This book was really cute! I enjoyed the relationship between Mac and Cooper. I think I liked the journey of them getting together more than the book after they got together. Watching him put the moves on her during the bet was so cute. And biggest thing, it was able to get me out of my reading rut which has been next to impossible to do! Wooo

Overall would recommend

(ARC provided by NetGalley 🤍)

*ORIGINAL REVIEW ON MY GOODREADS LINKED BELOW*

I was a big fan of the off- campus / briar U series - so when I heard Elle was coming out with a new book I was really excited! First of all, the cover is really pretty and I love the colors.

I love the vibes of this book. If you really like the vibe / aesthetic of Gilmore Girls or Outer Banks then you should give this one a go! It definitely made me miss the summer and I’m definitely going to re read this when the time comes.

Mack (or Mackenzie) is so sweet and easy going but has this really fierce personality underneath. She’s such an aspiring person - she already has her future planned out and even has her own business! But I like how life throws barrels at her her and there because I loved seeing her character growth. She was such an interesting character and I love her.

Cooper is your typical bad boy. Very flirty , and very annoying towards Mack. But then you also have Preston on the other hand.

I loved reading throughout the book and seeing Mack’s decisions as she guides herself through life , picking up the missing pieces of Coopers secrets.

I loved this book so much, it was easy, fun and an all around enjoyable read. I’m so excited for people to find out about this book and read it - and if you’re new to Elle Kennedys fandom i highly recommend reading the off campus / Briar U series as well!

Again, thanks to NetGalley and St Martins Press / St Martins Griffin for the arc in exchange for an honest review!

This book had me hooked from the very start.
Mac and Cooper were able to bring out the best in each other. Mac was able to be more herself and trust what she wanted to do. Cooper started to believe more in himself and work on things he really wanted too.
It definitely had a raw and real feel to it. They weren’t perfect but they tried for each other.
There were very strong secondary characters, and I’m hoping to see more from them in the future!

The summary sounded interesting, but I think the story should have been rated YA for young adult. I am sure it would appeal to a younger reader, but the story was too predictable…boy gets angry at other boy, boy decides to hit back using boy’s girlfriend, boy falls in love with girl, girl learns that she was played, can he win her back? Of course, he can. I received an advance review copy at no cost and without obligation for an honest review. (by paytonpuppy)

Mackenzie has her life going in the direction she THINKS she wants it to be going. Then, she meets Cooper Hartley and all she believes begins to unravel. Everything Mac thought she knew about her future changed and she felt more free than ever before. Of course, there are some ups and downs on her beginning with Cooper, but at least, she is free from school, her parents, and her sleazy boyfriend. Anything else with Cooper is just the cherry on top. This was a super fun, easy read, that left me wanting to know more about their futures.

Good Girl Complex is such an amazing read. Breaking the rules never looked so good. You have the clone and the townie. The good girl and bad boy. You have looking past a person's status. That added angst and family drama. You have Mackenzie and Cooper who you are just going to love. Mackenzie is the good girl, the clone, more than what she seems and just simply amazing. I love how Mackenzie takes a stand and proves she is more than the girl that comes from money. She is not afraid of hard work. Cooper is that townie bad boy that will own your heart. He may have be a little jaded but he has such a big heart. I love Cooper and Mackenzie together. They make so much sense as you really get to know them. You will swoon when it comes to Cooper. I love Mackenzie and how she does not let anything stand in the way. Cooper and Mackenzie are full of surprises and bring out the best in each other. The Good Girl Complex just gives you these fabulous feels. You need to meet Cooper and Mackenzie and fall in love with them as revenge turns into more. Go one click this now.

I have always been a fan of Elle Kennedy, and I will always be. I am beyond excited that she is writing a new series.
We get to know more about Mackenzie and Cooper as they both navigate their lives. These two are so different that they should have never interacted with each other. But they are destined to meet each other when Mac's boyfriend starts beefing with townies.
I'm sorry, but I was just not into this book as much as I should. I think it's because I have high expectations whenever I read Elle Kennedy books. And this book just did not measure up. Mac and Cooper were just so childish with each other that it made no sense to me. Like c'mon, grow up a bit. And I also don't appreciate the cheating at all. That's not my thing.

Reading this I was definitely get After (by Anna Todd) vibes. Good girl with a boyfriend, Bad boy, a bet, mean girls, etc, etc.

Good girl Mac is always doing the right thing always trying to please her parents. Bad boy Cooper, who has a twin Evan, isn’t a fan of outsiders like Mac. There’s a bet made within the locals group of friends, and ping pongs between the connection between Mac and Coop. It’s a good read. I kept picturing the characters from After. A lot shorter than after with an HEA, overall I enjoyed it.

4.5 stars

You won me over, Elle Kennedy. I tried so hard not to like this book about beautiful, wealthy, privileged college kids who fall for sexy, troubled, tattooed working class locals. But you sucked me in with all your angst and drama.

Bring on the mega book hangover.

When I started Good Girl Complex, I was very much on the fence. I was turned off by the big chip on Cooper’s shoulder. I didn’t know if I could stomach another book about rich verses poor. But mostly I was skeptical of the fact that our heroine created an app about boyfriend fails yet has no idea her boyfriend of four years regularly cheats on her. (Don’t worry, this isn’t a spoiler since it’s revealed at the beginning of the book.) They have the same friend circles, they live in a time when everything is put on social media, and no one has accidentally slipped that he’s unfaithful!? I just wasn’t buying it. Yet.

But Elle Kennedy has breathed such life into each one of her characters, that they slowly wormed their way under my skin and had me believing.

This was my first book by Kennedy, and from the other reviews I’ve seen, it’s a departure from her usual sports-themed plots. But I had nothing to compare it to, and that definitely could have helped my enjoyment of the book.

In the beginning, these characters might appear to be predictable versions of their stereotypes, but I soon discovered they weren’t. Both our main characters have pasts that are holding them back, and they have ideas about each others’ backgrounds that are prejudiced, especially in Cooper’s case.

Told with dual point-of-views, it works perfectly in this story. It amps up the tension and heartbreak knowing their tortured thought processes as they navigate their new territories.

Cooper is not the typical bad-boy alpha male. At his core he’s kind, loyal, and determined. And while I started this book questioning his character, by the end I was one hundred percent a fan. And Mac isn’t the predictable spoiled rich girl. She’s independent, fierce, smart, and driven, as well.

All the side characters are fascinating, too. Especially Cooper’s twin, Evan, who I predict will have his own story next. And I’m here for it!

Even though I knew how this one would play out, I was whole-heartedly along for the ride. It’s been a while since I stayed up into the wee hours to finish a book, and I had so much fun reading this one!

Contemporary romance isn't my first pick of genre, but I've read a few lately that I have really enjoyed. When I saw this cover and read the synopsis, I had really high hopes for what this could be. Unfortunately, I was disappointed. The relationship was utterly lackluster. It's what you would expect two college aged companions to swear to as love, but really is just temporary physical attraction. Their relationship wasn't built on anything more than lies and lust. They had zero in common, and I don't mean that in the "opposites attract" sort of way, I mean in the "this relationship is destined to fail" sort of way. The hero, Cooper, was a possessive boyfriend that needed therapy from his childhood trauma. The heroine, Mac, was a naive millionaire who fell for his emotionally abusive behavior and called it love. They had zero conflict resolution skills. Then the cheating, goodness gracious. Let's put a cheating element in every single relationship portrayed, and try to make it normal. This whole thing was just a train wreck!
While I don't mind a little smut working its way into a romance novel, this might as well been advertised as an erotica novel. There were way too many overly descriptive scenes for my liking, or really for a book in this genre. It made the relationship feel even more lust-filled, and did the believability of the relationship zero favors.
I listened to this book on audio and enjoyed the narrator. The reason this book gets 2 starts instead of one is because I really did enjoy Elle Kennedy's writing STYLE, I just hated the characters, their interactions, and the plot. I'd give her another try, but wouldn't recommend this book to any of my friends or family. I received a copy of this book digitally via NetGalley. I read and reviewed this book voluntarily, and all opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

It starts off slow and kind of dense, but once the action begins, it's hard to resist the story as it drives forward. It reads as a true epic, one that makes you feel the world really has been reshaped as you read it. Would recommend.

Sassy, sexy, smart banter? Check.
Sweet and decent girl meets tattooed troubled boy? Check.
Super hot chemistry? Check.

Elle Kennedy has done it again! As usual, I love her work, and look forward to rereading this as soon as I get my hands on the physical copy.

Elle Kennedy is a comfort author. Her books are well-written and handle issues with care, but also contain enough emotional fluff to be enjoyable at any time, regardless of what you're going through. This one feels like a slightly sanitized version of the usual, which I did expect coming from a major publisher. I think this will expand her audience, and it's earned!

The leading couple have a natural friendship, and the chemistry is pretty sexy. I like that Elle's characters know how to apologize, and intend to work on their flaws while learning to leave space for others to make mistakes. It felt very true to life. The supporting characters are frustrating but grow over the course of the book. Elle doesn't leave any loose ends. It did drag just slightly around the 3/4 mark for me, but that's fine. I trust her and knew we were moving forward nonetheless. I already recommend her books to fellow romance readers, and and am happy to do so with this release. Also, I hope to read more about the supporting characters like we did with her other series.

I struggled trying to rate this book. On one hand it’s super cute and I loved the main characters and it wasn’t too emotional of a love story.

On the other hand, I’m not a huge fan of the “date on a date/challenge” trope. This one was a good version of that trope but still not my favorite. It’s too dishonest for me.

But the main things that kept this book a 3 star instead of 4 was the lack of resolution for the side characters. We learn so much about their complexity and issues they are facing and yet we get 0 resolution for any of them! At least nothing satisfying. I also feel the big reveal wasn’t as shocking or emotional as it could have been.

However, I thought this book was a super fun cute read if you just looking for something light hearted.

Elle Kennedy has done it again.

I’m a sucker for bad boy meets good girl gone wild.

Cooper and Mac had chemistry from the start. Their tension was too much to handle sometimes.

Cooper’s character was easily likable to me. He’s the typical bad boy with a rough childhood trauma that’s made him the person he is. He’s sexy, a player, and works hard for what he wants. And what he wants, he gets.

Enter Mackenzie, something else Cooper wants. But she’s playing hard to get. Mostly because she has a boyfriend, but it’s obvious she likes the chase. And Cooper is definitely chasing her. I was so happy when she finally broke up with Preston and owned up to her parents about what she really wants to do. I also wish we saw Cooper groveling a bit more after she found out about what he did.

Either way, the pair brought out the best in each other (besides arguing all the time about silly things). Overall, I’d recommend this to anyone looking for a good romance book.

I need a book about Evan now! Or Steph! Or Tate and Alana!

Was very excited to read more new adult from Elle Kennedy. This felt more mature and written very well from off-campus.

Opposites attract typical wealthy girl meets bad boy. Solid steamy and romance vibes. Felt a bit predictable at times but solid read

This one just didn't do it for me. I 'd heard a lot about Elle Kennedy's other work and was excited to give this one a try, but it fell flat. Mackenzie was really selfish and mean a lot of the time. The aspect with Cooper was bad too I mean pretending to like someone and then falling for them without saying anything is just a little lackluster. The scenery was well done and I did love the attention to detail that Kennedy had, it just didn't end up being for me.

This book read like one of my favorite rom-com movies honestly. The characters were cute and entertaining. I could see where this could spin off into a series. I didn't find the story to be unique but I did enjoy it. This is your classic good girl meets bad boy story. It is cute as all hell.

If you've ever seen Crazy/Beautiful with Kirsten Dunst, this book reminded me of that. If you haven't seen it, this book gives off Outer Banks vibes as well. Elle Kennedy sets the scene and a clear divide between the townies and the snobby rich folks.

Mackenzie is rich, she has always done what her parents have asked of her. She has always believed in "the plan". Although she appears to be on board for "the plan" she still finds these small freedoms. She is rich but she is also self made from her own business that her parents hate. I have a love/hate relationship with her because at some points she seemed too smart to behave so stupid. But alas, she is young so her behavior can be excused. We can chalk up her misgivings to being young and in love.

Cooper is the rugged town hottie so it seems. When he encounters Preston (Mackenzie's current beau) and loses his job, he decides to get revenge on Preston through his girl. What starts out as a revenge plan turns into love. Mac isn't the girl Cooper thought she was. She's everything and more.

Their love story is packed with drama but it does end with a HEA. I read this book in one sitting and found it to be super cute read that her readers will enjoy.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Mac and Cooper's relationship is super messed up and toxic right from the jump. Relationships founded based on an elaborate revenge plot will do that, I suppose.

Still, the chemistry between the two is really amazing. Mac is an entrepreneur who's part of the rich kids college crowd, and Cooper is a bad boy townie who hates the college "clones" with a passion. There's a little bit of an enemies to lovers vibe, but Mac doesn't realize she's the enemy... and then they become friends and the friends to lovers and mutual pining tropeyness abounds.

This also required some suspension of disbelief on my part, because I had trouble understanding how Mac is somehow a self-made millionaire based solely on her founding of two websites that basically sound like Reddit threads. O...kay? I also struggled a bit because so many of the characters were just downright unlikable - even Cooper and Mac at times. Mac's roommate Bonnie is the only character I was whole-heartedly in it for.

Still, both Cooper and Mackenzie some really great self-growth and come out the other side stronger individuals for it. And like I said, their chemistry is really amazing, with really fun banter especially when they're in a sort of frenemies stage of their relationship. This is a fun, flirty, steamy new adult college romance.

I'm not sure if this is part of a series - the title says it's "an Avalon Bay novel," so I'm hoping so because I'd REALLY like Bonnie's story!

Opposites attract in the "Good Girl Complex" making this book one I was eager to jump into. However, the more I read, the less I liked the characters. Not only did I struggle with connecting to the main characters, but the side characters weren't any better for me. I did enjoy Kennedy's writing style and would be interested in reading more from her. However, this one just fell flat for me.