I liked this book, however i wasnt crazy about it. It felt at moments way too toxic for me. I couldnt get passed cooper and the way he treated her at the beginning. Like I understand mommy issues but these two just needed alot of therapy.

I struggled to give this book more than 3 stars because I felt like I was constantly comparing it to the off campus series. I love Elle’s books and she is an automatic read for me when a new book comes out but it just didn’t hit the mark as I had hoped. I felt like the book could have dived into Gen’s story a bit more and that it was a fight between Evan and Gen as to who’s story would be told. I did enjoy the dual POV.

I was really excited about the possibilities this book presented. The beginning promised a second-chance romance with a character who has chosen a life of sobriety. Unfortunately the romance was exceedingly toxic and the sobriety representation was problematic and inaccurate.

Thank you Net Galley and Elle Kennedy for my advanced audio copy! My opinions are my own.

Plot - 3
Writing and Editing - 1
Character Development - 1
Narration - 5
Personal Bias - 1
Final Score - 2.2

✨ARC Audiobook Review-Bad Girl Reputation by Elle Kennedy✨Read via NetGalley.
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Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher, as well as the author for the ARC of this book! This book is being released on October 4th and it is the 2nd book in the Avalon Bay series. I did read the first book in this series, but I feel like either book could be read as a stand alone!
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Read if you like:
♥️Second chance romances
🌊Beach vibes
💚Dual POV
☠️Bad girl/boy
👩🏼‍❤️‍👨🏼Small town romances
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🔹Rating: 3.75/5 ⭐️
🔸Spice Level: 3/5 🌶
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Since I have read both books in this series, I can confidently say that I enjoyed Bad Girl Reputation more than Good Girl Complex (which got 3/5 stars from me!).
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✨Summary from Goodreads is on the 2nd slide! (On instagram)
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✨Overall, I enjoyed Bad Girl Reputation. I love second chance romances and I enjoyed that aspect of this book. I also enjoyed Genevieve’s character and how she was committed to changing her ways and bettering herself as a person! Since Evan and Gen have been dating on and off for awhile, I was happy that they got an unexpected second chance at love! This book is definitely a good one if you want a quick, easy read! 😁

This review is a little delayed because I really needed to take a few days to understand how I felt about it.

To preface, this is literally my first true romance novel (as opposed to fantasy with romance elements). I thought to myself, " if I want a proper introduction into this genre, I should start with an author I've seen others swear by" – Elle Kennedy.

However, after some time to figure out how to articulate my feelings (and talk to other bookstagrammers who recieved the same ARC), I can confidently say I'm disappointed.

First, this book is marketed as a second chance romance. I mean, I guess... but they essentially got back together the very first time they saw each other again at the very beginning of the book. This was more like was a messy, complicated friends with benefits, pretending like they can't be together until their reputations are rehabilitated so they can live happily ever after.

Other bookstagrammers I spoke to said that while they love Elle Kennedy, this book fell flat. They couldn't emotionally connect with any of the characters, and I agree. I also think the third-act misunderstanding was either/both underdeveloped and (I don't know how else to say this) really immature, even for young adults.

Anyway, I wish I had loved this book. I wanted to. I feel like I went into it with a very open mind, but it just didn't pan out.

This is book two in a series, but can definitely be read as a stand-alone. I love a good romance, but this was just ok for me. I listened to the first book and followed it up with this book in the same week so maybe it was just too much at once. The narrators did a great job. It's a flirty, steamy, second chance love story.

This was my first Elle kendy book and I loved it. This is the second in this series and I haven’t read the first, but I don’t feel like I was missing out on very much. The author did a great job of filling in details from the first book in this book. We have Gen who has never had it easy, she is sister in between a bunch of bothers in a family where she never really felt love. She handled that by doing what most of us do to cope she turned to drugs, drinking and sex in the bad boys arms of Evan. He also came from a broken home, with a flakey mom their father passed away and being raised by their uncle. And Evan was always up for going for the ride with Gen. Intill one year ago when Gen was at the bar with her friends and something happened to her that made her cause a scene. And when she woke up she knew she couldn’t live this life anymore and she just packed up her things and ran leaning Avalon and Evan behind. Intill now when her mother passes away and she has to go back to Avalon. Back to what she left behind. I related so much to Gen, feeling like I was never enough for my town always trying to run a reputation I never deserved in the first place and adults doing things that shouldn’t be done to a teenage girl trying to develop. And even at 30 I don’t like going home as I feel like that girl, and no matter how
Much of my life has changed I know people still probably think that way of me so I really did relate with Gen. this book was a second chance romance, and I loved the parts with Evan especially when seeing Gen again made him realize he needed to grow up too and I loved his efforts he put in with his own life, his mom and Gen. this was also spicy read and it was honestly perfect!

This is a messy and crazy story with immature characters who did a lot of growing up and once they did grow up they were much more likeable. Genevieve has come back to town when her mother dies to help her family. Her high school boyfriend, Evan, seems to think they can pick up where they left off but they were not the best for each other when they were together. Now that she is back she needs to find a way to mend her ways and get on the straight and narrow. However, every time she turns around there is Evan and they are still combustible and where there is smoke there is fire. This one had me loving and not so loving it but it redeemed itself by the end.

I will say I have read books by Elle Kennedy before and I love them but I did not read The good girl complex so I went into this book not knowing any of the characters.
This was very entertaining. I’ll listen to The audiobook version of this and I could not turn it off for the life of me, once I started it I had to finish it I finish this all in one day. I loved the dual POV in the story and I loved how it was both a male and female readers in the audio version.
I will say definitely look up the trigger warning before reading this as you would any other book. I liked they didn’t just get together and be in a toxic relationship together and then be together forever and that’s it. I enjoyed watching both people grow and work to be better throughout the story. I love the tension between both characters.
I loved every second of the story and could’ve read so much more.

Cute but predictable and pat. The whole have/have nots storyline felt overdone and irrelevant here — the story didn’t need it.

The Hartley twin brothers are their own species. In book 2, twin Evan gets his story with long lost love Genevieve (Gen). They’ve been on and off since high school. Their explosive together and she’s pushed the limits more than once with fighting, drugs, and behavior. When something makes her leave town for a year is when Book 1 “Good Girl Reputation” took place. With the passing of her mother she’s back in town and Evan will do anything to win her back…. but Gen will do anything to prove she’s changed and a good girl now.

This book has a few triggers but overall was well written. Still very much the “Outerbanks” vibe with the characters personas but liked seeing the story continue right after the last book.

Audiobook: the dual POV and narration was great. It followed along with the book with very few things changed. Lee Samuels is great, always a win.

DNF at 42%

Bad Girl Reputation is a small town, second chance, friends to lovers romance. With that being said, this book was not for me. The two main characters I just thought were so toxic together, and while yes they probably get better at the end, I just couldn't continue reading about them. Not to mention the male mc was kind of a jerk yet the female mc kept going back to him!

While I'm sure many people will like or even love this book, I did not like it. I am giving this 2 stars because I didn't necessarily hate it, and like I said maybe the characters get better in the end, but I wasn't willing to find out.

I wanted to like this one. I absolutely LOVED Good Girl Complex and so I was looking forward to this one, but something was missing. I loved Evan, but there was just something about Gen that just didn't do it for me. The ending was really rushed for me too. I'm looking forward to the next in the series, but this one was just....okay.

That being said, the audio was fantastic. Love Summer Morton and Lee Daniels.

Genevieve and Evans are childhood sweethearts and now as adults, they still live and act a teenagers. Until one day Genevieve has a wake up call that prompts her to leave town and Evan. A year later the death of her mother brings back aa a new Gen, a mature Gen, and she is scared all her hard work of being an adult will be undone. I get the premises of the story line however I couldn’t get into it. At times Gen was annoying. I had to put to take a break and come back to it. The narration was good. I will definitely look for more books by the narrators.

I've loved so many books that I've read by this author and this book did not disappoint! I devoured it in one day and was sad when it was over.
Bad Girl Reputation by Elle Kennedy is a beautifully written story about a woman, Genevieve, who returns to her hometown after her mother dies. Due to various circumstances, she decides to stay for a while and in doing so, hooks up with her high school on-again off-again boyfriend. However, since leaving her hometown, Gen has tried so hard to clean up her act and she worries her old boyfriend is a bad influence on her.
I absolutely loved how the book portrayed the somewhat toxic relationship between the two main characters. While both characters are not super likeable at the beginning, this didn't really bother me because they felt believable and genuine.
Bad Girl Reputation is a captivating story about how people can (and sometimes can't) change. It's about the ups and downs of life. The mistakes we make, how we strive to fix them, and how we sometimes deal with the repercussions of our actions. It shows how we aren't defined by our childhoods, our parents, or situations, and how two people can defy the odds of their upbringings to make changes in their lives.
I 100 percent recommend this book, particularly the audiobook! The narrators were fantastic and made it so easy to listen to. I've had my earbuds glued to my ears since I started the book a day ago!
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with this ARC!

4 stars.

Gen returns to her small town, which she fled leaving behind her bad reputation in favor of starting fresh to foster personal growth, only to come face-to-face with her ex, Evan, who has barely changed a bit since she left. The two of them are pulled together like magnets, but have a history of leaving behind a little destruction in their wake. The story follows Gen and Evan as they work out how the two of them can grow together instead of fighting this pull they both feel.

The story is both a little messy and a little cute. I read this as a stand-alone without reading the first in the series without any confusion and will likely be going back for the first book eventually. I am a sucker for small-town stories.

I will say that the beginning was really a "what happened to hello...my name is..." kind of beginning. Do with that information what you will.

I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Lee Samuels and Summer Morton, via NetGalley. An advanced reader's copy of this audiobook was provided to me via NetGalley by Macmillan Audio in exchange for an honest review.

3 Stars

I was it has blown away by this one as I was hoping. It was still a good read, and one that I flew through quickly. However, I just didn’t connect with Evan as much as I thought I would, and as much as I like Genevieve if she couldn’t carry the whole story on her back. I think this is the moment that I realize I might be too old for new adult college romances, much like people think they’re too old for YA. Except with YA, I feel like I can get lost in my former teenage emotions where with new adult I find myself cringing at some of their behaviors and language.

I didn’t dislike this one at all, but it’s not one that will stick with me.

Thank you Macmillan Audio for my gifted audiobook!

I really enjoyed Bad Girl Reputation by Elle Kennedy. The author did a great job with character development and the overall storyline of this book. Here are some things I loved:

1. The steamy scenes were extra fiery.
2. I loved Genevieve West and just felt for her.
3. Dual perspectives (Genevieve/Evan)

The audiobook was amazing, and I loved the two narrators.

*2.5 rounded up*
<b>AudioARC provided by Publisher in exchange for an honest review</b>

I would like to thank Macmillian Audio and NetGalley for the copy of this AudioARC. Elle Kennedy is an author I had heard much about but never had a chance to read her work. I understand <i>Bad Girl Reputation</i> is the second book in the Avalon Bay series, but genuinely believe it makes a great standalone.

I crawled through this book for about the first 50-60%. I struggled to find any connection to the characters and in conclusion, I believe I wasn't the target audience of this book. The writing was done well and Kennedy does a beautiful job creating her characters, but I often found myself annoyed with both Evan and Gen, and the decisions they were making.

As soon as I hit the last quarter I was invested. They had seemingly been making changes for the better and I found hope in where they were going and on how they were bettering themselves. When Gen found her purpose she really took root in my heart. Her successes gave me joy, especially when she landed the job.

Other moments that I enjoyed were the pop culture references. I know for many they can be hit or miss because they often don't stand up against time, but I adore them. They make a work feel like a time capsule and it's fun to revisit what was popular at the time. In this novel, my favorite was the Game of Thrones "Battle of the Blackwater" reference in Chapter Five. It gives a sense of camaraderie to those readers who have watched the show, because it paints this <i>perfect</i> image of the chaos in so few words.

I think so many people, especially fans of the first book and of Elle Kennedy's other works will love Gen and Evan. 2 stars for the slow majority of the book, but bumped up to 2.5 for the ending. I enjoyed it overall but don't think I will be revisiting Avalon Bay anytime soon.

3.5 stars. Good Girl Complex was light and fun and Bad Girl Reputation didn’t disappoint as a sequel. It was fun to see Evan as a main character after experiencing “the twins” in GGC from Cooper’s perspective. This was a super fast read and lighthearted, but still tackled some bigger issues and family dynamics that kept the plot interesting. I believed Gen and Evan’s love story much more than Mac and Cooper’s in the first book, and their “redemption arcs” of trying to become better people was charming with many laugh out loud moments. This book could certainly read as a stand-alone as well if the synopsis calls to you more than GGC.