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Blurb
She would be my end game. I just didn’t know it yet.
Ophelia asked me for one simple favor—to get the guy she’s in love with to notice her.
It won’t be easy; she looks as if she’s spent her whole life trying to disappear. But I never turn down a challenge. Convincing anyone I’ve given up all women for this one woman is my biggest challenge yet.
I agree to help her win over the man of her dreams. The problem is she quickly becomes the only woman staring in mine.
She offered to pay me. In the end, I want the one thing she plans to give to someone else.
Her heart.
End Game is a fake-dating, opposites attract, college/new adult romance featuring a charismatic hero and a wallflower heroine entangled in an arrangement neither could have prepared for.
Review
4 stars
J.B. Salsbury takes us back to BSU football with a fantastic fake relationship/friends-to-lovers romance, and two characters that completely stole my heart.
This is book #4 in the BSU Football series, and though it’s been a while since I’ve read the earlier books, I was instantly sucked into this story, which can absolutely be read as a standalone.
Self-declared science nerd, Ophelia is quiet and shy, and prefers to exist in the background wherever possible. But that has resulted in her flying a little too low under the radar. A quick encounter with BSU football star, Kaipo Ryker gives her the opportunity she’s been looking for, and she bravely asks him to be her pretend boyfriend to help her win the heart of the guy she likes. He is intrigued by her proposition, and agrees, and quickly throws himself into being the most epic of fake boyfriends.
He’s still several yards away, a few dozen students between us. I stand frozen in the doorway, my bag clutched to my chest while my classmates squeeze past me. Wearing a faded BSU Football t-shirt, as if anyone needs the reminder of who he is, he holds his arms wide and high above him. “My woman!” His jeans hang low on his hops, and I catch the hint of a tattoo peeking out at his hipbone.
He closes in, his proximity and smile causing a tachycardic event in my chest. Those big, solid arms reach for me. “No hug for your man?”
I was alternately laughing or swooning at Kaipo’s fake-boyfriending efforts. He is sweet and thoughtful, and he genuinely cares about Ophelia, helping her find confidence and treating her beautifully. He is sweet and generous, with a huge heart, and he completely stole my heart
“He’s going to fall in love with you. I have no doubt about that.” …
“You don’t have to fake boyfriend me now when no one is watching.” …
“I’m serious. You are the kind of woman a man falls in love with. No fake-boyfriending bullshit. Just facts.”
Every encounter between them is fun, flirty and affectionate. And as Kaipo puts Ophelia at ease, and she grows comfortable with him, they truly get to know each other, and Kaipo finds himself falling hard for his shy new friend.
I want to slap myself out of it, but I can’t shake the feeling of Ophelia, of her touch, her eyes when she looks up at me with pure trust. I can’t shake her. I want her. All of her. In every possible way.
It’s such a fun read. I loved the dynamic between Kaipo and Ophelia which shifts from strangers to close friends to more. It’s sweet, sexy and exciting watching these two come together and just as much as I loved their fantastic banter and conversation, their inner dialogue was just as entertaining, and I laughed so many times while falling so hard for both of these characters.
The couples from the earlier books in the series appear, and I loved seeing them all so happy and loved-up, and invested in Kaipo and Ophelia’s relationship, knowing the whole time that there’s nothing fake about it.
The ending brings a surprise twist that actually caused the book to lose some momentum for me. Actually it was more like screeching breaks. I wasn’t a fan of some of the characters’ actions and how things ultimately played out, and it took a 5-star read down to a 4, but I was glad to see these two get their happy ending.
4 stars.
BSU Football
Breaking Defenses (#1) (Carey & Rowan)
Spin off from the Fighting series – Carey Slade is the son of Jonah and Raven from Fighting for Flight
Review
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Hail Mary (#2) (Spider & Emery)
Review
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Check out more great reads at our J.B. Salsbury Author Spotlight