Book Review: Fangirl Down
I have to admit, when I consider the wide world of sports in the context of “sports romance”, golf really isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. But I am a simple woman, so give me a growly, tattooed golf player with emotional baggage and I will at lesat check it out.
Tessa Bailey’s Fangirl Down follows Josie, a diehard golf enthusiast, part-time coachand the biggest (read: only remaining) fan of Wells Whittaker, a once-great golfer who is past his prime - not in age, but just in effort he’s willing to put into the game. A tense encounter with Josie causes the superfan to wash her hands of him, causing Wells to first try and apologize, and then eventually offer the cash-strapped Josie a job as his caddy.
A pro athlete hiring and then falling for a super fan is something that would probably give me pause if it happened in real life, but in the realm of romance novels and fiction is the kind of thing fantasies are made of. And their romance is really sweet - especially given they both have the very mature approach of talking out their feelings, and not just suppressing them until they explode. I will say, I wish that initial tension between the two of them had lasted just a little longer. I understand that narratively we had to clear the hurdle of Wells being a huge asshole to Josie right at the outset fast enough to believe their romance, but it was cleared so quickly that it made that initial blow-up feel very abrupt.
I did, however, enjoy the exploration of what it means for Josie in particular once news of their personal relationship begins to leak to the public. As well-meaning and respectful as Wells is, and as much as they enter their professional partnership as equals, the optics in the public eye are never in favor of the superfan-turned-employee now suddenly in a relationship with her boss whose star is on the rise. It was intriguing watching them navigate that knowing there really isn’t an easy solution here, and things can’t be solved with one conversation or grand gesture (don’t worry, HEA fans, they do still get solved!)
Fangirl Down hits shelves on February 13. Special thank you to Avon Books for the advance copy for review purposes.
