Book review: Bad Reputation by Emma Barry

The cover of Bad Reputation by Emma Barry, featuring a bright pink background and navy palm trees, with the book title in bright orange/yellow.

This was a decidedly fun plane read. I picked it up a while back because someone on Bluesky had mentioned it as having a “himbo” male lead.

Cole is a midlevel actor often cast as a himbo–he is more known for his abs than anything else. Maggie is the new intimacy coordinator on set. The tv series is Waverley, which lands here as a cross between Bridgerton and Outlander. In the good way.

Waverley is Cole’s big opportunity to actually earn some respect as an actor rather than being treated like a piece of meat. It’s Maggie’s chance to start a new career after being unfairly railroaded out of being a drama teacher. They… should absolutely NOT be dating. Nope. Definitely not.

But the chemistry? Undeniable. Cole is a golden retriever of a person (complimentary) who ends up having a wonderfully solid moral backbone once he realizes what he has failed to notice before. Maggie is whip-smart and incredibly kind. You root for both of them, hard, and this is a deeply satisfactory contemporary romance.

Strongly recommended.