A clever con woman must convince a skeptical, sexy farmer of his property’s resident real-life ghost if she’s to save them all from a fate worse than death, in this delightful new novel from the author of Mrs. Nash’s Ashes.

Fake spirit medium Gretchen Acorn is happy to help when her best (read: wealthiest) client hires her to investigate the unexplained phenomena preventing the sale of her bridge partner’s struggling goat farm. Gretchen may be a fraud, but she’d like to think she’s a beneficentone. So if “cleansing” the property will help a nice old man finally retire and put some much-needed cash in her pockets at the same time, who’s she to say no?

Of course, it turns out said bridge partner isn’t the kindly AARP member Gretchen imagined—Charlie Waybill is young, hot as hell, and extremely unconvinced that Gretchen can communicate with the dead. (Which, fair.) Except, to her surprise, Gretchen finds herself face-to-face with Everett: the very real, very chatty ghost that’s been wreaking havoc during every open house. And he wants her to help ensure Charlie avoids the same family curse that’s had Everett haunting Gilded Creek since the 1920s.

Now, Gretchen has one month to convince Charlie he can’t sell the property. Unfortunately, hard work and honesty seem to be the way to win over the stubborn farmer—not exactly Gretchen’s strengths. But trust isn’t the only thing growing between them, and the risk of losing Charlie to the spirit realm looms over Gretchen almost as annoyingly as Everett himself. To save the goat farm, its friendly phantom, and the man she’s beginning to love, Gretchen will need to pull off the greatest con of her life: being fully, genuinely herself.

Dear Ms. Adler, 

Last year I adored “Mrs. Nash’s Ashes.” I was hoping for a repeat experience with “Happy Medium.” Let me just rip the review Band-Aid off and say, I didn’t get one. 

Gretchen Acorn is a con artist. She was raised to be a good one by her con artist father who cut her loose when she wouldn’t finish a long con with him. After building a reputation as a spirit medium among the ultra wealthy women of DC, she’s doing alright. Her best client asks a favor which lands her on a goat farm in Maryland with a man who believes she’s a fraud. Then she sees an actual ghost. A ghost with a life or death message for the farm owner. Can she get Charlie to believe her?

Okay, let’s get down to brass tacks. For the most part, Everett the ghost is a pervy asshole. He does have some good moments when he pops up to give Gretchen some words of wisdom but they’re few and far between. Although if I were stuck in the same place for 100 years, unable to talk to anyone, maybe I’d begin to get my entertainment by watching people regardless of whether those people were in the bathroom or bedroom. I think he’s supposed to add most of the “quirk” to the book but I just wanted to punch him. Even Gretchen gets to the point where she tunes out his non-stop chatter. Then at the end, he tells Gretchen something – and proceeds to blow off her valid criticism – that made me want to kick him in his balls if he still had corporeal ones. 

Gretchen, who in order to justify her actions has changed her con-artistry to only work with clients who she feels she can leave better off than when they first came to her, is so hesitant while at the farm. Yeah, she doesn’t want to be there, has never farmed, is unsure of herself but SO many times Charlie would ask her to do something that needed to be done RIGHT NOW and Gretchen would dither for half a page or more trying to work herself up to it. I would mentally yell “Just do it! The baby goat needs you!” at her. She does, I will admit, have great ideas for ways for Charlie to increase the income the farm makes and does something really nice for Charlie’s grandfather. That was sweet. 

Grumpy hero Charlie is barely in the book for the first third. And when he is, he’s simmeringly angry at Gretchen. Like that’s pretty much his only emotion. He does eventually show his good side and after that, I agree with Everett (and it pains me to agree with that asshole about anything) that Charlie is a good egg with a runny yolk. Hmmm, that description sounds better in the book. 

Miscommunication is a big part of this story. We’re told that everyone around Gretchen and Charlie can see that they’re falling for each other (even if I didn’t see much chemistry for a long time) but these two won’t give in because Gretchen won’t allow anyone close to her in her life and Charlie thinks she’s a fraud. Then this progresses to martyrish tendencies from them both. Ugh. 

The worst thing though is the endless telling instead of showing. We never do get any POV from Charlie but do get endless rounds of everything going on in Gretchen’s head. Plus descriptions. Cut those down and the book could have easily lost 75 pages of nothing. There also wasn’t much tension. Honestly, I was more underwhelmed with it than anything else. I did expect one plot point to be expanded on but that never happened, which is a good thing because I was dreading it, so yay for that. Also the baby goats are cute. 

Looking at other reviews, I am definitely an outlier. This book seems to be pleasing a lot of people but most of it just rubbed me the wrong way. Sadly I’ll have to hope that the next book wins me back because this one didn’t do much for me. C-/D

~Jayne      

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Dear Tessa Bailey,

I have been so looking forward to this book! When I heard from trusted romance friends that Fangirl Down rivaled It Happened One Summer – my favourite of your books up to then – my excitement only mounted. I’m here to say Fangirl Down lived up to its promise. It was funny, sexy (very) and pretty much hit every one of my good book buttons.

Wells Whittaker is a pro golfer who’s been in a slump for the past two years. He came onto the scene five years ago and won a couple of majors but more recently he’s often missed the cut and his behaviour – tolerated when he was winning – became much more criticised. As it is, he’s barely allowed to be on the tour due to his antics on the course.

Josephine Doyle is his number one fan. She’s followed his career from the beginning. No fair weather fan, Josephine is here to stay.

Josephine knows golf; her family runs a pro shop, The Golden Tee, in Palm Beach and she’s certified to give lessons. While it wasn’t ever specified I got the impression that if she had wanted to, Josephine could have headed to LPGA herself. Her parents have now retired and she runs the pro shop herself.

When Wells is in Florida for a tournament, she’s at the course, cheering him on the whole time. Josephine’s fandom isn’t about a celebrity crush. Sure, Wells is good-looking, but she likes his game, his skill and she has witnessed kindnesses from him which indicated to her he was a golfer worth following.

Wells has had only limited interaction with Josephine over the years but he’s certainly aware of who she is. She’s shouted encouragement and banter at him from behind the rope, she holds up her sign “Wells’s Belle” and wears his merch. Wells is very down on himself and his career. He knows he’s tanking and there’s no saving him. The only thing that makes him want to try is his number one fan. He wishes she’d stop and then he could crawl off to wherever failed golfers go to die.

As the book begins, Josephine has won a competition to have lunch with Wells and for him to give her a putting lesson. She doesn’t really need the lesson of course but she’s very excited to spend some 1:1 time with her idol. However, after another bad round, Wells just wants to throw in the towel (yes I know I’m mixing my sports metaphors). So he tells her there won’t be a lunch or putting lesson. He says she should stop admiring him, he’s not worth her time or effort, then tears up her “Wells’s Belle” sign (because she’s still not giving up on him!) and leaves the tour. Still, something about Josephine gets to Wells and he can’t stop thinking about her. He hated the look in her eye when she finally gave up and left.

There’s a hurricane in Florida which does a lot of damage to the pro shop and Josephine’s already precarious financial position falls into the ditch. She’d let her flood insurance lapse in order to pay the rent on the shop. She’d foregone her health insurance for the same reason – and, as a Type 1 diabetic, healthcare is not really optional. Now with the shop and the stock in it ruined she’s lost as to how she will go on. Worse, her parents do not know about her financial issues and she’s just not sure how she will tell them their legacy is gone. One thing about Josephine is that she doesn’t want people hovering over her, especially re her diabetes. She understands people caring but she’s an adult and can take care of herself. (Even with her financial situation, she has been managing her diabetes.)

Wells, drowning his sorrows repeatedly and getting into bar brawls to let off steam, hears about the hurricane.

God, he needed a drink. Badly.

But he couldn’t seem to make the move to the kitchen to get a fresh bottle of scotch. Everything Nate had said was true—he had behaved like a relentless prick his entire career. Trash-talked the other pros instead of making friends. Been indifferent toward the fans. Either outright ignored the press or gave them answers they couldn’t air on television.

More than anything, he wanted to give the world his middle finger and go back to bed. No one expected anything from him. He had no family to let down. No real friends to piss off. No mentor to disappoint.

But as loudly as oblivion called to him, the crystal-clear memory of her sang louder.

God, it was annoying.

“We’re getting lunch, Josephine,” Wells shouted on the way to the shower. “Dammit, we’re getting lunch.”

When Wells turns up at the Golden Tee on a pretext, he realises quickly that Josephine needs a lot more than lunch.

The knowledge that this person was so much more than his most loyal fan came crashing down on Wells’s head like a ton of bricks. Josephine had problems to contend with. Serious ones. Her family’s shop was underwater and she had to worry about blood sugar going up and down. And he’d ripped her fucking sign in half? What kind of a monster am I?

Wells promptly offers to give Josephine the money she needs (he has plenty of it, after all) but of course she refuses. Her pride is pricked and she lets him have it.

“Are we really pointing out each other’s flaws, because I don’t think you have that kind of time on your hands.”

“I have nothing but time on my hands.”

“Fine! Then your backswing is timid.”

“My—” His neck locked up like a prison cell. “What did you say?”

“I said . . .” … “You used to swing like you had nothing to lose. It was glorious to watch. Now, you handle the driver like you’re worried the ball might yell at you for hitting it too hard.” She stabbed him in the chest with her index finger. “You swing like you’re scared.”

That’s truly when Wells realises Josephine has chops and from there he comes up with an idea.

“If I can get back on the tour, if they’ll allow me back on, why don’t you put your money where your mouth is and caddie for me? Since you know so goddamn much.”

Caddies make a percentage of whatever the golfer wins. If Wells can get back in the money, Josephine can get what she needs with no damage to her pride. And suddenly he wants to try. For her. I’ve tagged this book “morality chain lite”. I think it fits. Whilst Wells does learn to love the game again and do for himself rather than only ever relying on Josephine to be his moral compass, it takes most of the book for him to get there. But – for Josephine he will stop throwing golf clubs. He will make nice (ish) with reporters. He will behave himself. for her. She needs him and he’s not going to let her down.

Wells has a history of being abandoned by those he loves. First his parents when he was a child and then his mentor, after his game slumped. He expects to be left and, as Josephine points out to him, he tends to torpedo things himself before they can go bad and hurt him. At least that way he’s influencing what’s happening; it’s not just being done to him. He’ll do the leaving before something or someone leaves him. But Josephine promises not to give up on him as long as he doesn’t give up on himself and from there, well, the only way is up.

Almost from that first interaction, Wells has a bone-deep unshakeable protective streak when it comes to Josephine. He’d carry her around in his pocket and keep her safe always if he could. It’s ridiculously charming. Sometimes amusingly obnoxious. But, and this is important, while he feels all those feelings, he also knows that it’s important to Josephine to stand on her own two feet and to be respected for being the competent woman she is. Wells does not want her to be sad or scared or unhappy in any way and so he is determined to give her whatever she needs however he can. I 100% did not hate it.

“Thank you, Wells. Really.”

Ask me to walk on broken glass next. Watch me not even hesitate. 

It’s really all throughout the book. If this kind of devotion doesn’t work for a reader, Fangirl Down will be a fail but it super works for me and I lapped it up with a spoon.

“Wells.” She tried to slow him down, but her heels only skidded in the grass. “Golfers don’t bring their caddies to the media tent.”

“This one does.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know, Josephine,” Wells fired back over his shoulder. “I just . . . have this pretty intense need to make sure everyone knows you’re very fucking important. Okay? Could you kindly just go along with it?”

I enjoyed Wells and Josephine’s growing professional and personal relationship. I loved how Josephine’s fandom wasn’t just because Wells has the best butt in golf (though he does). Wells appreciates (and so did I) that the chemistry between them is a thing born of their personal relationship and their interactions once the caddie/pro partnership starts. Josephine is attracted to Wells the man, not Wells the celebrity.

I laughed at quite a bit of Wells’s befuddlement about Josephine. She blows him away in all senses of the phrase.

Can’t I just miss the taste of my boyfriend’s cock? she’d purred, kissing his crown.

And his brain went offline after that.

He’d literally passed out from the sucker punch of relief she’d given him. And when he’d woken up, she was back at it. Moaning as she sucked him.

No clothes this time. Not a single stitch.

Now he was supposed to make small talk. Chew things and operate utensils.

How.

and

He had no idea what he’d done to deserve the Cadillac of sexual favors, but he wanted to be a better person now. Volunteer more. Build orphanages with his bare hands. Save the bees. All of it.

I loved the way Wells respected Josephine’s dreams and desires, even at his own expense. I loved how Wells understood that Josephine was his equal partner and wasn’t shy about letting others know it.

The sex was scorching, the banter top notch. There was so much for me to love in Fangirl Down. It truly is your best book since It Happened One Summer (another cracker) and possibly, it’s even better.

Grade: A

Regards,
Kaetrin

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Rule number 1 for the team owner’s daughter? Don’t date the players.

Especially not hotheaded tight ends with tattoos and impulse control problems.

That’s why Dominic Walker is completely off my radar. Sort of.

Babysitting the team troublemaker when he’s forced to volunteer for the foundation where I work means I can’t exactly avoid him.

I wish I had though. Because once I get to know Dominic, it’s almost impossible to ignore the feelings he brings out in me.

Pretty soon, I’m breaking all my rules. I just have to hope he doesn’t break my heart in the process.

CW – The sister of the hero died young from cancer

Dear Ms. Sorensen,

It’s thanks to Rose and DiscoDollyDeb (#shoutout) that I decided to read one of your Washington Wolves books. After checking out blurbs, I picked the first book in the Next Gen trio despite the fact that I’m not usually a grumpy/sunshine trope woman. Having finished it, I can say I’m hooked on this series and have already gotten my hands on the next book.

Dominic Walker’s whole personality can be summed up as “Grumpy Bad Boy.” He’s had a chip on his shoulder for much of his life for a number of reasons. He was not given a college scholarship nor was he drafted into the NFL. No, Walker has had to work hard and earn his way onto teams and into starting positions. Coming from a team whose coach did not practice good management techniques and whose style brought out the worst in Dominic, Walker knows he’s got to earn the respect of his new team. His first day … does not go well. But bless him, he does have a good reason. Thankfully the owner of the team doesn’t bust his nuts. Instead Allie turns Dominic over to her daughter (well, really step-daughter but the love between them is of a mother and daughter).

Faith has grown up around the Washington Wolves. Her dad was their starting quarterback and her (step) mom owns the team. Faith is stepping into her new role running the family charitable foundation which raises money to give younger kids a chance and the building blocks of experience to help keep them in school and is not going to back down in the face of this growling man who obviously has no respect for someone he sees as a 1%er who was given this job by her rich parents. Faith is going to set him straight about this attitude and his misconceptions of her. Having him wash dogs alongside other top athletes shows her a man who can, wow, actually smile. But it’s the second time they’re together at a local sports center for underprivileged young and middle school children that Faith gets a true look at Dominic who works well with children including a girl who has a killer throwing arm.

This is when the gimme that each book gets comes into play. Faith and Dominic have had an online friend with whom they’ve texted for years. They go by (obvious to everyone) fake names and hooked up over a donation “NicktheBrickLayer” made to the Seattle Zoo in memory of his younger sister, Ivy. “TurboGirl” and “Nick” have been there for each other but never reached out to set up any meeting IRL. Something that happens at the sports center tips Dominic off and after confirming his suspicions, he decides not to spill the beans to Faith but see if he can win her respect as himself. Yeah, it’s silly but he has his understandable reasons. Will his decision come back to bite him in the ass? Of course.

I like the way that Dominic and Faith are built as characters. Dominic is the product of having to fight to prove his worth as a player and also a man who loved and lost his sister to a shitty disease. That loss is something that has settled into his family in various toxic ways and hasn’t helped Dominic’s anger management issues as he tries to block things to keep them from hurting him. He’s grumpy for good reasons though his mom showed him how to fold a fitted sheet so he wouldn’t “end up as one of those asshole husbands who thinks his wife is gonna do that stuff for him.” But as he interacts with his new team, some things start to become clear to him and, again bless him, Dominic thinks about these and then begins to work on them. He also begins to fall hard for Faith.

I caught the edge of a smile on her pretty face.

Again, the sight of that smile did insane things to me. It was the kind of rush I only usually got playing football. Making a great catch. Scoring a touchdown. And now, I could add “making Faith Pierson smile” to the list.

Her face scrunched up in an adorable grimace, and holy fuck, I was thinking words like “adorable grimace.”

How quickly the tides had turned.

Faith has had much handed to her on a silver platter though she did lose her mother when she was a young child. Faith and her younger (half) sister Lydia are aware of their privilege and have been raised by their parents to give back. Faith is now thriving and gaining confidence in her management role (and has some creative swearing because she’s around young and impressionable children) but she’s also hands-on and loves to interact with people. She’s literally wearing a yellow t-shirt when she meets her grump but that is also who she is – Little Miss Sunshine.

Younger sister Lydia takes a hand in getting her beloved sister on a date with the first man who has interested Faith since an asshat broke her heart. Lydia could teach a masterclass in male manipulation. But it’s Faith’s roommate who picks Faith’s outfit and Tori is devious and merciless. Dominic might be a tough, tattooed bad boy but Faith’s got the secret weapon. Faith has “The Cardigan.”

Tori laughed. Then she held up a finger and started rooting around in the bag of goodies she’d brought with her. When she straightened, she held out a small black ball of material that had me raising my eyebrows.

“This is the key,” she said, with a serious voice and serious eyes.

I pointed at the wad in her hands. “That right there?”

“Yes.” As she extended it toward me, she took a deep, dramatic breath. “You must wield it carefully.”

She set her hands on my shoulders. “May it treat you well tonight, my child.”

Not that Dominic isn’t packing some heat of his own.

This man would cause every overprotective dad in America to lock their doors and double-check the windows in their daughter’s rooms because he looked like sex. He looked like something sinful and decadent.

The romance is quick and both fall hard. Ah, but remember that secret lurking. I knew it was coming out of the woodwork but wow, color me surprised at how things unfolded and then (yowza) how Faith handled things from there. I was expecting one thing but got something totally different and (Dayumn) adult and grown up instead. Shit, this is how people ought to react and what they should tell people who have hurt them. The people in her life might be hoping for a romantic gesture to bring them back together but I was impressed by how the situation was worked out.

Okay so there were a few things that bugged me. Faith tucking or having her hair tucked behind her ear could turn into a drinking game. Despite everyone being in the same city, Dominic’s parents are rarely seen. I initially wasn’t thrilled about the Thing that actually brought Faith and Dominic back together though yes by then they were ready. But I see how this Thing is going to play into setting up the next book so I will grudgingly accept it. Dominic’s decision about how to honor this sister? That’s boss. Oh and readers who don’t know/like NFL football need not worry. There isn’t actually that much of the game in the book as it’s more about the people. B+

~Jayne

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