The Undergrads – Past Midnight Book Reviews & More

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Spice Rating: 🌶️🌶️

Title: Student Union (The Undergrads, #1)

Author: Julie Murphy

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 384

Publication Date: 5/5/26

Publisher: Balzer + Bray

Categories: New Adult, Contemporary, Romance, Series, Rom-Com

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Thank you to Balzer + Bray for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

From #1 New York Times–bestselling author Julie Murphy comes a sexy rom com about a college marriage of convenience that goes way beyond chemistry 101…The first in a trilogy of romance novels that follows a group of girls as they navigate love, friendship, and new adulthood, this is perfect for fans of Elle Kennedy and Hannah Grace.

CLOVER ROWAN WALSH knows The Plan.
1. Get a full ride to her dream school, Wexley University.
2. Conquer the school of business.
3. Say goodbye to the paycheck-to-paycheck life she and her mom have known for years.

There’s just one hiccup. With the first semester rapidly approaching, Clover learns her housing grant has fallen through. But a loophole presents Married couples can live in the dorms for the price of one student. Clover is willing to sacrifice the sanctity of marriage . . . even if it means proposing to the one person she swore she’d never speak to again.

Bennett Andrew Graves is the only heir to the Graves Coffee empire. After spending his first year at Wexley, squeaking by in classes and becoming personally acquainted with the female student body, he is looking forward to living off campus. Until the girl he grew up with (and whom he completely devastated years ago) walks back into his life with the most absurd Will you marry me?

Bennett can’t refuse Clover. He owes her this, but that doesn’t change the fact that these two can barely carry on a conversation without getting at each other’s throats. Forget about sharing a dorm—much less one bed.

But as Clover and Bennett hide the true nature of their marriage, they find that playing house isn’t all that bad—especially with certain marital benefits in the mix. In fact, Clover and Bennett are soon forgetting the most important part of their fake marriage of convenience . . . that it’s supposed to be fake.

Content Warning: strained parental relationship, bullying

+ I’ve read a few books from Julie Murphy and love her work so when I saw this new adult rom-com from her, I had to request it, and I’m so glad I did because I was not disappointed.

+~ Clover has come up with a plan to afford going to Wexley University and having on campus housing – getting married. And there is one other person she knows who goes to Wexley – her ex-childhood friend, Bennett Graves. Bennett is gorgeous, rich and once upon a time her best friend until they grew apart. This story is told in 2 POVs though, so we get Bennet’s POV too and that boy is crazy about Clover, which I adored because it’s his POV where we get the yearning. Their romance was so good, and the spice too even though I thought getting married at 19 and 20 is too young, I couldn’t help love watching the two of them experience college and a marriage of convenience. I like how they had a talk about it when their contract of marriage was nearing it’s deadline though. Also, side note about Clover, love that she is a plus-sized girly!

+ This is set in college and I think it captures dorm life pretty well with the strange and unique people you meet – where some will turn out to be some of your closest friends! Also there is a bunch of partying that happens in this story too which also is realistic – even Clover working at the library (I did that too! lol) is just spot on, at least for me. We don’t see Clover in classes much except for pottery class though.

+~ I loved the secondary characters in this book, they were fun and funny. Even jerks like Tate was important to the story because yes those guys exist on campus too. And though the romance is the main focus, there are moments where Bennett is trying to navigate his relationship with his mom – he wants more from her. I would have loved to see if his mom and Clover’s could come back to being friends again. The story explores power dynamics too and the role of money and how it can change in relationships.

+~ I mean sure, Clover could have gotten the money for housing a bunch of different ways. She didn’t have to manipulate Bennett into doing it, but after learning about what happened between them in the past, I think it was a good deal! And it ended up really working out between them.

Final Thoughts:

I ate this up and read it in one day. I loved this book even though the marriage of convenience is happening between a 19 and 20 year old, which personally I think is too young (but that’s just me) – but I love that they are ex-childhood friends who turn into lovers. Bennett’s yearning for her warmed my heart and the story is just fun and reminded me of my college days! I’m looking forward to reading Daisy’s story next!

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