Release Review: Good Girl Complex: Elle Kennedy
Good Girl Complex
She does everything right. So what could go wrong?
Mackenzie “Mac” Cabot is a people pleaser. Her demanding parents. Her prep school friends. Her long-time boyfriend. It’s exhausting, really, always following the rules. Unlike most twenty-year-olds, all she really wants 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 of Garnet College.
Mac’s had plenty of practice suppressing her wilder impulses, but when she meets local bad boy Cooper Hartley, that ability is suddenly tested. Cooper is rough around the edges. Raw. Candid. A threat to her ordered existence. Their friendship soon becomes the realest thing in her life.
Despite his disdain for the trust-fund kids he sees coming and going from his town, Cooper soon realizes Mac isn’t just another rich clone and falls for her. 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.
Graphic from Author's Facebook page
Cooper Hastings has roots in Avalon Bay even if they are kind of rotten. He works hard, is loyal to his twin and friends, and makes money where he can. An altercation with a rich college guy causes him to lose his job and extra cash. So he and his friends cook up a revenge scheme...and it involves befriending the jerk's girlfriend.
Mackenzie Cabot is a rich Princess but also has her own self-made company and money. But her parents and longtime boyfriend have expectations for her that she is trying to meet. She does not even realize the seriousness of her discontent and unhappiness until a tattooed, persistent, charming guy barrels into her life. She tries to be the good girl, but deep down that is not who she is. She has fire, humor, passion, and her own goals. Cooper's friendship draws her out and makes her want to live for herself and follow her own dreams.
And Cooper realizes she is more than just a rich girl and finds himself under her spell and inspired to be better. He gets caught up in enjoying life with her and trying to ignore what started it all in the first place.
But starting out on a foundation is lies and secrets can be dangerous. These two also come from different backgrounds, circumstances, and ways of thinking. But they also seem to be able to understand each other in fundamental ways. They have witty banter, fun rapport, and good chemistry. But is it enough?
I have to admit there are some situations and tropes that did not appeal to me about this story, but overall she made me like Mac, Cooper, and believe in them as a couple. This brings a whole new cast of characters in a new boardwalk town. Some of them are likable, some had to grow on me, and some just annoyed me. But there seems to be some other stories brewing that could continue the series especially with his twin brother, Evan, and maybe playboy friend, Tate. I assume there are plans for me since this one did not have an epilogue.
Mackenzie “Mac” Cabot has spent her life fitting into the boxes her family has set out for her. Her father’s campaign image and social circles have dictated most of her choices for her. But after taking a hard fought gap year to build a website and pave her own way, she relents to going to college and agrees to start at Garnet College, joining her longtime boyfriend.
Cooper Hartley is a townie, having grown up in town with dysfunctional parents and an uncle who stepped in to raise him and his twin when their mom abandoned them. He has a chip on his shoulder about “clones,” the rich kids who go to school at Garnet, and has no qualms picking fights and starting arguments when clones come into his radar.
She was supposed to be part of a revenge plot: seduce the girl, get her to break up with her boyfriend, and then rub it in the guys face that Cooper won in the end. But as Cooper puts the plan into motion, he finds he actually likes Mac and she isn’t what he typically found from clones. In her case, she finds herself questioning the path that has been put in front of her, wondering if she can have her own dreams outside of what makes her parents happy.
Mac and Connor are complete opposites in so many ways. Their differences have them observing the other as a bit of curiosity, but also through a lens that sees behind the persona they try to show everyone around them. Their chemistry is immediate and has them each questioning what they thought they knew.
There were a few aspects that had me frustrated by the characters, but based on the plot direction couldn’t have been changed (they still bugged me though). At times it felt like drama for drama’s sake. But overall, this was an easy, quick read that kept me entertained. I loved a few of the side characters and would like to see more of Cooper’s brother, because there is certainly a story there. I loved Cooper’s uncle and his guidance throughout (as often as the boys let him guide them), but particularly his role towards the end of the book.
A USA Today bestselling author, Elle Kennedy grew up in the suburbs of Toronto, Ontario, and holds a B.A. in English from York University. From an early age, she knew she wanted to be a writer, and actively began pursuing that dream when she was a teenager.
Elle writes romantic suspense and erotic contemporary romance for various publishers. She loves strong heroines and sexy alpha heroes, and just enough heat and danger to keep things interesting!
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