3..5 Stars
Monica Murphy’s End Game brings us into the world of college and sports romance, offering a familiar blend of tropes that I love. While it wasn’t my favorite of her work, there were still moments that made me smile and feel nostalgic for the classic college romance setting.

One highlight for me was the great first kiss. It was well done and really a good feels moment. It was also enjoyable to see Everleigh experiencing college life for the first time.

However, Nico, the MC, didn’t quite hit the mark for me. His immaturity felt jarring—almost like he and the rest of the cast were teenagers dropped into a college setting. Their personalities lacked the maturity you would expect from early 20-somethings. I did, however, find myself gravitating more toward Cooper. I liked him from the start, even before I realized who the main character would be. He continued to grow on me as the story progressed, unlike Nico.

The character development for both Nico and Everleigh just wasn’t there for me. It felt basic and a bit underwhelming. While there was chemistry between the two, I struggled to connect with it, mostly due to the underdeveloped plot and the narrative choices. The story didn’t dive deep enough into the complexities of their relationship, leaving me wanting more substance to back up their connection.

That being said, End Game still delivers on the tropes that make college and sports romances fun to read. There’s something comforting about falling back into the familiar world of young love, campus life, and some good ol' football.

End Game wasn't really my whole jam, but Monica Murphy’s ability to capture the essence of a college romance will still appeal to fans. If you enjoy light, trope-filled stories with a sports twist, this might be a quick and entertaining read for you.

This was such a classic Monica Murphy book and I LOVED IT. I stayed up until legit 5am devouring this and read it in 24 hours!

Nico…sir 🤤🫠 we love an Alpha Male, Bad Boy football player…yes, yes we do!

I enjoyed the forced proximity, forbidden love relationship with bad boy Nico and good girl (and roommate) Everleigh.

If you like:
Sexy, bad boy football player
Roommate romance
Possessive Alpha
Football Romance
Found Family
Plenty of tension and the right amount of spice

Pick up this book asap!!

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Tropes:
Sports Romance
College Football
Forced Proximity
Roommates to lovers
SLOW burn
Opposites attract

I really liked Evie & Nico together and this was a super cute read. I’m super hit and miss with slow burn romances and this one felt a bit rushed once they finally get together. (Like at the 90% mark 👀) For a standalone in an interconnected series I really wanted to see more of their relationship bloom! I will def continue to read this series as I love all the characters so much already.

Thank you to NetGalley & Monica Murphy for the chance to read this one early in exchange for an honest review!

This one is out now and available on KU!

Nico and Everleigh’s story was one that I thoroughly enjoyed and while there were moments I wanted more from them I still loved them. Nico was a playboy that had many reservations when it came to the ladies and relationships, but something about Ever drew him in and Ever kept her distance from him because she isn’t a one night kind of gal. The whole story is them getting to know each other more and forming a friendship while fighting this attraction they have for the other.Their story was fun and getting to enjoy all the secondary characters really made me love it, but I really really needed more of Nico and Ever being together. I hated that everything that happened with the previous girl was threw on his shoulders because in reality he was upfront that he doesn’t do relationships and they were only together for 2 weeks or less and she was planning their future, being incredibly stalkerish, and yet he is the problem? No that girl had some serious issues and her trying to use Dollar angered me she had no boundaries and needed serious help, but we don’t get a lot of closure there and that bothered me. Overall, I fell in love with Nico and Ever and all the secondary characters really brought it together.

This book was the perfect blend of romance, football and slow burn tension! The banter between the main characters was amazing and I can't wait for the rest of the Kings of Campus series

Monica Murphy’s End Game combines forced proximity and roommates-to-lovers energy in a delightful way that will leave readers feeling super satisfied. (And who doesn't love a reformed playboy who totally gets knocked on his butt?!)

It’s flirty and fun with a slow burn that ends up having a worthy payoff. I enjoyed this unique spin on the trope and always love to reading a fun college-set romance.

I’m looking forward to reading about other characters in this universe (fingers crossed). Personally, I like seeing this lighter side of this author, and look forward to reading more in this vein from her in the future.

This book has tropes of sports romance, roommates to lovers, close proximity and opposites attract. Smut was 2/5 on the spice scale, its a HEA in a series of what will be interconnected standalones!
Monica Murphy has a way of writing the most swoon-worthy characters and we all know I’m a sucker for her writing and a sports romance!
This had a unique take on the whole “we’re roommates so we shouldn’t be together” vibes which isn’t THAT common surprisingly! It definitely needs to be because Monica had CHANGED the mf (end) GAME with this one hehe.

I was so excited for this one as I’m a sucker for a college sports romance, and I was hoping it would give me the same vibes as off campus. unfortunately, no. the main characters were insufferable. Nico needed the biggest ego check, I’m not even sorry. I just didn’t love this one 😭 I found myself skimming through the book at times & just not all too invested in Nico + Everleigh’s story. HOWEVER, the side characters? oh gimme their books rn!! like I need to know if sienna and gav get a book?! who does coop end up with? could kinda care less about dollar, but the other two? I’m sat!

Just because it wasn’t for me, doesn’t mean it won’t be for you! Excited for the rest of the series!!

Thank you Monica + Valentine PR for an arc <3

Wow! I absolutely loved this book. Amazing characters and wonderful plot. Very beautifully written and easy to read.

Everleigh transferred UC Santa Mira and her housing fallen through at the last minute. She when she overhears a bunch of football players complaining about needing a roommate she jumps at that opportunity.

It’s Nico’s senior year final year with the Santa Mira Dolphins. He needs to focus on his game and doesn’t need any distractions. Especially gorgeous ones like Ever.

But staying away from each other proves difficult when you’re living together. I loved their chemistry and passion. They were made for each other.

Overall I loved this book very much. If you’re looking for a college, forced proximity, football romance then you’re going to love it.

This is my first book by this author and I am definitely hooked. I really enjoyed reading Everleigh and Nico's story.

Everleigh really needs to find a place to stay before the semester at school starts and when she overhears some guys talking about a soare room she jumps at ir. Little did she know that it was with football players.

Nico is really focused on football and not looking for anything but is really hard with Ever being there. They both want to deny their attraction but you can tell there's chemistry between them. Will Ever and Nico be able to overcome everything that is holding them back? Need to read this to find out.

This is a slow burn book but I really enjoyed that. Also really enjoyed all the side characters and can't wait for more.

When Everleigh (Ever), transfers to UC Santa Mira for a good college experience, the last thing she expected was to have her housing fall through. So when she overhears a group of athletes complaining about how they need another roommate to make it 4, she can’t help but to ask if she can be the last roommate. Despite feeling the heat of the stare from one of the most attractive players she’s ever seen, she needs to make it work.

Nico wasn’t planning on having a distraction his senior year and especially not his new hot roommate, Ever. Desperate to make the rooming situation work, they have to hide their forbidden feelings.

I loved this book! It was relatively short (under 300 pages I believe) and was a sweet and spicy sports romance. The slow burn was burning! I really appreciated how Ever got along with the other roommates and it created a found family type of trope. I would say tropes in this book were: sports (football) romance, forced proximity, roommates to lovers, insta attraction, slow burn and found family.

This book was everything I needed to get me out of my recent book slump! The tension between Ever and Nico throughout the book was everything, and them being roommates was the cherry on top. I loved the dynamic between the roommates, and they were written in such a way that I found myself fully invested in their storylines even though they weren't the main story. I cannot wait for their books (hopefully)! Seeing Nico's character ARC was also so refreshing, as I feel that MMCs are rarely so self reflective. Ever was such a sweet and endearing character, and I found myself relating to her more than I thought I would. Her relationship with the boys was so perfect, and got me in the mood for more college sports romances lol. I do wish this book was a bit longer, so we could have more drawn out tension between Ever and Nico, but that may be because I am a majorrrr slow burn girlie. Overall, I definitely recommend. This book was everything I needed to get me out of my recent book slump! The tension between Ever and Nico throughout the book was everything, and them being roommates was the cherry on top. I loved the dynamic between the roommates, and they were written in such a way that I found myself fully invested in their storylines even though they weren't the main story. I cannot wait for their books (hopefully)! Seeing Nico's character ARC was also so refreshing, as I feel that MMCs are rarely so self reflective. Ever was such a sweet and endearing character, and I found myself relating to her more than I thought I would. Her relationship with the boys was so perfect, and got me in the mood for more college sports romances lol. I do wish this book was a bit longer, so we could have more drawn out tension between Ever and Nico, but that may be because I am a majorrrr slow burn girlie. Overall, I definitely recommend.

Everleigh is looking for a new start. She's just transferred to UC Santa Mira, but has to start from scratch. She just happened to be in the right place at the right time when she meets her new roommates.
Nico is the all star on campus, the ultimate player. Can he fight his feelings for his new roommate or will fall into his old habits?
Loved this book and I can't freaking wait for more. Everleigh and Nico are definitely end game!!

I love a good sport romance & the queen of sports romance did it again.

“I waved at her. She waved back, and my heart tripped over itself when she did.”


I loved Nico and Everleigh . I didn’t want it to end and I wanted more.
Nico is a known player. He has commitment issues & a Football player. Everleigh aka Ever is a transferred student and really just wanted to prove to everyone back home she can make it . She starts off not in the best situation. Her housing falls through and some one ends up breaking into her car taking everything she had. Thankfully Nico and the guys have a room for rent. She agrees to cook for them 3 times and week and they agree for her to rent the extra room they have.

“You always want what you can’t have. And right now, I want my roommate.”

Nico and Ever relationship was such a slow-burn. You felt the tension from both from the moment they met.

There was a lot of back and forth and basically scared to take the next step . Once they are together it’s the cutest thing ever. Im a simp for a changed man .

I loved there group of friends . I really hoping for get there stories eventually!

Thank you to Valentine PR & Monica for the ARC!

🌟🌟🌟🌟

Another hit from Monica! The reformed playboy and roommates tropes are some of my favourite tropes and this book didn’t disappoint.

I really enjoyed Everleigh and Nico! There was so much tension and push/pull between them. The chemistry between them was palpable and I couldn’t wait for them to give into it. This book is a super slow burn but once it finally happens it’s everything you were waiting for!

I can’t wait to see where the rest of this series goes. Thank you so much to Monica and Valentine PR for allowing me to read this arc.

✨ARC REVIEW ✨

Everleigh & Nico are legit Taylor Swift & Travis Kelcee 😚🤌🏻 except in this case Everleigh is a struggling college student that just wants to get ahead in life and Nico is the hot shot college football player 🏈 Ever (her nickname) is an lucky turned lucky 🍀 gal in the beginning. When everything goes wrong, she makes her own luck (as you should, Queen). Nico is not one for relationships but when Ever comes into the lives of the hotshot football players at their university, it changes all of them for the better 🫶🏻

A few notes I had and why it was not 5 stars:
- I wish it would’ve delved deeper into Ever’s relationship with her parents and given more insight on her relationship with Brad, which shaped her character.
- I wish I could’ve seen more from them post college or post Nico’s senior year!!!!
- I wish I could’ve seen how she developed her friendships more with dollar and coop! Love them btw and I can’t wait/ hope for Dollar to find love 😫🤌🏻
- I wish they also would delve more into Nico’s past with his dad leaving!!

🏈Forced Proximity
🧘College Romance
🏈Football
🧘Reformed Playboy

This book is much lighter than the last few books that I have read which I really needed.

Nico is one of the star football players at his school and has a reputation with the girls. Everleigh just transferred school for a fresh starts and desperately needs a place to live. She happens to hear 3 guys in need for a roommate. Here we go with the forced proximity 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

I loved these characters so much. I wish that we would have been able to see more of their actual relationship but it was such a fun read.

I loved all the side characters too and desperately needs Sienna’s book. I would mind Dollar’s book either. Heck give me Coop’s book too. I neeed them all!

What happens when you move in with 3 hot football players? You end up crushing on the player of the group. I loved this story, ready to dive more into the series and see what’s to come for the rest of the characters. This was funny, sweet, with a little spice.

I’m here for all of the college sports romances. But make them football, roommates & she’s a struggling non-fan & I am all in!! Nico & Everleigh have some major obstacles going against them but with the support of their found family they become each other’s END GAME. Great storyline, wonderful characters, a psycho ex (my favorite micro)! I’m really looking forward to this series.

Nico is a college football player who gets a lot of attention. He isn't sure if someone wants him for who he is or what he does. He found its easier to not get in a relationship than always question intentions. Nico lives in a house with two of his teammates, and need a new roommate after their previous one leaves. After discussing it, they decided that she could move in, with some conditions, she has to make home cooked meals. Nico and Everleigh have an attraction to one another that they try to avoid acknowledging because they are roommates and it would be difficult if things didn't work out. I really enjoyed their story, and meeting all of the characters and I am rooting for a couple to get their crap together and try to make it work. I thought this fast paced story was fun and entertaining and I thought that Nico and Everleigh are great together. I just wish that we could have gotten more than the ending that we did. I cannot wait to see where this series goes.

Received ARC in exchange for voluntary honest review from NetGalley.