This audiobook took me on a slow, immersive journey, with a steady pace that matched the gradual unfolding of the story. The characters’ emotions and interactions developed naturally, giving time for each moment to resonate. There was a depth to how everything unfolded, and the narrator’s subtle delivery of tension and emotion added layers to the experience.

The backdrop of a film set brought a fresh dynamic, where the personal and professional lives of the characters intertwined. The detailed descriptions of the behind-the-scenes world made it easy to imagine, from the technical aspects of filmmaking to the quieter moments between takes. It created a unique atmosphere that felt rich and textured.

The slow-burn aspect was handled beautifully. The gradual build of tension felt just right, and it was those small, unspoken moments that made the romance feel real and grounded. Every interaction carried weight, and nothing felt rushed, which made the eventual shifts in the characters’ relationships feel that much more rewarding. It was a story that felt deeply satisfying as it unfolded, with a sense of intimacy that made it easy to get lost in.

I really loved the two characters in this story- Cole and Maggie. It started a little slow for me but once we really started to get to know the characters more it was such a fun story. The overall premise of the story and the behind the secret of filming was really interesting. Cole is best known for his teenage films and he wants to reprise his role now that he’s older to more mature actor. Maggie was a high school drama teacher that landed this job after a scandal happened at her school. Botha are trying to overcome the past and start again.

The audiobook was really well done. Narrated by Aaron Shedlock and Summer Morton. I enjoyed the narration and felt that the story was easy to follow. Loved their slow burn story.

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**

When I say that Emma Barry can write... wow! Can she write! This story is definitely right up my alley with the slow burn, forced proximity, work colleagues to loves tropes. However (and I mean this as a plus!!!), Emma excels at smart writing where other romcom writers might fail. My only complaint about this book is that when the spice finally hit, it felt more clinical than passionate... of course they eventually got there. But, what I wanted to see was these characters explode passionately for one another after months of pining and choreographing scenes for characters. 4/5 stars (will 100% read Emma Barry again!)

***Emma will appear on Book Besties Podcast on Tuesday October 15, 2024. A full review and interview will be provided in the episode.***