If you like a swoosh movie star who is head over heels love at first sight for a nice woman and demonstrates healthy consent this book is for you.

This was such a fun read! I really enjoyed following Cole and Maggie!

I really liked our whole cast of characters. Watching them interact and form new relationships was fun to read about. It was a great slow burn romance and I really liked that it was dual pov as it meant you see how both of them were feeling. Mutual pinning was occurring 😂.

I especially liked reading about Maggie job as an intimacy coordinator for the period show, Waverley, that the book is set around. This was completely different to anything I’ve read previously. But I really enjoyed the insight as I didn’t know much about the role going into the book and I can definitely see how important that it is for the comfort of the actors.

That was a sweet read with a fun setting which I would recommend if you like books centered around movie/TV.

This story unfolds beautifully, gradually revealing the complexities of its characters and their relationships. The slow-burn approach enhances both the romance and individual growth, making the characters feel real and relatable.

Set against the backdrop of a film production, the narrative blurs the lines between acting and reality, adding depth to their interactions. The pacing is deliberate, allowing quiet moments to resonate and emphasizing the significance of small gestures. Overall, the experience is both patient and rewarding, making each development feel meaningful.

I was into this one based on premise alone! It’s definitely more of a slow burn than Barry’s other recent romances, but that’s somewhat par for the course given that these two meet in a professional setting and need to approach a potential relationship once they’re not technically coworkers anymore. It doesn’t mean that there aren’t some charged looks along the way, though, and I appreciated that more of the angst revolved around making big professional choices rather than wavering about the romance, at least once things really got going. Definitely my favorite of Barry’s so far, too!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this edition from the publisher via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was a beautifully done romance novel, I enjoyed the element of a former teen star and the romance. It had that feel that I was looking for from the description and was enjoying the overall feel of this. I thought Emma Barry was able to create a strong concept and was glad I got to read this.

I received an ARC of Bad Reputation from Netgalley.

3.5 ✨

Going off the blurb, I thought it would be a light book for some cozy reading. And yes it was that, but also so much more.

I grew to like each of the MCs and even the side characters much more than i thought i would.

The characters are so relatable and real with real tangible consequences for their actions. Maggie's job as an intimacy coordinator was so well described, and researched, I felt like i was truly getting a peak behind the curtain.

I imagined myself being in the set with them and i absolutely enjoyed myself.

It has just the right amount of stakes and tension to keep me going till the end.

Really enjoyed reading this book.

Firstly, I want to thank @author.emma.barry and @netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read an arc copy of this book in return for my honest review.

To be honest, I was sceptical about this for some reason. An American author, writing about an American tv series that is based on a book set in 1700's Scotland. I'm pleased to say that my worries we totally unfounded.

This books contains all the emotions a romance novel should. Obviously, there's a love story, more than 1 actually but there's also humour and heartbreak. It's nice that although the 2 main characters have feelings for each other, neither of them act on them until it is appropriate. I also like how it tackles the unsavoury side of stardom, how some people that get away with things they shouldn't because they have money and power in the business. Also, if this book gives even one person in this type of situation the courage to stand up and make someone answer for their actions, it's been worthwhile.

It made me a little sad at the end to read that this is Emma's second attempt at this story as the first time it wasn't written as well as it could of been. But, I'm pleased she didn't give up and took the feedback and came back even stronger with this version.

#authoremmabarry #BadReputation #NetGalley #ebook #bookreviewn #arc

I will be uploading my review to other sites over the next few days

Bad Reputation is a combination of general fiction and contemporary romance.

It is Cole (41) and Maggie’s (38) story. He is an actor who was a teen actor. But he wants to be known as more than a hunky star. She was a drama teacher and is now an intimacy coordinator for tv/film.

The romance part of the story is very slow burn. Cole and Maggie meet on the set of the hit period show, Waverley. He is the star of season three. She is the new intimacy coordinator for the show.

I really liked seeing the behind the scenes details and enjoyed seeing what it’s like filming a streaming tv series.

This book is very different from most romance books that I’ve read. The two main characters definitely liked each other. But romance is not the focus for most of the book.

The book definitely changed at 70%. There were some very important developments after filming is over.

Overall I did enjoy reading this book. It features Interesting characters and deals with some important topics.

The description of this book caught my interest as its set in Hollywood and the glam of working in that industry. However, I didn't immediately connect with Cole, the former teen acting star, and Maggie, the accidental intimacy coordinator. I think labeling Maggie as having accidentally fallen into the intimacy coordinator role discredited her from the start of this novel. I didn't really feel the connection between Cole & Maggie in this novel so when their relationship turned "real" it didn't really connect with me as a reader. I think this was a unique concept but just fell flat for me with execution.

This was an enjoyable read, I requested it on NetGalley as the premise sounded quite interesting and it seemed an easy and light read. The storyline was easy to follow and the book was a nice quick read. I don’t usually read much romance but it was a nice palate cleanser after reading a lot of heavier books. I enjoyed it, thanks to the publisher for the ARC.

This story had a way of drawing me in slowly, taking its time to build layers of complexity around the characters and their relationships. The slow-burn aspect wasn’t just about the romance, but also about how the characters developed individually and with each other. It felt like getting to know real people over time, with each chapter revealing something new about them, often in subtle, unexpected ways.

The setting around the production of a film brought a fresh perspective. Being able to peek behind the curtain of a film set gave the story an interesting backdrop, where the personal and professional worlds of the characters blurred. There were moments where the lines between acting and reality felt thin, and it created a certain tension in their interactions that kept me intrigued.

The pace never felt rushed, but instead, there was a sense of anticipation that built gradually, making those quiet moments between the characters even more significant. This wasn’t a story about grand gestures, but about the small, meaningful steps that led to something deeper. The experience of watching it all unfold felt both patient and rewarding.

Overall, this was a 4-star read for me, and I’d easily recommend it. Yet, I’m struggling to review it as a whole.

Here’s the thing - I really enjoyed this book up until the 70% mark. If it had stuck the landing, it might have been a 5-star read for me. Because I had issues with the last quarter of the book, I figure I’ll break down my review by what I liked vs. the elements that I had issues with.

What I enjoyed:
- I love an unproblematic male protagonist. Cole is a genuinely good guy and, moreover, he is complex. So often, nice guys can come across as boring or unrealistic. Not so with Cole. His mistakes are behind him and he’s actively working to be a better person.
- The brief view into what public school teachers - especially those in the arts - are up against felt true to what I’ve seen and experienced.
- Everything related to Maggie’s job as an intimacy coordinator was handled with respect and delicacy. Her job could have easily been the entry point to a much more salacious story, but to do that would have negated the broader themes of the book.
- Speaking of those broader themes, this touches on the #MeToo movement, which created some compelling external conflict.
- I’m a fan of any book that covers the writing/production/etc TV or film, so this was right up my alley.

Where it fell short:
- For a book that deals with safe and respectful intimacy, I get why consent is important. At the same time, the way it was handled felt stilted at times, especially the first time Maggie and Cole get together.
- Forgive me if this is vague, but I’m trying hard to keep this spoiler free: I wasn’t a huge fan of how the conflict came to a head.

This was my second Emma Barry book, and I’m definitely looking forward to reading more. My few issues with the last quarter of this story don’t outweigh how much I enjoyed the rest of it. I am looking forward to reading more of her work.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and Montlake for the advanced reader copy of this book, provided in exchange for my unbiased opinion.

Bad Reputation by Emma Barry is a wonderful contemporary romance.
This whole story is just fun.
Cole and Maggie were relatable and realistic in every way.
Their relationship and banter was amazing!

I stopped after reading a few chapters. I really enjoyed “Funny Guy” by this author so I thought I’d check this book out. I quickly realized it’s not for me. I can be picky will male pov and found this one unconvincing. It’s very much an it’s-me-not-the book thing.

Appealing, tender, and sweet!

Bad Reputation is a bighearted, uplifting tale that takes you into the lives of two main characters. Cole James, an actor struggling to be known for more than just his long-running image as a teen heartthrob and himbo, and Maggie Niven, a former drama teacher turned intimacy coordinator, who is determined to fight censorship and prove just how wrong her dismissal from the school board for diverseness truly was.

The writing is touching and light. The characters are charismatic, genuine, and endearing. And the plot is an engaging mix of heart, humour, friendship, attraction, chemistry, relationship drama, romance, and the intricacies of movie making.

Overall, Bad Reputation is another charming, witty, delightful tale by Barry that has all the elements I’ve come to know and enjoy in her novels, including a fierce heroine, an attentive alpha male, and a slightly unique, swoony storyline.

Fans of 'Bridgerton', you need to be all over 'Bad Reputation' !!!

This book tells the story of behind the scenes into filming a big budget period show whilst being full of scandals, romances and drama from the offset. Maggie, after losing her job, is thrown into a brand new role where she feels out of her depth. Cole, a 00s tv star, is trying to make his comeback and take on more serious acting roles. The two meet on set and instantly feel a spark but, due to the conditions of their contracts and Maggie's previous controversies, falling in love is off limits.

There were a few slow moments towards the middle of the book but ultimately I think it helped build upon the slow burn of Cole and Maggie's relationship and felt a lot more realistic than them just jumping straight into things. We got to see a lot of their routines on set and see Maggie growing into her new role as intimacy coordinator.

There are also many side plots and romances during this book which I feel tie in nicely to the main storyline and leave the ending of this book feeling extremely satisfying. You feel as if every character finally gets what they deserves, whether this be a good or bad thing !!

I found this book quite similar to 'Romantic Comedy' by Curtis Sittenfeld which I also loved. It has similar dialogue in which you actually see the characters really connecting and learning about each other - it's more than just surface level. They are also both set in similar industry environments and give an insight into the behind the scenes of productions. Personally, I find these topics very interesting and although the routineness and repetitiveness of work might not appeal to all, I do like to read and learn more about what goes on off camera. I also just love the fictional drama and gossip !!!

I must say the one thing I didn't particularly like about this book was the third person perspective. At some points it felt very confusing and jumped around a bit too much to properly follow along. I do believe this was slightly better towards the end of the book though - or maybe I just got used to it ?

'Bad Reputation' is a romance book with so much more, it has all the drama, glamour and celebrity whilst being set against the gorgeous period locations. Very hard not to love it !!

Content note: description of creepy inappropriate behaviour in the entertainment industry (not graphic)

Dear Emma Barry,

I was fortunate enough to have both the e-arc and the audio-arc of Bad Reputation, which meant I was able to swap between reading and listening depending on whether I could sit and read or whether I was driving/cooking/exercising and therefore had my earbuds in. Both versions are great.

Cole James is a 41-year-old actor who has been trying for the previous 20 years or so to rebuild his reputation after being a brat – and playing a brat, “Cody Rhodes”, on a TV series – Central Square (I imagined it a little like Dawson’s Creek maybe?) when he was a very young man. (I wasn’t convinced he was all that terrible actually. He was a bit chaotic and oblivious and just… young but I didn’t really see anything which made me think of him as a terrible person. Maybe insensitive, clueless and thoughtless but most of us have gone through a phase like that. Still, he feels he has a lot to atone for.

He’d made things better by apologizing, taking full and complete responsibility for being basically a frat boy with a TV contract.

One of the things he feels terrible about was not noticing that the showrunner of Central Square “being garbage to” the female writers, something which came out publicly after the show ended.) Cole is handsome and buff and Central Square still has a lot of fans who gush over “Cody” at conventions or when they see Cole in the street. Cole has a bit of a love/hate relationship with Cody.

But Cody was the Halloween costume that Cole could never get off. Their names even sounded the same.

Most recently, he’s won a part in season three of the hit TV/streaming series, Waverley. (Here’s where I confess to being a Philistine. I was all prepared to tell DA readers to think of it as a cross between Outlander but without the time travel and Bridgerton but Waverley is actually based on a series by Sir Walter Scott. Yes! Waverley is a real set of books. I mean, I’d heard of Rob Roy and Ivanhoe and I’d heard of Sir Walter Scott – expecially how he famously basically brought back tartan and kilts in the 1800s and made them iconic but I didn’t know there was a book series. Waverley, the fictional TV series, takes the basic stories from the books and gives them a HEA (as it of course should – what were you thinking Sir Walter?), sometimes focusing on secondary book characters who might be more dynamic on the screen. (100% would watch. Emma Barry could probably write the scripts – given the author’s note at the end, I wonder if she hasn’t done it halfway already. Netflix what are you waiting for??) Season three of Waverley is based on book seven of the series, The Heart of Midlothian (but with a HEA). You’re welcome.)

Maggie Niven was a high school drama teacher who was fired after a parent complained to the school board about a play she planned to direct her drama students in. She took legal action and won but the whole thing took its toll and she doesn’t feel safe to return to the school. Through some serendipity, she is offered a role as an Intimacy Coordinator and ends up working on Waverley season three. Having been the subject of one scandal, she definitely does not want to do anything to jeopardise her new career. So, when she first meets Cole she tries hard to ignore their mutual attraction. She absolutely cannot become involved with one of the actors.

Cole, for his part, is smitten with Maggie from the beginning as well. He too is trying hard to keep his nose clean. He is rebooting his career. He’s been doing it for years and maybe, just maybe, with Waverley, his hard work will finally pay off. On-set relationships can be messy and his agent has strictly advised – No Drama. Still, over the four months of production, Maggie and Cole become friends, spend time together and fall in love – all without anything particularly sexual happening between them (hand touching can be sexy). For Cole, getting into a relationship with Maggie after filming is ethical and appropriate. For Maggie, it is more complicated.

I’ve heard a bit of about intimacy coordinators in the last few years and I believe they’re becoming more common in the entertainment industry. I follow one on Tik Tok in fact and she’s very interesting. In the world of Bad Reputation at least, the role is very new and not entirely widely accepted yet so any hint of inappropriate behaviour could do damage not just to Maggie but to anyone else trying to do the same job. In my own head, I was thinking that on-set relationships are pretty common and perhaps also that intimacy coordination is more recognised so I was a bit more team Cole than team Maggie on this.

The intimacy coordination in the book was fascinating. Cole is working with his best friend, Tasha Russell, who is more famous than he is and who clearly has some issues with Maggie’s role when the story starts. I enjoyed watching Maggie navigate Tasha’s prickliness, get to the underlying issues, show Tasha she is trustworthy and prove that Maggie’s role will help Tasha in ways she could not have initially anticipated. I don’t want to give away too much but it’s fair to say that Tasha’s experiences on set have not always been safe or appropriate. Part of Bad Reputation is now Tasha addresses that and how Cole and Maggie both help her.

Cole and Maggie are kept apart – romantically at least – by their professional obligations but the sexual tension and their chemistry is obvious all the way through. I enjoyed their banter and the way they got to know one another. I liked how Maggie helped Cole see that perhaps he didn’t need to live his life only atoning. Perhaps he could allow himself to be happy. I loved how Cole was 100% gone over Maggie almost from the start and never wavered. Cole is surrounded by beautiful starlets all the time. But Maggie is everything Cole wants, wrapped up in one attractive package. My impression was that Maggie was a little more on the “normal” side of societal beauty rather than supermodel/movie star gorgeous. For Cole however, she is not just the icing, or the cake – she’s the whole dessert buffet. Despite Cole being a Hollywood hearthrob, I did not doubt for a second his commitment to Maggie.

Cole is used to being gawked at. His abs and his butt have been on screen often enough. He knows he is more often than not cast as “himbo”; his role to look pretty. But on Waverley Cole gets to really act and Maggie, as well as the rest of the crew around him, are 100% believers that he can and will crush it. Maggie likes Coles abs and butt (as one would) but she sees him for who he is and that feels very new for Cole. Scary too. But through Maggie’s eyes he begins to see himself as more than what he feels is his bad reputation.

Barry’s writing is clever and sharp with lines such as

Her smile was sweetly aggressive, like a Vera Bradley pattern.

or (completely unrelated)

They talked all the time, but maybe those conversations had just been small talk. Verbal rice cakes that didn’t convey much information or have many calories.

Consent and informed consent are big themes of the book, not just in Maggie’s professional life, but also in Cole and Maggie’s relationship. They have a very hot, very explicit conversation before getting naked together about what they like, don’t like, what gets them off, what doesn’t. And even after they’re together, Cole does not assume consent is implied. He checks in in sexy but explicit ways. It’s sexy for the hero to want his lady to be on the same page. It’s hot that he does not want to proceed unless she’s completely on board.

Cole is a good guy trying to be someone who looks out for those around him, cast, crew, stunt people, friends, acquaintances. For much of the book it’s almost like he feels he wears it as a suit – until Maggie helps him realise it’s entirely, authentically him after all.

I liked that Maggie is in her late 30s and Cole is in his early 40s. I really liked that Cole wanted to be with a woman his own age rather than a teenager like so many Hollywood/famous men.

There is some drama near the end of the book of course. The various clues planted along the way and the central conflict between them come together to place their relationship at risk. It’s not about silly misunderstandings or miscommunications. They face a significant challenge and it’s not an easy fix. Of course it ends with a HEA but I had some slightly mixed feelings about how things worked out otherwise. I think Maggie ended up, objectively, in a better place but I wished it had not been so much “plan C”. (I don’t want to say more because spoilers.) Perhaps the moral of the story is that Hollywood is still a difficult place, especially for women. Between them however, Maggie and Cole are determined to make it better.

There are some serious issues covered in Bad Reputation – toxic workplaces, sexual harassment, inappropriate behaviour from people with power – but it was all very organic to the story, not preachy, perhaps more aspirational. The romance between Cole and Maggie took center stage though. I never quite bought that Cole needed all the character rehabilitation he thought he did – for me, just like Maggie, he was just about perfect.

“Would you?” Cole asked, with the kind of smile she could feel in her inner thighs.

Grade: B+

Regards,
Kaetrin

**Please note this is a review of both the audiobook and the ebook**

love a celebrity/normal person romance!! the MMC was so sweet and charming. And I loved him. I didn't love the overly descriptive parts on the intimacy scenes for the show, it became just too much for me when all I really cared about was the love story. the ending was satisfying tho!!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Cole James is having a mid career crisis. No longer wanting to be known for his himbo roles, he’s signed on for a serious role on the hit show, Waverley. After being fired from her teaching job as a drama teacher for producing a controversial play, Maggie Niven has had enough of being a sound bite against censorship. When an opportunity to become the intimacy coordinator for the hit show Waverley comes up, she can’t resist.

I really loved both MC’s. Ms. Barry created kind, complex characters that you want to root for. The slow burn nature of the story allows for Maggie and Cole to get to another one and slowly fall in love. The chemistry is there from the beginning and gradually builds organically as we watch them fall in love. The typical playboy Hollywood actor trope is missing from this novel, and I’m all for it. Cole is kind and really cares about the cast and the production quality. He’s respectful of Maggie and her role as the intimacy coordinator. Maggie has a quiet confidence about her. Even when she feels out of her element, she’s open and honest about her feelings.

I really loved that both characters were older. It’s refreshing to read about MC’s in their 40s. Their relationship was mature and they communicated effectively, even when the crap hits the fan. The steamy scenes were hot because of the level of intimacy and vulnerability between the two characters Ms. Barry achieves. Consent is sexy folks!

I really loved this book. We need more romantic heroes like Cole James.

This contemporary romance has an interesting plotline and I enjoyed the behind the scenes look at the job of being an intimacy coordinator and their role in advocating for the actors. I didn't feel a whole lot of romantic chemistry between the two main characters, but I could appreciate the connection they felt as they got to know each other. The sensitivity Maggie showed to the other actors that were struggling was sweet and this was a delightfully refreshing read.