Well, we can't all be princesses...Snide comments, judgemental thoughts, and prejudice is where the trouble starts. Revenge and dumb decisions add to the mess but the icing on the cake, is falling for the girl.

Good Girl Complex is the beginning of the end for Captain Dipstick Kincaid, he has a different name in the book. (I totally picture him in yatching clothes and a Captain's hat!) Welcome the bad boy experience...

Torn between the life she survives and living her life, Mac learns more about herself than she bargained in college. She just didn't learn it going to class. 😉

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for providing the ARC.

I really enjoyed this book. Bother Cooper and Mac were sassy and engaging, and I loved their relationship. That two people who come from different walks of life could find common ground with each other. I loved that they both challenged each other in their beliefs and helped each other face their biggest insecurities.

I did think that Cooper was an idiot for keeping the secret the way he did. Or even starting the revenge scheme in the first place. But overall, I loved reading this book and Cooper and Mac are one of my favorite book couples.

i loved the off campus series by elle kennedy. i was SO excited when i got approved for this book because i enjoy the writing. a story about a small beach town? sounds like a DREAM

i loved cooper. so much. the relationship started off messy but it was lowkey fun

my one complaint was the ending,, it felt so… rushed? also THERES NO EPILOGUE? ELLE WHY DO YOU HATE US I NEED ONE

3 stars for “Good Girl Complex” — I’m completely grateful to have gotten an ARC of this novel don’t get me wrong, but it was provided in order for an honest review so here we go. Let’s just say this one was a bit hard to get through…not so much in the sense that it was bad—but for me PERSONALLY it just didn’t give. Mac was a pretty solid character and I did like how she wanted to build her individuality and break the stereotype of a preppy rich girl but aside from that, nothing else about this really got me toes curling, giddy giggling, and hot and bothered. To avoid spoilers, the trope was pretty set in stone and isn’t one you can really do something different and be versatile with, so the events leading after it were pretty predictable. I just…I don’t know!!! AGH! Admittedly, I have missed EK’s writing but specifically for her Off-Campus/Briar U fans, clearly this isn’t in correlation to the series but in saying that, the writing and vibe is definitely different. For girlies reading for the smut, a couple scenes semi-served for a second but I just think they lacked build up and overall the ending felt a bit brief/sort of rushed. I had SUCH a tough time deciding my take on this novel but in full transparency it wasn’t apart of my absolute top favorites, but nonetheless I’m still very thankful to have been able to read it!

This was a cute Rom com read! We have a bit of opposites attract, rich girl/poor guy and a very untimely bet which leads to lots of obstacles in the way of our main couple. I was hooked from this as Cooper won me over quickly inspite of the chip on his shoulder. It took me slightly longer to warm up to Mac but she definitely won me over as she started to break out of her shell. And I really enjoyed the chemistry between these two! Definitely pick this up for a light and easy Rom com book!

We all love a bad boy meets good girl story! Although these characters are from completely different worlds, they feel a gravitational pull toward each other. I really liked that this book was written from dual POVs but I still wanted more from the characters. They didn’t quite jump off the page like I was hoping. This book will be a good summer read for fans of The OC, 90210, and the film After from Netflix.

Elle Kennedy is such a delightful author. Fans of her Briar U & Off Campus' series will love this book. It has a lot of what you come to expect with Kennedy, but in my opinion is a little more mature.

I have been on an Elle kick lately and when I saw she had a new one with new characters I was all over this.

Copper lives in a College town where he encounters rich “clones” all the time. They think they are better than him and the other locals and can do anything they want without consequences because they just throw around their money.
When one guy takes it to far and gets him fired, Cooper decides that enough is enough and he is going to get a little bit of revenge.
He is going to take something that doesn’t belong to him.

Mackenzie has always played the role of perfect little rich girl. She may not always want to but she always falls in line.
Mac has been with her boyfriend for years because it is what is expected. Even though there is not really a deep love, it is comfortable. The future is set out for her to play loyal wife who supports her husband while she gives up any dream she may have had.

Enter Cooper. He is going to get Mac to fall for him all in the name of revenge.
That’s is until he realizes that there is something different about her and his black and white plans just got a little grey.

Mac grew on me as she started to come into her own. Once she decided she was done playing the role everyone else expected her to play and be who she really was and wanted to be.
I loved Copper and the whole group of friends.
Copper loves his family and friends fiercely and once he realizes that Mac isn’t who he assumed from the start, he softens fairly quickly to her too.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!
4.5 stars for me!

This was a fun, dual perspective, steamy new adult summer romance between two twenty somethings from opposite sides of the track.

Mackenzie is from wealth and privilege and is dealing with the mounting pressure of her parents and boyfriend to live up to societal expectations for a woman of her class. Her idea of what she wants out of life starts to change when she begins summer school at a college on an island and meets Cooper, a hot townie she has trouble keeping away from.

Their relationship has a lot of ups and downs with a juvenile type of bet but I really loved Cooper and his twin brother Evan. The brothers are working hard to make something of themselves despite having a toxic mother. This book gave me a lot of Gilmore Girls and Jennifer Weiner summer reads vibes. Much thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for my advance review copies!!

2.5 stars

This New Adult novel features expected characters and an expected storyline, and while this may sound comforting and appealing in these trying times, the complete package is a bit of a letdown overall.

The perspectives switch between the two central characters, and for me, they had little to offer. One character is a (recently fired) bartender and self-described "townie," and his ways of resolving conflict include physical altercations and revenge dating: a catch! The other is...a wealthy person who isn't like every other wealthy person (she is, though). This one, Mac, is young, but that's no excuse for how weirdly clueless she is. There are flashing warnings all around her, but she sees none of them. She's too busy being offended by her mean, boring professors (*sighs forever*) and making heinous financial and life decisions. Don't worry, though. She and the guy with no coping mechanisms are going to save each other (still sighing). Be sure to join her in noticing how cool it is that a sexual partner doesn't even hesitate when she asks him to use a condom. Does he...get an award for this?

I really enjoy women's fiction and romance, and this is just a basic version of both. There are a lot of missed opportunities here. Perhaps others find this appealing (!!!), but when a male partner in an adult hetero relationship refers to a female partner as "Princess" without the slightest hint of irony, I'm finding that gross, not romantic or anything close. Readers who find this charming may be a better audience than I am.

After over a month of trying to read the electronic version and getting only two chapters in, the audio arc helped a lot; I flew through the remainder in one day. Readers drawn to this book because of its related genres, cover, or even title should consider scrolling further in the queue. Sadly, you've already read this one in many other iterations.

Thank you to NetGalley for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Yet another Elle Kennedy book that I enjoyed! Mackenzie is a rich girl and Cooper is a local bad boy with tattoos. Cooper and Mackenzie have the banter and the chemistry! The only problem is that she has a boyfriend. Her boyfriend is the reason that Cooper was fired so he plans on getting revenge by seducing Mackenzie.

Now there were times where I was annoyed with Mackenzie and being like “honey that’s a big RED FLAG”! But I was glad to see Mackenzie’s growth throughout the story and her finally sticking up for herself and standing her ground.

I really wanted an epilogue though. I hope we get more books for us to get back to Avalon Bay because I want more of all the characters.

I have been an avid Elle Kennedy fan for years and was so excited to be approved for the ARC of The Good Girl Complex. Her writing has only gotten better with each book and The Good Girl Complex is a great example of that.
Mac is this girl stuck on a path to a life decided for her by everyone around her. Until, of course, she meets Cooper. The plot for this book was original and full of emotion. I really sympathized with Mac’s character and her feelings towards her parents. Her chemistry with Cooper was well written and I enjoyed the pacing Mac’s character development as the plot continued.
I did feel that the plot had some slower points to it and was dragged down at times by the inner monologues of the main characters.
Elle Kennedy has a was of making her characters timelines realistic/believable in a way that I haven’t seen in another author. However, the plot did feel distracted at some points and that caused the pacing to slow for me. However, I really loved the characters and hope we get more books featuring the characters mentioned in this one

Did I finish this book in less than 24 hours? YEP.

Good Girl Complex was just a well-thought out romance book. Set in a coastal town with a selective university, you get the classic townie vs. rich college student dynamic. I enjoyed both the hero and heroine of this story - they both felt like real, whole characters with their own problems, ambitions, and qualities.

Also, the steam wasn't too frequent, but when it happened - WOAH. I loved it so so much.

This was the first book I've read by this widely known author. I was completely blown away, it was such a fun quick read. I loved every aspect of the story.
The whole grumpy sunshine trope was brought to the next level in this one, and I absolutely loved it. The whole way Mac and Cooper came together was a great plot line. And I enjoyed the spicy scenes a lot!
I highly recommend this to any fan of romance, or someone trying to get into romance. The story itself was amazing and the intricate plot line was excellent. I can wait to read more by this author!

Good Girl Complex is the perfect beach read(or winter read for a more tropical setting to escape to). Although there are some typical tropes - bad boy meets good girl, love triangles, opposites attract, the characters are well developed and add something different. I didn't grow to like the characters as much as I sometimes do, but it's well written and an overall easy and enjoyable read.

A fantastic book with characters you can't help falling in love with that brings out the hopeless romantic in anyone who reads it!

Good Girl Complex has sweet characters, plenty of hijinks, a lot of steam and steam build-up, and overall, a story about overcoming hang-ups to become a better person. That said, this was a good story that has hints of stories like 10 Things I Hate About You-Cooper is fired from his bar job after a brawl with a rich jerk making advances on another waitress. To get revenge, Cooper finds out who the guy is dating and decides, along with his friends, that he's going to basically steal the girlfriend, then drop her once the guy is humiliated enough. (Sounds a little toxic, no?) Anyway, Cooper catches feelings and scraps the original plan, and of course, keeps the whole revenge plot a secret.

So yeah, super fun read, and the plot moved pretty fast! I enjoyed this one, and recommend it for you if you like sweet grand gestures, spice, the idea of rich people and "townies" and that dynamic (a la Outer Banks), and just romance in general!

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for an e-ARC!

I live Elle Kennedy—she’s an auto buy for me. And Good Girl Complex did not disappoint. It had steam, and sass, and sweetness, and angst. New characters you’re sure to love!

I loved this book! This book is about Mac who is wealthy with a boyfriend and is forced to go to college when she wants to focus on her online business and then there is Cooper who is the local bad boy but works hard. Both work together and Cooper realizes that Mac is not a rich clone and falls for her hard. Ok so this may sound like the After series but let me tell you that this book is so much better. The writing in this book is amazingly done as I was legit hooked from the first line and couldn't stop reading until the end. I enjoyed the setting which takes place along the coast and the pacing was perfect. I loved how the conflicts all mingled together and didn't seem too much as the characters solved their problems along the way. This book is also written in dual povs so you can see what both characters are going through and what they are thinking of each other.

Mac and Cooper are the main characters of the book. Mac is such an amazing character as she wants to focus on her business and doesn't care about her wealth while her parents are threatening her to get a degree. Cooper is the bad boy and has some issues but let me say that I just love reading about bad boys. I would say that he is a character that is misunderstood and only certain people can crack through him in order to know who he actually is. Both characters developed throughout the story and I enjoyed reading their journeys. There were many side characters involved in the book and I did get a little annoyed with Cooper's friends in the beginning but then you kind of grow onto them once they open up. The romance for this book is a bad boy/good girl trope which I absolutely loved. The romance was also steamy in a sense of 3/5 level of steaminess.

The ending was well done but I have to say that one conflict was very similar to After. I was kind of fine with the similarity as Kennedy wrote the story so much better but at the same time I would like to see a new conflict. Overall this book was very well written and I honestly couldn't stop reading until the end. I totally recommend reading this book because it's amazingly well done with many conflicts, character development plus the romance is just good. This book is perfect for fans of Tessa Bailey and Anna Todd.

Totally Outer Banks vibes reading this new book by Kennedy. It was a cute and sassy read but it just wasn't as good as some of her precious books have been for me. Overall, left me a bit disappointed. Thank you netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest opinion.