honestly, i had higher expectations for this book. i was immediately disappointed with the big conflict elle kennedy chose to centre the entire plot on because it was very predictable and that’s what made the book less interesting to read.

i didn’t feel much of a connection the characters which is another reason this book was a 3 star read for me. however, certain aspects were great—especially the tropes elle incorporated with the main couple and the friendship/family bonds were heartfelt.

overall, this was a quick book i would recommend if you’re looking for a cute and easy read.

Elle Kennedy can be depended on for a fun read, and GOOD GIRL COMPLEX was no exception. Cooper was an Everyman bad boy with a grudge against the rich crowd. Then he meets Mac, the rich good girl looking for more. I really enjoyed their connection, and the friendship between Cooper and Mac. At first, Mac frustrated me but I really like how she eventually stood up for herself. Not real crazy about love triangles, but the trope was handled well here.

When will these boys learn a bet never works out as planned?! Cooper was great mix of bad boy, loyalty and confidence. Really loved him. Mac was very likable and was a unique character in being both the "princess" but always hardworking and actually did build a life away from her prestigious family. Good Girl Complex included many of my favorite troupes from having a hot converted closed off bad boy, two mismatched leads that turn out to be perfect, told from both leads point of view, and of course, some steam. Highly recommend.

I loved how the friendship developed with the MC's. i though they're chemistry was instant and i like how open they were with their attraction. that being said, it had a lot of characters (maybe the author is writing more books based on the area) and that got kind of confusion. Also, i didn't buy that she would purchase a hotel randomly. otherwise i liked the book and read it within a day or two.

This was fun! This book was lighthearted, funny, and SHOCKINGLY compelling. I devoured this in one sitting - Meg was an interesting protag, and Cooper was super charming. Their relationship had me hooked almost immediately. I'm not typically fond of romances where the premise is "our lives are simply too different, we can't make it work" but somehow Elle Kennedy hooked me with this.

I enjoy a good romance-ish book every once in a while. Nothing like a little love to breakup all the thriller/mysteries I read. But, this one just hit me wrong. Since the beginning, I knew everything that was going to happen. It’s nothing new but a little too been there done that for 2021.

<<SPOILERS START NOW>>


Here are the things I didn’t like and wonder if those that loved this book thought the same things.

1. Why drag Mac into Cooper’s revenge plot. I know Heidi was hesitant but I hated that everyone else thought it would be a good idea to just use Mac like that and think it’s ok. There were other ways to get back at Preston.

2. Why are all the girls these bad boys fall for written as the ‘she’s different from other girls. She’s so cool and fun and is a tshirt and jeans type person’ plus she’s a good girl who’s crazy in bed? It’s been overdone and cliche.

3. The ending was too abrupt. She forgives him and all is well. An epilogue would have been a good idea. Just to tie things up for me. Does Mac open the hotel, does Evan get over his ex. Does Heidi finally come around to Mac?

4. That’s another thing. Heidi was mad at Cooper, for good reason. But she took it out on Mac and I hated that. Why do we always pin girls against each other when they’re really just mad at the guy who wronged them? Happens in real life too and it drives me crazy.


The book was engaging. I read the entire thing in 2 days. So it was easy to read. I just have been wanting more for my romance/rom com books lately, something different. Just didn’t get it from this one.

2.5 stars, rounded up

i really don't know how to feel about this book. i'm a casual fan of elle kennedy. i liked off-campus and briar u as my guilty pleasure reads and i should have went into this book with the same mindset. but i didn't and i think that really lessened my enjoyment of the book.

the book follows mackenzie - or mac - and cooper. mac is your typical rich girl that wants more freedom and cooper is your typical "bad boy". the two meet, hit it off, fall in love, face a few problems, then reunite. typical elle kennedy formula. but idk, i just feel like this was a really forgettable book for me because i was on autopilot.

i can see why this book would be people's cup of tea. the 'good girl/bad boy' trope is a fan favorite for a reason. add in a bet, rich girl/poorer boy, and smut and you have what most people would love in a romance book. unfortunately, these things just didn't work out for me. i found that the characters were so flat and one-dimensional. they were pulled straight out of wattpad. if you exchanged cooper and mac's names for y/n and harry styles, you could most likely find a fanfic like this on wattpad.

mac especially irked me. she was your typical rich girl who wanted "more in life". i hated the shit she put up with and i found her development to be a little sudden. i would have liked to see more a gradual and natural development in her, especially because she had such a good set-up for that. i also thought that things came too easily for her, especially when it came to her problems with cooper's friends. that particular arc was resolved in five chapters when it was built up for half the book.

cooper's your typical bad boy, i guess. i wasn't really invested in him. he was kinda boring and just horny. idk. i just couldn't relate to the two main characters and couldn't care for them. their romance was cute i suppose, just a bit on the insta love/lust side, which again, is not my cup of tea. i felt like the two just had sexual tension and would have liked to see more romantic tensiom between the two of them.

i thought the ending was cute. i really liked coopers' ending with his family, i genuinely teared up at that part. and the final grand gesture was nice and fit the story. i liked the side characters and side plots a lot more than mac and cooper. would have loved to see more bonnie and levi! pls give me more.

would recommend this to people who have enjoyed elle kennedy's books and people who love trope-y stuff. otherwise, steer clear. maybe i picked this up at the wrong time, who knows.

4.5*

WOW! I loved this book. Gave off very similar vibes to ‘The Mistake’. The whole book was a different font of After, but I really enjoyed it. Elle Kennedy did a great job at differentiating it, but I can assure you if you liked after you will definitely like this book too. It wasn’t as steamy as I would’ve liked, but there was enough spice to keep me semi-satisfied. The only thing I didn’t like was the ending — it seemed a bit abrupt. BUT, there was a setup for a potential sequel (which I will definitely be reading!!). Overall, a great book. Would recommend!!

I’m not going to give a full review on this, while it was enjoyable, I’ve recently been informed that Elle Kennedy is a problematic person. Some of my close friends have told me she has lesbian fetishization in her off campus series therefore I will be rating this low since I can’t not rate it. This book was okay to say the least and I’m usually all for romance but I wasn’t feeling this book.

You can never go wrong with an Elle Kennedy book. I absolutely loved her previous NA romances, and this one was just as good! The characters were so real and three dimensional. The plot kept me engaged and interested. I could not put this book down. Can’t wait to see if Evan gets a book.

elle kennedy i am begging you please get rid of cargo pants and cargo shorts no matter how good you think they make a guys a** look. every single book of her that i’ve read seems to have a guy in cargo shorts.

but now onto the review, cooper hartley reminds me of a combo of a few of elle kennedy’s past main characters but not in a bad way. he’s the so called tattooed “bad boy” with family issues, who seems to enjoy sleeping around. mac on the other hand is one of the “clones”, who goes to the prestigious college in their small beach town. mac was a character i really enjoyed too. she was a lot more developed than some of kennedy’s characters in the past. mac is an entrepreneur who has goals and ambitions of her own. the two begin as friends, while mac is still with her boyfriend and following her parents rules. <spoiler> not really a spoiler but the cheating trope kinda bothered me. mac seems so judgmental of the other rich girls for excusing cheating, but does it herself. i know preston was but it still bothered me </spoiler>.

the ending seemed a little abrupt to me and i wish it would have been drawn out a tad bit more. i’m still unsure if this is a series or a standalone, as i have seen both on kennedy’s instagram. if it’s part of a series then the ending is a lot better. i have to say i hope this does end up being a series kennedy continues, as so many of the background characters seem to have their own interesting stories. i would love to read evan and tate’s books!

"I'll be the best friend you've ever had. I always go above and beyond what's expected of me. I mean, I liberated goats for my friends."

"Every rich girl from a good family wonders what it's like to be with the guy from the wrong side of the gilded gates." A very Allie & Noah story. You know how it goes...






Cooper has something ominous about him, but a magnetism thats undeniable. Mackenzie is trapped by expectations and trying to make everyone else happy. There's a fire in her that Coop sees. Chaos and peace. But could one overheard conversation and secrets tear apart this OTP? If you like The Notebook and After, then Good Girl Complex is right up your alley!



Ps. Cooper has a twin brother who will worm his way into your heart with the sweetest gesture. Can we get an Evan Hartley book?

READ IF YOU LIKE:
-the notebook
-friends to lovers
-bickering & banter
-small college town
-revenge plan trope
-arguments over the socioeconomic implications of pastries
-a rescue pup
-#IsThisAKissingBook: there's something real between Coop and Mac.

Thank you St. Martin's Press for an advanced copy!

Song: Always Forever by Cults

3,5 🌟

* rich, good girl x poor, bad boy
* opposites attract
* beach setting
* gay side character
* dual POV

tw: parental neglect, cheating

For Cooper there is nothing worse than rich people who think they're better than others.
When one of them is hitting on his friend, and despite her protests, he doesn't stop, Cooper gets into a fight with him and gets fired. He and his friends are seeking revenge and want to steal Preston's long-time girlfriend Mac.

Mac is a rich, college, good girl. Her future, career, education and relationship was already planned out by her parents. She has no say, until she meets mystery, tall townie with tattoos. Mac knows she should avoid people like him but his company helps her open her eyes to new opportunities.

For Cooper it was supposed to be just the bet. He doesn't know what to do when he might actually be falling for Mac.

Things I liked:

✔️ the way Elle always creates characters - flawed and likeable

✔️ group of supportive friends

✔️ Mac - even thought she has to change her lifestyle, she stayed the same. She is stubborn and doesn't like being told what to do. Believe me, she will do it the other way around.

✔️ Cooper - he cares about other people and fights for right things even though nobody gave him good examples.

✔️ twin brother - yes, he was annoying but I enjoyed his character development

✔️ Puppy - YES to rescuing dogs. Lately it became my favourite "trope".


Things I didn't like:

❌ my least favourite trope - love triangle

❌ cheating storyline - for me, nothing justified cheating but Mac's reasons weren't even good. If you don't feel butterflies anymore and you think sex is boring maybe talk to your boyfriend or break up with him first?

Even though, there were some things that bothered me, I still enjoyed this book. If you like NA and Elle's writing, definitely go for it.

Thank you NetGalley for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I’m not usually a big romance reader but I really enjoyed this one. The characters are both lovable and flawed. There was really cute banter and some steamy moments. I especially liked these lines from the book: “If your heart’s telling you to follow something - go for it. Don’t let anyone hold you back, because life is too damn short. Build your empire. Slay dragons.”

Elle Kennedy manages to create characters that are simultaneously loveable and deeply flawed. Good Girl Complex is a dual perspective romance that pushes both the main characters to re-evaluate their beliefs and choices. It’s jam packed full of cute banter and a handful of steamy moments. This book delivers exactly what is promises the bad boy trope with a hint of deception. Elle Kennedy delivers yet another book that can’t be put down.

I really enjoy reading this book. It was everything I like about a romance book. I also like how the author spread their relationship in a span of a couple of months rather than a couple of days/ weeks like most romance books. I also like how she show how different they are but in a way they are very similar. I can’t wait to own a physical copy of the book and have it display at my store.

I am always willing to read anything Elle Kennedy writes and I have read a ton of her stories. This book has her usual writing style that I enjoy, but it feels so different from her previous books. I think the plot makes it stand out above her other works.

We are introduced to Mackenzie Cabot, a girl from a well off family dating a boy from another well off family. It is clear she feels suffocated by her family and her boyfriend. She wants to be independent and make a name for herself on her own. The plans everyone else has for her is not what she wants.

In comes Cooper Hartley, one half of the Hartley twins. A self proclaimed townie in Avalon Bay, he knows exactly how it feels to be treated by the rich people, or “clones” as he likes to call them. After an less than pleasant interaction with one of the prominent rich members of town, he comes to discover this member has a beautiful girlfriend, and thus the revenge plot begins.

Cooper and his friends come up with a plan to humiliate the boyfriend the best way they know how, through his long-term girlfriend. Thus, Cooper intends to strike up a kinship with the girlfriend and put his plan into play. He meets Mackenzie and after getting to know her, he realizes she might not be like every other clone. But as their relationship progresses and outside influences are involved, his revenge plans seems harder to keep under wraps.

Mackenzie Cabot is a breath of fresh air when you are used to heroine’s that often don’t know how to stick up for themselves and follow what is expected of them. I loved how confident, independent and strong-willed she was. She refuses to follow everyone else’s plans for herself and creates her own path. When paired up with Cooper, who is also independent and has his own family issues that push him to strive for more, it is a match that keeps you captivated. Both of their family’s complete opposite history can make for some head-butting and quick disagreements, but their feelings for each other grow to outshadow this predicament.

Overall, this story was an intriguing read. It took me a little bit to get into, but once I realized where the plot was going I was hooked. Again, both of the main characters have personalities that I love and make for a great story/relationship. Although I did feel like the end wrapped up pretty quickly and could have had some more details, I would 100% recommend this to anyone looking for a book with these types of personalities and unique plot. And if you’re an Elle Kennedy fan, you definitely with not be disappointed with her newest release.

2.5 stars
(warning, long review)
I wanted to love this, but the synopsis didn't really explain the main premise of this book, which unfortunately, consisted entirely of tropes and story lines that I hate, so I went into this book with high hopes, only to be sorely disappointed. Additionally, I think I've just outgrown Elle Kennedy's writing style. Although I loved her Off Campus series, nothing since then (The Briar U spin off series included) has really impressed me. Although I was initially a little worried going into Good Girl Complex that I wouldn't like it, as I'm not a huge fan of of the "good girl trope" or "poor boy rich girls" romances, I had high hopes Elle Kennedy would put a new twist on these tropes. Much to my dismay, she somehow did the opposite. This book felt like a semi-problematic storyline from an early 2000's book/movie, not like something new from 2021. To further explain my thoughts, I'm going to give a little plot synopsis. SPOILERS AHEAD (all of this happens in the first 30 or so pages of the book, and it's literally the set up of the plot, but since it's not in the synopsis I'm putting a spoiling warning). Essentially the way this romance starts, is that Cooper, the love interest, meets Mackenzie's awful boyfriend cheating on her in a bar. The bf gets Cooper fired, so as revenge, Cooper uses Mackenzie as payback. Him and his entire group of friends make a bet to have Cooper sleep with Mackenzie and make her fall in love with him, wait for her to dump her boyfriend, and then publicly dump her. Personally, I hate the "bet" trope. I don't think it's a good set up for a romance when one character is literally using the other, but even on an objective level, this specific bet is really messed up. The way that Cooper and his friends address the bet, they act as if Mac is nothing but a body belonging to her boyfriend, and that by using and discarding her, it gets back at him and rich people as a whole. I understand that the bet is not supposed to be forgivable. It's the source of the conflict, but still, the way Cooper (at the start of the book) and his friends treat Mac is so vindictive and cruel, I didn't want to see Mac learn to love them, cause I felt like she deserved better. So much of this book was just sexism and unwarranted cruelty under the guise of "class commentary" and "justified revenge". I'm not even trying to defend the ultra rich, I'm just asking for characters to treat each other with basic respect. Mac was never mean to any of Cooper's friends, and I get that a lot of rich people like her had been, but still, she shouldn't have had to win them over and had a tragic home life backstory for them to treat her like a person. That should have been the default. It doesn't help that even aside from it's set up, I never fell in love with the romance in this book, or these characters. I have found that with other Elle Kennedy books, yes the characters and romance were strong, but a highlight of her writing was the way she naturally blended in so many well loved tropes (ie. fake dating and the one bed trope in The Deal). Unfortunately, in this book, it's just a combination of divisive and outdated tropes (using the girl for a bet, innocent rich girl x poor bad boy, "not like other girls" protagonist, cheating that's justified cause it's "with the right person", vindictive one dimensional "ex-girlfriend of the love interest" characters, etc). My final complaint is just that this book wrapped up really quickly. The resolution felt a bit rushed and there wasn't an epilogue. Overall, I really didn't enjoy this, and honestly, was pretty disappointed with it. There are definitely readers who will enjoy this, but I don't know if those readers are the ones this book is being marketed to. Although this is in no way a dark romance, I think some dark romance reader's may enjoy this, as the whole "bad boy who initially uses a girl but falls for her" trope and some of Copper's actions are more common in that genre, but this was definitely not for me. I think the main reason why that is because this book is very unlike any of the other's I've read from this author. Normally, Elle Kennedy's love interests are "ideal book boyfriends" who have a loveable group of friends, and are pining after their girl, so this was just really, unexpected. To wrap this review up, I don't want to put people off of reading this book, I just feel like the synopsis should have mentioned the bet, as there is definitely an audience for this book, I just don't necessarily think it's the audience that this book was primarily advertised to (fans of the Off Campus/Briar U series who are expecting something similar).
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Filled with sizzling tension and witty banter, Good Girl Complex will hit you right in the feels with its sassy characters and riveting storyline.

Think of it as an adult version of the movie “After”. The guy bets his friends he can get the girl to fall for him… but then he falls for her & then you-know-what hits the fan.

My, oh my… Cooper is one FINE specimen… with an identical twin, Evan.

Such a delightful and slightly spicy rom-com that I highly recommend you try!

Mac and Coopers relationship was so cute. They had me smiling so much especially with Coopers flirting and the way Mac would constantly check him out. These two were made for each other. Thank god, she got away from her toxic ex and family and got with Cooper who btw is the most supportive boyfriend

Hoping Elle Kennedy writes more in this universe, that way I can read about Evan and his love interest

If you like the tropes, such as bad boy/good girl, rich girl/poor boy and cheating trope, and her series, Off-Campus, then you’ll like this for sure.