3.5 stars rounded up to 4

Bad GIrl Reputation was a lighthearted, yet meaningful story of redemption, personal growth, and second chances. Elle Kennedy's writing is enjoyable and easy to follow, and she writes a beautiful, character-driven story.

The dynamic between Genevieve and Evan is one that is, although strained at times, full of playfulness and love for each other. It was rewarding to see how these characters were willing to grow and improve, not only for each other, but more importantly for themselves.

The town of Avalon Bay is a charming, waterfront community that also plays an important role in this story. Readers learn about the importance of one's "roots"; while they can be associated with pain and conflict, they can also be reminders of something beautiful, and a promise for a rebeginning (even for a former bad girl).

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the ARC of Bad Girl Reputation.

Genevieve returns home after leaving town a year ago and all she wants is to shed her bad girl reputation and stay away from her ex, Evan Hartley. Evan needs to grow up and shed his bad boy image and learn to show people that he is more than bar fights and hookups.

Their small coastal town seems to enjoy pushing Evan and Gen towards each other; friends, family, parties, and work. This story is about discovering who you are before you can truly be with someone else. Both characters go through some amazing growth in this story.

It is entertaining, witty, with lots of interesting characters and great chemistry between Evan and Gen!

A great follow up book to Good Girl Complex!

Bad Girl Reputation starts a little while after Good Girl Complex ended. I loved this. We got a peak into what Mac and Cooper were up to and we learned about Gen NOW instead of focusing on her past.

I loved how much Evan loved Gen. He said there was no way he doesn’t end up with her. They both had to conquer demons if they wanted to make it work. It was t going to be easy as they both dealt with past situations.

I loved this book from start to finish. Evan and Gen were so lovable. I loved going back to visit Avalon Bay.

An overall cute romcom by Elle Kennedy! The story follows Gen and Evan and their ups and downs of a relationship. Gen returns to her home town after the loss of her mother, and at the request of her father, decides to stay and help her family's business with the books. To her dismay, she runs right into the arms of her ex, Evan. Like always, their chemistry is off the charts immediately. This book was so steamy and packed with drama, I absolutely loved it! Elle Kennedy is quite literally queen of small town romances! I definitely recommend!

This is the second book in the Avalon Bay series. Good Girl Complex followed Mac and Cooper and this one follows his twin brother, Evan and Gen.

I absolutely adored GGC. It was very reminiscent of She’s All That meets The Notebook. This one definitely had a lot more emotion in it. It shows Gen and Evan’s struggle to figure out who they are as individuals while dealing with past trauma and seeing if these new versions of themselves can fit together. This story had so much heart and I found myself rooting for these characters the entire time. And I have a sneaky suspicion there will be a third book in this series!

2.5 ⭐️

(this was my first Elle Kennedy book and i definitely have mixed reviews. i wasn’t aware this book was a sequel until after i finished but it made sense on its own so i believe it can be read as a standalone!)

Bad Girl Reputation honestly took a while for me to get into to. since there was little to no info about Gen’s past, and her relationship with Evan, the “reunion” between the mc and love interest threw me off. the book was enjoyable a first but i frequently had frustrations with the characters and relationships. throughout the story i felt that the characters didn’t have much depth and i really would’ve like getting to know Gen and Evan a bit more. on the relationship standpoint, it was overly toxic at the beginning for my taste, but i really appreciated the growth later on. there is definitely positive character and relationship development to look forward to!

tropes included in Bad Girl Reputation:
- bad girl x bad boy
- lotssss of angst
- hot and cold/ toxic relationship
- second chance romance
- dual POVs
i definitely recommend giving this novel a try if this sounds good!!

a big thank you to the author, netgalley, and St. Martin’s Press, for giving me this eArc, in return for my honest opinion!

EEEEEEEEK! This book! THIS SERIES! I have gone down the rom-com rabbit hole and I don't want to come back up! When Elle Kennedy writes a book, you read the thing!

Honestly thought that no one could outdo Cooper, but step aside, because Evan is everything I never knew I needed. His love for Gen pulled at my heart and had me rooting for them from the very beginning.

This was my first book by Elle Kennedy and I’m not sure what to think. I’ve heard rave reviews about her books but this was just meh. The writing style was fine, the sex was good and the ending was fine. My issue? Why was the relationship so toxic? I mean 95% of this book is just 2 toxic people making a relationship work. Depending on the point in the book depends on the toxic people - this book had a lot to chose from. Usually I’m a sucker for a best friends to lovers trope but this one missed the mark for me.

I received an Advanced Reader Copy from NetGalley for an honest review.

Ok this was my first Elle Kennedy book and I really enjoyed it! As I started reading this book, I realized it was the second in a series. I didn't read the first one but luckily it all pretty much made sense so it can be read as a stand alone.
This book covers some messy characters who grow up and learn to forgive. The main character, Genevieve, is a hot mess but you can't help but love her anyways. This story is about her deciding it's time to grow up and be an adult all while reconnecting with the love of her life, Evan. There's a lot of personal growth, forgiveness, love and full circle moments for these two and those that are in their life.
I enjoyed this story and the fun atmosphere of a small coastal town. There is also a slew of colorful characters in this novel and I loved ever single one of them. This book is the ultimate story that no matter how lost you are, you can always find your way!

Bad Girl Reputation releases on October 4th!

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Griffin for my ARC copy!!

This review is posted on Goodreads and will be posted to my instagram page next week.

This was an enjoyable read! My one complaint is that I wish we were able to get more in-depth with Gen and Evan’s characters. I feel that we were only shown surface level stuff about them and their relationship.

3.5 Stars

Thank you to Elle Kennedy and the publisher for giving me the opportunity of reading this book.

I've been a big fan of Elle's since The Deal and while I liked Good Girl Complex, it was different than I thought it would be. Therefore, in going into Bad Girl Reputation, I was hoping to like it more and see resonate with the characters more than I did in Good Girl Complex,

While this isn't a bad book by any means, and I enjoyed certain moments of banter and anecdotes, the characters and story fell flat for me. I started to like Gen better by the end of the book, but for at least half of the book, I didn't really like either of the protagonists. I wanted to see more growth from both Gen and Evan and felt like when it finally started to happen it was a little too late in the book for me to really engage with their characters' arc.

This book held my attention enough for me to finish reading and want to continue the series. It might be because of where I am right now in my life that it didn't grab my attention like I thought it would. However, if you like angsty NA books full of drama then this book mostly delivers.

ARC REVIEW:

I’d like to start this review by saying thank you to Elle Kennedy and St. Martin’s Press for sending me an advanced reader copy of Bad Girl Reputation. Going into this book, I thought it was going to be a typical bad girl x bad boy romance story, but it was so much more than that. The tropes were childhood friends to lovers to strangers to lovers, party girl x bad boy, and second chance romance. Reading about Genevieve’s struggles in Avalon Bay and how she wasn’t able to fit in with everyone else made her so much more down-to-earth than other characters I’ve read about in the past. Evan was completely and utterly obsessed with her, and I don’t blame him one bit. However, I have noticed multiple typos throughout the story along with many repeated phrases, especially “all but.” The writing was predominately easy to follow, but as I was reading, I could definitely tell that some of the words were altered into synonyms of different words just for the sake of rich vocabulary, when it didn’t blend in with the rest of the writing. Overall, it was definitely a likeable book to read and had the perfect essence for summer, and I’m hoping Elle Kennedy writes more books for the other friends in Avalon Bay.

4.5 stars. It wasn't quite as good as the first book in the series but still excellent. This is a second chance romance between the bad girl and bad boy of small beach town Avalon Bay. Both characters try to mature and be more responsible as the story goes on. I liked that aspect of the story and the romance was sweet, but I didn't feel the tension and the angst like I did the first book.

I really struggled to get into this one, and just didn't have an affinity for any of the characters. I don't know if more back story earlier would have helped on Genevieve, but I just couldn't build the connection. I also had trouble liking Evan. Frankly, I think that with a younger audience this book would hit, but I just couldn't connect anymore.

While I really enjoyed Good Girl Complex, I liked Bad Girl Reputation even more. Second chance romances aren’t typically something I gravitate toward, but reading about Evan and Gen working through their personal issues and relationship history was done so beautifully that I didn’t even think about it being a trope I tend to avoid.

I did love the glimpses of Mac and Cooper that we got as well, and I am already trying to decide who the next book will be about. I’m leaning toward Alana, Wyatt, and Tate, but I guess I’ll have to wait and see!

Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was very bland, I wanted to like the characters but they did nothing for me. I don't feel like they actually changed and their relationship was strange. He said he was going to woo her but then they only went on one date. It had potential but it fell flat.

I received an arc through netgalley.

“Gen’s got this way about her. Confident and cool but with this edge of absolute batshit terror, like at any moment she could blow you a kiss and drag a knife through your parachute, then push you out of a plane.”

I always enjoy an Elle Kennedy contemporary romance. This one was definitely a very character driven story and the dynamic between Evan and Genevieve was so real. What I liked most was this is a story about personal growth, about leaving your demons behind and finding a way to start over. But what if one of your demons was the best thing to ever happen to you? Evan’s inner monologue is hilarious, especially his relationship with Riley, but the way he thinks and talks about Gen just makes my heart flutter. Lots of interactions with side characters I’d love to see more of!

Thank you St Martin’s Press for the arc of this book! I loved this series. Getting to know Cooper and Mac in the first book, then seeing Evan and Genevieve’s story was so great. I love when authors extend the book with different characters and this was not a disappointment.

Elle Kennedy brings us back to Avalon Bay in this look into a tumultuous couple with a sexy, sexy chemistry! I loved this one, but not as much as good girl complex.
A little bit of (ok, a lot of!) angst, SEX, and second chances...

The newest book of Kennedy’s releases in October. While this is not my favorite of her books it was still a book that I didn’t mind to read.

Genevieve was forced to come back to her hometown for her mothers funeral, after a year away. She left to get her life in order and drop the sins of her past. Evan is the biggest sin of her past. She left him a year ago without so much as a goodbye. But he still loves her and wants to try to fix all issues that sent her running.