On the one hand, I really liked Bad Girl Reputation and found it much more satisfying than the first book in the series. On the other hand, I feel like there is so much character development on display here that doesn't really get explained or otherwise feel earned. In the immediate aftermath of reading this book, that left me feeling a little disappointed, but with time between me and finishing this book, I look back with more fondness than I felt right after finishing it so I think that's probably a good sign.

Essentially, this book is following Gen and Evan. Gen is back in Avalon Bay because her mom died, but she left really without saying bye to anyone, particularly her long time boyfriend, Evan. However, Evan comes to her mom's funeral and the two realize that the sparks between them have certainly not faded away. But Gen is trying to turn over a new leaf. She wants to be a "good girl" now. She doesn't really drink anymore, nor does she go out and party. Evan, on the other hand, has almost not changed at all. He may have even gotten worse. Gen fights her attraction to Evan for the next... while of the book, with limited amounts of success. Meanwhile, Evan decides he's going to prove to Gen that he can he can be a good person too.

I think it's more Evan's character development that bothered me more than anything, because you don't actually get to see him develop. You just get... sort of told that he's volunteering now to prove a point and then... he's... reformed? I'm not really sure what my takeaway with Evan is supposed to be if I'm being totally honest. So while I enjoyed the story, I just wish Elle Kennedy's talent with characters had been a little more on display in this particular book.

Oh, and the narrator did a great job! I really enjoyed listening to this one.

Elle Kennedy does it again! I have loved all her books and this one is no exception.

You can feel the love that Genevieve and Evan have for each other in everything they do no matter if they are trying to stay away from each other or not. I absolutely devoured the flirting plus the banter between the two of them and the spice is even better! Being able to hear from characters in the first book was perfectly balanced with the new storyline in this book. I love when a strong independent FMC gets pared with the golden retriever bad boy.

The evolution of each of these characters and of their relationship as a whole is why I will always pick up an Elle Kennedy book.

A little cheesy, but just what I was looking for! Elle Kennedy books always deliver on what I was expecting. I enjoyed listening to this audio and will continue to listen to Kennedy's books. I thought there was solid character development in this book and the smut delivered! Very spicy!

I absolutely LOVED the first book in this series and was hoping the next would focus on Evan. You can definitely read each of these as a stand-alone, but you will miss backstory if you read this one first - and honestly the first was a better book too so don't skip it. I enjoyed getting both Genevieve and Evan’s points of view, you could see the internal struggles within them both regarding the same situations. It helped that I adored both of them the whole book and was rooting for each of them separately and hopefully together.The way family dynamics were brought in, added so much to the story. Not only were you getting a spicy romance you were getting family issues, past behavior consequences, and overall just a good story
Thank you Macmillan Audio & NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this arc

Another great book by Elle Kennedy.
The second installment of the Avalon Bay series.

I fell in love with the first book and was definitely looking forward to this book. Evan's story had a lot of promise since the first boon and I am here for it. In the first book, we see him as self-destructive and many other adjectives that don't paint him in the most extraordinary light but still with a heart of gold.

When I first started to listen... I couldn't help but cringe at what he was thinking or how he was acting. I thought I was going to be disappointed by this one. Everyone is trying to get their lives together and certain characters are just so awfully destructive. This is a very weird little town.

Genevieve is a great female MC. She is trying so hard not to go back to her old ways and disappoint her family. She wants to do better in life. I loved her.

I feel like the final act of "I cannot believe this is happening. I'm not good for you. You need to stay away from me." was super rushed and felt as if the author was just getting it out of the way to get to the happy ending and I wanted more in that part.

Overall, really enjoyed the story. Cannot wait for the next book!

So I’ll start this one by saying I fell in love with Good Girl Rep and the town of Avalon! As a girl who has always been a rule follower, I didn’t relate to the main character as much in this one. I did enjoy this one and it did a good job with the bad boy love story, but for me it didn’t stand up to the first one. Still an adorable story that takes you away to a small beach town, but I wasn’t head over heels in love like I was with the first one. I still love this series and the characters of Avalon, I just enjoyed the first love story more. Everyone relates to different characters differently and there was nothing bad about this one, it just wasn’t as good as the first one for me!! I will definitely continue with the series if the author keeps writing them!

This review has been added to Goodreads, Literal and Storygraph, as well as Barnes & Noble and Amazon. This will be posted to my instagram (@busywithmybooks_) within the week.

Thank you for allowing me to listen to this story!!

I listened to the audiobook for this one and I must say that I really enjoyed the narration. This was a dual perspective story and having two narrators really did allow me to experience both characters. If you’ve read any other of my reviews, then you know that I am a sucker for stories from multiple perpectives. I enjoyed getting to know both Evan and Genevieve from their own points of views. I like getting to the know the characters without the influence of another’s perspective. These tow were just so much fun together!
Genevieve and Evan are both in their mid-twenties having lived a wild life together up until a year ago when Gen gets a bit of a wake up call and skips town. She’s managed to pull herself together and moves on until she’s summoned back to town for her mothers funeral. Evan was devastated by Gen’s departure and never really moved on. It doesn’t take long for these two to get back together. However, Gen keeps her distance because she doesn’t want to fall into back into bad habits. This prompts Evan to turn things around for himself.
It was refreshing to have Evan’s perspective as he navigates becoming the good guy. He becomes a Big Brother volunteer works through repairing his relationship with his flighty mother. As the story evolves, Gen continues to come to terms with her lack of a relationship with her own mother. It is not often we get to have post-partum depression brought into a story - it is only highlighted towards the end when Gen has a heart-to-heart with her father, but I could feel the signs throughout the book whenever Genevieve and her relationship with her mother came up.
This book is a contemporary romance, however many of the other themes included were explored quite well.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of the audiobook in exchange these honest opinions of the book.

I couldn’t finish the audio. I couldn’t get past the narrator enough to get into the story. I will read the book and hope for a different outcome. The rating is for the Audio.

So I will preface this by saying I was unaware that this was the second in a series. I feel like because of this, I was missing out on some vital information that would make me feel connected to the characters. I felt like the whole time I wanted to love them, but it just fell flat for me personally. I buddy-read it with a few friends who all LOVED it, so I'm in the minority for sure.

As far as the audio goes I LOVED the male voice. He did a really great job evoking emotion and feelings and stopping my mind from wandering. The female voice however I didn't love. She often did a lot of inflections where I felt like there shouldn't have been and so it didn't read as smoothly for me.

Overall, didn't blow me away, but a fun steamy read.

I was super excited to read this after devouring Good Girl Complex! I couldn’t wait to read more about Evan and Gen’s relationship. I really felt for Gen throughout this story - former bad girl trying to be good and move on from her past mistakes. And as much as Evan and Gen tried to stay apart they just couldn’t help falling right back in love. Thank you Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

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.


I loved Coop and Mac’s story, where we are first introduced to Evan and Gen’s relationship, and couldn’t wait to pick this one up! Gen has decided it’s time to grow up and find herself, and Even doesn’t want to let her go. It was fun watching Evan find his way to being a “model citizen”. Great lesson about how you can change your habits, but you are still you. A fun second chance romance, and a perfect beach read!

This is a second chance contemporary romance, the story between Gen and Evan. I love Elle Kennedy and her writing, but I felt this story a bit off, it was too predictable so even though the plot is entertaining I knew what will be coming next and that left me a bit disappointed, however the audiobook narrated by Lee Samuels and Summer Morton was a better option, they kept a good rhythm and pacing, did a good job portraying the characters and made it a better story. So I recommend doing the audio instead.

"There's nothing sexier then when her blue eyes smile when she's got mayhem on her mind."

In Bad Girl Reputation by romance author Elle Kennedy, Genevieve's always been the bad one, the wild one but one night the too forceful married Deputy gets too close and she gets pay back; she knows it's time to leave home.

Forced to come back for her estranged mother's funeral she just wants to avoid the Deputy and her ex - bad boy Evan. That's not happening and Genevieve knows she needs to shed her bad girl reputation.

The heated chemistry between narrators Summer Morton and Lee Samuels is on fire and their portrayals of Genevieve and Evan is hot, sexy, fun, dramatic and quite endearing at times just like the story itself.

I received a free copy of this audiobook from MacMillan Audio via #NetGalley for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

This was a good book and I read both the arc also listened to the audiobook. This book follows Gen who comes back home for her mother's funeral and bumps into her ex, Evan who thinks that their relationship can still work even with a bad reputation. Comparing this book to the first one, I have to say that I didn't enjoy this one as much. Kennedy kind of turned the tables around the story compared to how the publicity of this book was going out. The writing was still great when it came to setting, story development, pacing, etc but it was just the characters for me. This book follows both Gen and Evan's pov.

I don't know which character annoyed me more, Gen or Evan. Gen is supposed to be written as the badass type of girl but honestly, it was so one-sided and that was what people thought of her so her character didn't pull through for me. She did have good character development when it came to herself but the way the book was describing her to be didn't match up with who she is. Evan is very annoying compared to his twin. I enjoyed his twin's story more than his. I did enjoy how he tried to help Gen but other than that, that's it. There were new side characters and some oldies from the 1st book. The romance was grumpy x grumpy, angsty romance, and second chance romance. There relationship was meh for me and I didn't care much of it.

Towards the end, I didn't care much about it but was happy with the way they both turned out. Apparently, there are more books in this supposed series so we will see how that turns out. I also did listen to the audiobook which I did enjoy. The audiobook has 2 narrators and I liked that so it's easier to know who is speaking and who's pov. They weren't boring at all and showed great emotions while speaking. If you need to get through this book for some reason, I totally recommend listening to the audio.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for accepting my request to audibly read and review Bad Girl Reputation.

Author: Elle Kennedy
Published: 10/04/22
Narrators: Lee Samuels & Summer Morton
Genre: Romance

There is no easy way to express my thoughts; BGR is juvenile. The storyline is a hodgepodge of D-listed dialogue with no foreseeable plot. I wavered between the marketing cover and my choice to spend time with this book as the worst part.

The cover reads as rom-com and the words read as trash. On one hand they play grownup and not very well. On the other hand I couldn't lose the image of D-listed dreamers being lured to porn. I found nothing sexy or dreamy in the writing.

The language is profane and too graphic for a fun cover.

Big reputation, big reputation, ohhhh Genevieve’s got a big reputation.

Genevieve has returned to Avalon Bay for her mother’s funeral. As funerals go, this one was pretty uneventful…. Until her on again off again Ex boyfriend Evan Hartley made an appearance. Now in the town until further notice helping her dad, Genevieve is set to forget all about Evan and her past shenanigans.

Yet, Evan is set to show Genevieve that he has changed, He wants a stable relationship with her and the promising future. But with G starting to change around her life, is there room for bad habits to stay? With Evan lurking in every date location, house remodel and small town bar, things are about to get pretty messy.

I enjoyed listening and reading Bad Girl Reputation. I was instantly drawn to the enemies to lovers connection that Genevieve and Evan had. Elle Kennedy wrote a sexual scene in the first chapter that set up the drama for the rest of the story. This can be read as a stand alone in the Avalon Bay series and I recommend the audio. Lee Samuels and Summer Morton shine as both leads and bring the story to life.

Thank you MacMillian audio, St. Martin’s Press romance and Netgalley for my earc/alc in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own,

This book was unfortunately a let down for me. I had zero investment in these characters or storyline. The character connections fell very flat for me. I would have DNFed this book if I had not received it as an ARC from Net Galley. I would not recommend this read nor am I sure I will read more from this author.

I am usually a big fan of Elle Kennedy and really loved the Off-Campus series. This book however was not a favorite for me. The main characters had a lot of physical chemistry but it didn't seem like much else. They had a shared past that seemed mostly like a toxic relationship that they were both clinging to. I had a hard time rooting for the characters as they began their paths for redemption and self betterment. I really wanted to love this book but it just felt like something was missing.

1.5 stars. I know this is a romance and certain body parts make multiple appearances as you'd expect, but the sheer volume of the words: tits, nipples, breasts, rack, etc was exceptionally juvenile. The main characters were equally juvenile. I didn't like either of them. They didn't need a relationship, they needed therapy and rehab. Their jealousy problems were never actually resolved and while they may have evolved a bit, it seemed all of their problems magically disappear instead of actually fix themselves. Then you throw in this ridiculous cop and the book reads a bit like the final 50 shades book (I only watched the movies for laughs) where some peripheral thing ends up being the only real drama that wasn't entirely self-inflicted by massive character flaws. This book completely missed the mark and was unenjoyable. I wouldn't have finished the book if not for wanting to leave an honest review since this was provided to me as an ARC and there was always the slim possibility that it could turn itself around. It didn't.

Thanks to netgalley and the publishers for early access to this audiobook.

I enjoyed the narrators in this book. As I listen while I commute, that is priority #1, lol.

#2 there were not as many sexual scenes in this book as Good Girl Complex. Which I actually really like when listening to audio on way to work, lol!

But the best thing about this book was the character development. Knowing Evan from the first book and seeing him grow in this book, slowly but growing, was great. It was also great to meet Genevieve finally! and know why she left Evan so heartbroken.

I also really enjoyed that Cooper and Mac were still in this book and not just as side characters - you got to know where they are at now, and how they fit into Evans side of things. And of course, the Beacon makes an entrance!

If you enjoyed Good Girl Complex & Evan, I think you will enjoy this one as well!