Good Girl Complex by Elle Kennedy
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Read: April 2023

This was some mindless fluff for me. Definitely enjoyable and gave me huge Outer Banks vibes. I liked the small town setting, and enjoyed the drama.

Mac was a bit annoying and naive at first, but she redeemed herself when she finally told her parents and Preston where to go! Cooper, what can I say? He’s your typical bad boy and what’s not to love about that! Lol

Overall, this was fun and can’t wait for Even’s story. ( )

This a fun summer beach read with all the necessities: light and easy read, page-turning, sexy and fun novel. This is part of a series which has similar characters but can be read as a stand-alone.

The novel’s setting is the beach town of Avalon Bay in North Carolina where affluent people stay to escape for the summer from the chaos of their busy city lives.

The book is narrated by two of the protagonists Cooper Hartley and Mackenzie Cabot. Cooper has a twin brother Evan who also enjoys the summers with the influx of visitors including wealthy students from Garnet. The Hartley twins are infamous for their flirty good looks and hasty hook ups with the visiting tourists.

Cooper works as a bartender at the Riptide a popular bar. Also, a place where wealthy students get sloppy and drunk wielding their influence around. Cooper gets fired one night after a fight with a customer of a wealthy kid. Preston is a pretentious jealous boyfriend of Mackenzie Cabot. They met at the same prep school Spencer Hill and attended the same country club.

Mackenzie soon becomes bored with the pretentious attitude of Preston especially after she catches the attention of Cooper. She doesn’t realize that he is seeking revenge on Cooper for getting him fired by stealing his girlfriend. Of course, this lends itself to chaos when Mackenzie discovers the truth.

There is an interesting storyline aside from the love lorn involving preserving the history of the town and its buildings. This story is the undercurrent which is carried through to the following books providing the tie amongst the characters. ( )

“And then you showed up and I started getting ideas. Maybe I didn’t have to settle for slightly better than nothing. Maybe I could even be happy”

I highlighted this specific quote purely because it was one that immediately stuck out for me.

For most of my life I had convinced myself that I was the common denominator in all the bad things that would occur. I didn’t believe that I would get a happy ending or anything close to it, I had accepted that I would just have to learn to be happy with whatever life threw at me. It’s so refreshing to see characters that have been handed the most crappiest cards - characters that are relatable in ways that aren’t ‘oh they’re so quirky’ or ‘they love books and i do too’ but in a profound way that means something to me. ( )

There wasn't a whole lot about this book that I did like. The way the characters dynamic is I find myself confused as to why they are even together. They don't seem to like each other very much and the relationship doesn't even start on good terms on either side. It played out like she is this strong competent heroine but then it feels like she is settling for this guy who lied and just complains about her in his inner monologue. But it's okay because he listens to her sometimes?

SPOILER: In the end she doesn't even want to take him back but does because he remembered this one thing she said this one time. ( )

Good Girl Complex
Avalon Bay, Book 1

I Picked Up This Book Because: They hype.

Media Type: Audiobook
Source: Netgalley
Dates Read: 2/11/22 - 2/14/22
Stars: 3
Narrator(s): Ava Erickson, Joe Arden

The Characters:

MacKenzie “Mac” Cabot:
Cooper Hartley:
Evan Hartley, Preston, many residents of Avalon Bay

The Story:

Writing: Good. The story is straight forward without any need to suspend belief.
Forward Motion: Good, nothing dragged.
Overall Interest: Revenge is not really my thing plus I didn’t really like the characters. I thought about DNFing multiple times but stuck it out.
Length of Reading Time: Fine.
Re-read-ability: No.

The Random Thoughts:

Challenges:

A to Z Reading Challenge 2022 - G
Goodreads Book Bingo 2022 - N5 - A book published in 2022.
Year of Smut 2022 - A romance where the female lead works in STEM
Birth and Beyond Reading Challenge - Yeah Baby - Revenge
2022 Monthly Keyword Challenge - Good ( )