This is actually my least favorite trope, rich girl/townie boy, I usually hate it but Elle Kennedy does it so well and makes you like all the characters so much. Mackenzie is not entitled and has made a name for herself without it just being about her parents money so she is very easy to love.

Kennedy does a great job of showing that money does not equal a loving family and that family is who you make it to be. I just adored Cooper 😍. He is such a redeemable character and I was rooting for him to get the girl the whole time.

I really REALLY hope this becomes a series because I want to see the other main players find love, especially Evan!

I will highly recommend this one when it comes out!

Sweet, wealthy, decent girl meets with tattooed, troubled, fiery bad boy formula has a special place in my heart!

At this book: sassy, smart, sexy banters and super hot chemistry between the characters hook you up, providing you entertaining, steamy, feel-good romance vibes.

A little Gilmore Girls meet Outerbanks and After series vibes make you enjoy this lovely plot!

Here’s the love triangle members:
Mackenzie ( Mack) : sweet, obedient, easy going, lovely heroine who has fiery and stubborn side she shares with Cooper
Cooper: hot tempered, smart, charismatic, flirty bad boy who likes to push buttons of Mack to extract her hidden emotions
Preston: trust fund boy, typical cheat, obnoxious douchebag!

There are multiple story lines move a little slowly and entire book was a little bit long but characters’ chemistry, their self growth and second chances storylines are still interesting enough to keep your attention intact!

Mack: a sweet girl of her family, always a pleaser whose future are already mapped out: graduating from her preppy school, joining to sorority, marrying with her rich and gorgeous ( that’s what she thinks) boyfriend Preston!

But Mac is smart enough to succeed better things in her life. She already earned half million by her online business ( see, she’s baby Kylie Jenner with so much potential) but now she starts her life in college and this new experience brings out so complex feelings and new perspectives.

That smoking hot bad boy Cooper make her question her own life, ideals, realities and challenges her to take risks to pursue her dreams.

When Mac dumps the pretentious ass of her boyfriend, she starts to date with Cooper but when she finds out the secrets he’s hiding from her and main reason behind their relationship, she has to gather the pieces of broken heart and shape her life and rethink her decisions from the beginning.

It was sassy, enjoyable, easy to read romance! One of the highly recommendable reads of next year! If you’re fan of the author and enjoy her previous Off- Campus series as much as I did, this book is great fit for you!

Special thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press / St. Martin’s Griffin for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest opinions.

I absolutely loved this book from the beginning. To be candid, I was expecting a another run of the mill romance novel (which I still love) but nothing beyond that, and boy was a I pleasantly surprised.

Our protagonist Mackenzie aka Mac aka princess has always been a good girl following her family's expectations of going to a nice preppy school, joining a sorority, marrying her trust fund baby boyfriend, Preston, and then putting her college degree aside and being a "good housewife" that attends charities and supports her husband.

Except this is not what Mac wants at all. In fact she is capable of far more, she started her own online company that gave her half a million dollars before even going to college, and the only reason she agreed to go to college is because that was the "halfway point" her parents were willing to meet her at in exchange for taking a year off after high school.

When Mac gets to college, she is suddenly confronted with many new feelings and experiences, one of whom is the deliciously gorgeous Cooper, one of the Hartley twins, the two "hottest townies" on the block.

Cooper wants to win her over as a personal vendetta against Preston for getting him fired, but then these two realize they have a real connection, and they both learn what limits they are willing to push and how much growth they need to get rid of their past traumas and see if they are willing to leave their presents and futures to risk a relationship with each other.

This book gave me all sorts of Gilmore Girl vibes. To be honest, I felt like Mac was mostly Rory with a little bit of Lorelai mixed in there. Preston was definitely Logan and his (Logan's) family felt very much like Mac's family. Cooper reminded me a lot of Jesse in that he expanded Mac's horizons and egged her to take on new challenges and be her authentic self, though he was much less of a problem child..that would be his twin Evan :)

I have a lot of favorite quotes, that I look forward to sharing on my social media platforms once the book is officially published!

All in all this was a phenomenal book and definitely has a 5/5 star recommendation from me! I hope you all pre-order your copy and I am so grateful for NetGalley, Elle Kennedy, and St. Martin's Press for my gifted copy in exchange for my honest opinion!

The bad boy/townie and the wealthy “good girl” is a trope I love. And a bet is involved, so it’s also fake dating, etc..
I’ve read and loved books in the double digits of this author, so I was really excited for this book.
I liked Cooper and Mac. I never completely “connected “ with them, though.
The chemistry was good, the journey Mac takes was good for me. I liked that she was rebelling in mature ways, taking control of her future.
I liked the storyline, but things moved a bit slow or they moved too fast. Kind of no in between in my opinion.
It had so much potential.
The pace was off, the characters weren’t engaging enough to me. The conversations were ok, just not “wow!”
It was all pretty ok, but I know the authors previous books and they are five star phenomenal.
So, I know how amazing her banter can be, how lovable and amazing her characters can be… I hate to say that this one fell short for me.
I liked some of the secondary characters.
Evan in particular has charisma and he has that sexy, bad boy who’s broken thing going for him. He has some fun banter and antics as well.
Some secondary characters I really despised and that’s normal, we need “bad guys”, but then there’s a total turn around at the end for one that just didn’t add up for me at all. It wasn’t consistent with what was shown in the story. This was when I became really confused and disappointed.
I’m really sad that I didn’t love this, I’m sad to not be able to give it a good review.
I’ll read the authors future books, she’s an absolute favorite.
This one unfortunately just didn’t do it for me.

I'm not quite sure how to review this book without giving away major spoilers (read to the end if you'd like to see some of my thoughts that might spoil the book for you) - so I will say that I really ended up loving both Cooper and Mackenzie (Mac) in Good Girl Complex. This book was complicated and messy...but somehow it really worked. I loved not only Mac and Cooper but all of the secondary characters in the story as well.
I was rooting for Mac and Cooper as soon as they first "met." Their chemistry and banter was always so fun! I loved how they were both stubborn and feisty. And I liked it how they didn't always see eye to eye on every topic. Somehow that part of the romance felt so real. Cooper and Mac had their own differences and ideas and they fought about them...but they also always talked it out and saw the other side.
Good Girl Complex was funny, sweet, sexy and yes at times made me feel that angst that I love so much with Elle Kennedy books. I definitely recommend this book and hope that we get to see more of the characters from this universe.

CW: parental abuse/neglect, cheating, alcoholism (death of parent off page)

This book pulled me into the characters almost immediately! 
Mackensie, the beautiful, wealthy, smart college student. 
Preston, the narcissistic, problematic, long-term boyfriend.
Cooper, the tattooed bad-boy, twin and third member of the love triangle.

An altercation happens early in the story between Preston and Cooper providing the main premise for the story.  Revenge.  Cooper will be avenged by stealing away Preston's girlfriend! Ok, A little cheesy but it is still a pretty fun story.  The storyline takes its time to develop spanning several chapters and we get to know a lot about the main players.  Will Mackensie leave Preston and choose Cooper?  Will she stay in school? Will she defy her parent's wishes?  This part of the story was a little slow.  I kept waiting for all the questions to be answered so that I could move on to the main part of the book.

Thankfully, the story really starts to pick up once the decisions are made.  I really enjoyed the interactions between the main characters, especially Cooper and Mackensie.  They have some serious chemistry on the page!  Of course, everyone else knows the "real" reason why they are together and much is done to try and prevent Mackensie from learning the truth.  Of course, the inevitable happens and Mackensie learns the truth creating the standard "boy and girl must break up" romance storyline. 

This book is actually a lot more mainstream and tame than other Kennedy novels but it didn't make it any less enjoyable.  It is a fun, steamy, sexy, if somewhat formulaic, romance novel.

I absolutely love Elle Kennedy's books so it is no surprise to me that I loved Good Girl Complex as well. The dynamic between the main characters; Mackenzie and Cooper; was electric. I just wanted to keep reading to see where the relationship was off to next. the stereotypes set in the begin of the book for the typical rich kid and bad boy were shattered between the two. I never got the bad boy vibe from Cooper anyways. Together they were the perfect mix of fire and ice. I can't wait to see if Elle Kennedy turns this books into a series with some of the other outstanding characters written.

I'll start with saying, I absolutely loved this book! Right when I was about to completely write off romances being for me this one stole my icy heart. I was hooked from the very first chapter and felt like I was living in Avalon Bay. It so resembled many seaside towns/ small university towns I've frequented. The way Kennedy has you fall in love with both Cooper and Mackenzie was fantastic. I felt for them the whole way through and was rooting for them both.

I found it to be a very fast read, I couldn't put it down. With just enough steamy bits to keep anyone entertained as well! Throughout I kept wondering what would happen and how things would end which kept me on my toes and kept me really intrigued throughout the entire book.

I also loved all the side characters, the brothers relationships, the friends and family were all so entertaining! I would highly recommend this book.

4.5 stars!
Elle Kennedy has done it again. It’s an utter crime that this book doesn’t have an epilogue yet.

A big thank you to St. Martin’s Press for this advanced readers copy.

Good girl complex follows Mackenzie “Mac” Cabot and Cooper Hartley. Mac is the typical good girl. She’s always trying to please her parents, her prep, school friends, and her long-time boyfriend. Cooper is the opposite. He’s sexy, raw, and has an “I can do whatever I want attitude”. He hates the snobby rich kids from the other side of the tracks and thinks they’re all the same, until he gets to know Mac…

Elle Kennedy did an amazing job with bringing these characters to life. Even the side characters were entertaining and well developed. The chemistry between Mac and Cooper was so raw and didn’t feel forced, and the pacing in the book was also done really well. Every question was answered and the flow of the events were perfect. We got tension, banter, and character development… I mean cmon.

Cooper and Mac’s relationship wasn’t built on the best intentions (no spoilers), but watching their love story unfold as they found themselves along the way was so worth it. Their rocky start is a huge part of the plot and Elle Kennedy pulled it off flawlessly.

A fun contemporary for fans of new adult romance. This one will be enjoyable for fans of the authors previous Briar U and Off Campus series. I didn’t fully connect with this one as I realized that I’m not really into new adult. I can also criticize the lack of diversity in this romance.

She cute. She steamy. We love a New Adult romance that isn't afraid to GO THERE. Good girl/Rich boy trope with allllll the feels. Heart eyed emoji times 700!

Bad boy with rich good girl? Hell yes!

This book was so good with a type of slow burn but sizzling fajita-like chemistry between bad boy Cooper and rich good girl Mackenzie. It had a lot of heartfelt moments with the struggles they both faced and how at first glance, their lives may seem different but they do have a lot of similar issues with their family and background. Cooper inspired Mac to be herself and reach for more and Mac did the same for Cooper to feel more confident in his own aspirations too.

Cooper's friends were all meanie-bo-beanies but they grew on me. (Except Heidi. Whoops) Despite the rocky start because of their long-held grudges of people in Mac's tax bracket, I loved seeing most of the friends grow to get along with Mac and Mac earning their friendship. I especially loved the sibling relationship between Evan and Mac because it was super sweet whenever the other was having issues.

Mac is so lovable! She's very smart and driven but came off a little too naive at first because of the situation of how the reader knew what was up. But it's still part of that good girl mold she was trying to fit herself in for her parents and boyfriend. But I loved it when she realized this wasn't her life. I find that she's also very cool even in the face of opposition or pressure. Cooper is not alone in his opinion of how cool Mac is.

Cooper was definitely that tattooed bad boy with a troubled past and residual anger held in. But under the surface, he's really a hardworking man who's trying to hold himself and his brother together and grow up past all the crap their parents did to them. He's very protective of the people he cares about, especially Mac. So it was cute whenever he'd worry about her and fuss over her.

The book was a little slow at the start because it gives a lot of background on who the characters are with Cooper & Co's anger and antics and Mac's innocence and trying to fulfill her perfect good rich girl duties. But it definitely picks up and I couldn't put it down.

I totally wish there was an epilogue at the end though! Maybe showing the hotel rebuilt with Cooper and Mac happy and healthy with their businesses booming? Maybe Cooper proposing to Mac?

Well, thanks to @netgalley, @stmartinspress, you have another hit on your hands! Was extremely lucky to read this one in advance. It doesn't come out until February 1st and I don't know what life is going to look like as school continues to progress. I wouldn't have wanted to miss this one though and was grateful to not have to!

I had heard the name Elle Kennedy around but this was my first time reading anything by her. I have to say it most certainly won't be the last. If you have any favorites of hers, please let me hear them as I need to know where to start with her backlist!

I don't know what it is but I absolutely love the rich new girl in town meets the poor townie boy, almost like a The Notebook vibe but better. Mackenzie Cabot has come to Avalon Bay to attend Garnet College. Her father is a politician and her mother is what most women who marry rich men are, basically a kept woman. She has a boyfriend, Preston Kincaid, who is basically already trying to find ways to make her into a replicate of her mother. She feels a yearning in her soul for so much more out of life for herself though. Enter the townie boy with the tragic backstory, Cooper Hartley. As one might expect from this trope, he's tattooed, a bit shaggier hair, etc. Gratefully, as he is fleshed out, he becomes so much more, as does Mac. Needless to say, I was given all the good feelings from this one and am so grateful I was able to read it. I hope y'all love it too!

This was a cute summer read. Overall I didn't love it as much as I wanted to. I didn't truly feel the chemistry between the two main characters and wanted more hmppph from it.

This book was definitely a quick read that sucked me in. The characters really shined! This definitely could be the start of a series following other townies, and I would certainly read more!

I really liked Cooper: he was well developed as a character. Kennedy did an excellent job of making me loathe Preston. The entire time, I was rooting for Mac & Cooper which kept me intrigued. This read very much like a 2000s teen drama (think: One Tree Hill, the OC, etc.) in the BEST WAY!

This book gets 3 stars because I liked it, but I wanted more at the end. When I finished, I said, "That's it? Give me an epilogue!!" Tell me more about the hotel, about his furniture business, etc.

Elle Kennedy just take all my money right now. Having just lived through Hurricane Ida and in much need to a distraction, Good Girl Complex completely immersed me into a fictional world that took my mind off of all my worries. (Note--I'm reading this wayyyy before release so by the time it comes out, all of these hurricane troubles should be long gone). The only sad thing for me was that this novel was over way too soon.



Mackenzie and Cooper fit the opposites attract trope to a T; on the surface these two should not work. She's from a rich political family, he's from a deadbeat mom. She's a self-made millionaire, he's saving every penny from his labor intensive jobs to try to make a go of his dream. She's a 'clone', he's a 'townie'. So many obvious differences .... and yet so many differences that don't matter. Their love story doesn't start with the most auspicious beginnings--it's based on a revenge plot and let's not forget that she has a long term boyfriend--but it's only a matter of hours spent getting to know each other, that reveals that there's something there.



Their banter, the subplots of friends, revenge, her terrible boyfriend, their terrible families, among others, kept me engaged and interested in what would happen next. If I have one small complaint, and it is truly small and selfish, it's that I wish we had a little more at the end. I can only hope that we'll see more of both of them in a future novel?



I enjoyed the new world Elle Kennedy created in Avalon Bay and am so hopeful that she plans to explore it more with the secondary characters that she created.

If you’ve ever asked for a contemporary romance or more specifically a sports romance recommendation on Bookstagram, then it is likely I've responded that you need to check out the Off-Campus and Briar-U series by Elle Kennedy. This author pretty much delivers my ideal romance novel time and time again so when she announced this book I couldn’t wait to get my hands on a copy.

This is an opposites attract, a rich girl falls in love with the local bad boy kind of story. The main premise reminded me a little of the After series by Anna Todd but a whole lot less problematic. I can’t say I love the concept of a man duping a girl to fall in love with him just so he can screw someone else over or win a bet. In that case it is hard to root for a guy but Cooper realized the error of his ways pretty quickly and was thereafter mostly a stellar person all around, so I’m willing to forgive him.

Truthfully, once he rescued Daisy nothing else really mattered because she was the real breakout star here and if she isn’t prominently featured in upcoming sequels I will be extremely disappointed.

What I loved about Mac was that she didn’t intentionally go about shattering people's expectations but she did it anyway by just being herself. I also love a romance where the main character is unapologetically learning to embrace who she is (at least when away from her family) and still manages to bring the male love interest to his knees.

The problem with Elle’s writing (is it a problem though?) is that you don’t just fall in love with the main love interests you fall for the entire supporting cast and then you just can’t wait to devour each of their stories as they are published. I guess this really isn’t a problem unless you’re like me though and patience isn’t a virtue you possess.

Anyone else eagerly awaiting the release of Legacy later this month?

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was fine for a new adult. The characters were immature but that fit their age range. The conflict was setup within the first few pages so you knew exactly what was happening. I liked the heroine but if she was supposed to be so smart then how was she with such a douche? I can understand with distance she wouldn't know but if she moved to such a small town, how could she not figure it out? The hero was egotistical but loveable.

such a cute fun read! rich girl/poor boy trope is truly one of my favorites. also if you have watched outer banks i highly recommend reading this book! theres so many similarities between the couple dynamic. highly recommend reading this book!

ARC kindly provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I mean. I loved it. Absolutely loved it.Good Girl Complex has just the right mix of steam, pining, and heartbreak. Elle Kennedy has once again crushed it with this collegiate contemporary romance.

It starts out as a bet that Cooper can get Mac to leave her douchebag boyfriend ... and turns into love. Cooper provides plenty of praise and I LOVED how Mac was strong, financially independent, hard working, and walked away from situations in which she felt disrespected.

10/5