I really liked this book! I liked how Gen and Evan weren't instantly back together and how both of them grew up in the end. I didn't like how Gen was seeing Harrison but still hooking up with Evan though... But the whole Randall thing was also crazy. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a quick drama filled romance book.

This one was okay. It was a super quick read, so perfect for a fluffy, afternoon book. I just didn’t find the characters super loveable which made it frustrating at times, but that’s just me. Otherwise it was good!

I read the first book in the series and absolutely loved it. So I could not wait to read this story about Evan and his ex, Genieve.

I liked both main characters but I agreed with Gen they were toxic together. I loved that she works hard to try and change her life and I also loved that she inspires Evan to also change his life and have a more fulfilling life. These two have the love for each other and so I liked that they wanted to do better.

I felt at times their on and off relationship was a bit much and they are very volatile together. I wasn't sold that they could be a forever couple as they really liked the push and pull and breakups.

The author did a great job telling this story and I loved watching these two main characters grow up.

Firstly, I wanted to thank St. Martin's and Elle Kennedy for allowing me to preview this novel in exchange for my honest thoughts.
Like others, I wanted to place this between a 2 and 3 star review.

Firstly, I wanted to like this novel so much more than I did. It has everything I want, fated lovers, great spice, and genuinely heartfelt moments.

Those beautiful moments are totally overwhelmed by the lack of true character development. I will be honest, I did not read the first in this series, coincidentally Good Girl Behavior was on my night stand when I was approved for this text. I gather we likely would have met Gen in the first text, even as just a side character, and that could have done more to set up this long-standing relationship between her and Evan. But for all that history, their relationship felt a little one dimensional. I love a protective man as much as the next romance reader, but you can only hear about how much Evan wants to kick every man's ass and stake his claim on Gen so many times before the trope becomes worn. Pair that with Gen's perfect rack I had to keep hearing about, and I just was left wanting more character development. I get that these two were constantly in trouble and always choosing the most dangerous and stupid options, but Gen's wake up call reads a lot more legitimate than Evan's turn around that results in bird being eaten. Ultimately, his relationship with Riley really buoy Evan's image in my mind.

In the end, I think this book just wasn't really for me, but I could see other readers really enjoying these two flawed but loveable characters who do work hard to overcome their pasts..

Bad Girl reputation had everything I wanted. Forgiveness, second chances, angst, witty characters. I loved reading Gen and Evans and getting a whole new side of Evan. The growth the characters showed and how they ended made me so happy. Another great book from Elle Kennedy.

I was fortunate enough to read and review the first in this series and loved it. When I saw that the second half of the “Hartley Twins” was getting his own story, I immediately hit request for an ARC of it.

The plot:
Bestselling author Elle Kennedy returns to Avalon Bay in this sexy second chance story about two exes who can't stay away from each other, Bad Girl Reputation.

This was a fun world to swoop back into. I got glimpses of Cooper and Mac, which I loved seeing, and the book did a great job of continuing their story while giving Evan and Gen their own airtime.

Overall, this was not as much fun to read as the first. I found Evan to be an unsympathetic brat for most of the book, even if he was funny while doing it. If you liked the first, I would definitely recommend the second but I don’t think it works as a standalone.

Many thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Griffin for sharing a digital reviewer copy with me in exchange for my honest thoughts.

Thank you St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for the Advanced Reader Copy of Bad Girl Reputation by Elle Kennedy.

Brief Synopsis:
In this story, Genevieve returns home following the passing of her mother and is forced to deal with everything she left behind. She tried to run away from her “bad girl reputation” and turn a new leaf in Charleston, and one person she attributes a lot of her bad behavior to is Evan, her ex-boyfriend. Gen has to stay home and help her family out with their business, and this gives Evan time to try to pursue her again. She is unsure how she can be around Evan while trying to salvage her reputation, and would rather stay away, but he doesn’t want to accept that. The story takes off from there!

Things I really liked:
- Evan’s internal and external dialogue made me laugh out loud multiple times; his sense of humor is dry, snarky, and right up my alley.
- The growth in this story on multiple fronts: self-growth, growth in familial relationships for both Gen and Evan, and growth in romantic relationships.
- Evan being a big brother to Riley was wholesome and was good for both of them. This and Daisy (beautiful golden retriever) just made my heart happy.
- Their friend group and families were comforting to read about. Gen’s huge family full of brothers, and her relationship with her dad was especially nice, following their great loss.
- The atmosphere - the piers, beaches, motorcycles, bars and restaurants near the water.. this made for a perfect summer vibe.

Things that bothered me (not much):
- When Gen first came back, she unfairly cast a lot of blame on Evan. This made Evan feel like there was something wrong with him, and he felt responsible for things that went wrong for Gen. Gen comes to realize that not everything was linked to Evan and takes responsibility for her own actions, which I appreciated, but it did make me hesitant of Gen at first.
- Cooper is a very abrasive person. I did not read the first book, so I didn’t get a deep dive into his character, but he was very judgmental of everything Evan did, and the way he talked to Mac sometimes rubbed me the wrong way.

Overall:
This book focuses on a lot of growth, as I mentioned above, and also allowing people to change. The characters realized that they needed to allow others to change, just as they were allowing themselves to make changes - if you don’t let someone prove to you how they’ve been working on themselves, then how can you expect others to see how far you’ve come yourself? I also liked how the characters began to give themselves credit for the actions they were taking to improve themselves, and to realize that there is a balance between dulling yourself and living life too radically.

All in all, I really enjoyed this book, and I recommend it to anyone, even if you didn’t like the first book in the Avalon Bay series. Evan and Cooper are very different characters, and this story digs into self-reflective topics without going too deep, making it a fantastic lighter summer read.

Review posted on Goodreads.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC! This book was cute! I love a good second chance romance and loved the history that Gen and Evan had! The book fell just a tad short on some chapters but this was a cute follow up story to the first one with Coop and Mac. Solid 4/5⭐️

Bad Girl Reputation is the follow up to Good Girl Complex. This is a second chance romance between Gen and Evan. Second chance romances are a hit or miss for me, but I really appreciated this one and the lengths Evan went to work on himself to be better for Gen.

Overall, I thought this was a charming story. It’s a quick and light read with a cute romance and great relationships. I read it after a particularly heavy book, and it was the sweet, light read that I needed. I think readers who enjoy contemporary romance or rom-coms will probably enjoy the book.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the advanced copy of the book.

I LOVED THIS BOOK. I’ve been in a bit of a rom-com hole lately, reading so many and not finding any of them actually satisfying. THIS ONE, however, broke the mold. It was the perfect about of pining, of sex, of backstory, of storyline. I’m prepared to read everything Elle Kennedy writes.

The cutest little beach read! Fast paced and hilarious. It made me go back and read the first one. It has everything that Elle Kennedy is known for-inner circle, really good banter. Personally, I’m not a fan of the friends-to-lovers, goofy boy, bad girl tropes, but Kennedy does it well. It was a really fun read with a great setting. It reminded me of reading Sarah Dessen in high school. Thank you, St. Martin’s and Kennedy for the ARC!

I graciously received this book as an ARC from NetGalley but all opinions are my own.
Unfortunately this was not my favorite book from Elle Kennedy. I was between 2.5-3 stars because there were pieces I really enjoyed but as a whole this story felt choppy and rushed.
Positives: I enjoyed the second chance romance and coming of age aspects of this book. I think it demonstrated facing your past and overcoming past reputations well and I really enjoyed Gen’s character development.
There were several moments in this book that made me chuckle and laugh out loud with the banter and commentary. I enjoyed the overall personality of Evan and Gen as well as Mac and Cooper from the previous book.

Negatives: I was not sold on Gen and Evan’s relationship. They have this extensive past but then after a year of being apart they push each other away, to then become f*ck buddies, to then break up and ultimately have this sudden whimsical reunion/proposal in the last chapter? I just wasn’t invested in their love story.
Another flaw was that the book seemed choppy or to abruptly change perspectives or jump in the plot where I was confused. It didn’t have a seamless flow of events and was difficult for me to read sometimes. I had to flip back and reread some parts.

Overall this was a cute read and I enjoyed reading it, but I felt like some things need to be smoothed out to flow better and this couple was just not for me. If there is going to be another book in this series I would definitely pick it up and I will continue to read other books by this author in the future!

Genevieve West was a former bad girl. When she returns home for her mother's funeral she is determined to stay away from her ex-boyfriend, Evan Hartley. They had a very passionate relationship that was filled with turmoil, and he was the one that she shared all of her bad girl times. The minute that she sees Evan, she knows that their attraction is still strong, but she is resolved to walk a new path. She actually goes out on a few dates with a local policeman that she knew from high school. Evan knows that they are meant to be together, and he is convinced to change to keep her in his life. This is a good book that I highly recommend

This was my first read by Elle Kennedy and I thought it was cute. The underldying backstory was really well written and I always love the idea of someone proving to themselves and others that they are not who they used to be.

Evan and Gen are really complex characters and the back and forth, push and pull between them is beautiful. For a first love that seems to still be holding on, I loved how their relationship didn't necessarily feel overdone as some of those can feel in other books.

It was a very slow start for me though. The first few chapters felt very slow and it took me a bit to finally get into the book where I.couldn't put it down (I think that was aroumd chapter 12). Overall it is a cute sequal to the first book in the Avalon Bay series (which now I need to read) and has spice, self discovery and a cute relationship to keep everyone entertained!

I loved the first book so I had high expectations and wow did it meet them! I love this story and the mcs I desperately wanted more every step of the way (in a good way). Can’t recommend this one enough

"**Thank you to the publisher and author for sending me a NetGalley copy in exchange for an honest review.**

The latest from Elle Kennedy comes a book about redemption, changing the course of your future while giving love a second chance. This story of redemption follows Genevieve “Gen” coming back to Avalon Bay with her mother passing and testing out a re-invented self. From the beginning we get glimpses of her life as a bad girl and her long standing history with Evan, her ex-boyfriend and defiant bad boy. Though engaging witty banter with 90s references, it’s hard not to fall in love with the couple as they look at working through their past “bad” behavior almost together. The story was quick to get into, especially if you read the first book of the series: Good Girl Complex, but the characters lacked a bit of depth and outlook on the future during this forgiveness story. Overall good read but didn’t have the steamy scenes or character interaction to make Gen and Evan make it to the top of the best couples list.

Bad Girl Reputation is the second novel in the Avalon Bay series focusing on the love story of Evan (Cooper's twin) and Genevieve. Admittedly I wasn't too fond of Evan when I met him in Cooper's book. He seemed to be immune to growing up, more than a little naïve, and so very impulsive. While he still has some of those characteristics in Bad Girl Reputation, we get to understand him and watch him make choices that show his willingness to grow and learn and be better. So how does he get there? Genevieve.



Genevieve left town after a particularly terrible incident and used the year away to make some changes that would keep her out of trouble and give her a better life. She only comes home for the funeral of her mother and to temporarily help out her dad's business. While home she had many opportunities to test out her new self and that first opportunity starts with Evan. These two seem to bring out the worst decision making in each other because as soon as they're together, they forget the rest of the world exists and that anything else matters...at least in the beginning.



After a series of conversations, both Gen and Evan set out on a path to continue to make better decisions for themselves and to create a future that would give them a healthier relationship with each other and the community. I liked how both of them really fought to develop and keep their better selves, despite the skepticism of the people who seemed to know them best. They didn't let doubts deter them, didn't backslide all that much, and supported each other in trying to be better humans. Even though I even had doubts at how good they could possibly be for each other at first, because of how destructive they seemed, their insistence on staying on their paths of responsibility and showing that they weren't putting on a show was convincing and made me actually question my own bias when it comes to giving people room to change.



I'm hoping, since there are several secondary characters who seem to be hiding some things, that this book doesn't mark the end of the series but is just getting us started on what's happening in this friend group in Avalon Bay.

I was lucky enough to receive an e-copy of this book in exchange for a review. Like all my reviews, this one is 100% honest.

This is a story about shedding your past and becoming a healthier, more adult version of yourself. Genevieve and Evan were always on again/off again and were even worse influences on each other.

I really enjoyed this story, especially watching both Gen and Evan become the people they needed to be in order to grow independently and as a couple.

This was my first Elle Kennedy novel and it won’t be my last!

I loved the angst, the drama and of course, the spice was a nice addition.

** This is book 2 in the Avalon Bay series, you do not need to read book 1 in order to follow this story

Can I just say Elle Kennedy has served me with one of my favorite romances of the year! Normally with second chance romances you have to believe the leads already have a chemistry/attraction to one another from before, and that can be tricky to do. But this woman gave me everything I could’ve wanted with Genevieve and Evan💕!

The way both of these characters were able to be so vulnerable and honest with each other and grow was probably the best part (and those scenes of banter and spice were 🥰🥰🥰🥰)

I’m sad my time at Avalon Bay is over but if EK ever decides to write another romance in this world (maybe Alana?) I’d be all for it!

Time to go manifest my own romance with a man who grows/wants better for me 🥹❤️‍🔥

Special thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press/St. Martin’s Griffin for providing the arc for an honest review.

If you’re into second chance romances, angst, and small town love, look no further! This is the 2nd book in the Avalon Bay series and it follows Genevieve and Evan’s (Cooper’s twin) relationship. Gen has come back to town after her mom passed away and decided to stay a bit to help out with the family business. Evan, ever the romantic, decides this means things can get back to normal between them. Oh, but he’s wrong. Gen wants nothing to do with the person she was with Evan. Evan and Gen work hard on themselves throughout this book. It delves deep into their insecurities and vulnerabilities and I loved every second!