Reviews: FANGIRL DOWN & NOT YOUR CRUSH’S CAULDRON

Hey everyone! Sorry for disappearing yet again.  I had yet another blog issue where Jetpack kept disconnecting from my site therefore removing all of my posts from the wpreader.  Jetpack has been such a hot mess ever since they started monetizing it and I would really love to dump it but all of my blog stats are tied to it so I feel stuck.  It has been one thing after another with it for the past few months and I just needed to step away and take a deep breath before I did something drastic like delete my entire blog, haha.  It seems to be working now so I’m carrying on and hoping for the best because I really do have a lot of reviews and book recs I want to share with you!

Fangirl Down (Big Shots, #1) Goodreads

Author: Tessa Bailey

Publication Date: February 13, 2024

Publisher: Avon

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary e-copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley and a complimentary ALC from Libro.fm.  All opinions are my own.

Fangirl Down is a golf romance and the first book in Tessa Bailey’s new “Big Shots” series.  I’m fairly new to sports romances and even though I’ve enjoyed all that I’ve read so far, I wasn’t sure if a golf romance would be my thing. I love Tessa Bailey’s books though so I knew if anyone could win me over, it would be her.  Not only did she win me over, but Fangirl Down is actually my new favorite book from her.

I fell in love with the premise of the story right away, that Wells Whittaker, a down-on-his-luck pro golfer ends up turning to his biggest fan to help him out of his slump.  I also adored the main female character from the first moment we meet her.  Josephine “Joey” Doyle is smart, sassy, upbeat, loyal to a fault, and she probably knows more about golf than even Wells does.

I wanted to hate Wells at first because he was so unpleasant to Joey, but just like Joey’s charm quickly won Wells over, his newfound appreciation of Joey once he finally stopped having a pity party and opened his eyes won me over.  He especially won me over though when he learned that Joey is a diabetic who has been rationing her medical supplies to save money.  Once she agrees to caddy for him and help him out of his slump, he becomes determined to mount a comeback and split his earnings with her so that she can afford to take care of her health and buy the supplies she needs.

I’m a big fan of the “he fell first” trope and so I enjoyed every moment of watching Wells realize what an absolute gem of a person Joey is.  She’s not just a great caddy, but the more time they spend together, the more Wells appreciates that Joey is the perfect partner for him in every way. Throw in some of Tessa Bailey’s fun banter and plenty of sexy, steamy moments and Fangirl Down was a hole-in-one for me!

The audiobook was narrated by Callie Dalton and I highly recommend it because Dalton does such a wonderful job of bringing these two characters to life and making their banter and chemistry just pop!  It was also a very comfortable listen at a speed of 1.75x.

4.5 STARS

Not Your Crush's Cauldron (Supernatural Singles, #3) Goodreads

Author: April Asher

Publication Date: February 13, 2024

Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffn

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary e-copy and an ALC of this book from the publisher via Netgalley.  All opinions are my own.

Not Your Crush’s Cauldron is the third book in April Asher’s paranormal romance series, Supernatural Singles, and it focuses on the youngest Maxwell sister, Olive. Unlike her sisters who are major players in the magical community, Olive has chosen to teach about the supernatural rather than to actively take part. When she assigns a project to her students that requires them to step out of their comfort zones, she decides that it’s time for her to do the same and creates a to-do list of challenging tasks that will accomplish just that.

Bax Donovan, a Guardian Angel, is Olive’s friend, long time secret crush, and now also her roommate. Bax is the pierced, tattooed, motorcycle-riding opposite to Olive’s shy, introverted personality but the two of them still have amazing chemistry.

Bax finds himself in an uncomfortable situation when something on Olive’s to-do list puts her on the Guardian Angel Affairs radar as needing protection and they make her Bax’s assignment. Bax is not allowed to tell Olive she’s his assignment, so he decides to accompany her as a friend to help her complete the tasks on her list.

There’s just one problem with that – the more time they spend together, the more Bax and Olive realize they have more than friendly feeiings toward each other, which is another no-no for Bax as her Guardian Angel. Is an HEA possible for them?

This one was so much fun! I enjoyed being back in this world and seeing Olive’s sisters again, and I also really loved the chemistry, and especially the fun banter between Bax and Olive. They’re just so cute together. I also loved that underlying tension that comes with forbidden love. It really made for a fantastic read that I couldn’t put down.

The audiobook was narrated by Zura Johnson who did a beautiful job capturing all aspects of the relationship between Bax and Olive and really enhanced my reading experience. 4 STARS