I found Tessa Bailey randomly about 5 summers ago now. I fell in love with her in the middle of that very first book. Her dirty talk has been un-toppable since that book. 'I'm telling you this for a reason. When I saw this book on NetGalley I automatically requested it. As a Librarian it was auto-approved for me. THEN I read the synopsis. "Golf? Ugh I dunno Tessa." I'm not a huge fan of golf. Ok I actually have 0 interest in golf. NONE NADA. So the book sat there for a week untouched. When NetGalley sent me a nudge and said hey you got these things to review I said "oookkk fine Ill read it"

about 1/3 of the way through the book I was in love with Wes Whitaker and Googling everything about Golf scoring and the Masters. How dare I question Tessa Bailey?!?! Wes is everything you want in a bad boy Sports superstar.
Foul mouth √
Bad attitude √
possessive √
hot head √
Josephine is Wells only fan left. He has pushed everyone else away and his golf game is in the pooper. (may I add I frigging love the whole golf fangirl with her sign and everything. Just adorable) She won a lunch date with him in a contest and he told her to get lost he was quitting golf.
A few weeks later a disaster brought them back together. Wells asks Josephine to caddie for him and the rest is history.
Josephine is type 1 diabetic. She is used to being handled and wants to be treated like a capable adult by her own merit. Wells does that. Their banter is magnificent. Jos's golf swing is a thing of beauty. The way they fell in love was so believable. I enjoyed every word of this book and am so ashamed by myself for the way I behaved about a gold romance.
10/10/ Tessa 10/10

Tessa Bailey does it again, introducing us to Wells Whitaker, a golfer who was once on top of the league but has lost his focus and seemingly his talent somewhere along the way. Through it all, the highs and lows, his biggest fan Josephine has been cheering him on from the green. When her golf shop floods and she’s left facing the reality that she had cancelled the insurance and can’t pay for repairs, Wells shows up to offer her a job as his caddy. The only female caddy in the league, armed with a quick, sarcastic wit and deep love of knowledge of the sport, can she handle working with the man she’s put on a pedestal for so many years? Or will he ultimately let her down like he’s done every other fan?

Fangirl Down was a fun read-sweet and romantic. This is my first successful athlete/fan romantic troupe. Usually I don't care for that, but I did like the last Tessa Bailey book I read so I thought I'd give it a try and I'm happy I did. My favorite part was that there wasn't that annoying miscommunication/immature communication trick to cause some drama. It was a more mature romance and I appreciated that!
thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Peace Love and Tessa Bailey. This author DOES NOT FAIL. This main character is living our dreams. Sports romances have taken hold of this reader's heart and this one is definitely included. The thought of a pro athlete falling for a regular person is crazy, but with the Taylor Swift drama now it will be even more popular.

Is "Fangirl Down" going to win any prestigious literary awards? No, and that's OK because that's not why we're here! It's bingeable, it's fun and it was a nice little treat while I was home sick with COVID. All in all, a very endearing grumpy-sunshine romance.
Thank you to the author, NetGalley and Avon for sharing this advance copy with me in exchange for my honest review.

Josephine Doyle is the last fan standing for golf's official bad boy, Wells Whitaker. All of the others disappeared as Wells dropped in ranks, had public brawls, and lost every sponsorship he had. Even his mentor walked away once he began to lose his edge. But not Josephine. She's convinced that she can talk some sense into him, if she can just win lunch with him at the latest tournament.
Wells Whitaker is done with golf. He's over tournaments, sucking up to reporters, and he's definitely sick of his last fan with the "Wells' Belle" sign. He's ready to sink into the lonely reclusive life that everyone expects him to have. But one chance encounter with Josephine and his entire world is flipped upside down.
Tessa Bailey has done it again. This adorable sports romance is perfect for fans of the grumpy/sunshine trope. Bailey creates real, believable characters even with this trope as a guiding force in the relationship. While Wells is moody, he isn't a cartoon raincloud and Josephine is a wonderful love interest with such a rich background. Josephine's diabetes is beautifully represented as well, giving readers an insight into a life with the diagnosis without compromising her vibrancy. The romance was as steamy as ever and while I personally found a couple of scenes a little long winded, I always come back for more Tessa Bailey romance. This book will be the perfect addition to any romance fan's shelf.

Tessa Bailey does it again! Tessa's ability to bring to life her characters, with real emotions and situations, makes a great read. From start to finish, you are on Fangirl's side and championing her on as she reigns in Wells Whitaker. She may be Wells' number one fan but you are hers. Against the backdrop of golf, hurricanes and embarrassing parents, you go on an adventure of comedy and love that compares to none.

Another win for Tessa Bailey! I love everything she writes and when you add her with golf? Right in my wheelhouse. Such a fun romcom. 4 stars.

Josephine is the ultimate Wells Whitaker fangirl. She's gone to every game he's played in Florida to cheer him on despite the fact that Wells has been self-destructing for a while. He used to be the best player, but now he likes to yell at people (including Josephine), get in bar fights, and he can't win a golf game to save his career. Just as he gives it all up, he suddenly grows a conscious and decides to play one more tournament to help Josephine.

Josephine has been struggling for a while, but the damage to her shop due to a hurricane is the last straw. She gave up her health insurance and has been paying for her Type 1 Diabetes meds and tools out of pocket, and the flood insurance lapsed so now there's not money to fix The Golden Tee. Wells offers her the deal of a lifetime: be his caddy and split the prize money with him.

The two can't deny their attraction to each other, but Josephine needs to be seen as capable because she's working in a field dominated by men and her childhood with T1D has made her sensitive to people seeing her as weak or helpless. Also, he's technically her boss.

Tessa Bailey his it out of the park...or gets a hole in one? I didn't retain anything about golf despite having just read this book. I didn't think I was going to enjoy a romance about golf, but here we are; I loved Josephine, and Wells was a lovable grump. Their banter was very cute and the sex scenes were pretty spicy. I definitely recommend this for fans of sports romances, fans of sunshine/grumpy pairings, and those that already enjoy Tessa Bailey. I loved that we got a little taste of the next book to come about Tallulah and Burgess - I love a good single dad trope.

I read this while on a beach vacation in Florida. The perfect choice! I loved all the golf stuff and the banter. The spice was fun as always. Josephine is a great character—she’s smart and dedicated and a perfect match for grumpy loaner Wells. Very fun book. Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC

🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
If you like spicy sports romance with a grumpy/sunshine trope, you will love this! The ending already has me wanting to read the next book in the series with Josephine's best friend!

This is not a book that is going to win awards for amazing writing or epic character development, but it is a spicy instalove book that is entirely bingeable and way better than what's on TV.

Josephine is a die hard fan, even though Wells ( a pro golfer) hasn't won anything in years and is throwing away his career with his bad attitude and unprofessionalism. He gets into more bar fights than golf tournaments these days. Josephine has always been at every local golf event, and she calls herself "Wells Belle".

Wells is done being a mediocre golfer. His fans have all ditched him, his manager, his agent. He has nobody left and it all hits a little to close to home. His childhood isn't full of great memories and he didn't have supportive loving parents. When Josephine shows up at his latest tournament, he loses it. Rips up her sign, tells her he's done and she needs to leave. He doesn't need her as his last standing fan, yadda yadda.

Then a major hurricane comes through and tears her family's golf shop to shreds. He can't help but worry about her and he tracks her down to see if he can help. The usual grumpy/sunshine millionaire trope ensues and when she won't accept his money, he hires her as his caddy.

There was a lot of back and forth banter and tension, amid the spice. I thought this was one of the better books I've read from Tessa Bailey and I really liked Wes and Josephine.

Thanks to netgalley for an eARC to review.

I truly never know where Tessa Bailey is going to go next, and a golf based romance sounded too weird. But somehow, she got me invested.

Golf? Never thought I'd enjoy it. But throw in some spice and disability rep, and I definitely loved this fun addition to Tessa Bailey's catalog.

Tessa Bailey never lets us down! She promised to make golf sexy and she absolutely accomplished it in Fangirl Down. I'm not sure I can fully express how much I loved this book. Now, I have to admit the first few chapters had me worried - they are a bit heavy as you get some insight into where Josephine and Wells each are in their current lives. It's not pretty.

I typically really enjoy Tessa Bailey's books, and this one kind of missed the mark for me. I don't know if it was just because I don't love golf, or if it was because it took me a while to care about the characters. I also kept expecting something really bad to happen to Josephine, her diabetes seemed like a kind of red herring. I ended up enjoying the book more than I initially did, but it wasn't my favorite of Tessa's. I would probably recommend this book to someone who likes sport romances and has any interest in golf, because I think that might hook a reader more immediately. I didn't feel like I needed to know a lot about golf to read this but I wonder how it would've enhanced by experience as a reader. Thank you to NetGalley and Avon for this ARC!

3.5

not one of my favourite tessa bailey romances, mostly because her grumpy heroes sometimes just cross that line between grumpy and just darn unlikeable and I've struggled a lot with the mmc of this story but the FMC as always in a tessa book, shines.

iam somewhat of a fangirl myself so I really connected with the initial 2 chapters way too much to give this book anything less than 3 and the consistent fair portrayal of a fangirl really soothed my heart.

I’m a big Tessa Bailey fan and I enjoyed this book but not as much as some of her others. The relationship between Josephine and Wells was hot, I did have a hard time suspending all my disbelief about how Josephine could actually be his caddie, etc it was fun but a little too ridiculous. I still had fun though.

I am often tired of an annoyed by the fact that the problem or issue in a romance novel nearly always centers around a miscommunication--either the love interests are afraid to say how they feel or omit information or are unsure how the other person feels. This book was a breath of fresh air--Josephine and Wells just say what they feel, ask for what they need and are always honest. I loved it!

Y’know, I didn’t really care that much about golf nor the grumpy-sunshine dynamic pushed to its extreme before reading this book. Somehow I still enjoyed it, plus there’s a hint dropped about the follow-up book that follows her marine biologist friend, so I guess I’ll just have to read that too. I appreciated the tender and informative way that chronic illness (in this case, the T1D) was handled and presented for Josephine.

many thanks to harpercollins and netgalley for the advanced reader copy.

Tessa Bailey, you did it. You made golf sexy! I will read every single Tessa Bailey book.
Can we talk about THE shower scene?! If you know, you KNOW. I devoured this book in a day!

Spicy bets
Banter
Grumpy/sunshine
He falls HARD
I hate everyone but you
Diabetes rep

Spice: 4/5
Rating: 5 ⭐️