Joker's Endgame

by Jessica Jude

Maeve
A Wilson wins or dies trying. My father drilled that into me before I could spell “inheritance.” Nothing—and no one—gets between us and victory.

Which is why Pierce St. James is a problem.

Once my closest friend, now my fiercest rival, he’s the only person alive capable of matching me move for move… and the one man I absolutely cannot lose to. Only one of us can win. And I’ll burn the entire city to the ground before I let it be him.

Our arrangement is simple. Temporary. No strings. A pressure valve that lets me focus on what’s actually important: winning. Good thing I’ve yet to meet a challenge I couldn’t master—or a game I couldn’t win.

Pierce
I don’t do forever. Hell, I barely do brunch.

But Maeve Wilson? She’s not a woman—she’s a shark in red lipstick. Gorgeous. Brilliant. Lethal. And absolutely the last person I should let anywhere near my bed… or my heart.

We’re locked in a battle where only one of us can win, and the other gets exiled. But the longer we circle each other, the deeper we sink, and the harder it is to pretend she’s just my rival. And if I’m not careful, I’ll lose more than the game.

I’ll lose her.

ebook

Expected publication March 3, 2026

About the author

Jessica Jude writes emotionally-charged kissing (among other things) books about royals and the elite. Her aim in all of her stories is to make you fall in love with the characters and use up box after box of tissues. Her characters are strong and independent, who make plenty of morally gray decisions. She likes her women fierce and her men possessive.

Her favorite scenes to write are arguments. She's been known to stir up drama in her own life when she gets bored, and her family is glad she has an outlet for her occasional Blair-Waldorfism. She lives in a big old house in the midwestern United States with her high-school sweetheart. She has dreamed of being an author since she was six and wrote her first book about a girl named Mary who got lost in the woods. Mary was eventually found, but sadly, the book was never published. Jessica is a homebody who loves to travel, a coffee candle junkie who doesn't drink coffee, and a very-loud-at-home introvert.

Find tropes and trigger warnings for her books at https://www.jessicajude.com/

Get exclusive bonus content by joining the fancy-schmancy Privy Council (aka email list) at https://www.jessicajude.com/newsletter

Watch BTS footage on Instagram @JessicaJudeBooks

Reviews

[SimplyKerriReads · Rating 5 out of 5]

✨ARC Read✨

Absolutely loved this book so much 🥹 This is book 4 in the Hand of Revenge series and while I’ve enjoyed the entire series, Joker’s Endgame was by far my absolute favorite.

Maeve and Pierce are everything I could have hoped for as characters. Both headstrong alphas, stubborn and each have the need to be in control at all times. Their competitive nature has them constantly at odds with each other but the sparks between these two was out of this world 🤌🏻😮‍💨

I cannot tell you how much I loved Maeve and Pierce’s story. The witty banter, the chaos, the yearning!!!! Pierce has definitely hit my fav book boyfriend list 🥺

What’s starts as a heated competition to stay in their friend group, turns into a WILD ride of emotional whiplash that I was absolutely not ready for but could not get enough of.

This book was so well written, poetic and had emotional moments that had be tearing up and also wanting to yell at the characters. Definitely one to add to your TBR 👏🏻

Huge thanks to Jessica Jude for this early read, I loved it so much 🫶🏻

📖 Joker’s Endgame releases March 3rd

Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️

What you’ll find:

🖤 Billionaire romance
🖤 Hate to love
🖤 He falls first & harder
🖤 Black cat x alpha male
🖤 Hand necklaces
🖤 “Eyes on me” & “Good girl” 😮‍💨

[Kayla Bautista · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received an advanced review copy to review. Pierce and Maeve! Finally! I couldn’t wait to see their story unfold. Did I read this whole story in one sitting? Yes, yes I did! These two are like OCD meets ODD and they’re both battling to control their worlds. I knew these two were “endgame” from the first book in the Hand of Revenge series. The only one who didn’t seem to know, was Maeve. If pushing people away was an Olympic sport, Maeve would have won the gold medal. Honestly, Pierce deserves a medal for his patience. He also deserves a medal for dirty talk and for just being the hottest MMC in the series. Did he make some questionable choices along the way? Definitely. But he was also trying to protect his heart that he kept holding out just for it to get damaged every time. This book was a roller coaster of emotions. As always, Jessica crafts a compelling page turner that leaves you dying to see how it all wraps up. I was satisfied with the ending but man I still want more more more! Highly recommend this book.

[Valissa Burt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whew this was a ride and a wild one at it. I thought that Lux and Slate would be my favorite couple but no I have been corrected. Pierce is everything you want in a man. Maeve is so damaged that at times I wanted to crawl into these pages and fight but trauma does things to people and you got to give them grace. These two were perfect for each other and took their time getting to it. Both stubborn in their own right and never one to back down, it was a delight that had me kicking my feet watching these two trying to one up each other. Watching Pierce finally allow himself to be honest about how he felt for her most of his life, it was like watching the end of an era and the beginning of another. Maeve almost let so many things slip out of her hands because she was scared about how she felt and thought she would be better off at choosing the safe (to her) option. This was the perfect blend of fear, heartbreak and love that will make you think that if you just stick it out you can have it all. This was end of an era but it was just the beginning of something new… iykyk enjoy

[irisreads_books · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this as an ARC, I am on the authors ARC team.

Oh JESSICA!!!! Maeve and Pierce did not disappoint. I was so nervous because sometimes enemies to lovers romances are just like a mild dislike but theirs is a full friends to rivals to lovers but with a “they can always count on each other” vibe and it was amazing. We already had 3 other books showing the tension and jokes being made that they just needed to hook up, but wow when they finally did it set everything in their world right. I only wish for that kind of love. Pierce had my blushing so hard at some points and holy wooow.

Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️.5
Plot: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Tension: 🤞🏾🤞🏾🤞🏾🤞🏾🤞🏾
Pierce highlighted quotes: I lost count.

“Need I remind you that I am intimately acquainted with your sounds? I know which whimper means ‘yes, just like that’ and which one means ‘a little to the left, baby.’” Gahhh 🥵🥵🥵

[Ashley C. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jokers Endgame had me in a chokehold and I didn’t want to put it down. This is the fourth book in the, Hand of Revenge series, and starts off right where book three ended. As Maeve and Pierce are ones who don’t back down from a challenge, it’s game on. The stakes in their twisted game are high as it can destroy everything…including them. These two had many moments where I would be giggling constantly, ones where I’d melt, and others that would have my jaw dropped, my heart beating out of my chest, and screaming internally. Their emotionally charged story is full of very sassy banter, thick tension, steamy passion, so much yearning, and intense drama. With only one winner allowed in their game, Maeve is a panther on the prowl to win, but Pierce and his slutty little glasses just so happen to be another challenge 🫠🔥

Also…that ending 👀

Thank you so much Jessica Jude for this ARC 🫶🏻

[thaiyah sharell bratton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well I knew Pierce and Maeve would be my favorite and this book did not disappoint. This was the perfect ending to this series. Pierce my guy, talk about hooked from the first time I met him in Ace. He was perfect hooked on our girl from day one and gave all of himself even when the odds weren’t in his favor. He adored Maeve in ways you’d never expect our broody man to.

Maeve was complicated and while I wasn’t always a fan of her decisions and the way she treated Pierce, she still holds a special place in my heart.

So sad that this groups story is over but excited to see what’s to come in the future!!

Thank you JJ for allowing me to be apart of your ARC team!

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️.5

[Paige Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

I say this every time I read a book in this series, but this was hands down the best one!! Pierce St James is that man and boy oh boy did he have me blushing like a school girl, he knows exactly what to do/say and when to do it. Maeve was making me so mad through this book I can’t even lie. I was screaming at her half the time but her character was so well written that I completely understood why she was acting how she was. This was a frenemies to lovers book for sure and I ate it UP! This was a fantastic way to wrap up the Hand of Revenge series.

*Truly honored to have been given the opportunity to arc read this book, thank you so much Jessica!*

[Christiana Camacho · Rating 5 out of 5]

First, I would like to thank Jessica for the early copy of Jokers Endgame!

This was HANDS DOWN the best book in the series! Jessica knew what she was doing and saved the best for last.💁🏾‍♀️

There was spice, banter, moments that made me yell WTH and times where I felt so emotionally connected to both Maeve & Pierce! I am sad for it to all be over but I am so happy that I decided to sign up for an ARC copy of Queen of Vengeance which led me to Jokers Endgame! This series was truly amazing and if I had the chance to read it all again for the first time, I would in a heartbeat! BRAVO Jessica! What an ending!👑

[donutqueenie · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF at 6%. Not for me. I won’t be finishing this book. Thank you to the author for the ARC. Best of luck on your release. Release date 3/3/26.