One of the things I love about Elle Kennedy's books is the universe that is created and how we, as the reader is brought into that world fully and completely through an entire series. But the cohesiveness that comes with that doesn't exactly lend well to reading each book in the series alone. It feels like her books are meant to be read together. Like they should all be one long immersive reading experience.

It's been so long since reading good girl complex that I wasn't able to dive headfirst back into Avalon Bay in a way that I think the story deserves. It would behoove the reader to read them both together, to fall back in love with Avalon bay and wander through the messy will they won't they with Genevieve and Evan.

Overall the story fell a little flat. The spice and the banter and the butterflies I've come to expect in an elle kennedy book was lack luster, even the steamy moments. It felt like the characters were trying to put to rest their bad reputations because that's what society expects not because that's what they were actually fighting for, the hero and heroine pursuing each other because that's all they've ever known didn't really give the reader the feeling they were actually fighting FOR each other and I think that would have made all the difference. Once the entire series is complete I think I want to try them again, reading each book one right after the other and see if lives up to the bar set by the off campus series 😊

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC in exchange for my review!

Thank you for an ARC of this book. While I didn’t like this one as much as the Good Girl Complex, it was still a decent read overall. For some reason, the characters and plot just didn’t work for me. There was a feeling of indifference that developed about 1/4 of the way through and unfortunately, it never dissipated. I’d still recommend the book because it was an entertaining read and great to revisit the characters form Avalon Bay #1.

I liked the idea of this storyline, it was very interesting to me and relatable. But how the plot unfolded and specifically the character's immaturity drove me a little crazy! I was proud of Gen for leaving her bad girl ways, moving home, being responsible and turning her life around. Evan was still navigating his way through his partying ways and into adulthood and responsibility. Together they seemed very in tuned to each other and recognized they needed to do some growing up before they could be together.

Bad Girl Reputation is the follow up book to Good Girl Complex, which features Mackenzie and Cooper as our romantic lease. Bad Girl Reputation features a second-chance romance between Evan, Cooper’s twin brother, and Genevieve, an estranged member of the friend group who also happens to be Evan’s ex-girlfriend.

Gen returns to Avalon Bay for he mom’s funeral, where she gets roped into helping run the family business without her mother. From there, Gen and Evan have tension, and they have another opportunity to rekindle their romance.

I have to say that I did enjoy this book, but I had a really hard time finishing it after reading Elle Kennedy’s remarks about not writing sapphic literature because she doesn’t want to, while she fetishizes queer relationships if she does actually write them. I’m not the type of person who can “separate the artist from the art” so I doubt I’ll be reading any more of her books.

NO WORDS NO WORDS NO WORDS!! Elle Kennedy is a master and my fave romance author. I love this series SO MUCH (I didn't think I would after how obsessed I am with Off Campus - thinking nothing can beat it, etc.) BUT THIS IS SO GOOD!

Having a mom die of cancer is something I’m unfortunately familiar with, so this book and Genevieve’s story in particular had me hooked from the start. I adored the character growth for both Gen and Evan, and the passion between them was red hot. I loved being back in Avalon bay, and this was such a great second chance romance. *I received an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

When Genevieve returns to Avalon Bay for her distant mother's funeral, she is crowded by many old friends. That's how she runs into him again, Evan and Genevieve are the best of friends, which included benefits, no ties. At all. So when Genevieve decided to change her reputation, she turns down Evan and al his offers. So what does Evan do? He changes for her, and he puts hours and hours to impress her, and she's watching. Will he win her heart, with true intentions? Will she be able to change her reputation? Listen for the best, her reputation has never been worse, in Taylor Swift's words, but can it change?
This book had me hooked since the beginning! I could not put it down, the fact I read it in one sitting. IT was so easy to get through, and the plot twists were shocking but you would never see them coming. Some of the lines were cheesy, and the comeback from these two was a bit called, but overall, a good read.

Release date: October 4th, 2022

Disclaimer: I received an advanced copy of Bad Girl Reputation ebook from NetGalley and the publishers in exchange for an honest review.

I had seen some VERY mixed reviews about this one and I have never read this author before so I wasn’t sure what to expect. Overall, I enjoyed it and would definitely read the rest of the series and the authors other titles as well.

Bad Girl Reputation is the 2nd book in the Avalon Bay series. I had no idea it was part of a series so I can confidently say you don’t have to read them in order to enjoy the storyline!

Genevieve (Gen) comes from a large family of boys! Being the only girl in the family she tests her limits and spent most of her high school and young adult life breaking the rules and living life large with her on again bad boy boyfriend Evan.

Told in both Gen and Evan POV, the two come back together after Gen leaves town a year ago without saying goodbye. Having worked to turn herself around and live “the good life”, is there room for Evan now?

Evan vows to change his ways not just for the love of his life Gen but realizes he needs to get his life together and stop living like a teenager.

As they venture on their own journeys, they keep coming back together again. Pulled by an invisible thread of memories, history and undeniable attraction.

This was a 3.5 star for me! I didn’t mind the bad girl/bad boy angle and thought both characters really grew together. Their relationship was on the spicy side which I loved but thought the book could have used more of!!

#NetGalley #badgirlreputation #ellekennedy

Well I am at it again, reading a series out of order but I wasn't too lost in the story of Genevieve West and Evan Hartley of Avalon Bay. The two lustful teens were an item all throughout High School, and got into wild mischief up through their early twenties. Until one night, that bad behavior catches-up with Gen and she bolts. Now a year later, she must face the man who stole her heart to tell him why she ran away with no good-bye.

This coming of age love story shows what it takes to make a life when everything doesn't need to be a wild and crazy night of partying. It demonstrates what is on the other side of adulthood, responsibility, family and true love.

Gen and Evan's attraction is so hot, so intense, so tempting! Look forward to reading book #1, Good Girl Complex and the release of The Summer Girl in 2023. Rating 3.5

Thank you St. Martin's Press, St. Martin's Griffin for the e-book copy of Bad Girl Reputation.

Bad Girl Reputation is a fast, quick second chance romance you basically can read in one day.
Overall, it was a ok read for me.
Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and author for the opportunity to read this book for my honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

The beginning of this book was a little slow for me, personally. I found myself having to push myself to continue reading. It took me three days to read when I typically read in one-sitting.

However, once I hit around the fifty percent mark, I found myself really enjoying the story. I love Gen and Evan's characters. Gen was a little hard to like at first, but I think that's just because the beginning was slower.

Evan adores Gen and was basically heartbroken when she skipped town for town, leaving without a word to anyone. However, a year later, Gen returns for her mother's funeral and her and Evan are almost right back where they left off. Gen shuts that down though after they nearly have sex at her mother's wake. She's reformed, no longer a "bad girl".

What Gen needs, she later realizes, is balance. She doesn't need to completely change all her personality in order to turn a new leaf and live the clean and narrow life. She associates bad decisions with Evan, since they've basically been together since they were fifteen.

I loved the symbolism of the lollipops between Gen and Evan-- it was so cute! Also am a big fan of the later half of the book and the epilogue. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who is searching for friends-to-lovers, second-chance, and happily ever afters with some pretty good spice scenes thrown in there.

Wow! This was a steamy read (understatement)!

Bad Good Reputation was a pretty fun read! There are definitely some layers to Gen and Evan's story, but it's mostly just the roller coaster ride of two people who were drawn to each other as kids, their friendship evolved into true love, the irresistible push-and-pull passion that comes with that young love, and figuring out how to harness that passion into a mature relationship as adults.

I really loved the premise of this young, wild love getting a chance to mature into adulthood. We see how most of these on-again/off-again relationships aren't given a chance to grow (like Wyatt and Ren), and that's pretty typical of teenage love. So, seeing how Gen and Evan try to navigate their feelings for each other while figuring out who they are, the kind of lives they want to live, and how each other fit into that is an interesting premise.

Special thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Griffin for sharing this digital ARC with me in exchange for my honest review.

First off, I'd like to say thank you so much to Elle Kennedy, NetGalley and the publisher for sending me the ARC for Bad Girl Reputation!

After reading Good Girl Complex a few months ago, I was more excited to get to know more about Evan and Gen. Evan and Gen have been the wild, rebellious on-again-off-again couple in Avalon Bay since middle school, Starting off as best friends, these two were inseparable and were partners in crime. Until one day, Gen up and left without saying a word to Evan. But now, after a year, she's back in town.

I did like the concept of two rowdy kids always getting in trouble together and seeming like they were the only two who could truly understand one another. However, Evan and Gen's relationship made me feel like I was getting whiplash from all the back and forth. Don't get me wrong, I was rooting for them to be together, but the whole in-between was just a little too much for me. Evan and Gen have this undeniable chemistry that they both want to give into, but right after they do, something always has to go wrong. Sometimes, it seemed like they really would have been better off without each other. Trust me, I love to read about a toxic relationship, it's my toxic trait lol. But even this was a bit much for me. These two seemed to just be playing games with each other the whole time and I just could not get into it.

The pacing of this book also seemed a bit off to me. Some parts were fast, some dragged on, and some parts didn't go into as much depth as I would have liked.

I LOVED Elle Kennedy's Off-Campus series and will continue to read Elle Kennedy books, but this series was not the one for me.

This was such an amazing book I was hooked from start to finish! I will be looking forward to reading more books by the author! Thank you NetGalley for this copy!

This was one of my most anticipated reads of the year as I was really excited to read Evan's story.

I didn't like it as much as Good Girl Complex but I think it is because I am not the biggest fan of second chance romance. I liked Gen a lot. I appreciated her committing to her change and ultimately making Evan a better person. I also liked that he didn't waver from his love for her, and he was willing to do anything to make things work in the end.

It was a cute read and I hope to see this series continue!

A cute second chance romance.
Like most reviewers are saying it was a fun and easy read. I did really enjoy these two. I’ve been in a reading rut and a light read what exactly what I needed. So happy I took a chance on this one.

A second chance romance and the second book in the “Avalon Bay” series, but can be read as a stand-alone. It’s about two passionate high school sweethearts rekindling a sizzling relationship and a deeper look at what means to be sober-minded and forgiving of oneself.

Genevieve West is a reformed bad girl and back in town for her mother’s funeral. She’s trying to avoid her old flame Evan Hartley because the two of them always end in destruction. It seems like everywhere she turns Evan appears. Evan will stop at nothing to get back into Genevieve’s life, even if it means turning over a new leaf. The two of them can’t seem to stay away and can they still have fun without burning their whole town down?

I was really looking forward to this book because I loved Evan so much in “Good Girl Complex,” but the chemistry was lacking and I felt like there was too much focus on other newly developing relationships. I’m still glad we got their complete story, but I wish Kennedy had added more passion to the intimate scenes. For being a couple who is supposed to be madly and wildly in love, there just wasn’t much chemistry. This was an okay read, but not what I was expecting.

Not what I was expecting. I was expecting this book to grab me from the beggining and for it to have so much personality. But it was slow and kind of meh until the middle and of course by then I had already lost interest.

I was super excited to read this after devouring Good Girl Complex! I couldn’t wait to read more about Evan and Gen’s relationship. I really felt for Gen throughout this story - former bad girl trying to be good and move on from her past mistakes. And as much as Evan and Gen tried to stay apart they just couldn’t help falling right back in love. Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin’s Griffin for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

it’s so rare to me that I find a sequel in a duology that I love!! 🥰🥰 and I loved gwen and evan’s story just as much as mac and cooper’s!!!!

what I love about elle kennedy’s writing is that it’s a typical contemporary romance set up, but the characters just jump off the page in such a realistic setting that it makes me grin!

seeing gwen’s struggle to become her own person was refreshing to me. as someone who has gone through trauma like gwen has, it causes deep unsettling emotions and fears that last for a lifetime - and seeing someone like me work through that on page was so wonderful 🫶🏼

while I wasn’t a fan of evan in the first book, GOOD GIRL COMPLEX, he certainly grew on me! the whole bad boy turned good trope is a bit unrealistic and overdone, but I still enjoyed reading nonetheless

love is full of complications, so if you want a story that’s realistic and messy, definitely give this one a shot!

rating: 4 stars
wine pairing: malibu coast malbec