Bad Girl Reputation (Avalon Bay, #2) by Elle Kennedy
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genevieve West has returned to Avalon Bay to put her mother to rest. She’s hoping to avoid her ex-boyfriend, Evan Hartley, at all costs. They have a troublesome history full of passion and problems. Gen has made up her mind to focus on helping her father with his business and then get back out of town quickly. Evan has different plans. He plans to woo Gen and show her how good they can be together.
I enjoyed this second book in this series as much as the first book. The tension between Gen and Evan was palpable. They are both trying to turn over a new leaf and grow up. Each deserve to be happy and shed the labels of their past. A great story of second chances and starting over!

Bad Girl Reputation by Elle Kennedy

This is book #2 of the Avalon Bay series. In this one we have Genevieve West who returns home to attend her mothers funeral and help her father with the family business. Genevieve had a reputation as being a bad girl when she was younger. Evan Hartley dated Genevieve in the past her never really go over her. Evan still has it bad for Genevieve and now that she is back in town Evan wants to make a move to rekindle the flames again.

This is a second chance romance between Genevieve and Evan will this time work out for them? Will they be able to shed their reputation from the past? What I saw in this book was that both characters where a hot mess and not really good for each other. Sometimes people just don't need to rekindle the past because their behavior dictates it. I understand that sometimes a little drama makes for a good read. In this instance I felt it lacked in the way the drama played out. It felt sort of toxic to me the relationship and that is ugly. I want to swoon about the two but when it is so messy it just hard to like the characters.

Angst is good but when it is not done in the right way it can make a book flop a bit. I think this is where I am at with this one. I wanted more swoon moments less toxic messy. Though things can work out in the end it just didn't feel good along the way. I want to feel good about the couple. This was a 2 star read for me. I hope the author does a little less messy and a lot more swoon in her next book. Narrated by Lee Samuels and Summer Morton they did a good job bringing the characters to life. I would still recommend this book some people may like the drama filled messy romance it just isn't for me.

Thank You to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for a free audio copy of Bad Girl Reputation for an honest review. All opinions and thoughts in this review are my own.

One word: SLOOOOOOOOOOOOW. I mean come onnnnnnn. That really killed it for me and I forced myself to finish this book. I didn’t care for this one at all and really needed more angst and what not vs. the main characters being so self involved.

Bad Girl Reputation was the perfect follow up to Good Girl Reputation. It could totally be read alone but it gives so much more about those characters I came to love in the first book!

Genevieve and Evan have had an on-again, off-again relationship for years, until she left town and Evan behind without any notice about a year ago. When Genevieve comes back for her mom’s funeral, she tries desperately not to fall back into the pattern of her wild ways.

For her, that means staying far away from Evan. I loved seeing both of these characters grow-up and mature over the course of this story. They both had to get their priorities in line and I liked seeing how they did it in different ways.

I just could not finish this one. I tried to get into it but I really disliked the family. From the beginning I found the brothers to be lazy, and over written.
I just didn’t see much connection in Genevieve to who she was wanting to become. And her relationship with her ex Evan seemed forced with a lack of angst/ true romantic connection.

I wonder if I would have enjoyed this more if I had read the first in the series.

I received a copy of Bad Girl Reputation from the publisher, but it was recommended that I read Good Girl Complex first. I agree with this as this duology is a story of twin brothers, Cooper (Coop) and Evan Harley. In this story we meet Evan's best friend, Genevieve West (Gen) who has returned to Avalon Bay after the death of her mother. She had no intention of staying, but when her father asked her to stay and help with the family business, doing the administration stuff her mother did, she agreed to stay until they found a replacement. Gen has a terrible reputation of being the party girl, getting drunk and doing stupid things. Before she left the first time, her and Evan were a couple, wreaking havoc together. Gen has reformed and matured, but being around Evan scares her. Evan seems to be on a self-destructive path and Gen tries to stay as far away from him as she can. He vows to reform as well and his path as well as his attempts to "woo" Gen is an entertaining story.

I think I liked this book better than the first one. Gen had come a long way in her life and fearing she would fall back into her old life is a very realistic feeling. There is also a person from her past who has it out for her and will do whatever he can to ruin her name, reputation and drive her out of town. Once again, Evan's mother makes an appearance and I liked watching them try to reconcile. Evan is an interesting character who has a lot of demons. His life is so entrenched in being self-centered and only doing what makes him feel good, but does it really, that I wasn't sure he would be able to change, even for Gen. When he gets involved in volunteer work to show Gen he isn't the selfish guy she thinks he is, I almost died of laughter. Some of the things that happen were absolutely hilarious. The secondary characters were all great and I loved how protective Gen's family was. Her father, who was absent due to the family business for much of her life, really comes around and steps up when she needs him. There are some heavy issues in this book: addiction, alcohol abuse, mental health, sexual harassment, police abuse, family breakdown, and classism. I will warn you, there is a lot of open door bedroom scenes that were very steamy, so if that is something you don't want, then you might steer away from this series. Although I fast forward through those scenes, the story itself was a good one that I very much enjoyed. The audiobook was narrated by Lee Samuels and Summer Morton. Once again, having two narrators helped the audio, but the female voices done by Lee Samuels were wanting, although I did enjoy the audiobook.

This one fell a bit flat for me. I have really enjoyed this author in the past, and really liked the first book in this series (Good Girl Complex), however this one just didn’t do it fully.

What I liked was that the world of Avalon Bay was expanded and broadened in this book. The reader got to learn more about familiar characters, and even the supporting characters had a great backstory. This really added to the reader experience.

Where the book fell a bit flat for me was with the two main characters. For some reason their interactions together annoyed me, and I’m not sure if it was because of their lack of communication towards each other, or if it was because I’m not sure if they have actually grown and matured since they were younger. They claim to always be ‘bad for each other’, and yet I don’t really see any clear signs of growth, or that their relationship will wind up differently than in the past.

Overall, I didn’t mind this as a second book in the series.

Bad Girl Reputation
Avalon Bay, Book 2

I Picked Up This Book Because: Continue the series.

Media Type: Audiobook
Source: Netgalley
Dates Read: 11/6/2022 - 11/12/2022
Stars: 3 Stars
Narrator(s): Lee Samuels and Summer Morton

The Characters:

Genevieve West:
Evan Hartley:
Cooper Hartley,

The Story:

Writing: Good, Direct and unconvoluted.
Forward Motion: Good. No lulls or filler
Overall Interest: Good. I liked it but I admit I didn’t love it. I think I didn’t really bond with the characters.
Length of Reading Time: Good.
Re-read-ability: No, I’m not even sure I’ll return to the series. I don’t feel passionately about it.

This is the second book in the Avalon Bay Series, a Small Town Romance. Genevieve (Gen) and Evan's second chance to love is slow paced, filled with drama, push and pull, and twists and turns. The supporting characters are great. Lee Samuels and Summer Morton did a great job with the narration. I received a copy of this book through NetGalley, a Macmillan Audio production, for an honest review.

Great story - Elle Kennedy has such an addictive way with words! She always manages to pull you into the story.
While this type of small-town drama, young kids, campfire parties vibe is not really my style anymore, Gen and Evan drag you in. Speaking of, I loved Evan from the start!

As for the audiobook, I really liked the narrator, she has such a warm, calming voice, I listened to this at the end of long days, it was a nice way to decompress.

I loved other works of Elle Kennedy better, but that's mostly just a personal preference for storylines. Will I continue with this series though? Most likely!

i was so proud of elle for coming back to avalon bay - not only to help her family business but to reinvent herself. it can’t be easy returning to a small town where everyone remembers you as a rebellious teen so huge props to her. it was interesting having elle and evan “flashbacks” when they reflect on their childhood and teenage years - i especially loved evan’s ring-pop story - because it goes to show how much has changed over time. however, i felt that the dynamics between the two of them was repetitive. they both state how they’re bad influences for the other but you can also think of elle as a good influence for getting evan more involved in the big brother/sister community. i thought that there were too many subplots that distracted from the relationship that elle and evan wanted to build … you’ve got elle dating a police officer … a second officer whose constantly out to punish elle … and evan who has started volunteering and has his “little brother” to set a good example for. i especially wasn’t a fan of how elle was dating another man while her eyes were clearly set for evan but i felt that overall, these didn’t mesh well together.

Are all of the main characters interactions the same? "we're bad for each other", followed with a story from our childhood, then hook up, repeat.

I loved the narrator's for this story a lot, I thought they did a great job. I laughed out loud at some parts just because of the character's sarcasm and banter, and I think the actors did a great job of portraying them. I loved this story as well, but I left my review for that on my ebook arc review. If you have trouble reading a story or just don't have the time, I think this is an audiobook anybody could enjoy!

Thank you #netgalley for a listen of #badgirlreputation

I loved Genevieve and Evan’s story! They both grew so much in this book. I would not want to be judged by my past and am glad that they were able to overcome theirs. I loved the glimpses of the other friends too. I can’t wait for the next book.

I enjoyed Good Girl Complex last year, but unfortunately, Bad Girl Reputation was not for me. The main characters were too immature. Maybe others will enjoy this book better. The narration was good. Thank you for my complimentary copy.

Elle Kennedy is such an incredible romance author! “Bad Girl Reputation” is a perfect beach read and a book I will recommend this to anyone looking for a light read with great character development.

I'm a big fan of Elle Kennedy's books and have read this series already. Hearing the audiobook was a great comfort listen during the workday and when I'm out walking the dog. I liked the narrator and would recommend the audio.

Bad girl reputation is a nice spin on the average romcom. It was an extremely quick read. As my first Elle Kennedy book, I’m looking forward to reaching more from this author!

“My mind trips over random thoughts and sensations. The scent of his shampoo and motorcycle exhaust. His skin. Memories of it on my tongue. His fingers.
‘Don’t do that,’ he rasps in my ear.
‘What?’
‘Remember.’”

This book! I simply loved it. I loved Gen being a bad girl trying to be good. I loved the dynamic and chemistry between her and Evan. I love that he is a hot motorcycle guy with an equally hot identical twin. I loved the push/pull. The strength to the better. The perseverance. Did I mention the chemistry?

This second chance romance hits it out of the park! This is the second installment in the Avalon Bay series. It can definitely be read as a stand alone though, seeing as I loved it and I didn’t read the first one.

In addition to the ARC I was also given an ALC and I LOVED it! It is told with dual narrators which just adds that little bit of something something to the chemistry between these two. I would highly recommend the audio if you like to listen!

Thank you to Netgalley, Macmillan Audio, St. Martin’s Press, and the author for the gifted copies in exchange for an honest review.