Play It Off is the second book in Monica Murphy’s Kings of Campus series, and it’s one I’ve been eagerly anticipating. After meeting Sienna and Gavin in End Game, I couldn’t wait to dive into their story—and it did not disappoint.

Sienna, Coop’s younger sister, has always been his biggest cheerleader, never missing a single one of his games. Football runs deep in their family, and Sienna has grown up surrounded by it. But when she enrolls at the same university as her brother, she’s determined to carve out her own identity—she wants to be known as Sienna, not just “Coop’s little sister.”

She’s had a crush on Gavin for as long as she can remember, though she never believed anything would come of it… until suddenly, everything shifts. Friendship seems like the safe route, but whenever Sienna and Gavin are together, the chemistry between them is undeniable—full of simmering tension and electric passion.

Watching them fall in love was such a heartfelt experience. They share their dreams, fears, and vulnerabilities, creating an emotional bond that feels authentic and deeply moving. Gavin struggles with the reality that his best friend’s sister should be off-limits, especially during the most crucial year of his football career. No distractions are allowed—and that should include Sienna. But some things are impossible to resist.

I absolutely adored Sienna’s character—she’s sassy, independent, and unafraid to voice exactly what she wants from Gavin. Their connection is intense and genuine, and seeing both of them open up gave me all the feels.

They deserve their happily-ever-after—but the question is: at what cost?

*arc provided for an honest review
4.5 stars

This is a college football romance between star quarterback, MMC Gavin and his best friends sister, FMC Sienna. I will say for a college romance, there wasn’t a whole lot of college happening! They spend their time training for football, going to yoga, going out to eat, to bars, and parties. There was some unnecessary business with a guy Sienna dated that fizzles out and becomes nothing to the plot. As usual with these sort or books, it was a good story and nothing life changing. I enjoyed it.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Spice: 🌶️🌶️/5

•Gavin & Sienna
Kings of Campus book 2

*I was provided an ARC of this book by the author and their promotional team

Gavin & Sienna’s story was such an anticipated read for me after finishing book 1 and @monicamurphyauthor SERVED with the tension and chemistry between these two!!

Gavin Maddox, QB for the Santa Mira Dolphins shared a moment with Sienna Cooper, his best friend and teammate’s sister during her freshman year. Their “moment” was quickly interrupted and it was the wake up call that Gavin needed to remind him getting involved with Sienna would be a horrible idea. So, for the last 2 years, he’s played nice and acted cordial, resisting temptation, but Sienna has not made it easy. They’ve played a dangerous game over the last couple years, but Gavin only has room for 1 game in his life, and that’s football. It’s his only hope of getting out from his father’s thumb and making a legacy for himself.

Sienna Cooper can’t let go. Years later, & the only man she wants still refuses to give her the time of day. With only 1 year left while Gavin is on campus, Sienna is giving her all one last time to prove they could be so good together. “Giving up” is not in Sienna’s vocabulary, and eventually Gavin is no longer willing to deny that Sienna is everything he wants and deserves. Now, they have to decide if their relationship will withstand compromising Gavin’s career and potentially destroying his friendship with Sienna’s brother. 🙈

As much as the back and forth between these have me literal chest pains, I couldn’t have asked for a better story for these two!! Sienna was a whole vibe and I LOVE the way she carried herself with sass and confidence! This also has to be one of Monica’s spiciest books to date! I loved revisiting the Santa Mira crew and this was a great addition to a series I hope only continues to grow!

I love a good opening scene and this book delivered that.
I thought this was a really easy read. College, sports and brother’s best friend are some of my favorite tropes. Sienna and Gavin had chemistry for days. They were a good match in the sense that they both felt overlooked by their parents even though they have opposite quality of families. There is a big sense of found family in this story. I really enjoyed Sienna’s character. Her ambitions are so unconventional. I listened to some of this on audio and the narration was very good. It’s an included listen in Kindle Unlimited.

I love all of Monica Murphy's books, and this one, of course, was no exception.

In Play It Off, the second book in the Kings of Campus series, we find out the reason for the “animosity” between Gavin and Sienna.

The whole story is fantastic, and we are hooked from the first chapter, wanting to know what will happen next. All the tension between Gavin and Sienna is scorching hot, the secret hookups, the hidden touches, and the fleeting glances make us anxiously wait and sit on the edge of our seats, biting our nails, just salivating for the next page.

Gavin is so protective and possessive the way he looks after Sienna, it leaves us sighing, swooning, and panting.

And Sienna, what a fantastic FMC, fearless, funny, goes after what she wants, and is always challenging Gavin.

All the energy of the two, the banter, the push and pull, and the secrecy of the romance make this book H.O.T!

This is undoubtedly a must-read!

What you will find:
🏈Brothers Best Friend
✨Secret Romance
🏈College Football Romance
✨Forbidden Love
🏈Found Family
✨Secret Hookups
🏈Jealous Possessive
✨Alpha Hero
🏈Boy Obsessed

3.5 ⭐️

I really enjoyed Sienna and Gavin’s story. It was a quick, fun and spicy read full of some of my favourite tropes. I liked that Sienna was secretly inlove with Gavin for years and Gavin also had feelings for her too but just couldn’t express them since Sienna is his best friends little sister. My only issue was that I found Sienna to be a bit immature in some places and that annoyed me. Gavin also wasn’t the best MMC I’ve read from Monica but I liked him more as the book went on.

I still really enjoyed the overall story and can’t wait to see what’s next!

Sienna has had a crush on Gavin Maddox since her freshman year of college. Out of all the possible guys to be interested in, Sienna is very much obsessed with one man- Gavin Maddox. The problem? Gavin is her brother’s best friend. After a heated moment between the two of them, they’ve avoided each other as much as possible. Now, 2 years later, the tension between them is even thicker. Gavin wants the distraction of Sienna to go away, but the distraction only seems to get worse. Can Gavin and Sienna work together to ensure their happiness?

I absolutely adore Gavin and Sienna and this book was everything I needed and more. After reading the first book, i knew that the story of Sienna and Gavin would get me, and they weren’t wrong!. The tension, and sexual banter led to the most beautiful parts of their story.

This is only my second Monica Murphy read and it has me hooked!

This had so many tropes that I really love reading: sports romance, college romance, brother’s best friend, forbidden/hidden love..it was great! At the beginning, I wasn’t the biggest fan of the MMC, but he grew on me. I realized I was pre-judging his maturity level because of the ages I thought they were and once I shut that off, it didn’t bother me. The spice and development of their friendship/relationship was fun to read..there’s just something about the will they, won’t they aspect that just does wonders for a story. Overall, I enjoyed the story and will be checking out other books in the series.

Sienna is in love with Gavin, her brother’s teammate. They hooked up freshman year, and the chemistry was off the charts! But then he ignored her for the next few years. But, he’s matured and now he realizes what he really wants! Sienna! So they start hooking up but keeping it secret.
But could it be more?
Another amazing book by Monica Murphy!

One thing about me? Imma EAT UP a Brothers Bestfriend romance.
And these two characters killed it.
The tension and the banter?! I was just waiting for something to happen each page!
The first Chapter draws you in. Both characters instantly have such a draw to eachother you feel so connected to what they want it has you giggling 🤭

Let's start talking about our girl Sienna. She's funny, whitty and knows what she WANTS. The way she constantly challenges Gavin I just felt how strong she was.👑

Now Gavin.... oh boy. He can be such a Golden Retriever at times he has you blushing🤭 The way he matured through the book is just amazing. Man knows what he wants but took precautions too. He looks out for everyone, especially his girl 😉

This scenes in this book were 🔥🔥 Their chemistry almost left a girl on fire. Sienna is a girl who knows what she wants and will tell it as it is 😈

The book was perfectly forbidden and you got so much love out of the other characters🥹

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Tropes you will find:
Brothers Bestfriend
Boy Obsessed
Forbidden Love
Jealous Possessive
Secret Hookups
Secret Romance

When I read the first book in the series, End Game, I was so drawn to Gavin and Sienna! You could just FEEL the chemistry between them and all that tension building! I was so excited when Monica announced they’d be book 2! Their book definitely lived up to their chemistry in book 1! Gavin and Sienna just have so much between them and their chemistry is undeniable! 🔥 I loved seeing their relationship go from pining, to hooking up, to more. Their forbidden and secret romance was hot! 🥵 And then of course allllll the angst of the brother’s best friend trope - so good! I loved both Gavin and Sienna’s characters. Sienna is such a firecracker I love her sassy personality! She’s such a strong character and just has so much heart! Gavin is a secret softie which I love. He’s protective and possessive but also so down bad for Sienna and sweet to her! They were just so good together! 🩵


🏈 Football Romance
🩵 College Romance
🏈 Brother’s Best Friend / Teammate
🩵 Forbidden Love
🏈 Boy Obsessed
🩵 Secret Relationship
🏈 Found Family
🩵 Mutual Pining
🏈 Off Limits
🩵 Slow Burn
🏈 Forced Proximity
🩵 Possessive MMC
🏈 Dual POV

one of my all time fav authors!

there hasn’t been a monica murphy book i didn’t love.

also secret relationship and brothers best friend? sign me up. their chemistry was off the charts. gavin is a golden retriever deep down and was down bad for sienna.

the angst and drama in this story had me hooked. but also the relationships were just chefs kiss.

Found this book very difficult to read and enjoy. I think the fmc and mmc just didn't have the right connection for me and the plot felt very underwhelming. I was so upset by this because i love all of the Lancaster books written by Monica but unfortunately, this was a miss for me.

Play It Off is a sports romance that follows Sienna and her crush on Gavin her brother's best friend and teammate. Gavin struggles with his confidence on the field due to his father while Sienna struggles with her confidence because of her looks. It was an easy read and pretty straightforward. The way the story was structured and paced was great as well. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a quick read.

Monica Murphy *nailed it* again with *Play It Off*! I’m absolutely obsessed—this book is everything I wanted and more! The tension between Sienna and Gavin is electric, the chemistry off-the-charts, and the emotional pull had me hooked from page one. Forbidden love? Check. Brother’s best friend? Double check. Angsty, swoony, heart-melting moments? ALL THE CHECKS. I couldn’t stop reading, couldn’t stop *feeling*. Murphy captures the highs and lows of college romance so perfectly, and Gavin? Book boyfriend of the YEAR. My heart’s still racing. If you love slow-burns with depth, heart, and heat, *this* is your next favorite read!

🏈Brothers Best Friend
🏈Football Player
🏈FMC who loves sports
🏈Found Family Vibes
🏈She falls first
🏈College Romance

This series is easily becoming one of my comfort reads, these books have me sucked in and then easily binging them within a day. Sometimes life gets stressful but Monica’s books especially this series helps break up some of that stress.

I needed Sienna and Gavin the minute I finished book one, all the hints and tension between them. I needed to know Gavin’s side of the story, because Sienna definitely wasn’t hiding her feelings. I loves Sienna right away because she’s a true girls girl… she just is looking for someone who isn’t using her to get close to her brother and their football team. I love that she finds that friendship. I also loved seeing Gavin’s POV that he was equally drawn to Sienna… he was definitely not what I thought he would be.

These two are a force, a connection that I just loved reading about… two characters that draw you in and have you rooting for them. Gavin has his struggles and seeing both of them work through life together… was so enjoyable to read about. Definitely a top Monica read for me.

This is the story of Sienna and Gavin. She has had a crush on him since she was a freshman. He is the quarterback, but also her brother's best friend. He however, can't seem to stop thinking about her either. They have had their moment and he needs to forget about her. He has to keep his head in the game if he wants what he does for his future. It is his senior year and he has been respecting Sienna's boundaries for so long. He can do it one more year. Or can he? I have to say that I am a huge fan of brothers best friend books. This one did not let me down. I loved watching these two skate around their feelings for each other. They put up a good fight. I loved how they were not afraid to share the important things with each other. They know each other's dreams. Their hops and their fears. I loved watching them emotionally fall for each other. They bonded in the best ways possible. This was a really great love story. One you won't regret reading.

This is Book 2 in the Kings of Campus Series by this author. It is a captivating off limits romance between college students, Sienna and her brother's best friend, Gavin. These incredible characters are easy to fall for. The sparks, chemistry, tension and emotions really zing back and forth between them. The storyline offers an addicting combination of feels, heart, swoon, laughter, drama and twists, with stellar secondary characters. Funny, sweet, insightful and inspiring, you don’t want to miss this charming love story!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4/5 stars)

I loved this book! Play It Off had the perfect mix of romance, tension, and emotional depth. Sienna and Gavin had undeniable chemistry, and the brother’s best friend trope? Always a win. I was hooked from the first page—there was just enough angst to keep me flipping pages, but not so much it dragged the story down. Their push-and-pull dynamic felt real and addictive, and both characters were easy to root for. If you love sports romance, forbidden vibes, and characters who really try to resist each other (but fail beautifully), this one’s a must-read!

4.5 stars
The second book in the series didn’t disappoint. It was full of angst. That is one of my favorite things in a book. The chemistry between Gavin and Sienna was off the charts. I am so glad we got their story. Must read!