeated over and over and I couldn't take it very seriously. I also think Everleigh (and her friend Sienna) were written as "not like other girls". They were "one of the guys" and they didn't care about the things that most girls care about. I think I was fine with that trope when I was a bit younger, but now I always get irritated by that. Lastly, I don't think that there was enough emotional depth to Nico and Everleigh's relationship. It felt like a college fling that would eventually fizzle out.

ARC REVIEW
2.5 ⭐️
I really wanted to love this book but i’m gonna be honest I found myself getting super bored. I was so excited to read this after reading the tropes and description but it fell flat. The main characters were dull and I didn’t feel a connection between them. I think this book needed to be longer to actually feel a connection with them. They didn’t even get together until the end. I wish there was an epilogue to see how it worked with them being a couple. I found myself more interested in the side characters. I needed more from this story but was still a quick and easy read.
Thank you valentinepr for letting me read this arc 🫶🏻

Rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice 🌶️

Everleigh/ Ever left home and was ready to face her next adventure in school on her own. The day of Nov win her apartment falls through. As she sits in a cafe wondering what to do she overhears 3 buff dudes saying they need a roommate. She needs them to pick her. But one of them has her heart racing and makes her want more.

Nico is the star wide receiver. This is his last year before he hits the draft he has to stay focused with no distractions and Ever she is a distraction!

This is a cute book with a fun friend group. I like the way Ever changes the guys and makes them want to be better to make her proud. I am excited to see if Sienna gets a book.
 
 #ContemporaryRomance #NewAdultRomance #SportsRomance #AlphaHero #Athlete #BadBoy/GoodGirl #CollegeFootball #ForcedProximity #Grumpy/Sunshine #NewAdultRomance #OppositesAttract #RoommatestoLovers #sportsromance #valentinepr

This was a fun read. I enjoyed Nico and Everleigh. I loved watching Nico grow and fall in love. Their relationship is great. I loved all the characters and hope to see more of them someday. Dollar needs his happy ever after! I liked the storyline and the book is well written. Overall a good read.

This book was not for me. I usually enjoy all the tropes this book has, but the characters were flat and two dimensional and there was zero chemistry between them, the banter was cringy.

Firstly I like to say a massive thank you to Monica Murphy, Net gallery, and VPR for letting me be part of this amazing arc team. Monica You absolutely smashed it.

This is the first book in the kings of campus series. Which I already know I’m going to absolutely love the whole series! I was hooked from the moment I picked it up and I couldn’t put it down! As you know I’m the biggest sports romance fan. This book is such a fun and easy read, which follows everleigh who is transferring to Santa Mira College where she’s suddenly finds herself homeless as her housing fell through at the last minute. And Luck would have it she overhears a bunch of guys looking for a roommate, and she needs that room even if it means sharing a house with 3 of the biggest guys on the football team. One being nico who doesn’t want to like ever, but can’t seem to stay away from each other. This is the perfect slow burn romance, will they won’t they. I really enjoyed following the relationship grow between these two and life how the brought out the best in each other.

I also love the supporting characters in this book and can not wait for there stories.

Will be posting my review to my instagram account on realise day @cosycorner.bookclub

Looking for an entertaining light hearted college sports romance? End Game by Monica Murphy can be your next read. Nico and Everleigh's love story was full of college life shenanigans, some amazing secondary characters, the slowest slow burn and over all, swoon and fun.

🏈 college sports romance
🏈 forced proximity
🏈 roommate to lovers
🏈 enemies to lovers
🏈 epic secondary characters

Everleigh moved to Santa Mira to start the college as junior, away from home and on the first day..her housing plan fell through and her car was vandalized. By simple luck, she overheard the conversation of 3 hot guys in coffee shop who are looking for roommate. Desperate times need Desperate plans. She managed to become roommate of 3 of Santa Mira's football team stars. Nico Valente is the hottest one and he is thoroughly confused about his feelings about Ever. Will he ever get his head out of his a&&?

I loved Everleigh and Nico individually. But together? Dear lord, they were a hot mess. Everleigh were running hot and cold, changing her mind at every page. Like Nico, scared of heartbreak, OK don't like Nico, but hey he is so awesome, OK let's like him, no let's friend zone him but also make out in his bed. She is sweet and stubborn and witty and I love how she fights in every situation and adapt with anything. She is a loyal and supportive friend.

Nico is in dilemma too. He is a typical c0cky manh0e jock who never cared for anything than football, friends and casual hook ups. But everleigh is messing with his usual modus operandi. He gets jealous when she is even remotely flirty with another guy. He wants her for himself but is not sure if he is right for her. It took a lot of missing steps and wrong turns for him to accept that he is really serious about Ever. But I feel I spent way too much time with their back and forth. In fact they didn't come together till last few chapters.

I also spent a lot of time with their other roommates Frank and Cooper and absolutely love their shenanigans. Cooper's sister Sienna and their another friend & team QB Gavin made me so curious! In fact the secondary plots were my favorite part of the story. I didn't really feel invested in Nico and Everleigh as couple.

I reviewed an early copy voluntarily

hmmmmmmm, so I did not NOT like End Game, but unfortunately it really lacked on the romance journey between Nico & Everleigh. It did not, however, lack on the introduction of this series and its characters. It's a great start to a series that surrounds a *team* but ... sigh

The first book in a series such as this can be written in a lot of different ways, but the one thing that will always happen, if it's written correctly imo, is that a lot of different people will be introduced, especially if those different characters have upcoming stories. However, It's one thing to introduce characters and it's another for THEM to be what moves the plot forward. This crazy (in a good way LOL) cast of kids were almost always in the plot in one way or another. Now, how does that leave room for a couple to grow? Well, it doesn't. And that's what happened. This story went from a slow-burn to a HEA in too short of time and too long of a time in the slow-burn department. That's just the feeling I had while reading. I wasn't exactly *mad* about it but it did frustrate me. I *finished* this story because of THEM and not because of the romance and that's just sad :(

I've read and/or listened (sometimes both lol) of Monica's books since I started reading her work back in 2014. It's not been a consistent reading journey, but I like her style and voice and I will of course continue to read her work and/or listen to it! This book was a great story, it just missed out on the romance journey for me, and isn't that why be read romance fiction?

I AM looking forward to listening to this audiobook, which I already tried to listen to an ALC but her PR company didn't find me a suitable reviewer for this title, because I KNOW Narrator Stephanie Rose is going to give Everleigh the voice and performance that might just elevate this story to *more* aaaaand I love listening to new narrators and J.D. Harris will be one for me!

I REALLY wanted to be able to round up to 4 stars on this SOLID 3.5 STAR read for me, but I just couldn't. :(

Monica Murphy is a new to me author and I was super excited to receive this arc. I am a sucker for football romances that include forced proximity and when I read the blurb for End Game, it gave me New Girl vibes. Everleigh is a lot like Jessica Day. The only problem I had with the story is the pacing. This is a s-l-o-w burn, which surprised me, because it was a relatively short book, so when I saw I was getting down to the last 30 pages, I knew the ending was going to be rushed. Everleigh and Nico often avoided conflict by ghosting each other rather than hashing things out like adults. Nico was such a manchild who could not handle rejection because no woman had ever rejected him. He had the most personal growth in the story and I was glad when he finally pulled his head out of his ass. By then, the story was almost over and I was left feeling like I had been edged for 230 pages and then got a wham bam thank you ma’am. I hope we get more of Everleigh and Nico in the next book because this ending was too abrupt.

Trope:
Football Romance
Roommates to Lovers
Forced Proximity
Opposites Attract
College Romance
Found Family
Slow Burn

I always love sports romances, so it’s no surprise that I loved this one too! Nico is your typical college football player who loves parties, his friends, hooking up and he has his eyes set on going pro. One of the things I loved was Nico’s character development throughout this book. It’s very slow moving but little by little we get to see him change his attitude.

Everleigh has gone through a break-up and is homeless when her apartment for college falls through. After meeting Nico and his friends, they let her move in. I really liked Everleigh because she was trying to do what she wanted for herself, against her mother’s wishes. I love the relationship she developed with her roommates (including Sienna) and the other football players. They all become her family. There is some ex-other woman drama throughout, but I am glad there wasn’t any towards the end.

I do wish we would’ve gotten a little more of the relationship between Nico and Everleigh at the end. I feel like that part was cut short. I’m hoping we get to see more of them in future books.

Thank you NetGalley, Monica Murphy and Valentine PR for the ARC for an honest review.

𝐄𝐧𝐝 𝐆𝐚𝐦𝐞 is the first book in the new Kings of Campus series by Monica Murphy, featuring an entertaining opposites attract, roommates to lovers, football romance for Nico and Everleigh. Everleigh’s life turned into a lesson in Murphy’s Law when she found herself homeless as college is starting. Luckily she overhears a group of guys discussing their open room, and she’s able to strike a deal with them for the room. She has no idea her new roommates are the most popular guys on campus with NFL potential. She’s also not prepared for the magnetism of Nico, the surly leader of the pack. The two of them getting together would be a bad idea, but will they be able to resist the pull?

This was a fun, fast-paced story with a true opposites attract vibe. Everleigh is a definite relationship girl with only one prior relationship under her belt, while Nico is a playboy who only does hook-ups. They definitely have an obvious attraction and some tension between them, but I did find it a little hard to connect with them at times, with their wishy-washy behavior. They grew on me though, later in the book, when they were finally honest with themselves and each other.😍 Also the slow burn aspect was extra slowwww!😅 The world building, however, was great, and the dynamic of all the friends and roommates was full of witty banter and a tight found family vibe that I always gravitate towards. The yoga and football scenes were a hit for me as well. I found myself distracted by the story brewing between Sienna and Gavin, and I can’t wait to read their book!!🤪

I received an ARC for free, and am leaving this review voluntarily.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

#EndGame #monicamurphy #ContemporaryRomance #NewAdultRomance #sportsromance #AlphaHero #Athlete #badboygoodgirl #CollegeFootball #ForcedProximity #GrumpySunshine #OppositesAttract #RoommatestoLovers

All hail the Queen of College Football Romance!!

When I found out that Monica was writing a whole new world with all new characters I was so excited. And then I got to read it and I was not disappointed.

Niko & Ever’s romance is the slow burn story that I didn’t know I needed. Monica doesn’t hold back on these two, she lets us see all their flaws and vulnerabilities and makes them come to life on the page.

This isn’t a super steamy story, but it gets its point across and makes you love these two and their journey even more. With a whole cast of side characters the future is unlimited for this series, and I can’t wait to read more!