Wells Whitaker is grumpy, angry at the world, and purposely destroying his golf career. Josephine is his number one fan. From the moment the professional golfer and his Wells’ Belle groupie banter on the green, I knew this book was going to steal my heart. Josephine is so relatable and independent to a fault. Wells is self-destructive but fights for the people (or person) he loves. We watch Wells fully transform and fall back in love with a sport he thought he was done playing. We see Josephine let her guard down and rely on someone else to take care of her. This book was the perfect amount of fun, angst, and spice! The connection between Wells and Josephine is electric from their very first interaction and their romance blooms once they make their wager on the green.

Fangirl Down is the second book I’ve read by Tessa Bailey and she hit a hole in one. I loved everything about this story and the unique angle she took on a sports romance. She manages to engage the reader and create the perfect rom-com. If all golfers were like Wells Whitaker, more fangirls would be at the golf course!!! I can’t wait to read more of Tessa Bailey’s work.

A funny, steamy, sports romance about a professional golfer and his #1 fan. I remember when Tessa Bailey did a video about this book idea and I love that it became a reality! As usual with Tessa's characters, the banter was great! Loved the set-up for the next book, too.

I received an advanced digital galley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Netgalley and Avon publishing.

This is exactly the book I have been wanting. I truly enjoy Tessa Bailey's books, but the added twist of this being a golf book made my reading year. I too have been a fan girl. I followed Bubba Watson all over the courses back in the day, so this book just hit my heart.

Josephine Doyle is Wells Whitaker's biggest fan. She has followed him all over Florida being his number 1 fangirl. That is until he breaks her heart after a really crappy round of golf. Wells just can't get her out his mind, so after an awful hurricane he tracks her down and the rest is a super sweet love story with a female caddy.

Tessa Bailey is an auto-request for me, so I don't even usually read the plot descriptions. That was definitely the case here, because when I started reading and it was about a professional golfer, I was like "what??" Golf is not a sport I enjoy playing or watching, so I was skeptical, but this really delivered. Josephine is a dedicated fangirl of Wells Whitaker, down on his luck "bad boy" of golf. Wells has basically no other fans left, and he's annoyed by Josephine's dedication to him long after he has given up on himself, so he tears up her fan sign and walks away from what he thinks is his last professional golf game ever. After a bender, he wakes up feeling guilty, especially when he realizes that the hurricane that has just devastated parts of Florida almost definitely damaged Josephine's family business, a golf pro shop. He drives from his home in Miami and "happens" to come across her at the store where she's assessing damage and freaking out because she hasn't been paying for flood insurance and nothing will be covered. She's been hiding the store's poor performance from her parents because they've always babied her and been overprotective of her because she has Type 1 Diabetes. Unfortunately it was T1D that ultimately led to the lack of flood insurance, because Josephine had to stop paying that bill in order to pay for her insulin (a very sadly realistic indictment of her healthcare system, btw). When Wells finds out her situation, he impulsively offers her money to fix the place, and when she refuses, he offers her a job instead, as his caddy. He gets himself one more chance, partly based on the media attention that people expect from his unconventional choice of a fangirl-turned-caddy, and Wells and Josephine quickly become close and embark on a whole colleagues/friends with benefits type of thing. I liked their grumpy-sunshine dynamic, and I really appreciated Bailey's sensitive and accurate portrayal of life with a chronic illness. I definitely enjoyed this and am looking forward to the next one, which is teed up beautifully in this book (get it? a golf pun!)

WOW! I loved this book so much—no surprise when it comes to Tessa Bailey. Josephine was such a refreshing character. She knew what she wanted, spoke her mind, was strong, just incredible. I also loved Wells and his “I hate everyone but you” vibe. The things that man would say, sheesh. I loved how they brought out the best in one another but could also succeed alone, but chose to succeed together. This book, from start to finish, was just so good: dare I say her best book yet?

Fangirl Down is easily becoming a contender for one of my top Tessa Bailey books. I was immediately obsessed with Wells and Josephine and could not put this one down! I was a little hesitant reading a golf romance, because the sport mostly makes me want to take a nap, but this book made a believer. Golf can be fun...and sexy!

Wells is golf's resident bad boy and has been on a sharp two-year decline. He has massive abandonment issues and is truly alone in life; he has no time for romance or the expectations it brings. But his fangirl, Well's Belle, refuses to give up on him. When she comes on tour with him as his caddy, the forced proximity makes Wells a believer in love...and himself.

Many times, I find myself gravitating more toward a hero or heroine, but with this book, I genuinely loved both of these cuties. From their matching outfits to their hysterical banter, they just made me smile. I adored him. I adored her. I adored them together.

💬 “I was very happy being alone until you showed up. You’ve ruined me.”

Wells is a grumpy cinnamon roll with a golf bubble butt and I just fell in love with him right alongside Josephine. I love when the man falls first, and let me tell you...he falls HARD. Wells is a big softie under his bad boy persona, and even though his actions are impulsive, he's fiercely protective of Josephine. From researching diabetesto having juice in Josephines' hotel room, Wells' sweet actions were the best.

💬 “And nothing had ever seemed to count this much. This woman . . . she counted. Big-time. His gut wasn’t in fucking knots over nothing.”

I loved Josephine's perpetual positivity that's juxtaposed with her competitive trash talking side. Josephine is just one of the guys in the male dominated world of golf and I loved watching her hold her own. She's so strong and independent. She challenges Wells and isn't intimidated by his gruffness or the defensive walls he puts up.

Josephine’s character felt incredibly authentic and personal as she lives with Type 1 Diabetes. I teared up reading the acknowledgements and the sweet note Bailey writes to her own daughter, who also has Type 1 diabetes. There's great discussion surrounding health insurance and the cost of supplies as well. You can tell Bailey has lived this experience, which makes the Josephine's character so powerful.

As always with Bailey's books, there's great sexual tension build, perfect spice, and hilarious snark and banter mixed with sweet emotional moments. I highlighted way too many quotes to count.

💬 “Did I hire a caddy or a comedian?”
💬 “Exactly how many women have you sent to therapy?” “No idea...I don’t conduct exit interviews.”

Fangirl Down is a grump + sunshine golf romance where he falls first. There's tons of spice, banter, and chemistry. The book publishes February 13. And if the small glimpse of what's to come with the next book is any indication of its content, I literally cannot wait! Thanks to @avonbooks for allowing me to read this one early.

If you are a Tessa Bailey fan, get ready for another steamy rom com that follows a professional golfer who falls for his biggest fan turned new caddy. As a sports romance fan, I never thought I’d be reading a book about golf (team hockey over here), but TB knew exactly how to make the sport less boring and sexy. I only wish this wasn’t written in third person.

Read if you like:
-sports romance (golf)
-grumpy/ sunshine
-boss/employee
-insta lovey
-diabetes rep

Thank you avon for the ARC. Pub 2./13

Thank you Avon and Harper Voyager for sending me an advanced reader’s copy of Fangirl Down!

“𝙃𝙚’𝙙 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙖 𝙛𝙖𝙫𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙡𝙤𝙧 𝙗𝙚𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙚𝙚𝙥 𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙡𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙡𝙮 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙚.”

I’ve never been a big fan of golf in general, so when I read the synopsis for this book I wasn’t super interested, but oh my god this made me love golf. And for someone who would rather watch paint dry instead of playing the sport, that’s saying something. It turns out, I just needed a Wells Whitaker in my life.

“𝙆𝙞𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙙𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙖 𝙛𝙖𝙫𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙚 𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙜. 𝙃𝙚 𝙨𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙮 𝙠𝙣𝙚𝙬 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙮𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙨.”

Our two main characters, Josephine Doyle and Wells Whitaker, former being the number one fangirl of said latter, find themselves in an interesting deal when disaster strikes Josephine’s family business. Wells has basically thrown his career into the toilet and together they agree to help each other with their problems. She will be his caddie for the duration that it takes to fix her golf shop. Seems simple, yes?

“𝙄𝙩’𝙨 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙢𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚. 𝙒𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙗𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙛𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡𝙨 𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙧.”

Wells and Josephine brings all of the angst and need of forced proximity, as well as the witty banter and hot and steamy hidden moments. I ate this book up. It was so enjoyable to read and Tessa Bailey manages to create such a wonderfully deep relationship that’s also nsfw at times. Wells Whitaker will be on my book boyfriend list for a long time because of the protective, grumpy and devout energy he gives. I would like more immediately. Especially the locker room scene.

“𝙄 𝙙𝙤𝙣’𝙩 𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙨 𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩, 𝙅𝙤𝙨𝙚𝙥𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙚. 𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙄 𝙙𝙤𝙣’𝙩 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙣𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙬𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣, 𝙬𝙖𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙪𝙥 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙢𝙮𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮’𝙧𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙖 𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙢. 𝙄 𝙙𝙤 𝙗𝙤𝙩𝙝 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙞𝙩’𝙨 𝙢𝙮 𝙟𝙤𝙗.”

4.5 ☆

this was so fun! wells and josephine are adorable and are truly each other's number 1 fans. in true tessa bailey fashion, she delivers on banter, spice, and chemistry between our two main characters. this is the first "she falls first, he falls harder" trope that i could distinctly tell going in and thought it was executed well by the end of it!

wells is completely smitten by josephine and realizes very quickly how important she is to his golf game and to his life in general. while he takes it for granted in the beginning, he does a complete 180 and changes his ways to show his appreciation & gratitude to josephine.

really excited for the potential of the series and what was teased at the end with the next couple! have a feeling this series will be a new favorite.

Tessa Bailey you have done it again. The angst. the pinning, the banter. I loved every second of this book and I can't wait to see where this series takes us. You can never go wrong with a Tessa Bailey book. Her talent and consistency is immeasurable.

Thank you so much for the chance to preview Fangirl Down! I devoured this book in two days! In typical Tessa Bailey fashion, this was a witty, sexy, and fun romantic comedy! I loved the golf setting, and kept thinking of the movie Tin Cup! Only, this was way sexier! Can't wait to see more from this series! This will be an easy handbell for romance fans who enjoy a fast and fun romp!

I will forever be in love with Tessa Bailey's writing! LOL when I think of a sports romance I don't usually think of golf but Tessa sold me on this one. It was cute, funny, had a great grumpy sunshine trope, and of course the steam was great as well. I had a wonderful time reading this!!

I really wanted to love this one, but it just fell flat for me. The premise sounds great, and I was really excited to pick this up, but I just couldn’t finish it.

OH MY GOD. I cannot even form words at how PERFECT this book was. I just finished SOBBING over it and maybe can form a coherent review.

If you are a Tessa fan, a golf fan, or even just a romance fan - preorder this one. I didn’t think she could top her Bellinger sisters series but this book right here definitely did.

There are so many perfect things about Wells and Josephine’s relationship. I was worried it was gonna feel too insta-love and that it was going to have miscommunication issues. But no. Absolute CHEFS KISS. Perfection.

I adored so much about both of them. And the SPICE 🥵. It was the perfect about of spice and didn’t attract from the storyline. I didn’t want to set this book down. Both of them had problems and the way they balanced each other was amazing.

That epilogue is the true winner and the reason I’m still teary eyed while writing this. Hands down a 5-star read. Go get it ASAP. I almost never react like this to a romance book and I’m DYING for a copy of the next one. I cannot wait to hear her friends story.

Bonus points because Tessa wrote this for her daughter and I could just feel the love shining through this story.

Big thanks to Tessa Bailey, Avon and NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinions.

In the realm of sports romances, golf is definitely not considered the sexiest... Sorry, Adam Sandler, but the grumpy-sunshine in this romance gives us a new favorite bad boy golfer. Not only do we have a successful girl boss who is handling herself with the challenges of diabetes and small business woes, but we also get the dirty-talking protector type in our grouchy golf star on an epic comeback tour. Tessa Bailey is a winner every time.

I was quite literally just here for the vibes, and Fangirl Down DELIVERED. As a hobby golfer myself, I was so excited to see a golf sports romance, something I had never expected to see. Bailey had me hooked from the start and I couldn’t put it down until I had finished the whole thing, everything else taking a sideline position until I was able to see Wells and Josephine’s happy ending. And it was worth it. I cant wait for everyone else to read Fangirl Down when it releases in February of 2024.

This book does a wonderful job delivering exactly what you expect while also making you love the characters, enjoy the steamy scenes and be rooting for the HEA. Just because I know the moment the heroine moans because of something not sexual the hero is going to walk in and then be tortured thinking about it doesn't mean I don't enjoy that happening! I loved Josephine and Wells so much! If you like grumpy sunshine, this one is for you! I loved how much Josephine's support meant to Wells and how hard he falls!! I also loved that Josephine had a great reason for being a fangirl. It's a spoiler so I'm not to tell you what it is I'm just going to say you should read it and find out because it's pretty great! I can't wait for the next one and for this one to be out so I can fangirl about it with all my book friends. Ironically I am now I fangirl for Fangirl Down.

Thank you so much for an ARC of this book. Sadly, this one wasn’t for me. I hope that people who enjoy golf really like this book. But I just got bored with all of the golf talk! I am very excited for our next one though. The plot sounds much more up my alley.

I have been anticipating the release of this book and to be able to read it early was hands down one of my highlights of this year. Tessa Bailey never disappoints when comes to creating connections between her characters. Wells and Josephine are so perfect together the chemistry between them is everything. I was also really impressed by the attention to detail that went into writing this book the amount of actual golf knowledge I gained from reading this book is impressive. This book is definitely worth reading and I will be reading it again. 6/5 recommend it’s that good. Thank you to Avon and Harper Voyager for letting me read this wonderful book.

4 stars!
I remember when Tessa Bailey posted on her TikTok about the idea of writing the story of a professional golfer and his obsessive #1 fan. I loved the idea but never considered that it would actually get written. So imagine my absolute DELIGHT when I found out that this existed!

I confess of being a bit of a “fair weather fan” of Bailey’s in the past (see what I did there?) Her “Vine Mess” series wasn’t my favorite of hers, but I think Fangirl Down captures the magic of some of Bailey’s best work like “It Happened One Summer” “Hook Line and Sinker” and “Fix her Up.” I was grinning like a dummy the whole time I was reading this book.

The steamy/ spicy scenes were top tier. I think Bailey’s best yet. 🔥

If you love grumpy sunshine, sports romance, and a love interest that goes from commitment-phobic to thinking about wedding rings at 180 miles an hour (my favorite Tessa Bailey staple btw) then I think you’ll love this book.

((Unhinged side note.. early in the story the main character Josephine wonders if Wells’ chest is hairy and we NEVER FIND OUT- I demand answers Tessa! ;)

ARC received from Harper Collins and NetGalley for an honest review.