Your typical rich girl meets townie. He starts dating her as part of a revenge plot and she's in it for the freedom.

This medium burn romance had me binge reading this as fast as I could!
Okay, so Cooper rubbed me the wrong way at the very start with the whole, "Well I don't see your boyfriend here so go out with me" (paraphrased) schtick. Not cute. But after that, I was rooting for them.
You know exactly where this story is going but become so invested in these characters' happiness that you can't stop reading.
It has a medium spice level: several scenes, short-medium in length, mildly detailed.

Can we take a moment to appreciate roommate Bonnie? Can I be her friend?

My biggest *wish* for this book would be to have an epilogue. It just seems to end a little too soon and I think an epilogue would have made me feel more satisfied with the end.

Not a new all-time favourite couple or anything, but it was a fun ride!

I gave myself a week to read GOOD GIRL COMPLEX By Elle Kennedy

I finished in three days.

You should’ve seen me, someone who does NOT like cleaning anything coming up with stuff to do around the house while listening to this audiobook.

I cooked, I cleaned, I organized, I washed and rewashed dishes. Mostly desperate to keep my hands busy, I found myself extending my one-hour-a-day cleaning routine to include extra dusting and copious amounts of deep cleaning. I even mopped!!!

Anything to stay in Avalon Bay with Cooper, a sentimental “townie”, who reads inspiring biographies and self-made millionaire, people-pleaser, and good girl-Mac.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️, easy!

Whatcha got next, Elle?

I’m in love


Thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for this advanced listening copy!

This is a hard book to review for me. I listened to the audiobook, and thought the writing was amazing, as well as the narrators. The book brought me in from page one and I loved the idea of the story (wealthy “good girl” meets “bad boy” local). I thought the side characters and relationships were well written, antagonists fantastic, but what I mainly struggled with was the relationship between Mac and Cooper themselves. I basically just wanted more from them the entire book. More angst and swoon… it’s like she started to give it, then it fizzled out. This is also single POV, and I thought to myself multiple times “gah this would be so much better with dual POVs!” I also think it’s worth a mention that this book has infidelity (even though one guy is a jerk). Overall I was entertained enough to finish it, but not one I absolutely loved.

CW: cheating, alcoholism, parental abuse/abandonment

You can check out Good Girl Complex on 2/1!

Thank you @smpromance for the gifted eARC and audiobook in exchange for an honest review!

Boyfriend Fails!

The following ratings are out of 5:
Narration: 🎧🎧🎧🎧🎧
Romance: 💙💚🖤💛❤️
Heat/Steam: 🔥🔥
Story/Plot: 📕📗📘📙📔
World building: 🌎🌍🌏🌎🌎
Character development: 🧐😕😍😗🤯

The heroine(s): Mackenzie Cabot (a.k.a Mac) - She is dating Preston, who is pretentious, pompous and a cheater to boot. Mac took a gap year to start her own business and she has made 7 figures, yet she promised her parents that if she could take a gap year, she would go to the college of their choice when it was over.

The Hero(s): Cooper Hartley (a.k.a. Coop) - a bartender and a local in the seaside town of Avalon Bay near the upper crust Garnet College. Coop has a plan for his life, so when he gets fired because a guy named Preston basically threatened his boss, he decides to get back at Preston.

The Story: Mackenzie is a good girl who basically does everything her parents say from dating the guy they like to going to college despite the fact that she is growing a successful internet business. So she is surprised to find that she is attracted to the first townie she meets when her and her roommate go out to a local bar.

The narration on this one was terrific. It was dual POV and dual narration done by Ava Erickson and Joe Arden. Jo has the perfect gravely voice for Cooper Hartley, same for Ava as Mac. She has a soft and young sounding voice that is great for audiobooks and matched Mac completely.

The story was fantastic as well. Elle Kennedy does new adult so well. I thought this would be the classic good girl and bad boy erotic romance and it was, but it was so much more. The bad boy wasn’t all that bad. Though he certainly could fight and has the terrific body and tattoos to go with the bad boy image. Mac was the good girl that just wants to be herself instead of the girl that always does what her loved ones tell her.

I loved the side stories about group of friends, the townies versus clones (which is what the townies call all the rich college kids because they are all clones of each other and their parents), and Mackenzie’s parents and boyfriend. I don’t want to give away any more than that, but I listened to the entire book in one sitting and it held my attention the entire time.

I voluntarily read & reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts & opinions are my own.

given i'm familiar with elle kennedy's work and loved the off-campus series, i went in with a certain hope and expectation that it would paint the same type of feeling across the board that made you empathize with the characters created. while i can't say that i had that same feeling between mac and cooper, nor with the group of friends and the circumstances around them, there were still so many elements within that i enjoyed!

i liked the small town feelings and the camaraderie that grew between them all, where the supposed bad boy from the wrong side of the tracks helps the girl with money and a pedigree to protect to find her voice and what she really wants out of life — in spite of the ulterior motives that first led to the pair meeting in the first place. it's a secret that can't remain that way, one that eventually does get revealed in the worst of ways and at the worst of times, but forces both to grow up.

i feel where it fell a bit was in building up to the pair getting together. with as much as they didn't know about one another until after they were already enmeshed in a relationship, things that likely would have been addressed prior to a relationship together, it feels like it would have made for a better narrative overall had there been more moments between them before they came together rather than after.

the voice acting of the two narrators was perfect for the story and the moments where emotions of the characters bled into their inflections and voices was fantastic, especially during the more emotional moments that happened closer to the end of the book.

Let the games begin! It's a battle between the upper and lower class' and it's a fight that may just leave a few hearts in disrepair.

So grab your sunscreen, a beach chair, and buckle up, because this is one fun summer read.

As Always, Happy Reading!

"4/5 Beaming Brains!" - Lit-Up My Mind

Mackenzie “Mac” Cabot comes from a well-off family and expected to fall in line and follow “The Plan”. She’ll graduate college, marry her long-time boyfriend; who’s also from a well-off family, and she’ll stay at home to raise their children and plan charity events. Only thing is, that’s not what Mac wants. She’s an entrepreneur and wants to make her own way. Mac tries best to not cause a ripple in the tide, but moving to Avalon Bay is going to send a tidal wave her way, and his name is Cooper Hartley.

Coop hates “clones.” Trust fund kids and their rich families around town that think they’re better than everyone, especially the townies (locals). The disdain goes both ways. The clones think anyone not up to par should fall at their feet, and they can get everything they want with a flick of a wallet. Copper thinks they’re all the same. Until he falls for Mac. Can this clone change this townie’s mind?

I fell in love with Elle Kennedy’s writing after reading The Deal, and it was a simple decision to buy the rest of the Off-Campus series, which made the Good Girl Complex a must-read for me this year. Kennedy does a wonderful job of building strong female characters, and I admired Mac’s ambition to be more than just a quiet trophy wife. The female narrator for this audiobook sold me with the inflection in her voice and made me feel like I was going through the emotions with Mac. I’m a huge fan of dual points of view, but this time it didn’t work for me. I found the male narrator to be dry and boring. This story didn’t grab my attention right away, and I found it a struggle to get through this read.

Thank you to Net Galley & Macmillan Audio for this ARC!

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.

2.5 stars

I want to give a non spoilery review but the synopsis gives away so little that I don't think I'll be able to fully explain my thoughts without giving spoilers. However, if I had to summarize my issues into one, non spoilery sentence, this is what it would be. I felt no chemistry between the characters and felt no emotional attachment to either of them because I feel like the characters had no depth.

The rest of my review will contain spoilers. Readers be warned.

What in the After did I just read? If I wasn't writing a review for this, I would probably DNF it. Right off the bat, the main characters have an interaction that didn't feel believable. I like to get to know the characters a bit more before I can believe that initial "spark" needed between characters to feel the sexual tension. Within the first couple pages, Mackenzie is painted to be a loyal, no nonsense girlfriend who is adamant cheating is dumb and the couple should "break up instead". But Cooper's and Mackenzie's FIRST interaction has her all googly eyes over Cooper. Then later has her thinking about him, checking him out, texting him despite knowing his intentions. At this point we don't know much about either character, but when one of the main points about her personality is she isn't a cheater and she is that easily swayed to another guy,,, I'm going to have a hard time believing her character for the rest of the book. And she continues to be with Cooper throughout the book, even though she is still in a relationship with her boyfriend, Preston.
Now, i don't mind "cheating" or blurred lines in books, but they have to be well done. They have to make me want to kill the other guy so that the main characters can just FINALLY be together. I'd rather rip my heart out then let these two be apart. I have to believe in their love.
Considering Mackenzie and Cooper have as much sexual tension as the Sahara Dessert, I didn't believer in their love. I felt no chemistry or sexual tension between the characters at all. The sex scenes did not have me hot and bothered. By 80% I still wasn't convinced they were made for each other.
Then at 88% their relationship seems to get...dull. They are temporarily living together and constantly getting annoyed and picking fights with each other. This never really seems to get resolved or talked about? Mackenzie says she will move out and he says he doesn't want her to and that's kind of... that. But I feel like a new 6 month old relationship shouldn't be an issue. It gave me "we should just be friends" vibes.

Now onto the "plot twist" of the book. Cooper knowing Preston, lying about it, and then making a bet he would sleep with her and then break her heart. I feel like this is basically an exact replica of After story line, even down to the way she found out. Now, because I am not convinced by their love, zero part of me wanted her to forgive Cooper and get back with him. Especially because it went on for 6 months, which is so long. I didn't love the way they got back together. It felt very anticlimactic and like she gave in to easily.

I didn't feel connected to or really cared about any of the side characters or plots. I don't really feel as if they had any depth to them either. Evan and Mackenzie's relationship was really weird to me. Going from him hating her, them having a come to jesus moment, and then all of the sudden he's a little too friendly.
I didn't feel like the characters had depth or really evolved throughout the book.

I’m a huge fan of Elle Kennedy and the Briar U series, so I was so excited to get an advance copy of Good Girl Complex, coming out on February 1. Unfortunately, this one didn’t live up to my (admittedly high) expectations.

I don’t like cheating–not even a little bit; it’s a major “ugh” inducer–and while our leading lady doesn’t cheat–she only kisses another guy before she breaks it off with her douche-canoe boyfriend,—cheating is a major part of the story (see aforementioned douche-canoe boyfriend and his penchant for philandering). The hero of the story is also actually a bit of a jerk (ok, a lot of a jerk), and honestly, I think Mac could have done a lot better. Their relationship starts out as part of a revenge plot–Cooper loses his job at the bar because of Mac’s wealthy and entitled boyfriend, Preston, so Cooper determines to seduce Mac to get back at him. The best way to start a relationship, to be sure. Of course he really falls for her, and she falls for him, but then the truth bites Cooper in the booty.

The writing is typical Kennedy–well written new adult romance, with dual perspectives, and yeah, I even found myself rooting for Mac and Cooper a couple of times, but unfortunately the transparent plot and the inevitable trainwreck I saw coming from chapter one made me want to DNF half-way through. I didn’t, and I give it a solid 2.5 stars. Because it’s not terrible, but it’s not good either.

I did, however, like the audiobook’s dual narrators. Both Joe Arden and Eva Erickson delivered solid performances, and it was actually listening to the audiobook that kept me from throwing in the towel completely. When I listen to audiobooks written with dual perspectives, having the two different narrators is essential, and they both nailed it.

Rich-girl Mackenzie has her life planned out. But not necessarily for her. She has been groomed to become her parents- marry Preston, her long time boyfriend and become active in charities. She loves Preston but the idea of becoming her mother- doing nothing but plan fundraisers- is not appealing. Local bad boy, Cooper, wants revenge on Preston. He decides he is going to "steal" Mackenzie. Except once he gets to know her, he really, really likes her.

This moved very quickly and I finished it in no time. I liked the characters- not just Mac and Cooper, but the secondary characters, too. But...... it was very predictable.

I listened to the audiobook. Joe Arden and Ava Erickson are great, as always. They can both always be counted on giving a solid performance.

I received an audio copy in exchange for an honest review.

Good Girl Complex follows a struggling townie boy and a rich girl who have instant chemistry. After having read the Briar U and Off-Campus Series I was excited to read another Elle Kennedy book. Overall, I really enjoyed this book. Though it was fairly predictable, I loved the chemistry between the two main characters. I love Elle Kennedy’s writing style and have found that her books are always quick reads for me and this book was no exception. I enjoyed seeing Mac having to integrate with Coopers friends and found it to be fairly relastic. I enjoyed both of the narrators and thought both did a great job.
I wish the ending would have been fleshed out a little more or that there had been some sort of epilogue. lowered my rating a little bit because it felt rushed and left me looking for more.
This book will make such a fun summer/beach read! It has tension, witty banter, instant chemistry and spice! Overall, this was a 3.75 star read for me.

Thank you to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, and St. Martin Griffin for this audiobook ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I was gifted the audio early for review by NetGalley and the Publisher.
I really enjoyed the narrators and the beginning of the story, but as it progressed I kept finding it too predictable.
Mac is this "rich" girl who locals refer to as "clones". Her life is set out for her in terms of boyfriend to marriage and what her family wants from her. Though she does have tons of dreams and aspirations herself that none of them agree with.

Cooper is a "townie" and makes a bet with his friends that he can get Mac to break up with her boyfriend then use her to make him look like a fool. Except as he starts to get to know her he sees this genuine side to her and truly falls for her and doesn't want to hurt her... I'm sure you know where the rest goes from there.

While bits and pieces that make up the characters are unique, the storyline as a whole was too overdone and i knew what was going to happen before it did.

I did really enjoy these narrators though and would see out books read by them in the future.

So the MC in this book thinks near the beginning how she doesn't understand how people cheat and why they don't just break up with their partner. And then she cheats? I don't get it. Her boyfriend was horrible yes but she should have done what she threatened. And also that one lie would have been a deal breaker for me. This book was dissatisfying.

As usual Elle Kennedy’s writing is good, but the story kind of fell flat for me, While it wasn’t a terrible story by any means, I didn’t really like the characters, which was disappointing and made it hard to get into the story.
If you’re a fan of the rich girl/poor guy or good girl/bad boy tropes, you may very well enjoy this. It was a no brainer way to spend my morning.
Cooper is a “townie” and Mackenzie is a rich girl who’s come to the local college. The townies and the “clones” as the locals call them because they’re all the same, don’t mix. But Cooper has an ulterior motive to get Mackenzie to be friends with him and once he gets her to talk to him, it eventually progresses into much more. There are plenty of things working to keep them apart, and her background is only a minor one. Their chemistry and steam keep them together when everything and everyone is working to push them away..
I did like the narrators, they were fun and brought life to the characters.
Thanks to Macmillan Audio, St. Martin’s Griffin and NetGalley for this audiobook arc in exchange for my review.
Publication date: February 1, 2022

What a fun summer romance read! Perfect for fans of Emily Henry, this book will be a great companion at the pool or beach this summer.

This book was pretty good! I felt the chemistry between the characters and I especially enjoyed seeing Mac's character development. I also enjoyed reading about Mac having to integrate with Cooper's friend group, it felt pretty realistic. Maybe I'm just a sucker for some sweet sweet revenge, but I wanted a bit more of a blow out with the villain(s) of the story. I also would have loved to see more of Mac and her roommates friendship on page.

Audio ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Good Girl Complex follows Cooper, who is looking for revenge on the preppy rich boy “clone” who got him fired from his job. He takes a bet to get the clone’s girl. The story that follows is pretty predictable as Mac and Cooper’s relationship plays out.

This gave me She’s All That vibes with the dating for a bet. I did appreciate the accomplished boss energy that Mac brought to the table as a young and successful entrepreneur. Otherwise, I was underwhelmed with this one. Saw the plot points coming, and both MCs felt juvenile. I wanted more romance and less insta-chemistry that has them always falling into each other.

If you’re looking for a lot of 🍆, this one delivers.

Thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan audio for this ARC!

When I tell you I binged this book… I just couldn’t get enough. This was my first Elle Kennedy and oh my goodness have I been sleeping on her books!!

Good Girl Complex is about a rich girl and struggling townie boy with instant chemistry. What more could you want? I kept picturing Allie and Noah from The Notebook! Her life is laid out for her as a politicians daughter. Mackenzie’s been dating the same preppy guy forever because their families make sense. But there’s much more to her. She’s made her own millions running a website and has bigger dreams than college can offer. She’s slowly figuring out she doesn’t have to be who her parents tell her to be.

She meets Cooper, the hard working, trying-to-survive, townie. He has it out for her preppy boyfriend who got him fired. There’s even a bet involved- really gave me She’s All That vibes. The two instantly have magic between them. They even rescue a dog- shared pet is what book dreams are made of! As a reader you just fall for Cooper immediately and route for him. You’re simultaneously routing for Mackenzie to wake up and take life by the horns!

This story has the perfect amount a drama, struggle, humor, love and a little bit of spice. The narrator was so good. I started this and ignored the rest of my life for hours on end.

Thank you, NetGalley for this ARC audiobook in exchange for an honest review!

Good Girl Complex follows Mackenzie, a rich 'trust fund baby' with distant parents and the 'perfect' boyfriend that will give her the perfect life. Forced to attend school despite being a self-made success story with a well-known app, Mack is consistently streamlined into a life that everyone around her wants for her, at the sacrifice of her own dreams. Cooper is a local boy who hates the 'clones' that Mackenzie's upbringing represents, and ends up getting fired because of the entitlement of Mackenzie's own boyfriend. In an act of revenge, Cooper decides to take Mackenzie from her boyfriend and humiliate him in return. Little do either of them know the real and honest romance that will come from one little dare.

Ok, we all know that I am a big, BIG fan of Kennedy's Off Campus series so this was high on my TBR for the year. What I didn't realize was that this basically was a beach version of After by Anna Todd. The trajectory of the story, the caricatures of the characters were so eerily similar that it really made me lose interest in this book quickly. HOWEVER, it somehow crept up on me and had me getting choked up near the end, just wanting things to get better for these characters that I didn't realize I really cared about! Kennedy just has a way of doing that and my goodness do I fall for it every time. I would have given this a higher rating but spending the majority of the book caught up in the After similarities really took it down a notch. But lets be honest, if a sequel ends up coming out of this involving Evan or Bonnie or even Levi, I'm so down bad for it.