When Elle Kennedy drops a book that basically screams Bad boy Alert you devour that baby in a few hours!!!! I practically squealed when Good Girl Complex hit my kindle and let me tell you it is EVERYTHING. Cooper and Mac are absolutely phenomenal. The banter, the sexual tension and the fierce intensity between them just lit my kindle on FIRE!!! This story was pure Kindle Crack Amazingness!!

What I loved more than anything was how Kennedy made this story come alive. Cooper and Mac are so different on paper but behind the smoke and mirrors, they are so similar and real. I loved their banter, connection and the attraction between the two. While this story did have some plot elements that aren't always my favorite, I was completely won over by all the swoons this story had to offer. MacKenzie was more than a means to an end and it was absolutely delicious watching the cocky bad boy get slayed by the good girl he never saw coming. She was the gamechanger that brought him down to his knees!

Like most of Kennedy's NA/University stories, you will 1000% become obsessed with the side characters. The sisterhood and brotherhood (Hello Evan!!) are to die for and I am absolutely obsessed with this world and all the characters. Elle Kennedy's stories are honestly one in a million and Good Girl Complex is just another example of her exceptional talent! Bravo! 5 stars!

A fun trope-filled romance. Good girl meets bad boy. Pick this one up for a satisfying weekend read.

I loved this new (hopefully 🤞) series starter! We get the quintessential Elle Kennedy with a story that is fun, quick paced but with such rich characters.

Short summary: We have preppy trust fund kids versus the townies. Mac (prep) and Cooper (townie) grew up completely different on the surface but you know what they say opposites attract! Cooper starts flirting and eventually dating with Mac as revenge for her boyfriend getting him fired and humiliating him. But he finds out they might not be as different as they seem.

Enemies to friends to lovers….the slow burn to spice. The richness in development of these characters is phenomenal! As always they feel and read like real people! You get all theirs hope and dreams wrapped up in their past mistakes and flaws. Plus that chemistry 🔥 Is it predictable, yes. Did I care, no! I did wish we got more out of the “big” scene with Preston, Mac and Cooper and a Heidi/Mac face off. Those two scenes seemed anticlimactic after all the build up.

Another fabulous addictive romance book from Elle Kennedy! I really really wish we had an epilogue!

Thank you so so much Netgalley and St Martin’s Press for this advanced readers copy!

Staci McIntyre

Rich girl, bad boy, college, secrets and lies, angst, and love all make up this story. If you have read this author before you know what you will be getting here: a fun college wrong side of the tracks attraction, humor, and a very easy read. It read to me like the perfect summer beach read. Nothing too serous, nothing to over the top with enough humor and angst to keep the pages turning. I thought majority of the story line was predictable, but the characters and the secrets and lies associated with them, really made up for that. The story is a fast fun read that will lighten any readers mood, 3.5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

5 stars

This is the best of Helen Hoang's books so far. I have enjoyed her previous books but this one felt more personal and it allowed the reader to feel more connected to the characters. It was so refreshing to read a romance with real concerns and ups and downs that sometimes go to pretty dark places. I was excited to return to this book each day I was reading and I didn't want it to end. I would have happily continued and dare I hope that there is a sequel with these two characters?

I hope Hoang continues to write about characters like this. It creates greater empathy for me in how I interact with people in my daily life and that is something we all can improve on.

The Good Girl Complex is Elle Kennedy at her best. I so enjoyed meeting this new cast of characters and I cannot wait to get their stories as well. The romance was sweet, the storyline believable, and the book was a page turner!

This was fun and unlike anything I've read before. I love how wildly independent and fierce Mac becomes and I am just so in love with the Hartley brothers. Cooper and Mac were so wonderful to get to know and watch fall in love. I hope that we get a follow up on Evan.

The Good Girl Complex is set in the fictional small town of Avalon Bay where there is a divide between those who live in town and the rich kids who attend the prestigious college located in it. The clones or the rich kids spend their money frivolously and look down upon those who live in the town. Townies hate the clones and stick together but are more than willing to make money off of them. Two individuals from different social classes fall for each other against the wishes of their family and friends. MacKenzie is a good girl, and townie bad boy Cooper helps her realize that living a little might be the best thing for her.

The tropes are common enough that one can imagine how the story might be worn, tarnished even, but in Kennedy's hands the story is well-polished--Kennedy doesn't disappoint. Her writing has always been engaging to me and continues to be so here. The Good Girl Complex is full of witty banter between the two leads, and their chemistry is sizzling. It's hard not to want them together even though Mackenzie has a boyfriend. Kennedy's fans will enjoy the book along with those looking for a romance that features an opposites-attract romance.

Good Girl Complex by Elle Kennedy follows Mac and Cooper. Cooper is the typical tattooed bad boy whom the tourists swoon over. Mac is the typical good girl who has had her entire life planned out for her by her parents. She is expected to marry her current boyfriend, Preston because his family comes from money and prestige. They also expect her to go Garnet College, the same school as Preston, so she can begin her work supporting Preston's career.

Cooper doesn't come from a life of wealth or prestige. He works hard for his money.

Cooper and his twin brother Evan work at a bar in Avalon Bay that attracts college students from Garnet College.

"In Avalon Bay, the seasons are marked by an endless cycle of exodus and invasion. The way the tides turn in a storm; Summer ends and the churn begins. Sunburned tourists pack up their minivans and sugar-slathered kids head inland, back to the suburbs and cubicles. Replaced by the surge of spray-tanned college brats - the clone armies returned to Garnet College."

One night, Cooper meets Mac's boyfriend Preston at the bar he is working for. An altercation happens between Preston and him causing Cooper to lose his job at the bar. Cooper seeks revenge on spoiled , rich, golden boy Preston and comes up with a bet with his friends that he can steal Preston's girlfriend, Mac away from him.

What Cooper doesn't expect to find is that Mac is way different than the clones he and his friends despise.

Mac has aspirations of her own, like the internet startup she put together with friends, but her whole life has been planned for her already and she is scared to disappoint her family.

"If this was me, I'd be pretty bummed that my whole life was planned before I even started my first day of college. It's like gettin' the movie spoiled when I'm standin' in line for popcorn."

But the mutual chemistry between Cooper and Mac isn't something that can be ignored.

But can Cooper and Mac wind up together when everything seemingly keeps trying to push them apart. Worse, what will Mac think of Cooper when she discovers the bet?

The spice, the slow-burn romance, and the enemies turned friends turned lovers trope is *chefs kiss*

Can't wait to read more about the other characters in the book (especially Evan!)

Thank you to Netgalley and Elle Kennedy for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

thank you netgalley and the publisher for this arc!!

i really enjoyed elle kennedy's briar u and the deal series when i read them a few years ago and was super excited to see that elle kennedy had not only written another book, but branched out from the sports romance genre.

this book did heavily rely on tropes and didn't do anything groundbreaking, but i don't think that takes away from my enjoyment of the book overall. the main characters were overall very likeable and i liked the way the story wrapped up, albeit a little too quickly.

i can't wait for elle kennedy to write more books with the side characters as i'd love to see where their stories are heading too!

This is definitely a really cute romantic comedy book. How many characters so relatable and likable. I highly enjoyed the love story here as well.

Elle Kenendy will forever be my favorite author. This book gave me major notebook vibes, and I absolutely loved it! I couldnt put it down. I loved how it was an opposites attract trope, with a twist. I loved Mac, and the way she was so confident in herself. HATED her boyfriend. Soooooo Much. I also really loved the atmosphere of the story. The story grabs your attention from the start and leaves you with your heart full. I can't wait to read more by her.

First off: this cover is so gorgeous! The colors! The minimalistic art style! I want a paperback just for display purposes alone. It captures the small, humble beach town vibe so perfectly.

I haven't read a standalone Elle Kennedy novel before, but I've heard good things about her Briar U and The Deal series for years. Reading about 20/21 year olds made me feel old, but fortunately there weren't any current cultural references that made that decrepit hag feeling intensify.

Feeling mixed on this. It relies heavily on cliches - rags vs riches/us vs them, good girl and the bad boy, FMC's bf is two faced - and it feels like there's nothing original or particularly groundbreaking here. It was a fast read but a bit boring for me, though that's probably personal preference because I don't usually crave reading about college age kids sleeping with each other in my spare time.

Cliches aside, it's well-written (though Kennedy's writing style isn't my fave) with a likeable FMC and the baddest of bad MMC, and will definitely be a hit for dedicated Kennedy fans. It's not my kind of book, but it's a fun, light read!

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 / 5.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Release day: Feb 1, 2o22

🌿Quick hits: dual POV; steamy friends to lovers contemporary romance in a small, blue collar beach town; naive, humble, self made billionaire FMC from an affluent family vs classic bad boy from a poor, broken home MMC; FMC's bf is a cheater; light read. 🌿

2.4/5
Sadly, the cliche works the plot in this book, and not the other way around. The princess/pauper dynamic is shoved down our throats as an excuse for nonexistent dimension in the characters. Everyone, from the main to the side characters, is too 2D. The male lead saw anyone with money as an asshole, because they were written like vapid assholes. I also think the book starts off with an aggression that is too heavy handed without any preface.
Another thing I disliked was the stiltedness in the plot and dialogue evident at times. Again, this made the story less realistic than I would have liked.

I liked “The Deal” so I was really excited to receive an arc of this book. Elle Kennedy’s plots are usually really simple and most of the time predictable but I still enjoyed this book. The first half wasn’t my fav but I loved the second half. If you like 10 Things I Hate About You then you’d probably like this too. The romance was cute and it was funny asf. My fav character was prob Evan (Coopers twin brother) even though sometimes I wanted to punch him and Daisy (you’ll find out who she is) bc she was unproblematic. I’d say this book was 3/5 for me, it was a cliche but it was still pretty good.

*Thank you to Netgalley for letting me review this book in exchange for an honest review!*

This was my first Elle Kennedy book and I was pleasantly surprised! I wasn’t sure what to expect, but received a really great rom-com with fun, sexy, cute banter and wit throughout. I liked the characters and really enjoyed Elle’s writing which made this book fly by for me. Read it in one day out and really enjoyed it and caught myself laughing a few times. Quick; fun read!

Likes:
I haven’t read an Elle Kennedy book in years and I think it was the hockey series, Off Campus, that I had read some of. Good Girl Complex is set in a much different scene, a beachside town, which I love and can relate to since I live in a touristy place. Mac is the rich girl, but the good girl who is yearning for something different. And Cooper is the rough around the edges, sexy local construction worker, good with his hands (and apparently other things) guy that runs his fists into Mac’s boyfriend, Preston. What starts off as a revenge plan to humiliate Preston, turns into something more for Cooper and Mac.

We get a feeling for Mac and Cooper right from the start. Cooper is making ends meet living in this coastal town where the rich come to play and go to school at Garnet college. He is a hot boy who all the girls drool over and he is confident about himself. Cooper has an interesting group of friends who are his chosen family. They are a tight knit group that looks out for one another but they also hate the rich people they basically work for. Mac is the rich girl with horrible, cold parents who don’t really care about her as a person, just as a prop. I love that Mac is self sufficient though. She created an app that has made her a millionaire in her own right and at only the age of 20! When Mac and Cooper meet the attraction is there from the start, but there are things in the way like Mac’s boyfriend and her plan for her future, or more like her parents’ plan.

There is a big cast of characters and I wonder if this will be like the author’s other books and become a series? I’m not sure. There are a lot of names to remember but I think each one was unique enough that they stood out on their own. I liked Steph a lot, she was cool. Evan, Cooper’s twin, grew on me though he has a lot of issues to deal with. He and Cooper had a rough upbringing so it’s only normal they would have issues.

I got emotionally invested in Cooper and Mac’s relationship and was rooting for them to work out. I liked how he was rough and intense but easy going as well. Mac, even though trapped by wealth, really did deserve someone who wasn’t condescending like Preston, he was awful. The happy ending was awesome because I really did love Mac and Cooper together. They had friendship, respected one another, yes they fought but you know Cooper wasn’t going anywhere – he was so into Mac and I thought that was so cute! Also the heat between them is perfect!

Random Notes:
Triggers: parental neglect, toxic relationship

One thing I had a problem with – and yes this is a ME problem and maybe I’m just a prude or just old but I was not feeling the friends with benefit relationships in Cooper’s circle. I get the whole “friends with benefits” thing but wow it happens a lot in Cooper’s circle of friends! It gets so complicated when someone catches feelings in a friends with benefits deal as we see with Cooper and Heidi.

The parents in this story are awful. The only kind family figure was Levi who is Cooper and Evan’s uncle.

FINAL THOUGHTS~~
Why you should read it:

*craving for a good New Adult contemporary romance book
*lots of feels between Cooper and Mac – from friendship to all kinds of heat in the bedroom
*complete book where loose ends are tied up nicely, good pacing

Why you might not want to read it:

*rich girl/poor boy trope – predictable

My Thoughts:

This whole book is predictable with it’s rich girl/hot poor boy trope but for me it ticked all the boxes I was looking for in a New Adult contemporary romance book. I love opposites attract and wow was there attraction between them. It’s been awhile since I’ve read a New Adult book and I devoured this in one sitting! I enjoyed it from start to finish with Cooper’s bad boy rep, and Mac on the verge of breaking free from her rich girl plans. I was smiling when they got their happy ending because Cooper and Mac are a good couple together and deserve love.

Oh my gosh! I received an ARC copy of Good Girl Complex and I finished it within 6 hours...I always pride myself on giving honest reviews for books so that people who have read some books on my shelf can get my honest thoughts, so here we go... This book was everything that I never got from Rom-Coms. I like Rom-Coms and have read some amazing ones, but something I found that most lacked was good spice and characters that felt real enough. This book kept me pulled in from the beginning. With the two love interests incredible (and very steamy) chemistry, and the summer vibes that this book gave out, I find myself constantly daydreaming about the world Elle Kennedy created! Both love interests have so much substance and when they go against each other, it is both very tension filled and adorable. This is a book that, (if we weren’t in a pandemic) I would vacation somewhere hot with a poolside bar and read this book. For ones who adored the spice and tension in the Off Campus Series, and want a Rom-Com, New Adult style book that feels like a warm hug, I would definitely give this book a try. Elle Kennedy you did it again!!!! 😭😭🙌🙌💗💗

Unlike most twenty-year-olds, all Mac really wants to do is focus on growing her internet business, but first she must get a college degree at her parents’ insistence. That means moving to the beachside town of Avalon Bay, a community made up of locals and the wealthy students of Garnet College.

Mac’s had plenty of practice suppressing her wilder impulses, but when she meets local bad boy Cooper Hartley, that ability is suddenly tested. Cooper is rough around the edges. Raw. Candid. A threat to her ordered existence. Their friendship soon becomes the realest thing in her life.

Despite his disdain for the trust-fund kids he sees coming and going from his town, Cooper soon realizes Mac isn’t just another rich clone and falls for her. Hard. But as Mac finally starts feeling accepted by Cooper and his friends, the secret he’s been keeping from her threatens the only place she’s ever felt at home

I love all of Elle Kennedy's books and this one is no exception. Love the characters and how well they all get along together. The friends and their banter are the highlights for me. It's sweet and romantic. The ending is perfect. Terrific book!

Thanks to the publisher for providing an arc.

Thank you so much netgalley and the publisher providing an arc!

As usual, Elle Kennedy didn’t disappoint.
I really like the characters. the world-building, and how the author can create a world that has the capability of making us vicariously live through it, feeling all those emotions and living the moments as if it’s our very own.

I feel like the introduction was a bit too slow-paced for me. The characters are fairly interesting.
Henceforth, it was quite a good read.