A true second chance romance. The story of two people who share a past full of trouble and trauma. Through bettering their own personal lives, they find their way back to each other. I loved seeing how they both changed throughout the story but especially Evan who chances for the woman he loves. With the addition of bringing families with troubled pasts together, this book is full of emotion.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with a free ebook copy in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

2 stars

Petition for the next book to be about Harrison (the lovable side hoe) so that poor man can have the happily ever after he deserves.

A lot of reviewers claimed this book was an improvement from the first one. I disagree. Although book 2 was absent of any cheating (luckily), the relationship was much more toxic. I was, indeed, prepared for this, given that the synopsis indicates the characters were in a tumultuous love affair starting back in the seventh grade. However, the characters didn't spend enough time developing healthy communication habits and establishing healthy behaviors that would provide evidence for enough growth to justify the initial toxicity.

I'm sorry (not sorry) to say: so many of the quirky character traits in this story came across as stupid to me. For example, Evan calls Genevieve "Fred," the most unsexy and un-endearing name he could possibly come up with. WHY.

Now that we've introduced Evan, let's dive into his character a bit. Why is Evan constantly harassing Gen by showing up on her dates (yes, dates plural, as in multiple times) with another guy? Why did Evan try to convince Gen, a woman who once suffered some form of alcohol misuse, that she can surely enjoy alcohol again in moderation? I don't think the author did a single Google search on the behavioral patterns of people who's experienced addiction. If she had, she wouldn't write a male love interest that convinces the fmc "to just have one drink." On the bright side, I kind of liked Evan's mentorship of Ryan, but I wish he pursued all these charity and community service activities for the sake of bring a better person rather than for the sole purpose if winning his ex girlfriend back.

Unfortunately, since book 1, Kennedy has doing a really bad job of making her characters likable. I miss the magic of her off-campus series.

The only good thing (in my eyes) about this couple is the sexual tension/chemistry that they have, which unfortunately contributed directly to the worst thing about this couple: their perpetual toxicity. I mean, they constantly got in each other's pants to avoid their relationship problems.

Anyway, I wanted to give this series another chance with book 2, since I have very nostalgic memories associated with this author's other series. However, I have to say, I will not be continuing on with this series.

Book rating 4/5 ⭐️

Childhood best friends to lovers, second chance romance. Normally is not my favorite trope but boy did I love this book! I was hooked from start to finish and couldn’t put the book down until I finished it. This is a great pallet cleanser! Such an easy read. Would highly recommend this book to anyone☺️

3.5/5

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

This is a classic Elle Kennedy novel with the childhood friends to lovers trope. It was a breezy read, which is exactly what one hopes for with this type of book. Good banter, characters to root for, and ridiculous tension between the protagonists.

Not my favorite EK book, but a solid read. I didn't read the first in the series before this and it didn't make a difference.

Themes: friends to lovers, second chances, dysfunctional families

*SPOILERS AHEAD!*
I wasn’t super into this one. While I do like to keep up with books written by Elle Kennedy, I felt like the chatacters needed more fleshing out and emotional reactions to things. I love the second-chance romance trope and the beach town setting.

For example *SPOILER* our MC is recovering and is on the road to sobriety, but I do not think we saw an authentic portrayal of this. I feel like if a person is on that journey we would see a lot of emotion and anxiety surrounding them when tempted, which we did not get with Gen.

Also *SPOILER* I felt like the subplot with the cop was…not great? It had a lot of good potential for suspense but I didn’t feel it. He felt one-dimensional.

This was such a great story! I admit I did like Good Girl Complex a little better, but I honestly loved this one, too.

Evan and Gen's relationship is so much grittier and more complicated than Mac and Cooper's. Where Mac was someone who was a good person with her life together, Gen is just trying to pick herself up and make something of her life. I liked the real, relatable edge of Gen and her whole story line.

Evan had some serious growth in this book, which he had to do if he wanted to be with Gen. Seeing his transformation was inspiring and also warmed my heart. The parts with his mom made me want to give him a big hug and so did the arguments with Cooper. I felt like Evan was someone who was overlooked as just a wild child with issues as opposed to a human being with emotions and trauma.

Overall, I liked the whole flow of this book and the re-development of Gen and Evan. This is definitely a series I'm very much here for and I'm hoping other friends get books of their own!

I'm not usually a fan of a second-chance romance or exes getting back together (it takes some of the excitement away for me) but I'm so obsessed with this series, I didn't even care. My main gripe with this book is I find both MCs' jealousy realllllly overdone (and borderline creepy) but that's me being nitpicky because I loved this book and I'm loving this series!

I really enjoyed this one!! Evan and Genevieve are both struggling to overcome their destructive tendencies and improve themselves. I love how Elle focused on each character individually and then made their relationship together a subplot. This continues from Good Girl Complex effortlessly.

Evan I utterly love.!! I really felt like I knew him and I was so proud of him. The relationship he builds with Riley and learning to be an example for others while still retaining his danger streak.Genevieve was a little harder to understand at first. However, as the book progressed I got to love her more. I think the way she views herself and her personality was heartbreaking. The side parts of this book where Genevieve does self discovery were my favourite. Elle did her characters justice by showing their growth rather than just telling the reader about it.

As always the banter, steam, and setting were phenomenal. I loved seeing Cooper and Mac intertwined in this one. Elle can do no wrong.

I enjoyed 'Bad Girl Reputation'. I liked Gen and Evan's story more than the prequel and found the trope 'what happens to the party girl and the bad boy once they grow up?' quite entertaining.

4.5⭐️ When I was reading Good Girl Complex I kept thinking how good Evan’s story would be, and Bad Girl Reputation proved it! I’m not always a fan of second chance romances, but this one was fantastic. This story is about so much more than the love story. It’s about redemption, forgiveness, growth and self-discovery. I hope this isn’t the last we see of Avalon Bay, because there are so many more stories ready to be told!

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan for the opportunity to read this ARC and provide my honest review.

Bad Girl Reputation was a book that I had an open mind going into. I loved Good Girl Complex, so I was reading to dive into Gen and Evan’s story. It turned out to be a very character driven book with very minimal plot. I know Evan was suppose to have a chip on his shoulder then “change”, but his character was very repetitive. As for Gen, she was a pretty unlikeable character. She used Evan a lot and it wasn’t mentioned that he even realized it (which is fine, but it’s a huge detail I couldn’t help but notice).

When reading this book, it took me a while to get through it. It didn’t pull me in like Good Girl Complex because there was nothing that surprised me or wasn’t predictable. I still absolutely love Elle Kennedy, but this book was definitely lacking.

5/5⭐️ 2/5🌶

God, I loved this book. Usually, I don't go for a second chance romance, but I'm so glad I did. The writing behind love story from back when they were first together, was so well done. I felt like I was really there and living in it. The stories that were told, the detail, and the characters that were sprinkled in with their friend group made it seem like we were retelling stories from our wild teenage years. The banter was very funny and the references and humour was just my style. I really appreciated the way that both Gen and Evan knew that their behaviours and actions, both as individuals and together as a couple, needed to grow and mature. They really found themselves and became better people so that they could be the best versions of themselves. It really drove home how much effort and maturity it takes to recognize that and bring on a second chance in life for yourself. Overall, such a great read and will definitely be purchasing a physical copy when it comes out for my collection. Arguably, my favourite Elle Kennedy read to date.

**I was given an ARC of this read by netgalley but the opinion is all my own.

I had such high hopes for this novel and unfortunately it didn’t quite meet my expectations. I tend to lean towards more plot driven stories, but I’m not even sure if this book had a plot aside from the two MC’s, Gen and Evan, getting back together. I found both of their characters to be very immature and toxic, and their character development didn’t feel authentic. I love the childhood best friends to lovers and second chance troupe but because of how immature they were I didn’t care for their relationship. There just wasn’t any build up or tension to sell me on their chemistry. I like the whole “bad girl/boy” troupe, but the fighting, drugs, jail, and pulling people out of the bar by their hair (not in the book, but happened previously) because of jealously just isn’t it for me. As for the writing, I felt it was very choppy/all over the place. I appreciate the author attempting to add deeper subjects within the story such as grief, bad parenting, bad cops, trouble with the law, alcohol/drug abuse, personal growth, but I just didn’t feel like the characters took any of it seriously. I personally enjoyed the ending. We really began to see their growth and everything fall in line for the characters in the last few chapters, but by that time I was just ready to throw in the towel. I enjoyed the writing style and even laughed at multiple scenes, but I would have enjoyed it more with mature, consistent, and deeper characters. There are definitely readers who will love this one, it just didn’t work for me.

You can also see my review on my Instagram @readingwithhaley_ now!

As per all of Elle Kennedy's books, I loved the characters. Gen is a firecracker and her journey to growth is so fun and inspiring. I think the only reason I can't give this book a higher rating is because she had two tropes I'm the least interested in: Second chance romance and friends to lovers. However despite the fact I have no interest in those usually, I did have moments of true enjoyment in this book. I laughed, I almost cried but mostly I smiled.

A few spelling mistakes but nothing too bad.

Thank you NetGallery, St. Martin's Press, and Elle Kennedy for this ARC copy of Bad Girl Reputation in exchange for my honest review and opinion.

Tropes:
-Second Chance
-Small Town
-Loss + Grief
-Touch Him/Her and Die Vibes
-Other Men/Women
-Reconciliation

This second installment of the Avalon Bay series was incredible. There was definitely a different vibe in this book, but I was totally here for it!

After her mother's death, Gen finds herself back in Avalon Bay, helping her family get things together... and confronting her past. The events that had her leaving town over a year ago are still lingering, and challenge every bit of progress that she has made in her own self development. A huge portion of that is - Evan Hartley.

The hot and cold whiplash between Gen and Evan is rough at times to get through, This toxic nature was an inferno of miscommunication, burning desires, redeeming hope, and true love. A great love like theirs only comes once in a lifetime... and Evan is ready to go the distance to unearth the reasons Gen left... and fight to convince her that not only does she belong in Avalon Bay, but that she belongs with him.

Gen fights her inner demons on the romance front. On one hand - she has fought tooth and nail to shed her Bad Girl Reputation. The problem with Evan is that he seems to cast a shadow of that very reputation in their every encounter. She is determined to show that she has turned a new leaf, and opens herself up to date a new deputy. The problem is when you play with fire... you are bound to get burned. This new potential romance sparks something new within Evan that shows Gen new sides to her old flame. It causes her to question everything.

I love that this story really dives into the reality that people WILL change with the right motivation. Gen was incredibly relatable. I love the inevitable relationship our main characters shared. Elle Kennedy did it once again!

Another note: I really enjoyed seeing developments with other characters. The mom, Wyatt, Ren, Alanna. I can already see the wheels turning with potential for more books within this series, and I am greatly looking forward to reading every one of them!

I thought this was a pretty good read. I did like the first book better though, but this is a nice summer read!

This was my first Elle Kennedy read, and it did not disappoint. For someone who hadn't read Good Girl Complex, it made me want to read that story without causing any confusion during this installment in the series. This book was a second-chance romance after Genevieve basically ghosted her longtime on-again, off-again boyfriend, Evan. She comes back to Avalon Bay to help her father after her mother's death, and of course this brings her back to Evan, and the messy connection between the two of them. I enjoyed the natural chemistry between our two MCs-- they are clearly meant for each other. What I didn't enjoy was the lack of self-worth basically assigned to Genevieve by herself and others in the community, sometimes including Evan. That made it slightly difficult to read, although the progression of her character and relationships helped. All in all, if you like steamy second-chance romances with off-the-charts chemistry, this one is for you!

Genevieve and Evan have a history of making bad decisions together. When Genevieve comes back to town for her mothers funeral she runs back into Evan after leaving unexpectedly a year prior.

Throughout the story you see two character grow up. The question throughout the book was will they both be able to leave behind their bad reputation and be their best versions of theirselves together or will it break them apart.

This book was amazing! So well written and a great romance read.

A new Avalon Bay? Oh yes, please!
I devoured Good Girl Complex and needless to say BGR didn't disappoint me.

This second chance love story hit all the right spots.
Genevieve and Evan are engaging characters. Seriously I couldn't get enough of their story.
The storyline had me hooked from the beginning, the characters were so likeable.
This is one of those books that will undoubtedly leave me in a slump for days because I want to be back with Genevieve and Evan.
Such a fun and steamy romance, that had me in such a fog.
Elle Kennedy, knows how to tell one remarkable story.
I just love her damn books!

“I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.”

St. Martin's Griffin,
Thank You for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!
I will post my review to my platforms, blog, B&N and Waterstone closer to pub date.

Genevieve (Gen) and Evan have been making trouble, drinking, and causing problems together for years. Until about a year ago when Gen decided to clean up her act after a night she considers to be her bottom. She moves to another state and starts over until her mom dies and she has to return to Avalon Bay to help her dad run the family business. Now she is back in Evan's orbit but trying to break the chain of destruction that always seems to occur when those two are together. Can Evan show her he can be the kind of man she is looking for now?

This is he second book in the Avalon Bay series. If you enjoyed the first one, I anticipate you will like this one as well. The book is about people in their 20's and their lack of experience with real life and youth definitely shows in the story line, but if you know that going in its not a big deal. I liked Evan and Gen and their chemistry was certainly off the charts. I enjoyed seeing how Gen had grown up from their destructive path and was trying to get her life together. The best part of the book was watching Evan's transformation over the course of the book.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and look forward to more stories from Avalon Bay.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for allowing me to read an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.