Bad Influence by Stefanie London was an enjoyable second chance romance and part of a series. Though I was able to enjoy the story, I do believe it would have been better to read the prior books first.

This is the story of the man who started it all! Annie Maxwell thought everything was perfect, until it wasn’t. Then she sees her ex with another woman and wearing her engagement ring! So began the Bad Bachelor app letting women know what guys to avoid. Though Annie created the app to help other women avoid the situation she was in, she has stayed behind the scenes.

Now her identify and safety may be in jeopardy and she needs help. But the last person she wants to help her is her ex, yet there he is. Now they are spending time together and old feelings are resurfacing. Can they find a way back together no matter the old hurts? Joseph knows he never should have let her go, but how does he show her what she truly means to him?

Bad Influence by Stefanie London was a second chance romance with a bit of angst and a whole lot steaminess. There was a lot of history and hurt between Joseph and Annie. Mistakes, miscommunication and bad choices drove them apart. Could this be their second chance?

A story of second chances, Bad Influence follows Annie and Joseph, childhood sweethearts who became star-crossed lovers because of their over-confidence in their love. They believe that nothing can separate them, but the moment they were faced with a decision that could make or break them, they took the coward’s way out.

SPOILER ALERT – there will be spoilers after this paragraph. - I always try to write a spoiler free review but this time I will have to break my own rule. Proceed at your own risk.

First, I would like to say that “Bad Influence” is not a bad story. It is actually good. But, for the life of me, all I feel for the heroine Annie is contempt. Her character just never grew on me. I felt that she was spoiled brat and she did not respect Joseph.

I feel the same way about Annie’s family. They are supposed to be the salt of the earth. Again, all I see is that they are self-centered, and they could not do wrong. They punished Joseph for his mistakes, but never called Annie on hers.

This is a rich boy meets poor girl and they fell in love. Annie’s mother used to clean the Preston’s house. Annie and Joseph met when they were children. The friendship turned into romantic love.

Everything was going well. Joseph got a job in Singapore and the couple was in the middle of packing for their move overseas when Annie’s mother Connie was diagnosed with breast cancer. Connie wanted Annie to stay. And Annie, as a good daughter said she would. And she should.

Problem was, Annie had informed everyone she was staying without telling Joseph. In fact, everyone knew she was staying except Joseph. That was very wrong of Annie and very disrespectful to the man she professed that she loved.

With this big planned move ongoing, Annie should have discussed with Joseph the situation with her mother. This is what couples do. But Annie, in her arrogance, believing that Joseph cannot understand familial love because of his family just bypassed Joseph in the decision-making.

For me, that is the crux of the matter. When you love someone enough that marriage is in the future, he or she should be number one in your list. It does not mean that you will abandon your family in time of their need. It just means that whatever decision you make, the two of you should make it together.

That said, since this happened in Chapter 1, I just did not like Annie. And I did not like her friends and family either. All of them made Joseph a bad guy. They did not even take into consideration that Joseph gave Annie his Manhattan apartment where they live together. And it was not a cheap apartment either. It has a doorman and has elevators. For New York City real state, that apartment starts at $750K to over a $1 million. Nobody, including Annie recognized Joseph’s generosity.

Another thing, Annie chose her website/app over her friend!!! And Annie is supposed to be a loving person, raised by a loving family. But, she chose her app over her friend as a matter of principle. Really?

Annie’s friend did not break the law, nor her boyfriend. The man in question just happened to be given a bad rap. But, Annie with her holier than thou attitude just did not care enough for her friend. So, their friendship was broken.

Yes, in the end Annie missed her friend and made up for it. But, if Annie is a friend in real life, I will forgive her, but I will never forget what she did. She abandoned her friend in her time of need.

I can go on and on about the heroine. Still, taking a cue from Jessica Rabbit who said, “I’m not bad, I’m just drawn that way,” I will have to say that “Annie is not bad, she is just written that way.”

But, her character took away from the story. So instead of giving it 5 stars, I’m giving the “Bad Influence” 4 stars. The author Stefanie London did a credible job. I just wished that she made Annie a little more likeable.

“Bad Influence” is Rated T for Teens due to sexual content.

LOVED IT!!!!

I really liked the first 2 books in this series, but this one is my favorite. I was a little nervous going into reading this book. In the previous 2 books Annie comes across as quite unlikable and frustrating; and it is a second chance story - not my favorite. But, Stefanie pulled it off. I really enjoyed this book and felt it was a very satisfying conclusion to the Bad Bachelor trilogy.

I have to admit I really appreciated the growth that was shown in the lead characters. I totally fell in love with them both. Sometimes it is so hard to see things from another perspective, and these two had to work really hard to get there. I have to admit I was crying at times while reading it, perhaps that's why I liked this book so much.

Thank you Stefanie for an incredible read. Annie and Joe are awesome.

Received as an ARC from Netgalley.

The last of the Bad Bachelors series and I couldn't put this one down. This is Annie and Joe's story.
Annie is the creator of the Bad Bachelors app that took off after her long term relationship with Joe ended over her choosing to stay with her Mother after she was diagnosed with cancer and not going to Singapore with Joe. For Joe this was a non-negotiable. Soon after his arrival, she sees her engagement ring on the hand of another woman and that pushed Annie out her heartbreak slump into forming this Bad Bachelors app. As we know from the previous books, her tracks are covered well and no-one knows she's behind the app-except her two best friends who found out by default. It did cause some problems with them initially but things resolved. How returns home after his time in Singapore and sees Annie. Joe's main problem is he's the overachieving son who no matter what he does, will never measure up to his father's unrealistic and cruel expectations. The guy is a real horses backside and Joe does his best to avoid him. Yet Joe still struggles. There's a major curveball in the story and someone has found Annie out. She tells Joe and through some of his connections and his own skills try and track down who is threatening Annie and to expose her, and worse to expose Joe.
The twists are turns in the story are so skillfully written, we have reuniting of Joe and Annie, Annie still keeping her secret until she is forced to tell Joe about the app and the underlying suspense of who might be after her and the threats. I couldn't put this one down and really loved Joe and Annie. Annie was a little stubborn at times, but that's who she was. I loved Joe. This is the kind of book that I thought about after I finished reading it. I don't run into those often.
Bravo Stephanie! Fantastic story! I loved every single minute.

arc from NetGalley and publisher for an honest review

While I did enjoy this book, I did not like Annie. It took her way too long to acknowledge her part in her's and Joseph's break-up. I liked the story line and the flow of the story was easy. The last few chapters I really enjoyed, seeing Annie come to terms with things and finally accepting her part and then to see Joseph to own his part as well. This was a really good book.

"Bad Influence" is the third novel in Stefanie London's Bad Bachelors series. After Annie's almost-fiance leaves her for a job in Singapore when her mom is sick, she has to start over in the romance department. After a series of mishaps in the Manhattan dating scene, Annie is tired of dating and watching her smart, beautiful, and talented friends getting their hearts broken by the men they date. What's a girl scorned to do? Why, she creates an app called Bad Bachelors. It's a platform where women can rate their dates and warn their fellow woman of the serial dick-pic-senders or cheats. When her almost-fiance returns three years later Annie is forced to ask for his help against a hacker with a grudge. Through some laughs, honest conversations, and heated sexy times, they are reminded that their bond is still not broken.

This heart-warming second-chance romance has a rich tapestry of characters, family drama, and just enough intrigue to keep any reader entertained.

I liked the characters and would have enjoyed the story more if the whole conflict that broke them up wasn't completely idiotic.

Annie and Joe knew each other long before they started dating freshman year of college. Annie's mother used to clean his family's house and sometimes young Annie would hang out with Joe playing video games. As we always find, Joe's rich and powerful father didn't like that Joe was dating the help. Even though Joe struggled with his need to win his father's approval, he would not give up Annie to please him.

Forward ahead a few years, Joe get's an important opportunity in Singapore, something his father insisted he needed to do if he ever wants get ahead in banking. Joe and Annie have packed up their apartment and are ready to move when Annie finds out about her mother's breast cancer and upcoming surgery. Joe insist that he will pay for Annie to fly back to be with her mother whenever she needs to, but Annie feels she needs to stay and be with her mother right now. Joe is hurt that Annie didn't talk to him first before making the decision to stay and also hurt that he didn't come first to Annie. WTF!!

I am surprised that I didn't stop reading right here in the prologue but let's stop here and talk about this because the whole story, in fact the whole series, hinges on this moment. Joe and Annie break up after being together for about 5 or 6 years. Joe was planning to propose when they arrived in Singapore. Joe is willing to fly Annie back (halfway across the world) anytime she needs to be with her mother, and when she says she needs to stay, he's done with the most important person in his life? There is no discussion. No arguments. No objection or even pleading on Annie's part that their relationship doesn't have to end. He is willing to fly her back to NY but what about flying her to Singapore a few times while her mother undergoes treatment. And not that breast cancer is necessary a death sentence, but it was possible that her mother's time was limited and he would deny her that time with her mom? Joe is apparently such an asshat that he believes Annie not being able to fly out with him immediately for his new job, which he will be working at for the next few years(?), is a deal breaker for him. Her mother's chemo will only be for a few weeks to months. She could have joined him once her mother started to improve. Personally, I think instead of starting Bad Bachelors, Annie should have been celebrating not marrying or wasting any more years with such a selfish asshole. She wasn't even angry that he would leave for his new job while her mother, a woman who welcomed Joe into their family with open arms, was going through surgery and chemo. She was okay with him going on to Singapore and joining him later, but that wasn't good enough for him.

As you can see, the whole break-up/conflict was crap, or the best thing that could have happened to Annie. Moving on...

A year after Joe leaves town, Annie creates Bad Bachelors, an app where women can go and rate and make comments about men they date. Some people are happy about the app. Some women who have been abused and feared dating, could see if their possible date was a decent guy. Some people were angry at being negatively listed on the app, some truthfully and some lies. (This is part of the first two stories in the series.)

When we start Bad Influence, Joe has just returned to New York to begin a new job and literally bumps into Annie and she knocks him into a pond. *thumbs up* She allows him to clean up in her (their former) apartment and then sends him home in a towel since she doesn't have any extra clothes for him. You go girl!

Annie often gets angry or threatening emails, but they can't hurt her because no one really knows that she is the creator of Bad Bachelors, except the guy in the first book who finds her...and the second book-- never mind...a hacker manages to break into Annie's computer and she calls Joe to help her. Joe really never wanted to go into banking (see prior statement about daddy issues). Joe wanted to create a white hat security firm to help companies protect their software. When Joe realizes that Annie is in real danger since some crazy knows who she is and where she lives, he either stays at her house or she stays with him. This leads us to casual ex-sex which always works out so well.

Now we do eventually have redemption. Joe realizes his decisions were made in his usual attempt to get his father's approval and that he doesn't need or actually really want it anyway. He also realizes that he hurt Annie as well as her parents who had always treated him like family and he goes about trying to earn everyone's forgiveness.

As much as I grumble about the plot issue, what saves the story is Annie and Joe together. They are definitely a couple that are meant to be together. It isn't just about hot sexy times. We feel their draw toward each other and their sadness that there is a distance between them that simply shouldn't be there. Unfortunately, Joe not only has to rebuild a relationship with Annie, but he has to rebuild one with the reader since he starts off this story being such a heartless jerk.

We met Annie's friends who were featured in the prior two stories but I really don't have enough interest to go back and read the first two books.

What a great conclusion to the Bad Bachelors series. I fell hard for these characters. I enjoyed the complexity of their relationship, and the drama of the story. It was so very sweet. I would have loved to see more of the original characters come back, but I understand that that can be difficult to weave in.

I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

In this final book, we FINALLY find out what drove Annie to create Bad Bachelors, and I for one, found her story to be my favorite of the series.

Reasons I Loved Bad Influence:

1. It's a second chance romance. This is my catnip, people. I am enamored with the idea that we can make mistakes, but maybe still be able to salvage what we once had.

2. So. Much. History. I had no idea we were dealing with two people, who had been connected to each other since childhood. Just imagining them frolicking as small children, and reconnecting in a romantic way in college had me smiling. Their history wasn't all sunshine and rainbows, but it was packed with some really beautiful moment.

3. Family played a big role in this story. I am alway down for some family involvement, and this one featured an incredible family (her's) and a terrible family (his). Obviously, I was more into the parts involving Annie's family, but meeting Joseph's was vital to my understanding of him and what drove his decisions.

4. The chemistry was crackling between these two. It was terrible how it all ended with Annie and Joseph, but it was easy to see they belonged together and to each other. There were swoons and feels.

5. Although there were some really stressful parts for me, the last few chapters were PERFECTION! London really made my emotions soar and my heart fill with joy. I know my face was hurting from all the smiling I was doing.

This was a fantastic and strong ending for a series I throughly enjoyed. I am still holding out hope that we can get a spinoff or something more set in this world, because I feel like some of the side characters have stories to tell.

This book had it's good moments and very frustrating moments. So Annie and Joseph were supposedly so in love until Annie's mom got sick and she made a decision for both of them. Now to me she should have stayed with her mom, but as adults they should have sat down and put everything on the table. However him leaving and then getting engaged to someone else fast, nope sorry but no, supposedly Annie was the love of your life, really..Yes I was angry because I do not understand that..Anywho we do have laughter, and eventually they work things out, but I never fell in love with them, they actually annoyed me. All in all I will still follow Stefanie London.

This book is a challenge to review without revealing spoilers. Having previously read the rest of this series, I wasn't sure that Annie, the heroine of this book, could be redeemed. While I'm still not sure I agree with her actions/decisions in earlier books, I feel like the author, Stefanie London, did achieve redemption for her.
Hero, Joe Preston, definitely gets his second chance in this book, but there were definitely times I wanted to shake him for letting his family influence decisions he made in all parts of his life. That said, I think it was necessary to have his family be the way they were to highlight how loving, supportive and there when you need them Annie's family is.
I'm absolutely in love with the idea behind Annie's new direction by the end of the book - possibly even more than I thought the Bad Bachelors app would make a helpful, though easily abused, app in real life.
While this book can be read as a stand-alone, it would be a far better idea to read the earlier two books in the series (Bad Bachelor; Bad Reputation) both for the background of what has happened between Annie and her friends, and to avoid the problem of knowing who is with who and other details that comes from reading series out of order.
I'm sad that this is the last book in the series, but stuff that happens in this book means that it's a perfectly timed ending.

What would you do if you were New York’s most wanted woman, but no one knew your identity until a hacker threatened to expose you? Hide and give into the hacker’s demands? Tell the world? Or ask your very much despised ex, who just came back from a stint in Singapore, for help? Annie Maxwell’s path is obvious. Right?

But let’s back up a bit. With Bad Influence, book #3 in the Bad Bachelors series, Stefanie London tells the sexy, swoony and heartwarming story about bank executive Joseph Preston and the love of his life Annie Maxwell who had their entire future mapped out in front of them until career and family tore them apart.

Annie had been upset after Joe left, but when she sees the engagement ring that was meant for her on another woman’s finger, she creates an app meant to help woman have a better dating experience. She never expected the controversy or bad press it generated, and certainly didn’t imagine it would be a threat to her safety. But when push came to shove, the man that had abandoned her was there to prove not only that she was his priority, but that he had never stopped loving her. Can they forgive their past transgressions?

London pens a tenderly romantic, deliciously sexy and delightfully witty story. I enjoyed the balance between the story’s effortless flow, the suspenseful plot generated by the threat against Annie, the push-pull and very present longing between the well-developed main characters, and the family and friends component that layered this story.

I was hooked from the very start wanting to speed read or skip ahead to the very ending and know how it all gets resolved. I almost did. But I remembered why I love romance so much. The enjoyment is in the journey, in getting to know the characters, feeling the attraction and romance that jumps from the pages, reading how they work through problems to reach that glorious happy ever after. And I wasn’t disappointed.

Bad Influence is book #2 of the Bad Bachelors series by Stefanie London. It is a standalone, second chance romance, told from both points of view, and has a happy ending.

This was a very enjoyable second-chance romance. Joe was a jerk the way that he abandoned Annie simply because she made a decision to stay at home to be with her mother who was undergoing cancer treatment instead of following her boyfriend, Joe, when he took a new job in Asia.

Now Joe is back filled with regret for the choice he made a few years ago and with the desire to win back Annie. You might think that Joe would make a very unappealing hero, but he won me over. He has a very sterile family situation that makes you sympathize with him. And Annie has such a lovely family that is very endearing. It makes sense that Joe realizes that he missed Annie’s kind-hearted and loving family almost as much as he missed her.

I enjoyed this book very much.

I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book that I received from Netgalley; however, the opinions are my own and I did not receive any compensation for my review.

This book has both cursing (including a lot of f-bombs) and on page sex – if those things bother you, this isn't the book for you.

The Bad Bachelors series has been hit or miss for me, I must admit. After reading the second book, I kind of wished that the first book had been a stand alone because the whole Bad Bachelor thing went from intriguing to baffling. While the concepts that were confusing in the second book weren't really explained any further in this book, the major problems with it were addressed so I very appreciated that. If you struggled with the concept of BB, you should definitely read this book.

I fully admit that I went into this book wary of Annie because she was not great in Bad Bachelor and flat-out horrible in Bad Reputation, but I also wanted to like her, for her to be redeemed, so I tried to go into this one with an open mind. The prologue of this book did nothing to help me like her, to the point where I found myself wondering why I was reading a book about someone so utterly selfish, but she did get better. For the most part, I did like her character but I admit that also wanted shake her hard when she was so delusional about the irreparable damage that her app had done to innocent men's lives while extolling its virtues just to make herself feel vindicated. I sort of liked the idea of Bad Bachelors in the first book, but Annie's self-absorbed stubbornness and refusal to see the damage it was causing – even after it almost ruined the lives of her two very best friends – was frustrating. But she did eventually make me like her, and I found myself rooting for her and Joseph to get their “stuff” together and find their happily ever after.

Joseph was also a tough character to get a feel for at first, but bear with him because he's really pretty great. He wasn't perfect, but he was a good guy who just wanted to feel like he mattered to someone. The more we got to know him, the more that I really liked him and I just wanted him to be himself and to be happy.

This love story is a hard-fought struggle literally from start to finish, but it's totally worth the ride and it was a really nice way to end this series.

First and foremost, Annie's story was everything I wanted and needed. From the first two books, I was dying to know what made Annie tick and what event encouraged her to launch Bad Bachelors. Her relationship was Preston was just as complicated and devastating as I expected and I shipped the two together immediately. In addition to being second-chance lovers, Annie and Joseph Preston were opposite's attract as well. Annie extended all of herself to help others and be around people, while Preston was more reserved and didn't have the best role models in life. When the two got together, it was like fighting fire with fire, but you could always tell that they had a soft spot for the other. Besides the romance, I was surprised that London chose to insert hacking and doxxing. The internet is not always a safe place for women and the London captured Annie's absolute fear as well as the cowards who act high and mighty behind a keyboard.

Dramatic, emotional, and sizzling!

Bad Influence is a heartwarming, passionate, second-chance romance that takes us into the lives of the resolute, intelligent, Annie and the charismatic, hardworking Joe as they discover that even though they let each other slip away once, the heart wants who the heart wants, and some things are worth fighting for.

The writing is smooth and crisp. The characters are smart, lovable, and alluring. And the plot is a wonderful blend of life, love, familial pressure, friendship, sizzling romance, introspection, happiness, and a little danger.

Bad Influence is the third and final story in the Bad Bachelors series, and even though it’s a little bittersweet to say goodbye to the characters we’ve come to know and love from the previous novels, it is nevertheless a lovely way to catch up on the whole gang and give Annie and Joe the happy-ever-after ending they deserve.

This was just okay for me, I didn't really care for Annie I found her hot and cold attitude after awhile annoying me. I felt it was her fault for the break up and maybe I let that influence my decision early on. I also felt at times it lagged and I skimmed pages.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance read, I am voluntarily providing my honest review.

This was such a surprisingly enjoyable read and now I'm upset with myself that I haven't read the first two books in this series!! I've never read anything by this author before but I'll be reading more from her now--excellent contemporary romance with a twist. Well developed characters with depth and soul that gave me all the "feels" I look for in books like this. Annie and Joe have their issues and the reason behind their breakup made me think...quite a bit actually which is a good thing! I could see both sides and because these characters were so well written it was hard to 'take a side" -- I loved them both! I thoroughly enjoyed this book and will be reading more from this author in the future. I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC for NetGalley.

Bad Influence by Stefanie London is simply amazing. No filler, fluff or over dramatization. This is second-chance romance the way it was meant to be written.

Annie and Joseph had a devastating break-up three years ago. Both were heartbroken and believe the other is at fault.

Now, Joe has returned home from abroad and quite literally runs into Annie.

Feelings of hurt, betrayal and anger are too apparent but love simmers just beneath.

When Annie has no other choice but to seek help and advice from Joe, old memories resurface.

Can these two take the tiny spark of love they still have for each other and make it burn bright again?

This is the third book in the series and although it can be read as a standalone, there are characters that are interwoven that have their own story in books one and two and I think you’ll want to start there because I now want to read those books!

The story is told in dual POV and the pace is good but in some areas it does lag. Especially when it comes to Annie and her decisions.

I truly loved this couple together. They were made for each other but let life and family get in the way.

This was a heartfelt, second-chance romance with a great story line and even better characters.

I received an ARC via NetGalley of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Bad Influence is a lovely conclusion, being the third and final book in the Bad Bachelors trilogy: Bad Bachelors (Darcy & Reed), Bad Reputation (Remi & Wes), and Bad Influence (Annie & Joseph).

I’ll admit to being a bit wary of this book. In the previous two books, Annie certainly didn’t present herself as a very likeable character. I wondered how I would feel sympathy and want a HEA for a woman who was willing to put a web site above the needs of her friends, who she calls her family, particularly Remi who was the most directly affected.

I should have had more faith in Stefanie London. Stefanie was able to weave a tale that made you care about Annie simply by getting a look at her motivations and thinking behind the site. As the story progresses we observe Annie self-analysing herself, and with this reflection, she begins to understand that maybe for all the good the site has done, it's also a dangerous weapon that has the potential to go wildly out of control. The catalyst for this self-analysis is the return of Joseph, the man that broke her heart, and a stalker who has obtained dangerous information about the Bad Bachelors app and threatens to damage all she holds dear.

Like the previous books in the series, the writing just flows, transporting you to modern day New York and immersing you into the lives of Annie and Joseph. Annie and Joseph are both sympathetically drawn, but their faults are not airbrushed. Through the book, they are forced to face their decisions and their own individual beliefs in their own self-righteousness. By seeing the reason for their break-up through each other's eyes, will they be able to find a way back to each other?

Bad Influence is a delightful conclusion to what has been a highly enjoyable series. Unlike the previous two books, I wouldn’t recommend this be read as a standalone. It could, and you’d still be able to follow it, but so much background information would be missed, and it is those details that really add a lot of depth to the story.