Mac has dreams of her own but to please her parents she moves to the beachside town of Avalon Bay to get her college degree.

The ‘good girl syndrome’ is the manifestation of traits valued and praised among little girls to the extent that deviating from those traits makes them feel guilty and fearful of being judged. These are the trust-fund babies whose coastal palaces block out the ocean views for the rest of us scraping by on the change that falls from their pockets.

Whenever their partner suggests going outside what is accepted as ‘sexual normality,’ they tend to become uncomfortable and dismiss the idea entirely.

Cooper grew up in Avalon Bay and has always had issues with the college kids because of the way they treated the townies. With plenty of steam alongside the youthful romance, this winsome story about following one’s heart will especially appeal to hopeless romantics. The two series I’ve read of Kennedy’s feature bad boys and sweet-yet-sassy-girls, forbidden romances, opposites attract, and a lot of sweaty clinches. To his credit, Cooper very quickly falls for Mackenzie and abandons the plan but it is nonetheless the central conflict of the book so I spent the last bit kind of peering through my fingers as I read, waiting for it all to go horribly wrong.As they integrate positive labels into their self-image, some girls pour everything they have into being perfect by way of grades, friendships and meeting changing parental expectations. Once the sexual event is over, they often feel guilty and swing back to the chaste, good girl persona.

Mackenzie Cabot is a wealthy 20-year-old who moved to Avalon Bay in the Carolinas to attend Garnet College.

In lieu of self-understanding a kind of anxiety invades the young woman’s sense of self that causes her to focus more on appearing good enough to others and less on her own internal needs and desires. Cooper and his twin brother, Evan, decide to exact revenge on the trust fund brat by persuading his attractive girlfriend to fall for Cooper instead. When another attractive guy comes around, the exhilaration of his desire makes the bad girl reappear.