Reviews with content warning for Abandonment - Good Girl Complex

As always, another great read from Elle Kennedy. I can’t pick up one of her books without absolutely devouring it in a few days.

Cooper and Mac are like a ray of sunshine, even if he is the grumpy to her sunshine. Two characters from very different worlds - Cooper, the “loser townie” and Mac the rich, princess “clone” - somehow fall in love, despite all the odds stacked against them.

Even with the third-act breakup because Cooper’s lies come home to roost, they still manage to pull it together and find love.

Their story is continued in the second instalment of the Avalon Bay series - Evan and Gen’s story - so it’s nice to see where they end up in the future.

It may not be her signature hockey romance, but this book will not disappoint! All the spice you know and love and a cute rescue puppy as an added bonus!

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beckyyreadss's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I wanted to read this book because I enjoyed Elle Kennedy’s previous work and wanted to read more of her work. This book was okay, it wasn’t outstanding, I just wanted more.

This book has two points of view. The first is Mackenzie Cabot and she does everything right so what could go wrong? Mac is a people pleaser to her demanding parents, her prep school friends, her long-time boyfriend. It's exhausting for her to always be following the rules. All she wanted to do is focus on growing her internet business, but first she must get a college degree at her parents’ insistence. That means moving to the beachside town of Avalon Bay, a community made up of locals and the wealthy students at Garnet College. Twenty-year-old Mac has had plenty of practice suppressing her wilder impulses, but that all changes when she meets Cooper Hartley. The second point of view is Cooper Hartley, and he is rough around the edges. Raw. Candid. A threat to Mac’s ordered existence. Their friendship soon becomes the realest thing in her life. However, Cooper doesn’t trust any clones in his town, he doesn’t trust anyone who comes and goes into his town, but Cooper soon realizes Mac isn’t just another rich clone and falls for her. And falls hard. But as Mac finally starts feeling accepted by Cooper and his friends, the secret he’s been keeping from her threatens the only place she’s ever felt at home.

There were too many loose ends for my liking. Did Mac finish the hotel? Did it do well? Did the locals finally accept her? Did Cooper’s business do well? Did they finish the house? I have way too many questions for the first book in the series. I really didn’t like the whole dare thing, it just felt like an updated version of She’s All That and as much as I loved that film, it just didn’t work within this book. I also thought the bet and revenge thing would have come out sooner rather than within the last five chapters. Even though I liked Cooper, he needed to grovel some more and more again, instead of using her website and her hotel. Again, all the chaos and the solution were done in five-ten chapters when I wanted it sorted it sooner. I liked the trope of rich boy x poor girl and rich girl x poor boy, but it was just slightly predictable, and I found myself skimming through the bits that we knew was going to happen.

I liked that there were discussions about how parents can be shit parents whether you are rich or poor. Cooper had shit parents and managed to make a life for himself. Mac had shit parents and managed to make herself a billionaire and make a life for herself. I liked the gang within Avalon Bay and how they are all getting up to trouble but they also go to bat with each other and look after each other. I liked the growth between Cooper and Mac and how they’ve managed to stop judging everyone and getting to know someone before you judge them.

Hopefully the characters will grow on me within the next book in the series and the loose ends will be tied up and we might get some more answers to the questions that we didn’t get in this book.

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rachel_jones03's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

2.5

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chapters_and_pages's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This was my first Elle Kennedy book after hearing loads of hype surrounding her, and it’s safe to say, this will not be my last!

Mackenzie is a people pleaser who is used to doing what those around her expect of her. Her rich parents and rich boyfriend expect her to become the perfect trophy wife, supporting her successful husband in his big career. But all Mac wants is to continue focusing on building her internet business. Enter Cooper. Cooper is the opposite of everything Mac has ever known. He’s rough around the edges, nothing like prim and proper boyfriend Preston. As Mac and Cooper begin to grow closer and closer, they both must grapple with the different worlds they both come from, and the secret Cooper is hiding from Mac.

I loved this book! I’m obsessed with a good romance and this one definitely ticked that box! I loved Mac, the fact that she was successful on her own merits and in spite of the lack of support from her loved ones, she was thriving. And who doesn’t love a bad boy who is actually a softie? Cooper is honestly a new favourite of mine.

I really enjoyed the side characters, especially Evan and Bonnie, and I loved the way that Mac went from being an outsider to fitting in with Cooper’s friends, who were essentially his family, by the end of the book.

Overall, I really loved this book and I can’t wait to read more by Elle Kennedy!

Content Warnings

catarina_pego's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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britwalsh16's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Elle Kennedy has done it again! The only thing I didn’t like was that there was no hockey in it. Lol Mac & Cooper are the perfect example of opposites attract, and the passion they have for eachother even when they are fighting is inspiring! I want passion like that!! And though it may have started out as a revenge plot, Mac is much better off without Preston. He is such a dick! I feel bad for his future wife! Lol

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etymoye's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted

2.0

Genres: New Adult Fiction, Contemporary, Romance

Tropes: Childfree, Bad Boy Hero, Possessive Hero, School/College Setting, Secret Relationship

For most of this book, I thought it would be a solid three-star read. I feel like it’s essentially what you expect if you’ve read Elle Kennedy before–a little messiness in the OM/OW department, bad boy/womanizer hero, less experienced heroine, nothing groundbreaking.

But two things annoyed me and made me drop a star. One, Mackenzie is a pretty flat character. She’s a Cool Girl–rich, but a self-made millionaire on top of her family’s money. She doesn’t care about Cooper having slept with basically all his female friends at one point or another. The book even comes out and says she’s Not Like Other Girls. I initially expected her to have some kind of STEM background because she started a website during her gap year, but this is very poorly fleshed out. She apparently didn’t do any of the coding or actual building of the site (?) because that’s never discussed at all. And then she goes on to buy a hotel in Avalon Bay despite apparently not having any interest in architecture or interior design. I’m still not sure why she bought the hotel (or created the site, for that matter). It’s just to show how NLOG she is, I guess.

And two, the third act annoyed me.

At the start of the book, Cooper runs into Mackenzie’s boyfriend, Preston, in the bar where he works. Preston is a jerk and gets Cooper fired, Cooper and his friends decide Cooper should get Preston’s girlfriend to dump him as revenge. (It’s a weak premise, but I feel like anybody who’s seen a 90s romcom can roll with it.)

The only problem is that this is obviously hanging over our couples sword of Damocles-style the entire book. And when you expect the book to FINALLY bring this up at the 80% mark, it makes a sudden swerve and Cooper’s deadbeat mom enters the picture to steal his life savings. Mackenzie offers Cooper money, Cooper gets offended. The couple fights and makes up.

It almost feels like we’ve addressed the dreaded third act breakup…except that, at the 93% mark, Mackenzie FINALLY learns about Cooper’s stupid bet with his friends. It gives almost no time for a proper grovel or believable reconciliation. The entire conflict with the mom should have been removed, IMO. I was really surprised when the mom showed up because she was barely mentioned by Cooper previously, so it felt like there was almost no groundwork laid for that sudden development.

Safety Stats:

Ages:

While neither age is directly stated, if I can do math right, Mackenzie should be approximately 19. Cooper is implied to be in his early 20s somewhere.

Cheating:

Mackenzie has a boyfriend when she kisses Cooper, though she dumps him before sleeping with Cooper. Neither is with anyone else after getting together.

Other OM/OW:

Mackenzie has a boyfriend when she kisses Cooper. Cooper has hooked up with some of his female friends before Mackenzie entered the picture, and there’s some tension/jealousy from one of them. Cooper openly flirts with OW before getting with Mackenzie to make her jealous, but they do not have sex.

Separation:

Breakup in third act for a few weeks, but neither is with anyone else during this time.

Triggers:

Some mention of Cooper’s deadbeat mom.

HEA/HFN?:

HFN.

Content Warnings

kell_yeah_reads's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

this book had a good balance of conflicts along with reasonable responses which IMO are hard to find in the wild.

spice 🌶 - a 4 🌶 spicy

length - just right.

reading speed - read in 2 days
did it make me cry? - no

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