Thank you to Elle Kennedy, St. Martin’s Griffin, and NetGalley for the advance reader copy of Bad Girl Reputation, the second story in the Avalon Bay series.
I was excited to be selected for this ARC via NetGalley as who in Romancelandia doesn’t know of Elle Kennedy. I have read her for years, more frequently as an author of hockey romance. So, I was excited to see her take on a small town contemporary romance.
“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.
Bestselling author Elle Kennedy returns to Avalon Bay in this sexy second chance story about two exes who can’t stay away from each other, Bad Girl Reputation.“
Check out my more detailed thoughts below…
- Characters: The character of Genevieve was someone I was definitely interested in meeting. She was mentioned often in the previous instalment, but as a more elusive figure. So she’s back in Avalon Bay because of the death of her mother and back into Evan’s life. Gen decided to revamp, and turn her life around, this arc was so well navigated by Elle. Gen’s love interest is her ex, Evan. He is the twin brother of Cooper (from the last book Good Girl Complex). Evan is kind of trouble, but such a sweetie. It was nice as someone who had read the previous book to see Coop and Mac from an outside perspective through Evan. It was also super satisfying to have an expansion on the storyline of Evan and Cooper’s mom.
- Setting: I love this little town. Mostly because Elle has introduced the big cast of characters and I am intrigued to see whose story gets told next. There are definitely some compelling stories there. The small-town nature of it all means checks in and new angles, both A+ in my book.
- Pacing: This book just flew by and I enjoyed the fast pace. The ending did feel a bit too rushed. This is an issue I saw in the first instalment too, so it is just a bit of a weak point. This book did have a better wrap-up than the previous one, so lovely to see some improvement.
- Romance: Gen and Evan are childhood besties who started dating in their high school years. Gen left town abruptly and broke things off. Despite all those years apart, Gen and Evan still had great chemistry. Damn, they are super hot. Evan and Gen are why it is so fun to read second chance romance. Not only did they give love a second chance they gave themselves a second chance. They not only gave each other another chance, but they also gave others in their life another chance. I love that overall message of self-improvement not for vanity, but for betterment and happiness.
Bad Girl Reputation receives four out of five stars.
Thank you again to Elle, the publisher and NetGalley for the review opportunity. Thank you for reading and supporting my blog!
