Good Girl Complex tells the story of Meg, a goody-two-shoes rich girl, and Cooper, a bad boy with a troubling past.
The premise is filled with a lot of tropes and sadly the book also felt like it was filled with a lot of them.
While I really enjoyed how atmospheric the fictional town of Avalon Boy felt and how comfortable to read the writing style was, I was a bit disappointed with some of the other aspects.
I personally felt like there was not enough tension between the two main characters and some of the plot points either felt too unrealistic or were very easy to solve.
Nonetheless, I would recommend the book to people who are looking for a lighthearted and quick read!
Thank you to St. Martin's Press for the copy!

3.5 stars?? I originally was thinking 4, but now I’m conflicted.

I really liked some parts of this book, and other parts I really hated. The author simply made some choices in this book that I feel should just be left in the past of the romance genre. The premise of this book sounds pretty normal, but it completely fails to mention that this book contains the “bet” trope?? I’m sure you know the one I’m referring to, where the male (in most cases) makes a bet in reference to the female and the romance builds off of the male perusing the female in order to complete the bet. At the end of the day it is fiction, but I really just feel like this trope just really isn’t amazing. It promotes the bad intentions these relationships are built off of, and the mess of lying and betrayal it causes throughout just ends up being a mess. And in every case the girl forgives the boy, and all is well. And I just feel like it shouldn’t be?? Regardless of what the boy ends up feeling for the girl, going after the girl with horrible intentions isn’t excusable at all to me. The only reason I still rated this high is because the extent it went to in this book wasn’t too bad?? I don’t want to spoil anything but I’ll say it’s just not at the same level of toxicity that other books with this trope seem to have.

However, besides the horrible trope it was built off of I did actually really enjoy the romance between Cooper and Mac throughout this novel. It was interesting to see the parallels between their seemingly opposite childhoods. And overall I wouldn’t necessarily label them as toxic I just think Cooper’s intentions with Mac in the beginning could have been better, and he definitely should have confessed much sooner, instead of letting the mess of Mac finding out occur.

The beachside setting of this book was also nicely developed, and definitely made the book more light when the storyline got dark at times. The writing itself was easy to read and pretty straightforward, which I prefer in this genre. Kennedy also threw some elements into this book that I really enjoyed, such as Daisy the dog and Mac’s large purchase that I won’t spoil.

I think an epilogue could have made this book stronger and answered some questions I felt were unanswered. Nevertheless, I still recommend checking this out when it releases on February 1st of next year. I haven’t read any of her other books, so I can’t speak on how this compares to them, but I’m sure fans of her other titles will enjoy this as well.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Griffin for providing me with this eARC (via NetGalley) in exchange for an honest review. This review will be posted immediately to my Goodreads and BookBub.

I was fortunate enough to receive an ARC if this book and I thoroughly enjoyed it! Who doesn’t love hot twins, a sassy female, and the rich/poor divide coupled with a small beach town? I loved Mac and Cooper and their group of friends and all of the ups and downs that brought them closer together and further apart! I definitely recommend this book for a fun, sexy, can’t put down read. Definitely check this one out!

I thought I would enjoy this book and I really didn't. I found Mac to be an annoying narrator, stuck in her own world, self-obsessed, and convinced she was better than everyone. If anyone uses the phrase "my first million" more than once, you know it's a problem. And she never got better (not that I think being friends with 'the poor' should've made her humble but I was kind of expecting that plot device), she remained annoyingly rich and self-centred right through the book.

As someone who has never read Elle Kennedy before, this isn't inspiring me to pick up another of her books.

This was such an amazing book! I love the bad boy/ good girl romances (cause who doesn’t) but I can never find one that does the trope justice... until now! And if that wasn’t enough it’s literally such a quotable book! Mac and Cooper are amazing characters and I absolutely love them! This book is a must read!

This was a personal selection, and not at all for educational purposes. A cute summer time beach read that I think many who enjoy rom-com’s and Kennedy’s past work will enjoy!

Elle Kennedy's NA indie romances have always been an auto-buy for me so I'm happy to see her traditionally publishing them now, and overall this book was a fun and enjoyable start to a new series, with the only downside being that the ending felt a bit rushed. Looking forward to the next one for sure, though! (Also it made me want to binge watch Outer Banks but that is entirely on me and not the author. :))

From the first paragraph, I knew this book would be a good one. I immersed myself into the book from the first chapter and I cannot say enough good things about this book! Honestly amazing! The writing is incredible and the plot is just one to die for. I am absolutely obsessed with this book. My favorite part would have to be the character development throughout the book. Character development is something I look forward to and this book did not disappoint.

Elle Kennedy is almost always a slam dunk and this book was no exception! The plot itself was very familiar but I wasn't bothered. It was swoony and fun and exactly what I needed this past week.

I'd recommend this book to readers looking for a romance about people in their 20s. Each of the main characters was dealing with a difficult family situation and figuring out how to balance what they wanted out of life vs. what was expected of them.

As always, I'm interested in the character names. My favorites belonged to twins Cooper and Evan and their uncle Levi.

This is my first non-hockey book I've read by Elle Kennedy (and we all know how utterly obsessed with those books I am). And this book was amazing!!!

This book has Elle Kennedy's signature sarcastic, smartass banter that I absolutely adore and am obsessed with! It's so strange to not be in the Off-Campus/Briar-U world since I've read and reread those books more times than I can keep track of. But this setting was incredible! I loved this small beach town setting. It was cute, quaint, cozy, and had the perfect setup and vibes for this romance! And these characters are new, fresh, and got me completely invested!

We have Mac and Cooper here with the intense chemistry and the tension was absolutely spectacular! I loved their banter and they way they fought both with and for each other. Not only the amount of passion they had for each other, but the love they had and showed each other was amazing! I loved seeing the character development between Cooper and Mac. Yes, they obviously grew together, but witnessing their individual growth from the very beginning just had me sitting on the sidelines yelling and cheering them on and feeling so proud of them and the way they carried themselves, viewed themselves, and treated themselves in the way they deserved.

The concept of found family in this book was awesome to read about too. The beauty, that even though you may not have a great biological family, you can choose the people who can become your new, chosen family. You can choose who to love and fight for to keep in your life. Blood doesn't always matter. It matters who you feel safe with and can love and be loved by.

Overall, this book was incredible and I had the best time reading it and reuniting with Kennedy's incredible writing. I can't wait for everyone to read this and fall in love with this new set of characters like I did! This book also sort of hints at the potential for a series with other characters having their own books and I would never say no to that...

*A huge thank you to Elle Kennedy and Netgalley for gifting me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.)

I was so feeling this book! It was adorable!! I found myself giggling and blushing but also ready to throw hands. It wasn’t as spicy as The Deal, but I liked this one more!! Still 18+, not very many spicy scenes but the spice that is here is good. A spicy rom com I am so here for.

Honestly… I didn’t really like this. I liked the style of writing and even the premise. But their relationship.. it was volatile and unhealthy. Borderline abusive. And I just couldn’t get on board with it. I wish she had ended up being a boss babe by herself.

Sweet, lighthearted read! Author Elle Kennedy strikes again with this contemporary NA read with main characters Mackenzie "Mac" who is sweet and affluent, and Cooper, the rough "bad boy" from the other side of the tracks. The two together explode in chemistry, sexual tension, and witty banter all throughout the book!

This book is like Gilmore Girls meets Outerbanks, so no wonder I loved it! Thank you to the author, St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for allowing me access to this ARC for an honest review.

This was the perfect book to read after my previous flop, because it just NAILS an honest portrayal of infidelity. Mackenzie and Cooper are constantly thrust together and have instant chemistry. While they come from different worlds, they relate so well and you can't help but root for then. Toss in a devilish bet, a stuck-up boyfriend, and the cutest puppy ever and you have a recipe for success. This book makes me want to sit in a rocking chair and sip sweet tea, just soaking it all up.

*Thank you to St Martin's Griffin and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review*

*This book was given to me by NetGalley in return for an honest review*

This contemporary romance was a fun, easy read for me. Cooper's family issues were fleshed out and enriched him as a character. I think I might have enjoyed the side characters even more than Cooper and Mac, which makes me hopeful Kennedy is planning to follow them in future books.

Mackenzie Cabot, daughter of a politician, has followed her parent's rules for the past 2o years. While her life is all about plans and privilege, she was able to work out a deal with her parents - she'll delay the start of college at the university of their choice if they allow her a year to build her business. But as she makes good on her promise, Mac starts to see her life isn't what she thought, especially her relationship with Preston, her parent-approved boyfriend from high school. But waiting in the wings is Cooper, the local bad boy who has it in for elitist Preston. But when Mac and Coop meet, their preconceived notions of the other challenge everything they *think* they know about the class differences that make them total opposites.

Now, take everything I just wrote, but make it fun. Make it flirty. Make it so you really want more, and you hope, hope, hope Elle Kennedy has another book planned with these characters. Because Evan, Cooper's twin, NEEDS to take his turn as the leading man. Take me back to Avalon Bay, baby!

What a great read! I thoroughly enjoyed this bad boy / good girl romance. It hooked me right from the beginning and really delivered on heart and humor. Mac and Cooper had great chemistry and were truly just fun to read about. Their characters were well-developed and layered. I liked the different family sub-storylines and all of the friend side characters,

I do wish there had been an epilogue, but I'm hoping for more stories from this world where we'll get peeks at Mac and Cooper!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review,

This reads like a stereotype romance and I didn't feel the need to continue reading it stopped reading after 21% If you enjoy predicable romance this is for you. DNF

*********************************I received an ARC for my honest review.************************************

I think this book was great!! The characters seemed super developed and the town that was created really brought you in. It was great that we had characters that we truly wanted to root for!