I’m a sucker for football college romances and this one was no different. honestly, is there a better time of the year to read college + sports romances? I don’t think so. with that said, add this one immediately to your autumn tbr. this is such a cute, quick paced and fun read. plus it’s the first book in a new series!!
you meet Everleigh and Nico and you can’t help but falling in love with them even with all their flaws (absolutely love real characters!!!). and since this is the first book in the series you meet a of characters that I’m hoping to have future books about them. the tension between the main characters is incredible, the friendships are way too cute and real.
I just wish we had an epilogue or some kind of closure. but I guess this means we’ll see more of them in the future books of the series (?)

tropes in this book:
sports romance
college romance
roommates to lovers
forced proximity

NEW BOOK BOYFRIEND ALERT! Meet Nico in this brand new book by Monica Murphy. The boy that makes every girls heart swoon. I am obsessed with him I need him in my life. Nico and his friends allow Everleigh to move in with them. Will it be a disaster? Who knows. I cannot get over the characters in this book and the story. It was such a good book to read and so much fun!

ARC Review 📚📚📚:


Although I like this book, it didn't quite live up to my expectations. I was so enthusiastic about this book. Especially since Monica Murphy writing is exceptional.
When Everleigh first gets at UC Santa Mira, she's put in a difficult predicament because of a housing error that essentially leaves her without a place to live.It was always going to be difficult for her to transfer to a new college in her junior year, but now that her housing has fallen through, her car has been broken into, and she has nowhere else to turn. She is fortunate enough to convince three football players to let her move in after overhearing them mention that they need to find new roommate. She's settled in at last, and her new housemates are fantastic. Her developing crush with Nico is the only issue. Not wanting to ruin the roommate dynamic and her opportunity at fresh start. She choses not to act on her crush.
Be prepared for a tedious read, this book was a slow type of romance. I also thought the characters were a touch too immature. Instead of working through their feelings, they would choose to ignore one another for days when they were after their encounters. Nico was also your average arrogant, popular boy who thought he was greatest gift. While he did see some growth as a character towards the end. He fell short for me. I was actually more interested in the side characters. I was engrossed in the Sienna/Gavin drama *sidenote*I hope that’s the next book. I absolutely cherished Everleigh's connections with Dollar and Cooper. I also truly liked all of the supporting characters and their friendships. While I have nothing against a slow-burning romance, it seems pointless when they eventually hit it off at 98% of the book. This was an excruciatingly slow burn. Why torture us like that ???
Overall, although it seems like a okay book to read it wasn’t my fave but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t read it. Read it to get an introductions to the amazing side characters.

Recommend Adding to your TBR so you can see the growth of the side characters and to get a sneak peek of the next couple.


* Dual POVs
* Sports Romance
* Slow Burn
* Found Family
* Alpha Jock
* Opposites Attract
* Forced Proximity

Everleigh is a transfer student at UC Santa Mira, getting ready to start her Junior year, when her roommate situation falls through. While at a coffee shop, she overhears a group of guys talking about how they need a new roommate and the next thing she knows, she's rooming with three of the most popular guys on campus, who are football players for the Santa Mira Dolphins. When her roommate, Nico, takes a liking to Everleigh, they both know it's not a great idea, especially since they're living together, but will they be able to resist the temptation?

This is the first book in the Kings of Campus series, and I really enjoyed it! It was a super cute football romance, with roommates to lovers trope, a slowburn romance, and I'm looking forward to the next book in this series.

Oh nico was just so swoony, ever and nico gave me so many feels. This was a fantastic story, these 2 characters were so well written. Highly recommended

My Rating: 4.5/5

My Thoughts: Everleigh has had trouble catching a break in life. She doesn't have a supportive system back home and she's looking for a fresh start. Unfortunately, she desperately needs a room to rent after her current housing doesn't work out. She approaches three strangers after overhearing them needing a new roommate and her bad luck starts to look up. Nico is one of the football stars and isn't exactly one for a relationship. He's hesitant about Everleigh, but he feels drawn to her. These two have a bit of a rocky start, compared to her other roommates. After all the setbacks Everleigh had, I loved how strong of a person she was, even when she didn't see how much her roommates valued her. I thought this book was sweet with a little drama. I love Monica Murphy's football romance. It's a perfect Fall read.

This is my first Monica Murphy read, and I will definitely read more!

When Everleigh's rooming situation at her new college falls through, she's desperate for somewhere to live. Desperate enough to follow 3 large dudes home and beg them to let her rent their spare room! Turns out these guys are university football players, and they're a huge deal around campus. Frank, or "Dollar", Coop, and Nico each take some convincing, but they eventually agree to take pity on her, if she'll cook them 3 meals a week.
Frank clearly has a crush on Ever, but she friend zones him real hard. Nico, on the other hand... let's just say that they have to fight their attraction with all their might.

I liked the found family in the roommates and their friends. I want to read more about Coop and Frank, as well as Gavin and Sienna, Coop's sister. I feel like I got to know the side characters pretty well, and I'd like to read their books, but I feel like Everleigh and Nico didn't get enough character development in this story, and their relationship arc was a bit flat. He's kind of just an A-hole over and over until he apologizes once and becomes a changed man. And Everleigh was sort of one-dimensional, all we know about her is she's naive, she's new here, and has a strained relationship with her mom.

Overall, I enjoyed the book and I look forward to reading the next one!

4⭐ 2🌶️

I read an advanced copy, and this is my honest review. Thank you to Valentine Pr, the publishers, and the author.

Heck Yeah! I’m always down for a read where an egotistical fboy gets put into his place by a strong woman who doesn’t even know how beautiful she is. It’s so awesome when she stands her ground and says nope I refuse to be another notch on your bedpost and demands to be treated with respect. When even though she may not see how much she affects the clueless playboy…she still recognizes she is worth more than to be treated like just another girl he wants to bed.
And boy did Ever put him in his place…although his feeling may have been real from the beginning had she not put her foot down and rejected his advances…well let just say you’ll need to read it to find out how it turns out. I’ll tell you one thing…I can’t wait for book 2. Which I’m positive will be announced soon…cause how can you have a book 1 of a series and not have a book 2? And I mean we have so many guys left to read about…wonderful read, thanks Monica for the beautiful and entertaining read!

I wanted to love this book but while I liked it, it did fall a little short for me. The premise and the tropes had me so excited for what this book had in store for me but wasn't executed to the level I thought it would. This book was a slow, SLOWWWWW burn, so be prepared for that and the characters felt a little high schoolish to me. When faced with conflict they would resort to ignoring each other for days instead of working out their feelings. Nico was also your typical arrogant, popular boy who felt like he was God's gift to women, now granted he did have some character growth towards the end of the book there it was a painful ride of assho*ery to get there. Now I LOVED all of the side characters and their friendships, I was really invested in the Sienna/Gavin drama (I hope that is the next book) and I enjoyed Everleigh's relationships with Dollar and Coop... one-word yoga (iykyk).

Everleigh Olmstead could not have any worse of luck. After finally being able to move across the country to attend her dream college, she is left homeless with nothing but her backpack. A coincidental meeting with three burly guys needing a last-minute roommate ends with her in a 'New Girl' situation of being the only girl in a house of guys.

These guys? They are not your average college bros. They’re the "it" guys of campus, and they all play for the highly successful football team, with professional contracts on the horizon. They strike a deal with Everleigh that if she agrees to help with the cleaning and cook them dinner, they will hook her up with discounted rent and elite bathroom accommodations.

Sounds like a win, win right? Well, it is until Everleigh can't help but be attracted to the surly man of the bunch, Nico Valente. Football god with quite the reputation for being a "hit it and quit it" type of man, but as hot and cold as he might be with her, he has made his interest known. But, he has also made it clear that he does not have any interest in a relationship and she has made it clear that she is not interested in a hookup. But the longer they are in each other's space they can't fight the attraction building between them. They've tried and tried again to keep things innocent but when a psycho exes show up and push them together lines are crossed, but will their friendship survive it? Or will they find something much more real in store for them?

I was gifted an advance reader copy by the author and Valentine PR in exchange for an honest review.

*End Game* by Monica Murphy is an emotional and engaging contemporary romance that dives into the ups and downs of a complicated relationship. The characters have great chemistry, and the slow-burn tension keeps you hooked. It’s a well-paced read with just the right mix of romance, personal growth, and a few surprises along the way. Perfect if you enjoy a story with a bit of angst and heart.

Thank you net galley and Monica Murphy for the arc copy of this book. I enjoyed it thoroughly

This was a great start for a new series. I really liked ever and felt so bad for her not having an apartment last minute and all the other issues that happen. It was refreshing that she was brave to ask the guys about the apartment. Nico is a player. But he starts to have the real feeling for ever his roommate. I really love their chemistry. The plot was good and I really enjoyed it. I really like all the guys and can’t wait to get to read their stories like frank, cooper, sienna and Gavin. I can’t decide which one I am hoping is next. Monica Murphy is such a great author.

The End Game is the first book of the Kings of Campus series and a great starting point to a new series. I enjoyed the uniqueness of Everleigh finding herself homeless after the college messed up her housing and her having to live with several guys. I love a good slow burn and I feel like it made the story more realistic. I loved the build up of Nico and Everleigh’s relationship and the friendships in their home. I loved all the side characters as much as the main characters and really hope they get their own stories!

Great series starter! I really liked this book! All the tension between Nico and Everleigh was too much and I so eager to know what will happen next. Their chemistry is ever present from the start of this book. It was inevitable that they will end up together. The ultimate question tho was how long will they be able to resist each other?

This book is about how Everleigh ended up being roommates to three football players. Since she doesn’t follow sports, she doesn’t really know the extent of their fame. She’s in desperate need of a room to stay and they are in search of a roommate so they both agreed to some terms before Ever got the room.

I love every character in this book. They were all great except for one. 🙄
I especially loved Cooper’s sister, Sienna. I’m looking forward who will be the FMC and MMC of the next book. 🤭

I enjoyed End Game. I liked the overall plot, the friendships and the characters. I liked both Ever and Nico and enjoyed the foundation they built, i could definitely feel the chemistry between them from the moment they met. I adored the group of guys and how they all interacted with one another. Most of all though i loved how they all respected and treated Ever with respect from the get go. How they built their own friendships with Ever seperate from her relationship with Nico and whether or not they were in a relationship. I really liked Sienna’s character too and how she and Ever just vibed from the get go and built such a good friendship. I adored Cooper, i don’t know why but he was my favourite and i hope to read his book at some point soon. Personally, i did find that that the relationship was done very slow for my tastes. I still enjoyed this book and recommend people give it a go.

I really enjoyed the premise of this book. We have Everleigh, a transfer student who has just lost her housing and ended up rooming with 3 football players. It's obvious she's gonna end up with the most popular guy, Nico. The push and pull is obvious to everyone around them.

Sienna, whose brother Coop lives with Ever and the guys, was the banter I needed. She keeps it real and calls them all on their BS. I hope she and Gavin get a book because I need to know what happened between them.

This was a slow burn, and I was on my ties waiting for the moment it would finally happen, then it did, and that was it. I wish we had more after the fact. Overall, it was a fun read and enjoyable characters.

This was a cute roommates to lovers romance. Everleigh and Nico constantly fighting their feelings for each other. I absolutely adored this book! ❤️❤️

જ⁀➴ 4-4.2 ★ I can't really explain it but this book (and honestly a lot of this author's books) is superrr nostalgic to me and reminds me of my roots like football romance, ROOMMATES TO LOVERS, forced proximity, opposites attract, college romance LMAOO. Its like your classic academic set, sports romance with the campus' beloved football player and a girl who barely knows about any of it.

the storyline
Everleigh (h) is put in a tough situation when she arrives at UC Santa Mira for a fresh beginning but is practically left homeless after a housing mishap. Rooming with three guys was definitely not on her ideas of what the year had in store for her but when she overhears three guys talking about needing a new roommate after their intended one bailed, she finds an opportunity. Her biggest obstacle to getting that room though was the campus' star player Nico (H)who can't afford any distractions this season and already knows that Everleigh would become a huge one.

And she did.

I think what also really amplified my overall enjoyment from the book were the side characters as well who were all enjoyable and the friendship between all of them and how effortlessly the guys accept Everleigh into the fold once they get to know her a bit more.

There's a ton of push/pull in this book and is also pretty slow burn like for most people though i honestly felt like it was a fast paced read for me ahaha.

Though the one detractor would honestly be their poor communication and ability to manage their emotions despite being about to graduate college but honestly this wasn't for a hugely significant part of the book so I truly didn't mind. I would definitely consider this book a good read if you're looking for something light and entertaining.

Thank you VPR and Net Galley for the ARC from one of my favorite authors, I really appreciate it

End Game is the first book in the new Kings of Campus series by Monica Murphy. I'm a sucker for sports romance, so I was really excited to read this one!

Everleigh made the decision to transfer to a college in California and move away from everything she's known. Her start at her new school gets off to a very rocky start, as the apartment she was going to move into is now no longer available and classes start in a matter of days. By a stroke of luck, she hears three guys talking at the cafe about having a room to rent out. She knows she's got to take a leap of faith and inquire about the room. What she isn't anticipating when they finally tell her the room is hers, that she is moving in with three of the schools well-known football players!

Nico is on the football team and is one of the most sought after bachelors out there. He is known for not having relationships, but for being a player. He also was the one person who was not in favor of Everleigh moving in with he and his teammates Coop and Dollar. His fear is that everything will change because a female is living with them. While he might have been right about that, things didn't change in the way he thought!

I really liked the dynamic of Nico and Everleigh, but I do wish we would have gotten more about her background, and what led her to leave home. I would have liked for there to have been more time for Nico and Everleigh to interact in ways that would have shown more development in their relationship. I felt like it took way too long to actually get them together with a lot of the same conversations. I liked the secondary characters a lot and I'm hoping we will get books for them in the future.

**I voluntarily read an early copy of this title courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review**

Everleigh is at new college and finds herself homeless. She's in desperate need of a place to stay and happens to hear a small group of guys needing an extra roommate. She introduces herself and convinces them to let her move in, but unbeknownst to her these three super cute, big buff new roomies of hers are college football royalty. She finds herself very attracted to one roomie in particular, Nico, who happens to be known all over campus as a habitual playboy and ladies man. Nico finds himself tempted by his forbidden female roommate and things start to get a little messy around the house.

This is a super slow burn with them denying their feelings and not wanting to screw up the roomie situation if things go south after they hookup. Everleigh puts up a good fight against Nico's smile and charm, but one night while trying to fake out one of Nico's crazy past hookup they kiss and that sets things in motion for these two. Nico is absolutely adorable and so far out of his element when he's crushing on her and making zero progress. I loved seeing his growth toward the second half of the story. I honestly felt like this story could happen in real life, and I kinda loved that about it.

There were some pretty great background characters setting us up for the series and I cannot wait to see whose story is next!

This is surprisingly deep for a college romance. And I’m not saying that this author’s other works don’t have all the emotion and angst and humor like this one, but this story? It’s got more…growing up involved. And in the best ways, honestly.

Nico is a player. Full stop. But he sure isn’t playing much now. Not since meeting Everleigh. He doesn’t WANT to want her, but he does. He doesn’t want to just be friends, but they are. And he definitely doesn’t want to upset the good thing they all have going as roommates, but…he might. He’s maturing in ways he didn’t expect. He’s falling in a way he never planned to do. And he’s got to get his head and heart together to win Ever’s trust. Sure, he’s got her body on board. But that’s not his end game here. And both his mother and Coop remind him that not all feelings are bad, especially if they bring the potential of a forever love his way.

Everleigh is growing and maturing also. She doesn’t have as much to do as Nico, but she does have to face some fears and some uncomfortable truths. But she does, and Sienna proves to be an excellent friend to both her and Nico, which just makes me adore her more.

Trust me, this isn’t your standard Monica Murphy athlete needs to grow tale. This series is going to hit a little harder with the changing from boys to men. And I am all in for whoever finds their way from boy of a certain mentality to man on a mission next!