Endgame Romance

Endgame Romance is the 3rd book in the Lost Daughter of a Serial Killer series by C.M. Stunich.

Synopsis

Finding out you’re in love with three impossible boys isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

The stepbrother. The boyfriend’s best friend. The sister’s ex.

Life would be complicated enough if we didn’t have to navigate a social circle populated with serial killers.

My father has gathered a loyal group of monsters around himself like a shield.

There’s the black widow, the arsonist, the mild-mannered poet with a penchant for blood, the crooked cop, and, of course, the Seattle Slayer.

Maintaining three new romances is nearly as dangerous a proposition.

Oh, and my biological mother? She knows about the boys, but not the killers.

My original kidnapper—the woman I thought was my mom—she knows about the killers and not the boys.

Some days, it feels like the entire world is a web of secrets and deceit—much of it spun by yours truly.

The girl I once knew as Dakota Banks is fading like a distant star.

The question is: how far will I let my father push me?

He might have an app that records and watches everything; he might have a plan of righteous revenge. But there are two things the Seattle Slayer doesn’t understand: love and loyalty. He thought he could drive us apart when all he did was push us closer together.

And together, we are stronger.

This is the endgame, Dad.

Let’s finish this.

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Trigger Warnings

Graphic sexual content involving minors

Graphic violence

Kidnapping

Tropes

Reverse Harem

Step brother

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Reviews

"If I were Tess, and I were writing this book, I’d probably describe it as … No, no, I wouldn’t describe it because I would never be such a miserable crab of a writer who’d put her character through such stressful experiences. Fictional people have feelings, too, you know. Sobs uncontrollably."

Damn it C.M. Stunich how dare you break my heart 💔 I literally just finished Endgame Romance and my mind is reeling. End game Romance was planned to be the final book in the Lost Daughter of a Serial Killer series, but when Stunich wrote over 400,000 words she decided to cut this one at 200,000. I'm so glad that she did this to make sure that these characters get the proper ending. There's nothing I hate more then a condensed version, especially when you become so invested in the characters and story.

I don't want to talk too much about the plot and any of my theories because that just ruins the mystery in these books. But I do want to say how much I love the characters and their dynamic 🖤 Kota and how she is with each guy separately, together and even the guys dynamics between each other just.. *chefs kiss*.

"The preppy rich prince of sloths with the warm heart, the dark knight rockstar valedictorian, and the fiercely protective bunny-saving athlete."

And Justin. This evil mother fucker... I can't even say anything without spoilers. I'm just so looking forward to hopefully Kota killing the bastard.

"She was a liar, that girl, that Dakota Banks. She swore she’d rather kill herself than harm another. But that wasn’t true at all, was it? Like father, like daughter. The lost spawn of a serial killer indeed."

Well now that I'm devastated, I need to go find a support group for those who have finished Endgame Romance😭

"I’m trapped in a cage with invisible but very strong bars. Each one of them is the life of a person I love and care about, and I don’t know how else to escape except to bleed the one who put me there."

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Notable Highlights

I realize then that evil doesn’t just happen overnight. Sure, some people are born wrong, but others are forged in hate and pain and circumstance. Against my better judgement, against my own will, I am becoming one of those people.

That’s the thing about fairy tales though: they’re often dark. They have lessons to impart. I’ve just learned mine.

There’s nothing wrong with falling in love fictionally.

Such a charming monster. The Seattle Slayer, the perfect techie unicorn start-up serial killer sent to plague the families of other techie unicorn start-ups.

...seeing as rocking out to old music and singing it loudly and off-key is a proud Millennial trait, I wouldn’t be surprised if they truly did enjoy killing people as a whole generation.

I’m bunking with the Seattle fucking Slayer. And serial killers? They don’t do lullabies. Actually, Justin probably does: I’m just really, really tired of hearing him sing. He’s a better murderer than he is a vocalist, that’s for damn sure.

I’ll do my best to enjoy the small moments. That’s what life is anyway, a mosaic of tiny, insignificant things that make up a glorious whole. Kisses stolen in the dark, a sweetly whispered word, a smile on a sunny summer afternoon.

The world’s monsters succeed because of those same-said self-preservation instincts. We need to learn to be brave, to take risks, or else the vast majority of us end up trampled beneath the heels of those more audacious and more vicious than ourselves.

It’s up to me to set them free. If I have to be a princess, I’ll be the warrior princess who rides into battle atop a steed, sword raised, a bow and arrow strapped to her back.

“I told you before, Dakota. Call me daddy. I call you by the dead baby’s name, don’t I?”

Chasm is sunflowers and second chances, loyalty and earnestness, cunning and intelligence. He’s dark and devilish on the inside, but he fights so damn hard to be nice. He tutors girls who tease him for not wanting to go home to his abusive dad, and all he asks is that she keep it secret that he helps out drunk girls. Not because of his reputation but because of theirs.

“You soften all my sharp edges, Dakota.” Parrish pauses and takes my face in his hands, putting his forehead to mine. “All the emotions that brim over and spill out of me, I want to give them to you. Just you. You’re the only one for me.”

I might have a serial killer for a father, but I’ve got this romance thing in the bag, right?