Bad Rep by A. Meredith Walters

“Who gives a damn about their reputation? Oh, that would be me! Especially since mine has gone straight to Hell in the span of thirty minutes.”

Maysie Ardin is soaking up the summer before her junior year of college, shopping, hanging by the pool, and shopping some more. But when her black belt in spending lands her in trouble with her parents, she is forced to take a second job at a local bar to dig herself out of a deep financial pit.

She thought she’d be miserable. But then Maysie didn’t count on Jordan Levitt, the hot, pierced and tattooed, drum playing bartender who also happens to be very interested in her. And the feelings are totally mutual.

It had the makings of the perfect romantic set up. Boy meets girl. Boy likes girl. Boy has girlfriend? Okay, maybe not.

But attraction is a hard thing to ignore and soon Jordan and Maysie find themselves in the middle of a gossip induced firestorm. Maysie has to learn whether she can set aside her fear of public disapproval in order to be with the one she wants. Or will she let the opinions of others dictate her life and her heart?

**ARC provided by the author in exchange for an honest review**

“His voice was like liquid caramel. And I knew exactly what I wanted to do with him. I wanted no holds barred, throw-me-against-a-wall-and-pound-me-within-an-inch-of-my-life sex.” – Maysie

Maysie gets a little too swipe-happy with her credit card so after she racked up a $3,500 bill and royally pissed off her parents, she gets a serving job at Barton’s, a local bar, to earn more money and pay back her parents. Enter Jordan; the tattooed, pierced, bad boy-ish bartender. They are instantly attracted to each other, except there’s one little problem: Jordan has a girlfriend. And his girlfriend isn’t just anybody. After this new revelation, Maysie finds herself battling what her heart and her head are telling her to do; which will she let win?

You know those people who care more about what people think about them than how they actually feel? The people who will do things they don’t want to do, date people they don’t want to date, steer clear of confrontation at all costs because God forbid someone say something bad about them? The people who care more about their reputation than their character?

Well, you do now; Maysie is one of those people. She lives to please her constantly disapproving parents, keep her sorority sisters happy, and make sure her reputation stays intact. She lives in constant fear that someone will think badly of her. I gotta tell ya, it was a bit exhausting at times and there were several times I just wanted to reach through my Nook and smack her; the girl didn’t even necessarily like being in a sorority but stayed anyway because to her, it was a good way to meet people. I guess so? (I can’t speak firsthand, I was never in a sorority; I dropped out of rush week the second day when I found myself rolling my eyes at 90 percent of everything involved. Well, that and I didn’t want to stay away from the 3 B’s: boys, bars, and booze. Who wants to spend their first week on campus sober and surrounded by all girls? Not me.)

I was really torn on how I felt about Jordan. I ended up loving him, but really?! The dude says he’s crazy about Maysie, yet refuses to break up with Olivia?! That deserves a dick punch. I understand they’ve been together for a long time, but he gives perfectly good explanations as to why they aren’t good together anymore; so whyyyy is he still with her? Homeboy, you can’t have your cake and eat it too. Pick a chick. He did manage to make it back into my good graces though, and ultimately I think he and Maysie are pretty damn great together. These are two people who, for the most part, really did try to do the right thing but failed miserably.

Bad Rep isn’t just an angst-driven romance – it’s about accepting the fact that you can’t please everyone. No one wants to be the source of whispers and rumors, but at some point you just have to tone it out. Live for you, do what makes you happy, and if somebody doesn’t like it…well…fuck ‘em. Throw in some incredibly panty-tingling sex scenes, bitchy sorority sisters, douchebag fraternity brothers, and a handful of genuinely great friends and you have the makings of a pretty great read.

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