Merit

Treasure State Wildcats, Book 4

De: Devney Perry

Narrado por: Megan Wicks, Robert Hatchet

An enemies to lovers, sports romance from #1 Amazon, WSJ and USA Today bestselling author Devney Perry.

The world loves Maverick Houston. Me? I’ve hated him since we were ten.

It’s not exactly easy to escape your childhood nemesis when your parents are best friends who live on the same block. Through countless vacations, parties and holidays, Maverick and I have spent the past decade trading insults.

Until that family dinner when his mother tells us she’s dying. When she asks us to forget the past and start fresh. That’s how I found myself on a date with the Treasure State Wildcats football star. The campus playboy. The boy I kissed when I was three. The man who is the bane of my existence.

He’s arrogant. He’s blunt. He’s too handsome for his own good. But if he has a single, redeeming merit, the guy sure does love his mom. And that’s why I started fake dating Maverick Houston. That’s why I made him a proposition of my own. That’s how this sham of a relationship ruined my life.

The world loves Maverick Houston. Me? I hate that he made me love him too.

©2025 Devney Perry LLC (P)2025 Devney Perry LLC

Saved the best for last

Wow incredible definitely saved the best for last this was amazing and I absolutely loved it the audio was fantastic love love it my favorite Devney book

Really good book

This is one of her best for sure. Really good book and great narration too

All the feelings!

What a great end to the series! This book was so emotional for me. The growth of the characters was great and I LOVED the extended epilogue!! Devney does it again!

So touching!

Stevie and Maverick were joined at the hip when they were children, until 10-year-old Maverick said something mean and things escalated to a point where, more than a decade later, they barely tolerate each other. Their families are best friends so they keep it civil but they don't hide they can't stand each other. 

When Maverick's mom, who's terminally ill, asks them to go on a date as her dying wish, Stevie is horrified. She gets even more horrified when Maverick agrees. She shouldn't be surprised as he adores his mother.  Fake dating, obviously. And off on terrible dates they go until they start to miss what they had when they were friends... and when Stevie comes with a proposition to Maverick, everything changes. 

I have loved the Wildcats series from book 1 and I loved that this book was going to be about Maverick, Rush's roommate. It hit me in the feels hard. It deals with grief and how to cope with all the feelings that come with it. The loss of a parent is something that hits you in a visceral way, especially when it's a loving and beloved one. I loved how, even though she still harbored resentment towards Mav, Stevie was THERE for him and it was touching and beautiful. After all she was mourning too. 

The audiobook is narrated dual style by Megan Wicks and Robert Hatchett and it's amazing. Megan's voice suits Stevie, who's a little snarky, a little sassy and also a little insecure. Robert's warm and melodious voice gives us the cocky and arrogant star athlete, but also the lost and grief-stricken son. You just want to hold him in the palm of your hand and tell him things will be fine. It's that good!

If you are a fan of the Wildcats, you'll love this one with the childhood friendships, the banter, being each other's many firsts, a mother's dying wish that shows how much she knows and loves these two kids, a lot of grieving and a lot of healing and a lovely HEA. 

You'll catch up with all the Wildcats and the epilogues (yes, plural) spanning years will get you all teared up. Lovely!

A Heartfelt Goodbye to the Treasure State Wildcats—I’ll Forever Miss This World

I’ll be honest, I was really nervous to start Merit. The Treasure State Wildcats series was my introduction to Devney Perry’s writing, and I didn’t expect a new adult series about college athletes and their love interests to wreck me the way it did. But it did—over and over again. Especially when Rally came out right as I was grappling with my miscarriage. These books, these characters, have been so special to me. They’ve healed pieces of my heart that I didn’t even realize needed healing. And now, it’s over. I’m literally crying as I write this because I don’t want to say goodbye. This series has been everything I love about reading—the way words from another human can make you feel seen and understood in a way you never have before. For that, and for these books, I’m endlessly grateful.

This final book follows Stevie Adair and Maverick Houston, who have known each other forever. But they haven’t been friends since they were kids. At this point, they’re more like two people who tolerate each other because their families are close, but on a personal level? Mortal enemies. They do their best to avoid each other, even though they both go to Treasure State and are constantly in the same orbit. Stevie is preparing to graduate, while Maverick is heading into his final season as a Wildcat, living in a house with Rush, Faye, and Rally—which, by the way, made for some of the best moments in this book. I could read about these four forever, and I loved how much we got to see of them here. Stevie is also really good friends with Jennsyn, so we even get a few catch-ups with her and Toren!

But everything changes when Maverick’s mom, Meredith, drops a bombshell at a family dinner: she has cancer, and the prognosis isn’t great. From there, this book takes a deeply emotional turn, exploring grief in such a raw, real way. As someone still processing my own grief, there were parts that hit hard. But this story is also packed with so much love, found family, and forgiveness. The way Maverick and Stevie navigate their complicated history while dealing with something so much bigger than their feud? Stunning.

And then there’s the extended epilogue. Y’all. It is such a beautiful gift to fans of the series. We get to see these characters, our people, down the road, and it made saying goodbye just a little bit easier.

Five stars for this book. Five stars for the entire Treasure State Wildcats series. I’m going to miss this world forever. I know I’ll be back again to visit.

Thank you, Devney.

Loved this one so much!!

This was just the right balance of sweet, spice and real life. The extended epilogue was appreciated too! One of those I wish I could read again for the first time.💖 Maverick & Stevie 🤍

SO GOOD!

Absolutely the best story in the series! Best story and satisfying Epilogue! Also - the audio was PERFECTION - both male and female. Megan Wicks is wonderful (sounds JUST LIKE Emma Stone) and her inflections are spot on. Robert Hatchet has quickly become a favorite as well. So awesome!!!

STOP THAT EPILOGUE😍🥰🫠😭♥️

First of Robert as Mav was amazing casting but that was the best way to send off the Wildcats Family 🥹🥹🥹

Excellent

What a great conclusion to this series. This made me laugh and cry. Loved every part of it! Totally worth it.

Beautiful Story

Oh Merit you just gripped my heart strings. I love a childhood friends to lovers story, and this one takes you on an emotional journey, sad and sweet.
When Mavericks mom heartbreakingly shares the news that her cancer is back and with force he finds himself visiting home more, as he visits it’s only natural for his families long time best friends to be around too, this also means their daughter Stevie, Mavericks childhood best friend and now arch nemesis. I fell hard and fast for Maverick and the sweet bond he had with his mom, he was scared and silently suffering but a few dates out with Stevie and life seemed to be getting brighter, but when the easiness of a new “relationship” stalls and Mavericks world falls apart, he has to figure out the next steps, because for him, life goes on.
This story broke my heart and I still loved every minute of it. I loved the bickering back and forth between Stevie and Maverick, I loved the bond and friendship they worked to build back, the found family with our past favorites and OH MY, the epilogue is one of the BEST I have ever read. I read this on KU and listened to the audio with Megan Wicks and Robert Hatchet narrating in dual and ROCKING all of it, the flirty banter, the deep conversations, the sadness and truly expressing the love.