Fangirl Down by Tessa Bailey Series: Big Shots #1
Genres: Adult, Contemporary
Published by HarperCollins on February 13, 2024
Also by this author: Window Shopping
Format: Paperback (384 pages) • Source: Borrowed
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#1 New York Times bestselling author Tessa Bailey launches a super sexy sports romance series with a rom-com about a bad boy professional athlete who falls for his biggest fan...
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?
I wanted to conduct an experiment to see if Tessa Bailey could be ~for me~ although I’ve always suspected she wouldn’t be. I read a holiday novella by her and thought it was okay but when this golf-based romance was released, I thought this would be the perfect test for me. I love watching the sport and maybe it would resonate.
This was tough to get into from the beginning if I’m being honest. I thought her writing style in general was pretty good and easy to read, but the dialogue and setup had too much cringe for me to overcome.
I’d like to start by saying this guy was definitely a jackass the FMC was perfectly fine. I do not like possessive and jealous men; it just comes across as not trusting and I do not enjoy it. I want my husband or boyfriend to treat me like an equal, capable of making my own decisions, and not assuming any guy giving me attention would be able to steal me away. I fully know there are more alpha male type MMCs out there and this just goes to show I would hate to read those books if this bland ass dude bothered me. He said “champagne is for women” and I’d like to kill him, thanks. Their dialogue was super cringe-worthy and he was obsessed with her waaaay too early to be cute or reasonable. He even says in the final few chapters that they barely know each other yet he loves her??
As for the golf stuff… just no. Another author could have written this premise and done a bit more research and I would have eaten it up. If I read this correctly, he’d been a professional golfer for like 5-6 years and managed to win three majors in the first three years. After this rocking start he declined for ONLY TWO YEARS and managed to lose his clothing line and Nike sponsorship?? He finished like 5-8 over par in some tournaments and that was enough to lose everything? Absolutely would never happen. It’s incredibly unrealistic.
I don’t think I’d read another book by Bailey unfortunately as my sister (her number one fan) has ensured me that her other characters may be worse than these two and me not liking this book means I probably won’t like others. So I think I’m out!
The Lost Story by Meg Shaffer Genres: Adult, Magical Realism
Published by Random House Publishing Group on July 16, 2024
Also by this author: The Wishing Game
Format: Audio/eARC (352 pages) • Source: Publisher, Spotify Audiobooks
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NATIONAL BESTSELLER • Inspired by C. S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia, this wild and wondrous novel is a fairy tale for grown-ups who still knock on the back of wardrobes—just in case—from the author of The Wishing Game.
“This is the book you’ve been waiting for.”—Richard Russo, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Empire Falls and the North Bath Trilogy
As boys, best friends Jeremy Cox and Rafe Howell went missing in a vast West Virginia state forest, only to mysteriously reappear six months later with no explanation for where they’d gone or how they’d survived.
Fifteen years after their miraculous homecoming, Rafe is a reclusive artist who still bears scars inside and out but has no memory of what happened during those months. Meanwhile, Jeremy has become a famed missing persons’ investigator. With his uncanny abilities, he is the one person who can help vet tech Emilie Wendell find her sister, who vanished in the very same forest as Rafe and Jeremy.
Jeremy alone knows the fantastical truth about the disappearances, for while the rest of the world was searching for them, the two missing boys were in a magical realm filled with impossible beauty and terrible danger. He believes it is there that they will find Emilie’s sister. However, Jeremy has kept Rafe in the dark since their return for his own inscrutable reasons. But the time for burying secrets comes to an end as the quest for Emilie’s sister begins. The former lost boys must confront their shared past, no matter how traumatic the memories.
Alongside the headstrong Emilie, Rafe and Jeremy must return to the enchanted world they called home for six months—for only then can they get back everything and everyone they’ve lost.
THE LOST STORY was a really interesting reading experience and unfortunately another miss for me this month. Her debut novel was also not a top favorite for a few reasons but I could see why people loved it. THE WISHING GAME needed some more actual magic and this book technically delivered on that. I wanted her to write a book like this one but it still didn’t live up to the expectations.
This book is a portal fantasy / kind of magical realism story, which is usually absolutely up my alley. Emelie is looking for her sister and Jeremy is known for finding missing women and girls. He was once lost himself – he and his best friend Rafe were missing for six months in the woods… well, according to the general public. Where were they actually? In a Narnia-esque land through a door in the forest.
The first half of the book involved them figuring out how they’d journey together and preparing. I was expecting more time in the magical world but it took a lot of buildup to get there. Then, unfortunately, the plot felt very meandering like there wasn’t a point or climax to be seen when they were in there. There were basically two mini climaxes with very little rising action or time for a conclusion once we got there.
The characters felt very lame and the dialogue was cheesy in most instances. I didn’t care for Emelie – she was usually annoying and childlike while Rafe and Jeremy felt more like actual adults. I know that Shaffer is going for whimsical but unfortunately it usually just comes off as juvenile, to the point where I never believe I’m reading a book for adults.
Her plots and synopses sound so good but there’s something lacking in the execution. I feel like I will definitely keep reading her books in hopes that one of them hits. There’s just something about them that keeps me interested in whatever she writes next.
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