Drumline

By: Stacy Kestwick

Narrated by: Stephen Dexter, Tracy Marks

Length: 9 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

©2017 Stacy Kestwick (P)2017 Stacy Kestwick

liked it

I really enjoyed Stephen Dexter's narration, but found Tracy Marks to have a repetitive speech pattern that became annoying. I don't know if she uses it every time, but if I come across it again, I'll probably skip the rest of the book.

good story female performance could be better

Mark's reminded me of a female version of William Shatner in star trek. loved the story though.

So many feels!

I loved this book so much! It has been on my TBR for so long, and I can't believe I waited so long to get to it! It seriously brought all the feels. I laughed, cried, and was so disappointed when it ended, because I want to continue on with these characters forever! Once I started, I couldn't stop.

These characters were so lovable. Reese is amazing. She has backbone, spunk, and so much sass! I love a strong female lead who can also be vulnerable and open and loving. Reese was all of that and so much more. While she needed to learn to ask for help, I love that she went after her dreams and refused to let anything stand in her way.

And Laird was hot and oh so swoon worthy. He was protective and supportive. He wanted Reese and he pulled out all the stops to win her over. He had a heart of gold, and my heart completely broke when he was hurting and celebrated when he finally got his happy ending.

This book was so well written! Not only did I fall in love with the main characters, I was so invested in the side characters. Their stories elevated the overall story and added so much depth to the main storyline. I would love to see more connected standalones come from these characters, because I loved this world so much! I would definitely go back for more!

I loved this Emotional and Sexy Romance

Drumline is a unique and exhilarating story that captured my heart and had me totally engaged from beginning to end. Laird Bronson is the sexy senior captain of the drumline. Traditionally it has always been an all male group, until now. Reese Holland is a freshman trying out for the line. She is determined to let nothing stand in her way of achieving her dream and she doesn't want any special favores, to a fault. Laird respects her courage and skill and is impressed when she earns a coveted spot on the team. Unfortunately not everyone wants her there. This is a wonderfully multifaceted story with complex characters and lots of steamy passion. I loved the depth of both Laird and Reese and their chemistry was off the charts. Their relationship wasn't an easy one but I loved how they fought for what they were both passionate about.
I was so lost in the narrators ability to set each scene and bring this story to life. Tracy Marks easily portrayed Reeses strong, sassy, yet vulnerable nature. I loved how she made me really feel what Reese was experiencing. This is my first listen to Stephen Dexter and I thought he was perfect. His inflections and character voices were amazing, I definitely want to listen to more of his work.
Don't miss this emotional, thrilling and sexy romance!

Love the Unique Premise!

I am not usually a lover of New Adult books. Reading about someone my son’s age gets a little weird sometimes. But being a band mom, and knowing Stacy was going to be at Wicked Book Weekend I grabbed Drumline on audio. I have never read a book about marching band or drumline, so I immediately liked the unique premise, and the story did not disappoint.

Reese was a kicka*s heroine. I loved that she was one of the rare women to try out for an all-male team known for hazing and she whooped butt at it! She went in expecting there to be issues with her sex, but what she didn’t expect was to have crazy chemistry with one of the heads of the snare line, Laird Bronson. (The unsexy name ruined him a little for me).

When one of the other guys gave her problems, she stood right up to him.

“Here’s the thing.” Reese spoke softly, stopping me in my tracks, and Marco was forced to lean in closer to hear her. “When I sleep with someone, I don’t want him to still need practice at it. I prefer my men to already know what the **** they’re doing in the bedroom.”
Silence descended on our group as her words hung in the air.
I might have fallen in love with her. Just like that.

She was independent, sometimes stubborn, but so determined to be the first female on the team, nothing would stand in her way.

"Yeah, this wasn’t a girl who’d let me do the dirty work for her, slay her dragons while she cowered in the ivy-covered tower. Reese would be on the front lines, carving her own path and wielding her own sword. And I wanted to be the one to have her back on the journey."

They knew getting involved could be a problem, but Laird, that dirty talking hottie, was pretty irresistible.

There was a great balance of humor, sexiness, conflict, angst and romance in this story, and I very much enjoyed the listen!

Likes:

•Totally unique premise.
•Humor and banter.
•A kicka*s, strong heroine.
•A villain you love to hate.
•A romantic, dirty-talking hero.
•A heroine you want to hang with.

Dislikes:

•Kind of an abrupt ending.
•A few lines made me cringe a little, but maybe because of the age thing.
•Though I believe in instalove, I would have liked the to see the connection build a little more.
•There was a whole background part of the story, a connection they had, that I would have loved to have seen expanded upon.

The Narration:
Tracy Marks and Stephen Dexter were perfect for their roles. I think the book translated very well to audio, and the narrators made it even better.

The Down and Dirty:
I really loved the unique premise of Drumline, and it was very clear the author knew what she was talking about. This was a really nice change from the NA sports romances out there and I truly enjoyed the change. And please, who doesn't love a book with humor, romance, angst, sexy times, a strong female heroine and a romantic dirty talking hero?

Rating: 4 Stars, 4 Heat, 5 narration

couldn't finish

I had a hard time listening to this story. I gave up after chapter 5. Female narrator reading style took a way a good story. I gave four stars for Mr Dexter. I will have to try other story and different reader from this author.

Yes! So Emotional

I liked “Drumline” and I liked it quite a lot! There are several aspects that the author highlighted very well in the story and there were several instances when Reese really was an inspiration. I was surprised to see that this is Stacy Kestwick’s debut novel, because she did a great job!

I won’t get into the plot, as you can read the blurb above and there are some items I’d like to point out. We have a girl going into male territory. And she is not giving up without a fight. I liked her strength and her desire to succeed where only few girls have managed. She works twice as hard, she does not give into bullying, even when her opponent is 5 times more built than her.

Cancer. Regarded from all perspectives, this is the most painful item in this book, for all involved. It destroys, it takes away, it is a source of strength and fear. We have a cancer survivor, a family affected by loss because of it and cancer patients – innocent and pure. The way it was included and analyzed from all perspectives is fabulous! The author captured the emotions so good, without losing the focus of our story.

A love that builds gradually, a relationship that should not happen, starts between Reese and Laird. She wants in, on her own merits, he is the captain. He is not allowed to be easy on her. But one cannot go against faith and heart. They are so good together, both frail and strong in the same time. I cannot but love them.

The narration was also great. Stephen Dexter and Tracy Marks formed a great team and their performance was up to my expectations. I think that the audio version is more authentic with their narration as they transposed those feelings in the right way.

I do hope my arguments have convinced you, at least in a small part, to give “Drumline” a chance. Stacy Kestwick proves her talent beyond a doubt in my opinion. I was captured by her story, her characters and all the competition. One has to be strong to succeed, in a game of football, to join a team or to face an illness. Thank you for this book!

I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Stacy Kestwick. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.

love it so much I had to order the hard copy

loved it I like it better than fifty shades and I didn't think that was even possible!!!

So much more than I expected!

I selected this book based on the narrators and discovered a talented author in the process. I was pulled into this story from the very beginning. The competitiveness of the drumline members was astounding. This book is well written and has a great ending. There were some unexpected twists and original storyline.

Loved every second

Love this book. Didn't want to put it down. I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Stacy Kestwick. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.