This was soooo good I wasn't expecting for her story to be so good because if how it was set up in good girl complex! Thank you netgalley for this audio arc it was perfection 🥰 Elle Kennedy remains a one click author!

I did like this one. I didn't love it. I thought Good Girl Complex was good enough to want to read the second installment in the series. I like the idea of the two characters, but when the characters are introduced at the beginning they have a totally different vibe than the characters at the end of the book. It was so weird to me. In the beginning, I was thinking I was reading a romance about two professionals who were each other's "the one that got away," but by the end, it was almost like I was reading about two high school characters by their behavior. I still think it was a fun read, nonetheless, and I'm grateful to #netgalley and #stmartinspress, for this advanced reader's copy for an honest review.

NetGalley Review

I'm not sure if it was the narrators, or the story itself, but this one was not my favorite. I'm all for a second chance romance, but Gen and Evan were pretty toxic for the most part. There was a lot of immaturity on both sides and toxic masculinity on Evan's part. The jump from Evan being a bad boy to suddenly volunteering and "changing his ways" was a bit too unbelievable and quick for me. However, I did like how the story was wrapped up. Thank you to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, and Elle Kennedy for the chance to listen to this one in exchange for an honest review.

Bad Girl Reputation is book 2 of the Avalon Bay series by Elle Kennedy. It's told from POV with a HEA

Tropes:
✔️ second chance
✔️ small town
✔️ childhood friends to lovers
✔️ tortured hero and heroine

A year ago, Genevieve ran away from Avalon Bay without a backward glance because she felt her bad girl tendencies had led her to rock bottom and needed a clean break in order to get her act together.

After her mother passes away she returns home to help her father and 5 brothers, and finds herself face to face with her most impossible to break addiction: Evan Hartley. Her ex-boyfriend. Her best friend since childhood and the person who stoked the flames of mischief and trouble.

Their relationship had been explosive at best, but toxic at its worst. But the bond between them was intense, deep and undeniable. Now that they’ve grown a bit and matured a lot, can they find a happy medium and embrace moderation as a responsible young adults and as a couple?

Since Elle Kennedy is a fairly new to me author I went to check out the book’s details and saw that it’s categorized as NA rom-com. So I was expecting a lighthearted and humorous plot, but got angst, drama and dare I saw some dark and gritty themes. Which are perfectly ok, they just caught me off guard.

There was also the fact that Gen and Evan’s relationship was unconventional and hence unromantic. I understood their connection and deep seated love though and was absolutely rooting for them to figure out a way to work.

This is an interesting story. I don’t often read about bad girls. Usually it’s “boy” attached to the “bad” adjective, so Gen’s character was refreshing. I really liked both her and Evan trying to be better versions of themselves after all their history and drama.

By the numbers quick review:
★ Hero: 👤👤👤👤
★ Heroine: 👤👤👤👤
★ Plot: 📚📚📚📚
★ Romance: 💕💕
★ Sexiness: 🔥🔥🔥
★ Performance: 👤👤👤👤
★ Overall Rating: 3.5

'Bad Girl Reputation' is sharp, raw, and steamy— everything I was hoping this small town exes romance would be.

Kennedy executes the growth of Genevieve's and Evan's toxic history into something stable and sustainable by juxtaposing the relationship with each of their respective personal journeys into healthy adult lives. Genevieve's case being sobriety and Evan's a hearty dose of self-awareness. The character development gave a hopeful life to all the fraught emotional tension and sexual chemistry, and by the end of their story, I actually believe the happily ever after will last beyond the final page. What's more, neither Genevieve's nor Evan's evolution was focused solely on each other. Both characters experienced revelations outside of their relationship, and both were better off for it.

For my tastes, 'Bad Girl Reputation' had just the right amount of spice to keep the sexual tension pulled taught without bogging down the more emotional aspects of the dynamic, making it a versatile recommendation for readers who like sweet and spicy alike.

As an audiobook, the second 'Avalon Bay' novel truly shines. I adore a dual POV audiobook with two narrators and this one does not disappoint. Lee Samuels, as always, delivers a swoon-worthy male romantic lead performance, and Summer Morton's soft rasp and crisp enunciation packs in all the emotion and yearning without compromising the narration.

'Bad Girl Reputation' was my first Elle Kennedy read and I will definitely be adding the rest of her work to the TBR!

Thank you so much to Netgalley, MacMillan Audio, and St Martin's Griffin for the opportunity to listen to an advanced copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review!

Another in the Avalon Bay series by Elle Kennedy, Bad Girl Reputation is about two bad for each other exes who keep giving each other too many chances. Sounds only slightly toxic.

This is quick and sexy fluff if that is your thing but I cringed every time I heard the word clone (sorry EK- you lost a star for that).

Thank you to the author, St. Martin’s Press, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

A bad girl trying to be good, but will it last when she is home around her on/off ex boyfriend. Their spicy connection will keep asking you, why can't they just make it work and stay together. 🔥

Thank you to NetGallery and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

After finishing Good Girl Complex I was eagerly anticipating Evan's book. Kennedy did a wonderful job of bring this second chance romance to life. There were times where Gen and Evan drove me nuts, but they're in their early 20's so that is kind of to be expected.

Gen is returning after the death of her mother, she left abruptly to basically get her life together, which I would say is a success (no one is perfect). She's worried that being around Evan again would make her spiral so she is determined to avoid him, without success. They rekindle things and you could feel her growth there as she avoids the hard partying and drinking that she used to do.

Evan also shows some growth. At first he wants things to be the same between him and Gen, but finally realizes it can't be and that he also must change. The book takes place over a few months and I think it showcased Evan's change the best.

Bad Girl Reputation is an enjoyable and fast read.

** spoiler alert ** Thank you NetGalley for the Audio ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Bad Girl Reputation was an easy listen. The narration was good, both a male and a female reader. The plot itself was a bit lackluster. There was never a moment where you thought the two wouldn't end up together. The storyline was more realistic than most, which brought this to a 3.5/5 for me.

I wanted to like it. Really. The narrators were great and the beginning of the book hooked me. But it turned into kind of a mess from there. I felt like it didn’t flow and some things were just randomly stuck in to try and direct the reader on how to feel (ie random chapter on Evan going to a nursing home). What should have been a story if growth didn’t feel like it. Gen makes a healthy decision to leave and start a better life for herself which should have been her story but then gets dragged back into townie life.

I will start off by saying both narrators did an excellent job, and I loved having both a male and a female narrator to help sell the experience. I wish that could have saved the story for me.

Not sure if this author isn't for me or if it's these characters, but I was a little fed up with the dude bro energy. The qualities of the first book that redeemed some of the story for me were absent in this one, so I felt like I was waiting for a payoff that never came. I also wish some situations were handled with more tact or care. Small things really nagged at me (an insinuation that people experiencing homelessness are inherently dangerous, an incredibly privileged "woe is me" perspective on criminal injustice) and made it hard to take these characters and their present problems seriously. Maybe I'm just entering an era where I can no longer relate to romances with very-early-twenties main characters, or maybe it's Maybelline, but either way, this one wasn't my cup of tea.

This was the first Elle Kennedy book I’ve read, though I own several and have been meaning to read them forever. I think I would have enjoyed this one a lot more if I’d read the first in the series, Good Girl Complex, before this one. It would have given an introduction to the characters and more background on everything. I felt like I was missing a lot.

There was quite a bit going on in this story, and I’m not totally sure if I liked all of it. There was a love triangle, and the main characters (not to mention a few of the parent-child relationships), were extremely toxic together. Not sure they should have been together, especially with everything they put each other through.

I’m still digesting everything, but with all of the toxicity in the story, I’m having a hard time determining if I liked it and enjoyed it or not, and if I can recommend it. The writing was good, but the storyline was something else! I give it 3.5-stars and round it up to 4 for quality writing and great narration, but for story, the rating is brought down.

Audio version - narrated by Summer Morton and Lee Samuels, two voices I have long enjoyed, and did a fantastic job as Gen and Evan. They suited the characters perfectly and I really enjoyed listening to them, as always.

I received an advance review and advance listen copy from NetGalley, St. Martin's Press (St. Martin's Griffin), and Macmillan Audio, and this is my honest feedback.

I really enjoyed this authors work, I also did enjoy this sorry more the the previous in this “series” I enjoyed the narration

I received this audiobook in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

How dreamy!

Can I tell you how much I really love this series? Seriously, Elle Kennedy is such a wonderful writer. At first I wasn't sure if I was going to like Genevieve (Gen) and Evan, but after a few chapters they really won me over, especially with how relatable they are. Their story is all about forgiveness, healing, and second chances. Gen and Evan fit together so perfectly together, I honestly couldn't see them with anyone else. No matter how hard they tried to be. I had the pleasure of listening to this on audio and both Lee Samuels and Summer Morton did a fabulous job bringing these characters to life. I seriously love listening to books on audio because it brings everything about the story even more to life and really creates a vivid movie or show in my head. This series is one should absolutely pick up if you're looking for a small town, second chance romance, with relatable characters that are truly captivating!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I absolutely adore Elle Kennedy's writing and loved Good Girl Complex, so I was so excited jumping into this audio book. It definitely did not disappoint. I really loved how much the characters had to grow emotionally to be able to actually work things out and be with each other. It wasn't as light and fluffy as I had expected, there was a lot of depth and complexity to the characters and their growth, that Elle depicted tremendously through the writing, was perfection. The narration was great as well.

This one was a bit of a miss for me, to be honest. It just fell flat. It was cute, romantic, but I felt like the story was too predictable.

Bad Girl Reputation
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Genre: Romance
Format: Kindle eBook and Audiobook
Date Published: 10/4/22
Author: Elle Kennedy
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press and Macmillan Audio
Narrators: Lee Samuels; Summer Morton
GR: 3.69

I requested a digital advanced readers copy from NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and Macmillan Audio and providing my opinion voluntarily and unbiased.

Synopsis: 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. 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?

My Thoughts: This was such a heartfelt book. This is book no. 2 in the Avalon Bay series, with Good Girl Complex being the first one. I have not read Good Girl Complex yet, but will be listening to it on Scribd very soon. I love this series! Gen used to be a bad girl, when she moved away for a year, she really cleaned up her life. While Evan has a stable life, he still appears to be a bad boy. They are like oil and water or peanut butter and jelly. The chemistry and attraction was on fire. The narrators do an excellant job with the voices and breathing life into the personalities, you felt like you were there on Avalon Bay. The characters were well developed with depth, witty banter, chemistry, and just so well done. The author’s writing style was complex, humorous, passionate, heartfelt, intriguing, and kept me engaged. This book releases today and I highly recommend picking up.

Loved this book! An escape to Avalon Bay was exactly the chill vibe I needed after a few angsty reads lately!

Evan and Gen are a trope I haven’t actually read before- bad boy and bad girl! So that was different and refreshing.

Overall a fun, easy read with lol moments!

Bad Girl Reputation is the second story in the Avalon Bay series and revolves around Gen and Evan. They were best friends and in a relationship until Gen suddenly left town and ghosted Evan. When she returns for her mother’s funeral, the spark is reignited.

The push and pull relationship between these two is combustible and their chemistry is palpable. In the past, Gen and Evan’s past relationship was a bit toxic and they brought out a darker side to each other, but now Gen is determined to grow up and be more responsible. She inspires Evan to reevaluate his life and to start working toward being a better version of himself as well. Both showed a lot of growth throughout the story and I loved how they worked on themselves independently of each other.

Lee Samuels and Summer Morton narrated the audio and both brought the characters to life perfectly. I could feel the emotion in their performances, and they drew me into the story. Full of longing, heat, self-reflection and redemption, Bad Girl Reputation was a fun yet angsty second chance romance that is definitely worth a listen.

I loved Good Girl Complex, but was not in love with Bad Girl Reputation. I finished it and never thought not to finish, but I just didn't love it. The characters and storyline were never very engaging and I never found myself getting lost in the book. 
Genevieve returns home after her mother's funeral, she plans to avoid her ex-boyfriend Evan. Unfortunately for her, it is almost impossible to do. Despite all her plans to help her father run his business only, Evan has other ideas. He plans to remind Genevieve just how great they are together. Is there such thing as second chances?
Thank you Netgalley for my advanced reader copies