"What I figured out a long time ago is there's nothing that bleaches thoughts of Genevieve out of my head. She's woven into the fabric. I can't rip her out without tearing myself apart."

I really liked the first book in this series (Good Girl Complex) but dare I say I love this one even more?! Genevieve and Evan are fire and tension and everything I wanted in a spicy romance. Im also a huge sucker for a romance between characters who grew up together... all that shared history and deep knowledge of each other. As the author notes in the acknowledgements, Genevieve and Evans story is one of redemption, forgiveness and second chances. They're the story of "what happens when the party girl and the bad boy grow up". 5 stars from me!

Thank you so much for allowing me to read and review your titles. I really not the opportunity!

I do appreciate it and continue to review books that I get the chance to read.
Thanks again!

I tried to stick this out and finish, because I had high hopes but unfortunately I decided to DNF this book

*possible spoilers ahead*

I’m not sure if I missed the age of characters in the beginning of the book, but initially when reading I thought this was a high school couple until they began mentioning their memories in high school…. These characters are both unreliable and immature and I just couldn’t connect with them at all. Once they began to think about rekindling their romance, I wasn’t rooting for them to find a way to work it.

I might have just gone into this book with high expectations because I’ve heard so many good things about Elle Kennedy, but I am looking forward to reading some more of her work!

I really really liked this book. I loved the off campus series by Elle Kennedy so I was really excited to read this avalon bay series as well.

This book was just such a fun read that I did not want to put down. I loved the setting of it and getting to see all the characters interact with each other and develop made me so happy.

I loved Evan and Genevieve together and getting to see them find their way back together as well as getting to see more of Cooper and Mac.

I would definitely recommend this to anyone who liked the off campus series because you get that feeling of all the characters being friends with each other.

I love the writing of Elle Kennedy. I think my main struggle with this book was caused by the first one ( Good Girl Complex) and the struggle there was because she kind of wrote Evan off as the goofy-no- direction-twin, so it was hard to see him as the love interest. I did find that Gen was an easy character to love. To watch her character grow was awesome.

I have been giving romance books more of a try this summer, but this one just didn’t work me for. I found that the characters were not likable, the dialogue was too forced, and i’ve learned that second chance romances are not really my thing.

I enjoyed the spice within the book and how the author describes places/objects within the book. if you enjoy romance then by all means, read this book! i am just not a focused romance lover

I truly loved this story. I always love Elle Kennedys books but something about this one really stuck out to me. I love that both Evan and Genevieve have similar hardships and that they both find a better life for themselves both individually and then as a couple. I loved seeing the growth in both of these characters. I also love that for Evan she was literally at there is no one else and his soul focuses on her I really enjoy stories like that. I love that this story was less plot motivated and more character development driven.

Things I loved:
-Second Chance Romance
-Witty Banter
-Character Growth
-Forgiveness and Redemption are key themes
-series follows a friend group, so lots of interaction outside of 2 MC bubble

I liked Cooper and Macs story but this story topped it. I 100% recommend this book.

I can’t wait to see if there are more Avalon Bay Stories! 🥰

I liked Evan and Genevieve's story more than Mac and Cooper's. Though, it did take a bit longer to get into the story overall. I'm not usually the biggest fan of second chance romance but by the end I was satisfied. With the series as a whole so far it is very surface level. There isn't much depth in the storyline or characters. This also could be read as a standalone novel.

This book was everything I was looking for. The tension, amazing banter, and some spice.. What’s not to love? This is a dual POV second chance romance. We follow Gen and Evan as she tries to turn over a new leaf and leave the bad girl she was in the past. Her and Evan are perpetually drawn to each other, and trouble. This book took me on an emotional rollercoaster and I loved every minute of it. Thanks so much for the arc! I can’t wait for the release.

3.5 The second book was much better than first book. Evan and Gen are destined to couple but unfortunately their trouble past has caused them to grow off course. Gen is trying her best to become better person. While Evan is learning to grow into man he wants to become not the one marked by his past. This book was quick read. I am not sure if loved it or not. Thank you St Martin and Net Galley for the arc.

Genre: Contemporary Romance
Rating: 4 stars

The sequel to Good Girl Complex! Really enjoyed this one, but I dare to say I think I liked Good Girl more (which is an unpopular opinion!). I loved the angsty dynamic between Gen and Evan. Gen returns home for her mother's funeral after she abruptly left several years earlier. She comes back to town trying to shake her bad girl reputation but is sucked back into her passionate affair with childhood best friend/lover, Evan.

-Dual pov
-Best friends to lovers
-Second chance love
-Angsty and passionate type of love

Side note: EK loves cargo pants and it makes me uncomfy.

Thanks to Net Galley, St. Martin's Press, & the author for an ARC!

This was a fun, beachy read. Elle Kennedy's work is always has everything you need to vacate your life for a minute. Like the other books surrounding these characters, you get a better look at some fresh faces while continuing on with the story and overarching dynamics that were established previously. It was nice to read a bit more about Evan and Genevieve, which rounded out the storylines from previous books. Has some spice, some family drama, set on the beach. Fun read!

Gen returns back to Avalon Bay after leaving without such as a word to Evan. They have been childhood sweethearts: correction sweet may be a bit of a stretch, because they chemistry explosive, attraction palpable, jealousy and make up sex has been their thing with their on and off relationship status for years. They’re even bad for each other, but with their chemistry and attraction how can they help it.

When Gen realizes she has hit rock bottom, she knows she has to leave. And so she does. She finds an appropriate job and place to live in Charleston, starts and keeps her sobriety. But her mother’s sudden death brings her back home, helping her dad with his business, and spending time in town until he can find a new manager.

Evan soon learns the real reason for Gen skipping town and why she is determined to stay away from him. Even his twin brother, Cooper, thinks that Gen and him are no good for each other. But Evan knows he’s wrong. Gen is trying her hardest to leave behind her bad girl reputation and turn a new leaf.

Can Evan and Gen leave behind their reputations and make amends? Will Evan get his act together and win back his girl? Will both Evan and Gen learn to mature and grow?

I really enjoyed the angsty push and pull that both Evan and Gen had. It was a bit slow at the start but once it picks up, it’s so good. The story was also beautifully written and very enjoyed.

This was really cute! I liked “Good Girl Complex,” but wow Bad Girl Reputation really hit it out of the park. The chemistry between Evan and Gen was BURNING off the page. I liked the plot and character development, plus its always nice to follow up with past characters and see sneak peeks on how Mac and Cooper are doing. This book was about growth. The family bonding and growing toxic behavior were entertaining to follow. Such a fun read!

Bad Girl Reputation is a romance novel that follows an on again off again relationship between Even and Genevieve. They are a bad influence for eachother but through time and personal development, they come to form a happy and somewhat healthy relationship. I’ll be honest, the first half of this book I did not like. I was not supportive of their toxic relationship and just wanted better for Genevieve, and I also get bad that she was leading on poor Harrison. However, Evan started to work on himself (albeit for the wrong reasons), and they both found themselves in the end in a position where they could be good for eachother.
While predictable, I did enjoy this romance and appreciated that they were able to go through some personal development and other things in life; the book wasn’t all about getting them back together.

Good Girl Complex was so-so. Bad Girl Reputation is far superior with a far more likeable plot and characters that I was able to connect with. Genevieve and Evan are great and I love the tension. This reminded me a bit of One Tree Hill. Gen and Evan have had an on and off-again relationship over the years so this book is a second-chance romance. It was good and very angsty.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for the ARC of Bad Girl Reputation!

Review:

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Elle Kennedy novels are definitely my guilty pleasure.

I’m not always a fan of second chance romances but did enjoy this one. I appreciated that the MC’s were apart because they both needed to grow and better themselves before finding their way back to each other.

My biggest pet peeve with so many second chance romances is that so often, it’s some stupid miscommunication that keeps the couple apart. That wasn’t the case here and the circumstances and ups and downs of their relationship felt genuine and realistic.

The only real critique I have is that the ending was a bit rushed and the “conflict” at the end was just random and unnecessary.

Final note: I know Elle Kennedy is Canadian and I have definitely caught some “Canadian English” in a few of her books, despite them all being set in the US. It would be cool to see her write a book that’s set here!

This was my first ever Elle Kennedy book and I have heard nothing but good things about her books! With that being said, I went in having high hopes for this book.

Genevieve returns home after a year to attend her mothers funeral where she runs into her ex, Evan. This is a childhood friends to lovers and second chance romance book. The two spend their summer trying to stay apart from one another but always being drawn back in.

Some things I liked, dual pov, the spice🌶 and the character development! I love when I am able to hear what both of the main characters are thinking throughout the story and a little bit of spice is always fun to sprinkle in to a story! I appreciated the character development of Genevieve and Evan. This book was also a quick and easy to start off summer!

Some things I didn’t like.. there were too many characters to keep track of. Genevieve has 5 brothers in itself who’s names are mentioned frequently throughout. They each have their own group of friends that are also mentioned throughout the story. To me, I couldn’t remember anything about any of the side characters which took me away from connecting with any of them. I wasn’t rooting for the couple throughout any part of the story. They are EXTREMELY immature and toxic for one another. I feel like they are better apart then together. I got the vibe that they were more invested in the sex and how attractive the other is rather than actually being in love.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this arc in exchange for an honest review!

Bad Girl Reputation is the second Avalon Bay series. This time it follows Evan (the twin of Cooper from the first book) and Genevieve. They were volatile together, constantly partying and getting into trouble. They had a flirt/fight relationship. A year ago, after a particularly bad night for Gen, she decides to leave town and try to escape her bad girl tendencies. After her mother dies, she comes back home for the funeral and stays to help her father with the family business. She is determined to shed her bad girl identity and is convinced she will fall back into old habits if she doesn't stay away from Evan. As when they were younger, they can't stay away from each other.

I really enjoyed this book. The characters were well developed and Gen and Evan's relationship was super cute. I really liked Riley and hope he makes more appearances in the future. I was very excited about this when I got the notification from NetGalley that it was available! Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was looking forward to this book since reading Good Girl Complex and it did not let me down! It's the second in the series but you don't NEED to read the first to understand what's going on. Reading he first book does adds more details and dimension to the story though.

We first met Evan in GGC where we also heard about his ex Genevieve. Gen ghosted Evan by leaving town a year ago without a word after having a bad night, to put it mildly. Gen comes back to town after her mom dies unexpectedly and Cooper is determined that their relationship isn't over.

Evan and Gen had been on-again, off-again for years. Their relationship was very volatile and explosive with a lot of alcohol and jealously mixed in but at the core was a deep friendship and passionate connection. Evan knows what he wants from the jump. Always a plus for me!

We get to witness a lot of growth from both Gen and Evan throughout the book. There was a good balance of together and separate scenes. One thing I didn't love about this book was Cooper! He was such a drag in this book. Evan definitely got on my nerves after awhile in GGC and it was like they completely switched roles for BGR.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book! I'm hoping we get to go back to Avalon Bay!