Girls with Bad Reputations

Three years ago, I adored The Girl with Stars in Her Eyes by Xio Axelrod. The first in her Lillys series, it introduced an all-girl rock band starting to gain traction before releasing their first album. It was an incredible work of music fiction as well as contemporary romance, and I was eager to continue the series. Now, the second book is finally here: Girls with Bad Reputations stars the Lillys’ drummer, Kayla, and her tentative romance with their new bus driver, Ty.

Special thanks to Sourcebooks Casablanca and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book!

Summary

For all of her life, Kayla has felt like a disappointment to her highly successful (and highly critical) mother. Instead of earning her college degree and becoming a world-renowned career woman, Kayla has chosen to follow in her late brother’s footsteps and pursue her true passion, music. She’s the drummer in an up-and-coming band called The Lillys, but she’s hoping to keep her two worlds separate. Not only can her parents not know of this band, she doesn’t want her true identity as their daughter to get out, either.

Meanwhile, The Lillys are embarking on a festival tour and their new bus driver, Tyrell, is an instant kindred spirit for Kayla. He’s bookish, like her, and rather reserved about his own background. Ty was accused of some crimes and forced to put his college degree on pause, and with money tight and his beloved grandfather’s health declining, Ty isn’t sure what his path forward should be. But he and Kayla do have a growing connection, and if they’re both willing to take the risk, they could have a love that lasts.

Review

There is so much I loved about Girls with Bad Reputations! Like the first book in this series, I was initially drawn to it in part because of its focus on rock music. The main character here, Kayla, is the drummer in an all-girl rock band that’s starting to rise up in the scene. It’s clear that the author has intimate knowledge of playing music, the different parts of instruments, touring, and music industry hurdles. Throughout the novel, readers get to live and breathe the rock band experience, and I soaked up every second of it. (Extra love for the mentions of Billie Joe Armstrong, the frontman of my favorite band, Green Day!)

As much as this is a romance, Girls with Bad Reputations is about the full spectrum of experiences our cast of characters have. Sometimes it’s facing the various prejudices or assumptions of others. Kayla is a woman, and she’s one of very few female drummers in the business. A scene that stands out is how she handles a music store employee who can’t believe she’d be buying drums for herself. Another major theme is racism. Both Kayla and Tyrell are Black and have navigated this world accordingly, sometimes facing unfair expectations or allegations. In Ty’s case, he’s been accused of two crimes he didn’t commit, and his punishment was severe despite the ultimate finding of his innocence. He’s still being affected by that trial both in his employment opportunities and his ability to get accepted to a new university.

Beyond the social issues, there are also complex relationships among family and friends. Kayla has a tough relationship with her snobby, perfectionist mother. She’s also still grieving her older brother, Zach, who died a decade prior. Ty was raised by his grandfather, but at 74, he’s starting to have health issues that Ty worries about. Though Ty is somewhat of a loner at the beginning, he’s soon welcomed into the group surrounding The Lillys, including the four band members and the various people who work with them. I loved seeing the friendships between Kayla and the band and how they all stick together when things get tough. Even the secrets they keep from each other will have a way of coming out and solidifying their bond.

There is so much going on throughout this novel—all of which I greatly enjoyed—but the romance between Kayla and Ty also shines through. It’s a slow-burn love story, with two strangers becoming friends first through their many commonalities. They’re both bookworms, both are somewhat reserved yet ambitious and strong-willed, and they understand each other like no one else does. So many romances get steamy fast, but I love that these two take their time. I also appreciate how they both defy gender norms in their own way and that Ty is bisexual.

Final Thoughts

Girls with Bad Reputations is the kind of book to get lost in and savor, even though it’s a pretty quick read. I adored all the characters (including seeing the previous book’s couple), enjoyed the themes of music, family, and identity, and loved seeing Kayla and Ty’s romance slowly unfold. The Lillys has been a wonderful series so far, and I can’t wait to join the band again in the next book.

Get the Book

You can buy Girls with Bad Reputations here – it’s available as a paperback, ebook, and audiobook.

Girls with Bad Reputations by Xio Axelrod
Series	The Lillys (#2)
Audience	Adult
Genre	Contemporary Romance
Setting	Philadelphia
Number of Pages	448
Format I Read	Ebook (NetGalley ARC)
Original Publication Date	February 6, 2024
Publisher	Sourcebooks Casablanca

Official Summary

All her life, Kayla heard the same refrain: Don’t be so loud. Don’t act so wild. Don’t take up so much space. Now she’s the beating heart of an up-and-coming rock band…and the whole world is going to know her name.

Once upon a time, the pressure to be the perfect daughter nearly broke Kayla Whitman. Desperate to find an outlet away from her controlling mother, she picked up a pair of drumsticks, forever altering the rhythm of her life. Since then, she’s been determined to make her own way, finding her home with her bandmates even as she fights to keep her past and her present firmly separate.

Things were simple enough when the Lillys were playing local gigs at dive bars, but now they’re on their first official tour—and all Kayla can see are warning signs. Desperate to escape the worry churning inside her, Kayla finds solace in quiet tour bus driver Ty Baldwin…and discovers in him a kindred spirit like no one she’s ever met before.

Their connection is immediate and intense, but when increasing scrutiny from the press threatens to destroy Ty’s newfound peace and Kayla’s carefully guarded secrets, Kayla’s forced to make an impossible choice: pursue her dream and risk destroying everyone around her? Or give in and lose the chance of ever becoming the person she’s always known she could be.