Drumline by Stacy Kestwick

🌟🌟🌟 out of 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Synopsis:

Traditions are important. Especially in the South. 
College football. Rivalries. Tailgating. Halftime shows.
Some things just don’t change.
Until Reese Holland shows up with her long legs and no-bullshit attitude to audition for the prestigious all-male Rodner University snare line.
It doesn’t matter how much hazing she has to endure from Laird Bronson, with his narrowed green eyes and arrogant smirk. She wants that damn spot, and she’s more than good enough to earn it. 
She expects there to be tension. Even friction. 
But not sparks hot enough to burn the entire campus down.

I've wanted to read Drumline since it came out for the simple reason of drum lines being amazing! I've always thought that percussion was awesome and actually tried out for them when I joined band in school. Sadly, I didn't get in but I still love watching videos of drum line performances because they really are the heart of any band. I thought that this book might take a page out of the movie Drumline with Nick Cannon but make it better for one simple reason....Reese. 

I loved Reese because she didn't take any crap from anyone. She didn't care that the Drum line was traditionally all male. She wanted to be treated equally and for them to know that she knew that she was talented enough to make the cut. She kicked some major booty! I do think that the author may have taken that character trait a bit too far though. It begin to be ridiculous what she was willing to do to not be seen as weak and helpless. I can't believe the crap that she faced and then kept her silence about it. I would ahve thought that at that point she would have spoken up. The character that stole the show for me was Laird. He had a lot going on and I could see how he would be protective of Reese especially when he found out about something that she had dealt with in the past. He was kind and determined to make the world a better, happier place in his own way. Plus, who doesn't love a guy that plays the drums?! 

I loved the interactions between Laird and Reese. They ranged from funny to downright frustrating. Their chemistry was really well done. I know that there has been talk of insta-love taking place in this book and that is true. I'm not exactly sure why it didn't bother me as much with this book. Their relationship clearly begins as a crazy sexual chemistry which evolves into knowing a bit about each other. I think that by the end of the book it is fairly believable that they would love each other. I think that it honestly comes down to Laird. He has an intensity to him, an alphaness I guess, with a lot of love to give that is what makes their feelings real to me. 

My biggest issue with this book was I didn't feel like there was any actual drumming. It is spoken about but I wanted to feel like I was there on the field as they played a set. I know that at the heart of this book it is a romance but I wanted it to almost take on a Whiplash or Drumline - like theme to it because the movie deal with the difficulty of actually playing and not just the hazing that takes place.