“when are you going to accept that i’d be happy watching paint dry with you?”

tropes: second chance romance, jealousy, ex’s to lovers, small town romance

thank you to netgalley for an early copy! WOW I LOVE THIS BOOK SO MUCH!! i already loved cooper and mac’s story and i was so excited for evan and gen’s story and IT DID NOT DISAPPOINT!! it’s everything i could’ve ever wanted for a second chance romance book!! with second chance romances i always love reading about how or why they broke up and how they find their way back to each other and this book did it so well!!

evan and gen really have my whole heart i swear😭 i loved getting little snippets here and there about how they were when they were together in the past and seeing how much they’ve grown and changed since then. they both have gone through a lot in their lives and i’m so happy that they are now happy with each other🥹!!

elle kennedy you have done it again!! i 100% this book so so so much!

✨ BOOK REVIEW ✨ Bad Reputation by Elle Kennedy

~ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ 💫 ~

This was my first Elle Kennedy book and I can’t say I’m ~fully~ sold yet. I read Bad Reputation SO quickly thanks to the witty and sexual banter, moments of redemption and hope for the tumultuous relationships between main characters. That being said, it was a bit too YA for me, which I probably should’ve gone in expecting, but didn’t. I’m also wondering if I should’ve read the first book in the Avalon Bay series before this… I don’t think I need to but if for some reason, that was a pre-req, someone lmk 😂 And while it was a quick and drama-filled read, I would loved a little more character growth. All this being said, I’m rating it a 3.25 out of 5 because despite its flaws, I became quickly drawn in and enjoyed the read that was a little out of my comfort zone 💁🏻‍♀️

🧚 Special thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

This is the second book in the Avalon Bay series and it is about Evan who is Cooper’s twin brother in the Good Girl Complex and his ex-girlfriend Genevieve. This is a second chance romance where Evan is to win backback Gen who has his back in Avalon Bay for her mothers funeral. She has no plan on staying because her relationship with Evan was wild and she does not want to go back to that life.

I enjoy the fun banter between these two characters and watching them figure out how to change into the people they want to be for each other.

I am looking forward to the next book in the series. Thank you so much Netgalley and St. Martins Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest review

Let's start with the good and why this book even pulled 2 stars out of me. The steam was great, as usual from Elle Kennedy. I loved the steamy scenes, they were so well done without being cringey. And that's the end of the good stuff. I think I read a different book than most of the other reviews I've seen for this book.

Holy toxic masculinity. I’ll admit I do love the whole overbearing/protective man in real life, but this book took it way too far. This book was waaaayyy too toxic for me. Second chance romance is my absolute favourite but these two characters should have NEVER gotten back together. I'm not even going to continue with more of a review because I can't get over how anyone thinks this is even a remotely safe/healthy relationship - and it takes a lot for me to say that. Did not enjoy. Would not recommend.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio for my audio copy of this book.

This is book two in the Avalon Bay series. This book is about Evan Hartley and Genevieve West. Cooper, Evan's twin brother was the main focus on the first book, and I liked him a whole lot more than I did in this book! He was so judgmental in this book!

Evan and Gen are exes who haven't seen each other in a year. She left town to clean up her life/get her act together. But now she is back for her mother's funeral and is staying in town a bit to help out her father with the family business.

Gen thinks staying away from Evan is what is best for her and her personal growth, but she knows how difficult that is going to be. They are addicted to each other. Their time together before she left was often reckless and on again/off again.

I enjoyed Evan's character and his decision to become a better human. His incident at the retirement home and his storyline with Riley were especially fun to read. He was hurt that Gen just up and left him and wants to show her that he is growing up and maturing.

This is a good story about second chances--with your special person and yourself. It's also about trying to be a better person and all the difficulties that go along with It. Both Gen and Evan had their own personal issues to work through to be able to be together.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an advanced readers copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I’ve never read an Elle Kennedy book until now, although I’ve been meaning to for a while. Bad Girl Reputation was a solid introduction to Elle Kennedy’s books for me; I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect from this one, but I ended up liking Genevieve and Evan’s story. (Although I’m also not convinced I want to go back and read about Cooper and Mackenzie because Cooper did not give me a good impression based on Evan’s perception of Cooper’s self-imposed parenting role of sorts and his words to Gen; while I appreciated that he got protective of his brother, Cooper went too far with his judgment of both Evan and Gen and I didn’t love his lack of encouragement for Evan/belief in him and people’s ability to change.)

Genevieve and Evan’s story is a second chance romance, best friends to lovers to exes to lovers, with the angst of their past but a pleasantly surprising lack of anger on either of their parts toward one another. (I would’ve understood Evan being a bit more angry but his personality was just forgiving and kind, and he’s a total simp for Gen, but in this case it worked out well. Gen definitely didn’t consider his feelings on the way she disappeared before, which sucked, and I did hope she would apologize a little more for that, but her reason for leaving made sense to me, and she’s right that they couldn’t keep up their previous toxic aspects to their relationship and their lifestyles.) I wanted them to work things out so much because their chemistry is explosive right off the bat, and they clearly do care a lot about each other and understand a lot about each other too. The thing Evan doesn’t understand is Gen’s desire to change and improve herself, but he also doesn’t judge her for anything, which is something Gen appreciates a lot and recognizes that Evan does. I love their connection and how comfortable they are with each other, that they feel like they’re at home when they’re together.

Seeing first Gen and later Evan work on themselves and strive to improve warmed my heart. I felt for Gen so much, even without being able to relate to her bad girl days, because she’s down to earth and acknowledges her faults and the issues in her past relationship with Evan. She tries so hard and worries so much about not being able to turn over a good leaf, and I wanted her to be able to trust herself and believe in herself. Witnessing her growing confidence and sense of direction made me happy. Evan’s motivation for improvement might have started with Gen and wanting her to seriously consider him (because he’s been a simp for Gen from day one and I’m here for it) by at least making the effort, but while he didn’t believe in what he was doing initially because he was going through the motions of it, he ended up learning a lot about himself and what he’s capable of too. That he can also be good and serve as a role model, that he can be reliable and live more responsibly. His relationship with Riley is one of the most fun parts of the book.

I didn’t love the kind of love triangle (but not much of one because we know Gen’s feelings), nor did I love that Gen kept it up because of her own fears, but I could accept that Gen’s fears are human and based in her own lack of certainty in herself and both her and Evan’s pasts. The way it resolved made me grin like a fool, though, and the event leading up to that did show to me how much Evan had grown himself, that he’d become that self-aware and that he loves Gen so much he’d do whatever he thinks is best for her. I’m proud of them both.

I’ll be checking out some other Elle Kennedy books soon, most likely. I loved getting a peek into both Gen and Evan’s heads through their first person POV chapters.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Griffin for the ARC!

Book Review:

Bad Girl Reputation by Elle Kennedy

Genevieve and Evan's relationship is consuming and they are constantly pulled towards one another even when they try to stay apart. Genevieve returns to Avalon Bay after a year away for her mother's funeral and finds herself right back in Evan's orbit. She made a lot of lifestyle changes during her year away and questions whether she can keep them up if she's with Evan.

I like how Genevieve's growth inspires Evan to grow all on his own. He wants to prove to her that he can be better, less destructive, and finds that it's really not so bad. His "big brother" escapades are very cute and one of my favorite parts of his story.

Bad Girl Reputation releases 10/4/22. Make sure you catch up on things in Avalon Bay.

Thanks to @netgalley and @stmartinspress for this advanced reader!!

#BookReview #Bookstagram #ElleKennedy #BadGirlReputation #StMartinsGriffin #BookishLife #Reading #Bibliophile #BookPhotography #BookRecommendations #InstaBooks #BookNerd #RomanceBooks #RomanceBookStagram

I received a copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Based on my other friends on socials, and in real life, we seem to all be leaning towards the same thing with this one: It was not great but certainly better than the first.

I've only really read one other Elle Kennedy series (not counting the books where she co-authors) and I found this book to be extremely underwhelming. I didn't care much for the characters and everything came off bland and tasteless for me. I did not read the first book in the series, but I heard this one was better; unfortunately, I don't think it was by much.

I think if there are more books in this series, they are ones that I'll have to skip.

Bad Girl Reputation is the second instalment of the Avalon Bay series following Coopers twin brother Evan.

I’ll be completely honest, Evan is not my favourite. While I loved his character growth, I just couldn’t get myself to love him overall. I didn’t feel like his relationship with Gen was all that great and I found myself more frustrated then not during this follow up.

Even though I found this was a little slow and flat for me, I did however enjoy getting more from the Avalon Bay characters and would love to see a continuation in this series.

If you like second chance and redemption romance then I think this book will be great for you. It just wasn’t my cup of tea and that’s ok!

Overall I’m giving Bad Girl Reputation 3 stars.

A fun follow-up novel to the first in the Avalon Bay series, Bad Girl Reputation finally lets us see who has Evan Hartley so angsty!

read if you like:
♡ second chance romance
♡ high school sweethearts
♡ reformed bad girl/bad boy
♡ beach towns
♡ boy pines for girl
♡ redemption / forgiveness
♡ complex family dynamics
♡ great banter

trigger warnings:
☞ parental neglect
☞ parental death
☞ abusive/manipulative authority figures

Thank you to SMP Romance for sending me an advanced copy of this book!

This sequel, to Good Girl Complex, was really cute, but came up a little short. While Mac and Cooper are very much present, this story is focused on Gen, who has returned to town after a year away, and Evan, Cooper's twin brother. They have a very long history, but after hitting a rock bottom, Gen vows she is going to change. And because Evan wants Gen back in his life, for good this time, he vows to change too. Evan is definitely the more immature Hartley twin and it was tough to read about him at times. I really like Gen, who you could tell she desperately wanted to change and be a better person. I wish the love triangle, since it was created, had been stronger and there had been a little more will-they-or-won't-they. It just feels like some of the ideas could have been dialed up a little more, but overall, I still really enjoyed it and look forward to the next book in this series. 3.5 rounded up to four stars.

I was so looking forward to this book after reading good girl complex and it was even better than I expected! bad girl reputation had everything I enjoyed about good girl complex [from the coastal college town setting of avalon bay to the hartley twins!] with a romance that I connected with even more and a little extra spice!

bad girl reputation does second chance romance SO well, and though the connection between gen and evan was off the charts there was also more depth than I was expecting. I could have done without some of the side characters/storylines, but it did introduce new couples so hopefully there are more books to come in the avalon bay series! similar to good girl complex, if you’re looking for a quick and fun read then this is for you!

I love second chance romance...but when you add a mix of redemption and personal growth, humor and LOL moments and sweet and sexy too... it’s the perfect combination that will put a smile on your face and give you all the feels.
I love Elle Kennedy books and I couldn’t wait to read Gen and Evan’s story. Both characters with a past who have shears had that side of bad girl bad boy reputation, who needed to grow as individuals to become better versions of themselves...and boy did they grow.
I love the push and pull and that despite Gen wanting to keep Evan at an arms distance she couldn’t help herself because there was just something about him that was always hers. And vice versa.
I love their wit and humor...I loved the side characters most especially Riley and Evans growth when it came to being a mentor to this boy.
I love this town, this group of friends and I can’t wait to get more of the secondary characters stories and HEAs.
I gave this book 4 stars instead of 5 bec while I love Elle Kennedy books this one was missing some of that heat factor that I have gotten from other books and I would have loved more sexy time between the characters. Overall though a great addition to the series...so fun!

“When are you going to accept that I’d be happy watching paint dry with you?”

Elle Kennedy rolls in another hot open door, small town, steamy NA romance. “Bad Girl Reputation” is book 2 but can certainly be read as a standalone. It’s a story about two young loves from high school who couldn’t get their crap together, so now, while in their 30’s, “adult up” and aim to live a life they’re proud of.

Genevieve returns to Avalon Bay for her mother’s funeral. While staying with her father and five brothers, she helps with the family business, and aims to stay afloat physically, mentally, and emotionally. However, coming across her ex-boyfriend Evan, the latter is not so easy. Evan and Gen were always “on” and then “off” and then back to “on” and it was their rollercoaster of emotions - mixed with hardcore partying and rebelling - that made their relationship toxic back in the day.

Now, years later, Gen and Evan are striving to find out who they are as individuals while trying to replace their bad reputations. Gen decides to steer clear of Evan because she wants a clean state in the town; meanwhile, Evan’s brother warns him that Gen is bad news and that he should keep a distance.

But do they? It’s a small town after all. Whether it’s at the bar, a party, or with their circle of friends, Gen and Evan allow an invisible rope to tie them together.

While there were serious undertones, this story was fun, funny, and sweet. I appreciated the heart to heart conversations that family members have with Gen and Evan. It’s this subtle message that having a strong community in your life, whether it’s in the form of family or friends, is immensely important.

Aaaaand of course the haaawwtness is a strong factor with these two. Elle does not hold out; she delivers the smut ’n’ steam both indoors and outdoors. Everyone wins.

All in all, this heartfelt story of rediscovery, forgiveness, and newfound faith in people is highly recommended.

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

First off, I did not read Good Girl Complex, so maybe I would've enjoyed this more if I had.

I thought this was a decent read. I feel like so often the mmc is the one with the troubled past and bad reputation, so it was nice to read a different take on the trope! I could relate to Genevieve's past and the work she was putting in to erase it from people's mind. That being said, I didn't really feel the love between these two. I liked the intro scene at the funeral wake, but from there it kind fizzled out. I felt like I was told they were in love and soul mates more than I was showed and it kind of led to a disconnect between me the reader and the character's story.

Bad Girl Reputation is the second book in the Avalon Bay series. While I liked the first book alright, I was looking forward to book 2 and hoping for more. More feels, and more character development. I did get a little more character development, but unfortunately I just liked this one alright as well. Nothing bad, but nothing that wowed me either.

Gen returns to Avalon Bay when her mother passes away and she needs to be with her dad and brothers, but a man that was always her downfall is right there to pick up where they left off. Evan, twin brother to Cooper from book 1, is all about bad decisions and the epitome of bad boy that you just might want to stay away from. And that is what Gen is looking to do. She doesn't want to be the same person she was when she left Avalon Bay and wants to prove to others she's more than the bad girl that was always drinking and getting into trouble, all with Evan. But Evan wants to know why she left and ghosted him and to get right back to where they were. He thinks she is the one.

So, for most of the story we are getting Gen trying to prove she's more than who she was and trying to stay away from Evan, but he's one of her friends from back in the day that still understands her. I didn't really feel their connection because it was one from the past and we didn't get to connect with them back then. This is right in the present and I really didn't connect with either character. If anything, I enjoyed Evan and his antics and the way he turned his bad boy attitude around and even became a big brother. But would he have done that on his own if Gen wasn't around?

A story of second chances, immediate connection with a past lover and of Gen fighting that attraction that never left. She even dates someone else that was honestly a bore. Why? Just why? To add to the drama?
WIth all that said, it was an ok story with a great small beach town feel. I appreciated the second chance between Gen and Evan, but I just didn't connect with them as characters and wish they would've put more effort into one another earlier rather than later. It was obvious that Evan wanted Gen, but she played with him for far too long. Some of the secondary characters were interesting and I would like to hear more from them. If you liked book 1, you will probably enjoy this one. I just wanted more connection rather than sexual chemistry between Gen and Evan.

This might be the case where it's me, not the book. While I still enjoy a good YA or NA book, I don't like reading about immature characters, and both Genevieve and Evan were too immature and irresponsible for me. Yes, Gen is trying to reform her ways, and eventually Evan is too, but reading about these two together drove me crazy. The 14 year-old "little brother" was probably the most mature person in this book.

I still think many people will enjoy this book, it just wasn't for me.

Bad Girl Reputation by Elle Kennedy is the follow up novel to Good Girl Complex. This time, the story focuses on Cooper’s twin, Evan, and Genevieve, who disappeared without a word about a year before this book begins. She’s returned to town following her mom’s death and is sticking around for a few months to help her dad with the family business while he tries to find someone to fill the shoes her mother left behind. I enjoyed reading Good Girl Complex, so I was excited to see another story in Avalon Bay. I loved the dual point of view and second chance romance aspects of the group. These characters had a lot of growth, which I noticed especially with Evan since he acted so immature in the first book. It was also fun to see a little bit about how Cooper and Mackenzie (from the 1st book) are doing in glimpses throughout this book. I wished that the bad cop had gotten a little more punishment for how he had treated Gen and other people in the town. Overall I really enjoyed it!

OKAY WOW! I have been a fan of Elle Kennedy’s books since I read the endlessly popular Off Campus series a few years ago, and was so excited to read her newest creations. I read the first book in this series and liked it a lot, but I have to say Evan and Gen’s story blows Mac and Cooper’s out of the water!

Genevieve is a deeply relatable flawed character who is trying to do her best to get her life on track and learn from her mistakes. She arrives back to Avalon Bay after fleeing years earlier for unknown reasons. Her mom has just died and she is helping her dad get his business organized. Evan is the quintessential « bad boy », but he’s a passionate character who is loyal (perhaps to a fault) and cares deeply for his family and friends.
Evan and Gen were partners in crime for years and have loved each other for even longer, so when Gen comes back to town Evan thinks they’ll rekindle immediately… dead wrong! Gen is trying to avoid old mistakes and she’s worried Evan’s reckless impulses and immaturity will lead her down bad roads. Evan is having none of it and does everything he can to show her he’s changing, and isn’t the same man fist fighting anyone who looks at him or someone he loves the wrong way.

One thing about Evan, he is PERSISTENT; and not in a creepy, okay-but-seriously-go-away way, but in a he-is-obsessed-and-will-do-anything-to-prove-himself type of way. This book definitely has the tropes « he falls first » AND « he falls harder » so I was hooked from the jump!

I found Gen and Evan’s dynamic to be just that, dynamic, and so much fun to read. Their banter was flawless, connection magnetic and it is so painfully obvious how in love they are with each other it hurts. I would highly highly recommend this book as a light-hearted, fun read which will have you laughing, kicking your legs in the air, and maybe even shedding a tear or two (totally obviously not speaking from personal experience…). I LOVED it <3

I really enjoyed this book. It's a steamy second chance at love romance. Although I felt the characters had a lot of physical chemistry, I didn't get a sense of emotional chemistry between them. So it was kind of hard to cheer for them as a couple. I did like seeing their growth throughout the story, just wish there was more for me to connect with.

Synopsis:
When former bad girl Genevieve West returns home for her mother’s funeral, she’s prepared to keep her distance from her ex-boyfriend, Evan Hartley. Their history is rife with turbulence. And passion. A heck of a lot of passion...which she’s trying desperately to forget.

But it’s impossible not to run into Evan in the small coastal town where they once ran wild. And the moment she sees her gorgeous ex again, it’s clear to Gen that Evan is still as unruly, sexy, and irresistible as ever. This time around, however, she’s resolved to walk a new path. No more partying. No more foolish mistakes. Her plan is to temporarily remain in town to help her father run his business, but the second he finds somebody else, she’s out of there.

Evan has other ideas. He knows they can be good together, but he just has to convince Genevieve of that, even if it means turning over a new leaf himself. But can a bad reputation ever truly be shed? Do second chances really work? Genevieve and Evan are about to find out.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC and ALC of this book in exchange for my honest review.