I actually ended up really enjoying this one

The book started out a bit slow for me. I liked Josephine and her character arc. I liked Wells and the back story. I just didn't feel connected at the beginning. However, as the story progressed I became very vested in the plot and how the story would end.

I love sports romance but this was my first golf romance. I am excited to see where this series goes.

I found this book the slightest bit slow to get into, but like the first few chapters only, then I loved it! Classic TB spice, classic TB grumpy hero; A+ protective hero. And like, drama without the characters being obnoxiously immature about it. Overall a fun read.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Fangirl Down
By: Tessa Bailey
Publisher: Avon and Harper Voyager
Pub Date: 2/13/24

Josephine Doyle is a self proclaimed Fangirl. When she’s not running her family's golf pro shop she spends any down time she has cheering on Wells Whitaker a grumpy golf pro who's been on a losing streak for a long time now.
He’s a very unhappy guy who has had a rough life. After his parents abandoned him he went to live with an uncle until he was “discovered” by a famous golfer who takes him under his wing and teaches him all he can.
Josephine was raised in a totally different world. Her parents were older when they had her and after she was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes her parents became extremely overprotective. It took her years to get them to back off and let her handle both the store and her diabetes.
What her parents don’t know is she hasn’t been taking care of herself the way she should be. Not only is she without health insurance but she let the flood insurance on the Pro Shop lapse and Florida is about to be hit with a hurricane.
Wells can’t seem to get his Fangirl out of his head. She is always there to support him but instead of thanking her he rips up her sign and tells her to find another golfer he is not worth it. Can she help him get his game back? Can he help her get out of the financial disaster she is in at the shop?

Tessa always writes such witty, easy to love characters that always makes her books go way to fast! She really is the master of chemistry right on the page.
Thanks to Avon and Harper Voyager and NetGalley for the ARC.

Fangirl Down by @tessabaileyisanauthor on @librofm is narrated by Callie Dalton who nailed perky Josephine’s personality and the southern drawn of pro-golfer Wells Whitaker.

After a horrible meet-disaster between golfer and his biggest fan when Wells’ career implodes, Josephine and Wells part hoping to never see one another again. Then a hurricane destroys Josephine’s family run golf-shop and she needs cash fast to make repairs and afford her insulin required for her type 1 diabetes. Call it guilt, an unknown pull, or change of heart, but Wells decides to try and rejoin the PGA tour with Josephine as his caddy to help her recover the prize money she needs. Insane tension, hilarious banter, all the forced proximity had me unable to stop reading/listening. Tessa has been cranking out some male heroes that are SO honed into the women they fall for and it’s hot. Wells falls hard and projects “mine” and “touch her and you die” vibes that I adore. I possess the absolutely minimal knowledge of the sport of golf, but found myself incredibly invested in the golf matches portrayed in this novel! 😂

This hilarious, steamy, swoony rom-com is releasing next week on 2/13/24 and it absolutely need to be in your TBR!

This is the Tessa Bailey I know and love and such a fun reminder that she crafts heroes, heroines, and dirty talk like no other!

4.5 out of 5 wine glasses.

A delightful sports romance romp where Bailey brings the heat. Plenty of heart and joy amongst the flirting.

This is definitely a top 3 read for me when it comes to tessa bailey's books! I LOVED THIS. I loved the #1 fan girl and athlete vibe. It totally works and makes out to be a fun and meaningful storyline. Starting with Josephine, i want her work ethic and her positivity. she comes off as a quirky fun girl, but as you get to know her you see that she is very mature and knowledgable and for the most part has her shit together. Although she thinks she might not. She really surprised me throughout this book with how she handles a variety of situations. i just absolutely loved her. Wells Whitaker, also surprised the F out of me. We have this grumpy and angry man who despises everyone, but somehow Jos gets under that tough exterior and gets through to him. Watching his annoyance of her turn into an obsession was just delightful and i loved reading him grow and change in the book. They both seriously had so much character growth and it led to the most perfect ending. i definitely am going to buy the physical copy of this book so i can go back and reread again.

Tessa Bailey has done it again. I love this!

I recently read Wreck the Halls by Tessa and I didn’t enjoy it nearly as much as I usually enjoy books by this author. So I was little but unsure when going into Fangirl Down but I needn’t have been nervous, Tessa is back to her usual perfection with this one.

I wasn’t sure how I was going to like Golf romance but I obviously ended up really liking it. I loved the romance in this, the way Josephine slowly wears away at Wells chipping away his hard exterior and revealing the protective, thought, sweet man underneath. I loved the elements of a comeback/underdog story. The spicy scenes were perfect and totally up to Tessa Bailey standards. The banter in this was perfect and we love a friend group.

My favorite read of the year so far and I am so excited for a little hockey romance in the next book!

I loved this book! A grumpy/sunshine golf romance featuring a strong, kind, smart, capable, confident FMC with Type 1 Diabetes and a down-on-his-luck grump of a professional golfer. They were magic together!

Josephine is pro-golfer Wells Whitaker's biggest fan, despite the shambles his career is in and his decision to quit the PGA Tour. She believes in him even though he's hungover more often than he's winning tournaments. When her family's golf shop business is ruined by flooding, and she hasn't kept up the insurance premiums for the business or her healthcare because of dire financial straits, Wells makes an offer she can't refuse. Become his caddy.

This was entertaining, spicy, and fun, with emotional depth and an enveloping sunny warmth. I adored Josephine. She was such a refreshing, vibrant, and compelling character, and the inspiring way Bailey wrote her will stick with me. Wells is brooding and gruff, tends to self-sabotage, and doesn't like anyone until he gets to know Josephine. She believes in him, and something about her makes him want to do better. He admires her and respects how she handles her own life in ways that make him super swoony. These two had serious chemistry!

The plot was engaging, the pacing was good, the banter was fun, and there was a fair amount of spice. This was Bailey on top of her game, and I binged it. But I mostly loved this story because of the MCs. This couple was endearing and entertaining to read. I cannot wait for the second one in this series!

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon Books for the free book.

I loved this funny and spicy book! I was happy to see a sports romance about golf, my son was a competitive golfer (non-pro). I also loved how Josephine’s diabetes was seen as an issue to address instead of being a debilitating handicap.

Josephine Doyle is true fan, a member of “Wells’ Belles”, fans who support hunky PGA golfer Wells Whitaker. Unfortunately, Wells has slid in the standings because of his temper and Josephine is the only Belle left.
That’s fine with her, her family owns a pro shop and she’s been golfing for as long as she can remember and she thinks she could help him. Too bad Wells stands her up for a prize lunch she won.
When a hurricane hits S. Florida, it destroys her family’s uninsured pro shop. Josephine is a type 1 diabetic and she needed the money for insurance premium to buy insulin.
Wells feels bad about standing her up, and finds the pro shop with Josephine standing in what’s left. He’s decided to enter the next tournament and needs a caddy. If he does well, Josephine can earn enough caddying to save the shop and buy health insurance, and she’s going to make sure he improves his game even though he can be a jerk.
As the tournament goes on and their chemistry grows, Josephine finds a unique motivational tool to improve his game.

This is such a fun read I didn’t want to put it down, 5 stars.

Thanks to Avon and NetGalley, I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed as in this review are completely my own.

I was very nearly off the Tessa Bailey train, but this pulled me back on.

I'll give this to Bailey. She can write some great banter. The dialog had me giggling quite a bit.

I'd say this book was hovering between a 3.5 and 4 for a solid 90%. There were a couple icks, like her annoying fangirlling (even know I know that was the point...), and his over the top asshole-ness. But the character growth redeemed that.

In one scene, he specifically talks about her emerald green dress she wears to a party that starts off the tour, and then doubles down with that color in the next chapter. However, when talking about the same dress later on, Bailey forget she used "emerald" and "green" to describe the dress, and calls it blue. That distracted for a good long while.

But the biggest pet peeve i had was, after knowing her personally for maybe a month, he proposes. A MONTH. No. That was an ick I couldn't personally ignore.

With that said, I enjoyed this enough to not give up on Bailey just yet.

Tessa Bailey has mastered the romcom. This was a fun, lighthearted, entertaining sports romance. Actually, this might be my first golf romance… Overall, I’d rate it a 4.25/5 (rounding to 4) and probably a 3.5/5 spice. The chemistry and character growth were both well executed. Plus, we got a little teaser for the sequel.

What to expect:
-she has a crush first but he falls first
-insta lust
-golf/caddie, so a little like work place romance
-comeback story
-alpha male/touch her and die
-“I hate everyone but you”
-grumpy x sunshine
-banter and fun bets

I liked how T1D was represented in this book (FMC) but in a way that was a detail/background info versus her defining characteristic. Tessa Bailey does a good job showing you can lead a normal life despite this diagnosis. Also TW for child abandonment (MMC).

I absolutely enjoyed this book!! I love reading Tessa Bailey’s books and this book did not disappoint. It was equally intriguing and exciting. I loved getting to know the characters and reading their moments together. The chemistry between them is so explosive and it had me rooting for them through it all.

“Everyone drifts from their path once in a while. But your path is still there. It’s a perfectly good one.”

I always know what I’m getting into with a book by Tessa Bailey, and she definitely delivers here. It’s full of humor and heart and steam, which is exactly what I expect from her.

I love Josephine. She’s so determined and smart, and her chemistry with Wells is so good. He’s a frustrated pro golfer who’s lost his way. After a storm flood her family’s pro shop and Wells comes to check on her, she finds herself agreeing to be his caddie for an upcoming tournament. There is such tension between them the more time they spend together, and the initial attraction they have is smoldering.

I don’t even like golf but I was interested in this story from the start. Josephine is knowledgeable about the sport, and it’s fun to see her wit when she’s around the other caddies and golfers. She can hold her own. Wells is surprised by his feelings for her and he’s incredibly protective of her. I was presently surprised by seeing the T1D representation from Bailey. It was so great to have this be part of Josephine's story and something that she has obviously struggled with throughout her life. She's felt boxed in by her parents and is reluctant to accept help, even when she needs it.

And that brings us to the ultimate conflict in the third-act breakup. Wells is so sure he's doing the right thing by sending her home to her family's pro shop, but she isn't willing to accept that he is doing it for her because she refuses to do it for herself, The resolution is also solid, They both realize what they've done ad are apologetic while also being understanding of the other.

Any fan of Tessa Bailer will really enjoy this one. It's exactly what I come to expect from her novels and I can't wait to get a physical copy.

normally, I fall head over heels for TB and her characters but for some reason Wells and Josephine lacked the same level of chemistry I found in some of her other works. they were still so cute to follow, just not as top tier as some other works by Tessa.

these two start out as pro athlete and fangirl and perhaps that's what made it so difficult for me to get into. because it's so hard for me to digest the possibility of the celebrity trusting and falling for a fan. I know this is fiction, but that's a far jump in any world. the dynamic is skewed. but I digress. they had their cute, sweet moments as they built trust between themselves.

I did appreciate the authors candid discussions regarding Type 1 Diabetes. disabilities of all forms are the most underrepresented group in media and art. she did a great job in explaining TD1 throughout the story without sounding too preachy or info dumping on the reader, which was great.

thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an earc in exchange for an honest review!

This was a sexy and entertaining sports romance. It has all the things readers love about Tessa Bailey's romances and some scenes will 100% leave you fanning yourself. I don't watch or follow golf, so some parts of the story went a bit over my head, but this didn't take away from the overall story for me.

Things to look forward to:
- a protective, dirty talking alpha hero (it is a TB romance after all ;)
- lots of tender moments of care between Wells and Josephine. The little and big things he did to make sure her type 1 diabetes was under control were so sweet.
- tropes like: forced proximity, grumpy + sunshine, workplace/boss, I hate everyone but you, etc
- "sex-centive"
- melt your kindle/earbuds sexy times *insert peach emoji*
- great set up for the next book featuring Josephine's BFF and a gruff single dad hockey player looking for a nanny ;)

I didn't love the push away at the end, but I could understand why the characters reacted the way that they did. I appreciated that the feelings were never in question though and that Wells and Josephine were able to stand on their own two feet and flourish. The epilogue was adorable and I loved that peek into the future.

I listened to a majority of the book and Callie Dalton's narration was fantastic! She voices all the characters so well and I enjoyed her performance so much!

Audiobook Review
Overall 4 stars
Performance 5 stars
Story 3.5 stars

CW: hurricane and hurricane damage, type 1 diabetes (numerous mentions and discussions about management, monitoring, and care), financial issues/concerns, lack of healthcare, fighting, parental abandonment (past)

*I voluntarily read and listened to a review copy of this book*

Tessa Bailey can do sports romance, and do it well. I'm practically vibrating with anticipation for her next, a hockey/nanny romance!

As for Fangirl Down, this is the most fun grumpy/sunshine, caddie/player, MMC supports his strong FMC romance I've ever read and ever will. Josephine is Wells's biggest fan, but he's ready to give up, and he can't have her around looking for him, so he basically tells her to buzz off before leaving the golf world.

Except he can't forget her (he falls first, hello!) and he gets worried when a hurricane comes right through where she lives, hurting the pro shop her family owns. He discovers that Josephine's had to make impossible choices to keep the shop open and also treat her type 1 diabetes, and wow is he ready to help her.

Even if that means hiring her as his caddie and getting back into golf. The most difficult part? He must *win*, because the better he does, the more he can do for Josephine. And that he wants to make his talented, strong af caddie proud is more than adorable. He'd clearly do anything for the woman.

And Josephine would do the same for him. I adored their eventual devotion to each other, something Tessa excels at writing. This author knows how to write soulmates, and clearly, she can make golf sexy.

I also loved the diabetes representation here. Josephine had practical aspects of diabetes to deal with -- like paying for insulin and healthcare-- but never once was she portrayed as weak. If anything, I was in awe of her for being able to carry Wells's golf bag the way she could, health conditions or none. I sure couldn't do that. The woman's an athlete and a professional, just like Wells, and secondary to their sweet love story was the love story between Josephine and the golf community at large.

This book felt like Tessa Bailey wanted to write her own version of Happy Gilmore with a feminist twist and an amazing romance. Wells, or "Unhappy Gilmore", his nickname among many, was a hero of a partner for Josephine, and she lit up each page.

If you're looking for a romance read, this should be your pick. It has everything-- spice, humor, golf, character growth, and so much love that I teared up more than once. I could not recommend this more!

✨ Fangirl Down ✨⁣
⁣⁣
⁣Genre- Sports Romance. ⁣
⁣⁣
⁣Length- 384. ⁣
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⁣My thoughts- Tessa Bailey has done it again! Fangirl Down is a delightful sports romance about a down and out pro golfer and his number one fan turned caddy! Wells is the perfect grumpy character while Josephine is a ray of sunshine, strong women who knows what she wants. I also really appreciated the type one diabetes representation. ⁣
⁣⁣
⁣This book features a ton of strewn and Bailey’s signature dirty talk. I was actually reading this at the nail salon and about died when the tech asked me what I was reading! I really hope he did catch a few choice words on my kindle! 🤣🤦‍♀️⁣
⁣⁣
⁣Fangirl Down is a sexy, adorable sports romance that might just make you suddenly interested in professional golfing! I highly recommend! Four stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⁣
⁣⁣
⁣Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC in return for an honest review. Fangirl Down comes out February 12, 2024!

Honestly, this was so cute. I am in no way shape or form a golf fan. I do not know anything past put-put and even that is iffy at best. That did not stop me from being invested in Wells and his "comeback" with his Wells Belle beside him. Grumpy Wells and Sunshine Josephine are this perfect balance of polar opposites and I love them. If you are nervous about this being a celebrity crush or instalove situation, you'd be right, but in a weird way. Wells gives major "touch her and die" vibes while Josephine is this adorable, yet headstrong, bubble of happiness and wisdom. I do wish Bailey had explored the gender stereotyping and gatekeeping a little more, but at the end of the day I understand this is a romance and sometimes heavy stuff doesn't always need to be pushed.

I loved this book, but I have a feeling I am going to love the second even more. Hockey IS my sport of choice and the Burgess/Talulah story line seems promising.

Thank you Avon Books for my copy of Fangirl Down! All thoughts are my own.

If you’ve been reading my reviews for a while, you’ll know I’ve been reading and loving Tessa Bailey for awhile. But the last few books she’s come out with haven’t quite hit the mark for me. So, I was nervous for Fangirl Down but I am pleased to report I really enjoyed it! It felt like a return to the Tessa Bailey I fell in love with. It still has an aspect of “suspend your disbelief” element, where you just need to fully commit to swooning over a romance hero, but it had a bit more grounded reality that I prefer in my romances. I also really liked that it took place in the golf world! It was a fun change for a lot of sports romances.

Synopsis:

“Wells Whitaker was once golf’s hottest rising star, but lately, all he has to show for his “promising” career is a killer hangover, a collection of broken clubs, and one remaining supporter. No matter how bad he plays, the beautiful, sunny redhead is always on the sidelines. He curses, she cheers. He scowls, she smiles. But when Wells quits in a blaze of glory and his fangirl finally goes home, he knows he made the greatest mistake of his life.

Josephine Doyle believed in the gorgeous, grumpy golfer, even when he didn’t believe in himself. Yet after he throws in the towel, she begins to wonder if her faith was misplaced. Then a determined Wells shows up at her door with a wild proposal: be his new caddy, help him turn his game around, and split the prize money. And considering Josephine’s professional and personal life is in shambles, she could really use the cash…

As they travel together, spending days on the green and nights in neighboring hotel rooms, sparks fly. Before long, they’re inseparable, Wells starts winning again, and Josephine is surprised to find a sweet, thoughtful guy underneath his gruff, growly exterior. This hot man wants to brush her hair, feed her snacks, and take bubble baths together? Is this real life? But Wells is technically her boss and an athlete falling for his fangirl would be ridiculous… right?” —NetGalley

What I Liked:

The Premise—I learned to golf in 2020 and while I don’t watch golf super regularly, I am always fascinated by golfer interviews. It’s a harder sport than I realized so I liked being in that world!

The Characters—I loved Wells and Josephine. I thought they complemented each other really well and I liked how they overcame their situations together.

The Chronic Illness Rep—My favorite part of romance is that it takes real world problems and allows people to work through them while also experiencing love and relationships. This book features a character living with Diabetes, which helped me learn more about what it looks like day to day.

What Didn’t Work for Me:

A Little Cheesy—As always, when you pick up a book by this author, there will be some moments that can feel over the top for some readers. I still really enjoyed it though!

Character Authenticity: 3.5/5 Spice Rating: 3/5 Overall Rating: 4/5

Content Warnings:

chronic illness, medical event (diabetes), abandonment