3.5 stars - a light romance book was just what I needed after a reading slump. The writing was good and I enjoyed the storyline. I would have loved the book to go for a bit longer than I did but overall a good read!

I loved the novel from start to finish. First, the setting drew me because of the small coastal college town riddled by past hurricanes whose locals relied alternately on the tourists during the summer or the wealthy college students during the school year. The perspective Cooper and the other “townies” had about the treatment they received at the hand of those who lived entitled lives was written so well through the main and secondary characters.

Cooper and Mackenzie come from opposite sides of the tracks and meet under dubious circumstances that drives the story. I loved how Mackenzie knew what she wanted but needed the encouragement and inspiration to be true to herself. And Cooper - the bad boy who turns out to be so much more than he believes he can be.

I don’t know if the book is supposed to be inspiring, but it made me think about families and about not letting others define who you are.

I'll admit when I first started this I was very hesitant because it has some tropes that are literally some of my least favs. But I decided to give it a shot and I really enjoyed it! The conflict was less stressful/anxiety inducing than I thought.

Cooper was such a hot, tattooed, bad boy with a major grudge against the rich crowd. Then he meets Mac, the rich good girl looking for more. This gave me major After vibe but better and less frustrating! I really loved the connection, friendship between Cooper and Mac. At first, Mac frustrated me but I really like how she eventually stood up for herself! I loved seeing her growth!

This was a great friends to lovers, college romance and even though it had a trope that isn't my fav I thought it was handled well! I do wish we go a little more at the end but I really hope we get more of them in hopefully Evan's story too!!

Suck a fun read! The banter, friendships, and chemistry were great. This was a fast, easy read. Loved the bad boy falling for the the rich girl, Cooper and Mac were perfection. This is one of those reads that will get you out of that reading slump for sure, I enjoyed it so much!

When Elle Kennedy drops a book that basically screams Bad boy Alert you devour that baby in a few hours!!!! I practically squealed when Good Girl Complex hit my kindle and let me tell you it is EVERYTHING. Cooper and Mac are absolutely phenomenal. The banter, the sexual tension and the fierce intensity between them just lit my kindle on FIRE!!! This story was pure Kindle Crack Amazingness!!

What I loved more than anything was how Kennedy made this story come alive. Cooper and Mac are so different on paper but behind the smoke and mirrors, they are so similar and real. I loved their banter, connection and the attraction between the two. While this story did have some plot elements that aren't always my favorite, I was completely won over by all the swoons this story had to offer. MacKenzie was more than a means to an end and it was absolutely delicious watching the cocky bad boy get slayed by the good girl he never saw coming. She was the gamechanger that brought him down to his knees!

Like most of Kennedy's NA/University stories, you will 1000% become obsessed with the side characters. The sisterhood and brotherhood (Hello Evan!!) are to die for and I am absolutely obsessed with this world and all the characters. Elle Kennedy's stories are honestly one in a million and Good Girl Complex is just another example of her exceptional talent! Bravo! 5 stars!

A fun trope-filled romance. Good girl meets bad boy. Pick this one up for a satisfying weekend read.

I loved this new (hopefully 🤞) series starter! We get the quintessential Elle Kennedy with a story that is fun, quick paced but with such rich characters.

Short summary: We have preppy trust fund kids versus the townies. Mac (prep) and Cooper (townie) grew up completely different on the surface but you know what they say opposites attract! Cooper starts flirting and eventually dating with Mac as revenge for her boyfriend getting him fired and humiliating him. But he finds out they might not be as different as they seem.

Enemies to friends to lovers….the slow burn to spice. The richness in development of these characters is phenomenal! As always they feel and read like real people! You get all theirs hope and dreams wrapped up in their past mistakes and flaws. Plus that chemistry 🔥 Is it predictable, yes. Did I care, no! I did wish we got more out of the “big” scene with Preston, Mac and Cooper and a Heidi/Mac face off. Those two scenes seemed anticlimactic after all the build up.

Another fabulous addictive romance book from Elle Kennedy! I really really wish we had an epilogue!

Thank you so so much Netgalley and St Martin’s Press for this advanced readers copy!

Staci McIntyre

Rich girl, bad boy, college, secrets and lies, angst, and love all make up this story. If you have read this author before you know what you will be getting here: a fun college wrong side of the tracks attraction, humor, and a very easy read. It read to me like the perfect summer beach read. Nothing too serous, nothing to over the top with enough humor and angst to keep the pages turning. I thought majority of the story line was predictable, but the characters and the secrets and lies associated with them, really made up for that. The story is a fast fun read that will lighten any readers mood, 3.5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

5 stars

This is the best of Helen Hoang's books so far. I have enjoyed her previous books but this one felt more personal and it allowed the reader to feel more connected to the characters. It was so refreshing to read a romance with real concerns and ups and downs that sometimes go to pretty dark places. I was excited to return to this book each day I was reading and I didn't want it to end. I would have happily continued and dare I hope that there is a sequel with these two characters?

I hope Hoang continues to write about characters like this. It creates greater empathy for me in how I interact with people in my daily life and that is something we all can improve on.

The Good Girl Complex is Elle Kennedy at her best. I so enjoyed meeting this new cast of characters and I cannot wait to get their stories as well. The romance was sweet, the storyline believable, and the book was a page turner!

This was fun and unlike anything I've read before. I love how wildly independent and fierce Mac becomes and I am just so in love with the Hartley brothers. Cooper and Mac were so wonderful to get to know and watch fall in love. I hope that we get a follow up on Evan.

The Good Girl Complex is set in the fictional small town of Avalon Bay where there is a divide between those who live in town and the rich kids who attend the prestigious college located in it. The clones or the rich kids spend their money frivolously and look down upon those who live in the town. Townies hate the clones and stick together but are more than willing to make money off of them. Two individuals from different social classes fall for each other against the wishes of their family and friends. MacKenzie is a good girl, and townie bad boy Cooper helps her realize that living a little might be the best thing for her.

The tropes are common enough that one can imagine how the story might be worn, tarnished even, but in Kennedy's hands the story is well-polished--Kennedy doesn't disappoint. Her writing has always been engaging to me and continues to be so here. The Good Girl Complex is full of witty banter between the two leads, and their chemistry is sizzling. It's hard not to want them together even though Mackenzie has a boyfriend. Kennedy's fans will enjoy the book along with those looking for a romance that features an opposites-attract romance.

Good Girl Complex by Elle Kennedy follows Mac and Cooper. Cooper is the typical tattooed bad boy whom the tourists swoon over. Mac is the typical good girl who has had her entire life planned out for her by her parents. She is expected to marry her current boyfriend, Preston because his family comes from money and prestige. They also expect her to go Garnet College, the same school as Preston, so she can begin her work supporting Preston's career.

Cooper doesn't come from a life of wealth or prestige. He works hard for his money.

Cooper and his twin brother Evan work at a bar in Avalon Bay that attracts college students from Garnet College.

"In Avalon Bay, the seasons are marked by an endless cycle of exodus and invasion. The way the tides turn in a storm; Summer ends and the churn begins. Sunburned tourists pack up their minivans and sugar-slathered kids head inland, back to the suburbs and cubicles. Replaced by the surge of spray-tanned college brats - the clone armies returned to Garnet College."

One night, Cooper meets Mac's boyfriend Preston at the bar he is working for. An altercation happens between Preston and him causing Cooper to lose his job at the bar. Cooper seeks revenge on spoiled , rich, golden boy Preston and comes up with a bet with his friends that he can steal Preston's girlfriend, Mac away from him.

What Cooper doesn't expect to find is that Mac is way different than the clones he and his friends despise.

Mac has aspirations of her own, like the internet startup she put together with friends, but her whole life has been planned for her already and she is scared to disappoint her family.

"If this was me, I'd be pretty bummed that my whole life was planned before I even started my first day of college. It's like gettin' the movie spoiled when I'm standin' in line for popcorn."

But the mutual chemistry between Cooper and Mac isn't something that can be ignored.

But can Cooper and Mac wind up together when everything seemingly keeps trying to push them apart. Worse, what will Mac think of Cooper when she discovers the bet?

The spice, the slow-burn romance, and the enemies turned friends turned lovers trope is *chefs kiss*

Can't wait to read more about the other characters in the book (especially Evan!)

Thank you to Netgalley and Elle Kennedy for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

thank you netgalley and the publisher for this arc!!

i really enjoyed elle kennedy's briar u and the deal series when i read them a few years ago and was super excited to see that elle kennedy had not only written another book, but branched out from the sports romance genre.

this book did heavily rely on tropes and didn't do anything groundbreaking, but i don't think that takes away from my enjoyment of the book overall. the main characters were overall very likeable and i liked the way the story wrapped up, albeit a little too quickly.

i can't wait for elle kennedy to write more books with the side characters as i'd love to see where their stories are heading too!

This is definitely a really cute romantic comedy book. How many characters so relatable and likable. I highly enjoyed the love story here as well.

Elle Kenendy will forever be my favorite author. This book gave me major notebook vibes, and I absolutely loved it! I couldnt put it down. I loved how it was an opposites attract trope, with a twist. I loved Mac, and the way she was so confident in herself. HATED her boyfriend. Soooooo Much. I also really loved the atmosphere of the story. The story grabs your attention from the start and leaves you with your heart full. I can't wait to read more by her.

First off: this cover is so gorgeous! The colors! The minimalistic art style! I want a paperback just for display purposes alone. It captures the small, humble beach town vibe so perfectly.

I haven't read a standalone Elle Kennedy novel before, but I've heard good things about her Briar U and The Deal series for years. Reading about 20/21 year olds made me feel old, but fortunately there weren't any current cultural references that made that decrepit hag feeling intensify.

Feeling mixed on this. It relies heavily on cliches - rags vs riches/us vs them, good girl and the bad boy, FMC's bf is two faced - and it feels like there's nothing original or particularly groundbreaking here. It was a fast read but a bit boring for me, though that's probably personal preference because I don't usually crave reading about college age kids sleeping with each other in my spare time.

Cliches aside, it's well-written (though Kennedy's writing style isn't my fave) with a likeable FMC and the baddest of bad MMC, and will definitely be a hit for dedicated Kennedy fans. It's not my kind of book, but it's a fun, light read!

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 / 5.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Release day: Feb 1, 2o22

🌿Quick hits: dual POV; steamy friends to lovers contemporary romance in a small, blue collar beach town; naive, humble, self made billionaire FMC from an affluent family vs classic bad boy from a poor, broken home MMC; FMC's bf is a cheater; light read. 🌿

2.4/5
Sadly, the cliche works the plot in this book, and not the other way around. The princess/pauper dynamic is shoved down our throats as an excuse for nonexistent dimension in the characters. Everyone, from the main to the side characters, is too 2D. The male lead saw anyone with money as an asshole, because they were written like vapid assholes. I also think the book starts off with an aggression that is too heavy handed without any preface.
Another thing I disliked was the stiltedness in the plot and dialogue evident at times. Again, this made the story less realistic than I would have liked.

I liked “The Deal” so I was really excited to receive an arc of this book. Elle Kennedy’s plots are usually really simple and most of the time predictable but I still enjoyed this book. The first half wasn’t my fav but I loved the second half. If you like 10 Things I Hate About You then you’d probably like this too. The romance was cute and it was funny asf. My fav character was prob Evan (Coopers twin brother) even though sometimes I wanted to punch him and Daisy (you’ll find out who she is) bc she was unproblematic. I’d say this book was 3/5 for me, it was a cliche but it was still pretty good.

*Thank you to Netgalley for letting me review this book in exchange for an honest review!*

This was my first Elle Kennedy book and I was pleasantly surprised! I wasn’t sure what to expect, but received a really great rom-com with fun, sexy, cute banter and wit throughout. I liked the characters and really enjoyed Elle’s writing which made this book fly by for me. Read it in one day out and really enjoyed it and caught myself laughing a few times. Quick; fun read!