Elle Kennedy is such a delightful author. Fans of her Briar U & Off Campus' series will love this book. It has a lot of what you come to expect with Kennedy, but in my opinion is a little more mature.

I have been on an Elle kick lately and when I saw she had a new one with new characters I was all over this.

Copper lives in a College town where he encounters rich “clones” all the time. They think they are better than him and the other locals and can do anything they want without consequences because they just throw around their money.
When one guy takes it to far and gets him fired, Cooper decides that enough is enough and he is going to get a little bit of revenge.
He is going to take something that doesn’t belong to him.

Mackenzie has always played the role of perfect little rich girl. She may not always want to but she always falls in line.
Mac has been with her boyfriend for years because it is what is expected. Even though there is not really a deep love, it is comfortable. The future is set out for her to play loyal wife who supports her husband while she gives up any dream she may have had.

Enter Cooper. He is going to get Mac to fall for him all in the name of revenge.
That’s is until he realizes that there is something different about her and his black and white plans just got a little grey.

Mac grew on me as she started to come into her own. Once she decided she was done playing the role everyone else expected her to play and be who she really was and wanted to be.
I loved Copper and the whole group of friends.
Copper loves his family and friends fiercely and once he realizes that Mac isn’t who he assumed from the start, he softens fairly quickly to her too.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!
4.5 stars for me!

This was a fun, dual perspective, steamy new adult summer romance between two twenty somethings from opposite sides of the track.

Mackenzie is from wealth and privilege and is dealing with the mounting pressure of her parents and boyfriend to live up to societal expectations for a woman of her class. Her idea of what she wants out of life starts to change when she begins summer school at a college on an island and meets Cooper, a hot townie she has trouble keeping away from.

Their relationship has a lot of ups and downs with a juvenile type of bet but I really loved Cooper and his twin brother Evan. The brothers are working hard to make something of themselves despite having a toxic mother. This book gave me a lot of Gilmore Girls and Jennifer Weiner summer reads vibes. Much thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for my advance review copies!!

2.5 stars

This New Adult novel features expected characters and an expected storyline, and while this may sound comforting and appealing in these trying times, the complete package is a bit of a letdown overall.

The perspectives switch between the two central characters, and for me, they had little to offer. One character is a (recently fired) bartender and self-described "townie," and his ways of resolving conflict include physical altercations and revenge dating: a catch! The other is...a wealthy person who isn't like every other wealthy person (she is, though). This one, Mac, is young, but that's no excuse for how weirdly clueless she is. There are flashing warnings all around her, but she sees none of them. She's too busy being offended by her mean, boring professors (*sighs forever*) and making heinous financial and life decisions. Don't worry, though. She and the guy with no coping mechanisms are going to save each other (still sighing). Be sure to join her in noticing how cool it is that a sexual partner doesn't even hesitate when she asks him to use a condom. Does he...get an award for this?

I really enjoy women's fiction and romance, and this is just a basic version of both. There are a lot of missed opportunities here. Perhaps others find this appealing (!!!), but when a male partner in an adult hetero relationship refers to a female partner as "Princess" without the slightest hint of irony, I'm finding that gross, not romantic or anything close. Readers who find this charming may be a better audience than I am.

After over a month of trying to read the electronic version and getting only two chapters in, the audio arc helped a lot; I flew through the remainder in one day. Readers drawn to this book because of its related genres, cover, or even title should consider scrolling further in the queue. Sadly, you've already read this one in many other iterations.

Thank you to NetGalley for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Yet another Elle Kennedy book that I enjoyed! Mackenzie is a rich girl and Cooper is a local bad boy with tattoos. Cooper and Mackenzie have the banter and the chemistry! The only problem is that she has a boyfriend. Her boyfriend is the reason that Cooper was fired so he plans on getting revenge by seducing Mackenzie.

Now there were times where I was annoyed with Mackenzie and being like “honey that’s a big RED FLAG”! But I was glad to see Mackenzie’s growth throughout the story and her finally sticking up for herself and standing her ground.

I really wanted an epilogue though. I hope we get more books for us to get back to Avalon Bay because I want more of all the characters.

I have been an avid Elle Kennedy fan for years and was so excited to be approved for the ARC of The Good Girl Complex. Her writing has only gotten better with each book and The Good Girl Complex is a great example of that.
Mac is this girl stuck on a path to a life decided for her by everyone around her. Until, of course, she meets Cooper. The plot for this book was original and full of emotion. I really sympathized with Mac’s character and her feelings towards her parents. Her chemistry with Cooper was well written and I enjoyed the pacing Mac’s character development as the plot continued.
I did feel that the plot had some slower points to it and was dragged down at times by the inner monologues of the main characters.
Elle Kennedy has a was of making her characters timelines realistic/believable in a way that I haven’t seen in another author. However, the plot did feel distracted at some points and that caused the pacing to slow for me. However, I really loved the characters and hope we get more books featuring the characters mentioned in this one

Did I finish this book in less than 24 hours? YEP.

Good Girl Complex was just a well-thought out romance book. Set in a coastal town with a selective university, you get the classic townie vs. rich college student dynamic. I enjoyed both the hero and heroine of this story - they both felt like real, whole characters with their own problems, ambitions, and qualities.

Also, the steam wasn't too frequent, but when it happened - WOAH. I loved it so so much.

This was the first book I've read by this widely known author. I was completely blown away, it was such a fun quick read. I loved every aspect of the story.
The whole grumpy sunshine trope was brought to the next level in this one, and I absolutely loved it. The whole way Mac and Cooper came together was a great plot line. And I enjoyed the spicy scenes a lot!
I highly recommend this to any fan of romance, or someone trying to get into romance. The story itself was amazing and the intricate plot line was excellent. I can wait to read more by this author!

Good Girl Complex is the perfect beach read(or winter read for a more tropical setting to escape to). Although there are some typical tropes - bad boy meets good girl, love triangles, opposites attract, the characters are well developed and add something different. I didn't grow to like the characters as much as I sometimes do, but it's well written and an overall easy and enjoyable read.

A fantastic book with characters you can't help falling in love with that brings out the hopeless romantic in anyone who reads it!

Good Girl Complex has sweet characters, plenty of hijinks, a lot of steam and steam build-up, and overall, a story about overcoming hang-ups to become a better person. That said, this was a good story that has hints of stories like 10 Things I Hate About You-Cooper is fired from his bar job after a brawl with a rich jerk making advances on another waitress. To get revenge, Cooper finds out who the guy is dating and decides, along with his friends, that he's going to basically steal the girlfriend, then drop her once the guy is humiliated enough. (Sounds a little toxic, no?) Anyway, Cooper catches feelings and scraps the original plan, and of course, keeps the whole revenge plot a secret.

So yeah, super fun read, and the plot moved pretty fast! I enjoyed this one, and recommend it for you if you like sweet grand gestures, spice, the idea of rich people and "townies" and that dynamic (a la Outer Banks), and just romance in general!

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for an e-ARC!

This definitely gave off After series vs Outer Banks vibes??

Bad boy gets with good girl for the wrong reasons (the after vibes), takes place in a beachy South Carolina town divided by “townies” and the wealthy (the OBX vibes)

Overall I did enjoy it! It was fast paced and easy to follow along, but nothing revolutionary.

Also for two people who have a lot of sex, not much of it was shared. It just started.. then ended. No details. If you’re looking for smut, you won’t be satisfied here.

I live Elle Kennedy—she’s an auto buy for me. And Good Girl Complex did not disappoint. It had steam, and sass, and sweetness, and angst. New characters you’re sure to love!

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.

Totally Outer Banks vibes reading this new book by Kennedy. It was a cute and sassy read but it just wasn't as good as some of her precious books have been for me. Overall, left me a bit disappointed. Thank you netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

Mixed feelings, mixed expectations, mixed worlds ..... and a story that has enough elements and potential to keep the reader's attention until the very end. A book in which not everything is black and white, but a whole rainbow of feelings and descriptions that will make you get to know the characters and experience their story .....
She was born with a silver spoon in her mouth, a rich heiress who from an early age must adapt to other people's hopes, other people's plans, other people's expectations. Everything must go according to the plan, a plan made by other people. Then who is she? An entitled chick or just an ordinary pawn in the world of the rich ..... Is she even allowed to feel?
He is the bad boy from the neighborhood, everything about him screams danger, get as far as possible on a neon sign, but how can she avoid all the excitement that his words arouse? How can she resist the temptation of his kisses? ...
One kiss, one risk, one feeling ... but can that feeling break the shackles of social norms? Can an unpredictable encounter break the predictability of the prison, called her life?
Elle Kennedy's style is definitely something that brings about the familiar mix of sweetness and cruelty that I have always liked in her books. As parts of this new puzzle that she has created are slowly being revealed, I am increasingly drawn to the mix of new and well-known elements that are part of her stories. With a light tone she mixes silly with serious topics and forces the reader to become more and more invested in the characters who somehow come to life through the pages, we get to know them, we get to learn how to predict their reactions in a given situation, but more and more we want to reach the end- the finale while at the same time we want it to last a bit longer. The balance of the descriptors and the details are absolutely perfect, neither too much nor too little so as not to bore the reader, but just enough to get them fully interested in the story. Unlike the previous works I have read, here the level of sexual tension, as well as the emotional attachment of the characters are not so explosive, which honestly suited me at this moment. Mackenzie is a character who is most certainly a perfect heroine, a well-mannered young lady trying to find her way, her place in this world. A girl who is not afraid to see her flaws, nor to face challenges. Cooper, on the other hand, will surely not be on my list of favorite book boyfriends. From the very beginning with that infamous bet, through the petty bourgeoisie, until the stereotyping, the hero in this story did not delight me in any way. To want to revenge upon someone who did you wrong is one thing, but to include innocent people ….definitely not my cup of tea, hot as hell or not. The idea of ​​a story about a princess and a bad boy is quite intriguing, but I'm not sure that creating such a character achieves the desired realization. I think the whole behavior of the gang is incredibly disgusting, to want revenge and ruin the life of someone you have not met is ultimately horrible, to hate someone for being different is repulsive…..
But as we all know, perfection rarely exists, maybe the characters have flaws, we all do, right? But I have to admit that this book has the potential to provide you with a perfect journey into a different world.

MacKenzie and Cooper - a disaster waiting to happen? Or the pairing of two highly attractive opposites?

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Cooper is a Townie in a small coastal North Carolina town. MacKenzie, daughter of a congressman, is "wifey" material - born and bred to be the "arm-candy" wife of an equally socially prominent scion of a filthy rich corporate big wig. - also known as "the Clones."

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Naturally the Townies resent the Clones and their pompous ways. West Side Story meets The Devil Wears Prada and then some!

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One fateful night, Cooper gets on the wrong side of MacKenzie's boyfriend, Preston. There is a bit of rough housing and Cooper loses his job, all because Preston can't keep his hands off the hired help. Lines are drawn in the sand and the Townies vow revenge against "the Clones."

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But what starts out as the perfect cat and mouse game of revenge turns into a complicated dance of red-hot attraction. Things get real, fast, and Cooper finds himself caught in his own trap.

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Elle Kennedy knows how to stoke a sizzling fire so that when these two gorgeous specimens finally give in to their undeniably incendiary sexual chemistry, you can't help but groan with relief.
FINALLY!!!!!

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Elle Kennedy surely knows how to spin a stormy, passion-laced tale! She manages to put a different spin on all the usual tropes so that you don't feel you are going down a too familiar road.
And that ending! Cooper laid it all out there - the candles, the passionate speech, the rocking chairs........
Big sigh.... way to go, Dude!

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This is my first Elle Kennedy book and I totally get why everyone loves her. She is an amazing writer and I will definitely be reading more from her. This is the basic outline of ten things I hate about you set in college, with a rich driven girl and a local bad boy, added spice, banter, and chemistry. I loved this and couldn't put it down. The two characters completely worked together. They each had solid back stories that made them feel like completely flushed out characters. I was nervous about this being about a girl cheating on her boyfriend (even if he wasn't a great a guy) but the way it handles this is something that I can still enjoy the book with. Things start out as friends but once the girl realizes she has feelings and kisses the boy she stops things and the next day tells her boyfriend about it. I felt like it was the best way to handle the situation in this plot.

The two characters romance is completely adorable and filled with chemistry. One of the best couples I've read about in a while.

This was definitely a cute and easy read. I was drawn to this because of the author and the cover - and the cover definitely sets the vibe for the book in my opinion. The book is set in the beachside town of Avalon Bay, where the community is made up of locals and wealthy (and often at least a bit entitled) students from a nearby college. Mackenzie, or Mac as she tends to go by, is technically one of those wealthy students although she is fairly down to earth and doesn't act super entitled. When Mac meets Cooper, a local bad boy of Avalon Bay, i found it to be under ideal circumstances. I wasn't the biggest fan of their first few interactions but I did like the friendship they come to have for a good portion of the book. I was also glad that nothing really happened between the two while Mac still had a boyfriend.
The side characters in the book were also pretty great. I admired how much a lot of them obviously cared for Cooper and wanted to protect him when Mac first came more into the picture. I thought how Cooper's friends came to like Mac in the end felt genuine and didn't seemed like it was being forced. I really did enjoy the friendships along with the side characters of the story.
I thought the romance wrapped up well in the end and I was happy with the outcome. The only think I did have an issue with throughout the book is that it seemed like there was a fair amount of misogyny. I felt like the views most of the men in the story had about romance and relationships seemed a bit outdated and I wasn't the biggest fan of that.
Overall I thought the book was sassy, upbeat, and a quick read. I'd give it 3.5 simply because the misogyny wasn't something I enjoyed at all and it drew my focus to that, otherwise I did find the book quite likeable. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC.

Such a great book! I rated Good Girl Complex five stars for its relatable characters, despite their differences, and the plotline that kept me swiping from one page to the next as fast as I could! Loved this one.