My Rating: ⭐️⭐️
Title: Bad Girl Reputation (Avalon Bay, #2)
Author: Elle Kennedy
Format: eBook (NetGalley)
Pages: 320
Publication Date: 10/4/22
Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin
Categories: Romance, New Adult, Young Adult, Contemporary, Series
Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**
Thank you to St. Martin’s Griffin for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an 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.
Content Warning: sexual harassment, drug use, death of a parent
This is the second book in the Avalon Bay series, and I enjoyed the first one, Good Girl Complex, a lot so was definitely going to read this one. Sadly, I wasn’t into Evan and Gen’s story like I was with Cooper and Mac. Here’s what did and didn’t work for me:
+ The beginning of the story is good – we get to know Gen and Evan and their history. Obviously these two cannot stay away from one another as much as they try. The physical attraction is undeniable but then the feelings part is when the trouble begins. They both have issues.
+ Gen has a lot going on and I do see growth. Evan also has some things to work on when it comes to Gen and his mom, Shelley.
+ Cooper and Mac make cameos in the story. Cooper doesn’t like Evan and Gen together but the heart wants what it wants!
~ I think I got bored with the story. It’s repetitive. It’s a constant back and forth between Evan and Gen, and the sexual attraction is easy for them. Everything else is hard. I think it felt flat on the emotional side of their relationship. They are also a bit toxic for one another. So I wasn’t invested with the second chance romance. Gen tries to date someone else, but we all know who is end game, so it felt like a waste of time.
~ I didn’t connect to any of the characters.
Tropes: second chance romance
Spice Level: 🌶🌶🌶
Why you should read it:
- you might like this better than the first one if you like second chance romances
Why you might not want to read it:
- it hit a lull in the middle and never managed to suck me back into the story
My Thoughts:
This one was just okay. I did like Good Girl Complex more because it was the rich girl/poor boy trope. If you like second chance romances with a lot of spice, you will enjoy this one, because one thing is for sure and that is Gen and Evan can’t keep their hands off one another.
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