Girls with Bad Reputations is an excellent novel which manages to continue Axelrod’s The Lillys series while also standing on its own two feet. All about breaking free of familial obligations and expectations to be true to yourself and those you love, it’s a fantastic novel that manages to also realistically capture the music world.
Kayla Whitman has a mother who disapproves of her rock star lifestyle (and her generally outré existence), but Kayla – having lost her music-loving brother young – is driven by the songs that defined them both. Her band, The Lillys, is everything to her, and she wants desperately to be seen as anyone but the character her mother Gisele fictonalized her into for a series of best-selling children’s books. Which is why her bandmates don’t know that she was the template for Little Miss Yolanda.
Laid back bookworm Ty Baldwin has been hired to drive The Lillys’ bus, but he’s running from a past of his own – a false accusation in college ruined his academic promise – and he’d do just about anything to make money to take care of the grandfather who raised him. He and Kayla instantly connect over the joys and pains of traveling around America.
All the band’s hard work seems to be paying off, with The Lillys finally achieving mainstream success. On top of that, Ty and Kayla are starting to fall for each other. Unfortunately however, the label wants to pit the band against that of The Lillys’ former lead singer, leading to conflict and the threat of old secrets surfacing to wreck her relationship with Ty. Can their true love survive?
I really liked Kayla and Ty, and sympathized with their plights. On top of that, their family issues make them quite sympathetic. The book also provides a nice travelogue, and the natural feeling Axelrod displayes for the rock world makes sense. It was nice to see Kayla’s bandmates, and while this book can be read without knowledge of the previous one, reading The Girl With Stars in Her Eyes would probably help to round things out a bit.
I do feel that the romance is a somewhat secondary to the band drama and Ty’s worries about his grandfather, which is why the grade is an A- and not a flat-out A. But overall Girls with Bad Reputations sings out fearlessly, combining a heartfelt love of traveling and rock and roll with realistic, grounded characters.
Sensuality: Warm
Publication Date: 02/2024
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