Tessa Bailey is still one of my all-time favorites. I will sing her praises until I die. The Au Pair Affair is the second book in her sports romance series, and it's a single dad romance, which just happens to be my kryptonite. It has hockey. It has an age gap. It has a tween daughter who reminds me of myself at that age. It has a hot nanny (I mean, au pair). It has cameos from Wells and Josephine. It has everything you could ask for and more.

There's just something about Tessa's writing that makes me smile. The smut is A+. The characters are charming. The sports are just the right amount of sporty. I genuinely have no complaints or criticisms--only praise from this gal. When I need a book that will give me just the right dose of dopamine, I always pick up a Tessa Bailey book. She hasn't let me down yet.

"The Au Pair Affair" revolves around Tallulah, a marine biology student who is financially struggling. She takes a job as a live-in nanny for Burgess, a hockey player and newly single dad, to care for his tween daughter. Burgess is suggested by everyone except himself to re-enter the dating scene. Tallulah, with her adventurous spirit, is seen as the perfect person to help him with this transition. However, as they spend more time together, boundaries are crossed, and a strong chemistry develops between them.

I was very excited to read "The Au Pair Affair" after surprisingly enjoying Fangirl Down. I mean if Tessa could write a golf romance I enjoyed, how could you go wrong with a hockey romance? But, "The Au Pair Affair" fell a little flat for me which is surprising since I read the whole thing in just about one day-ish. I think there were good things sprinkled throughout this book but all together it just wasn't my favorite. Most of the time I was thinking that I'm more excited to read Chloe's story than the one currently in front of me. However, that isn't to say this was a completely horrible book. Here is what I liked and didn't like.

What I liked:
- Burgess falls first
- Addressing concerns of aging and growing older
- Overcoming fears
- grumpy/sunshine
- Sig and Chloe

What I didn't like:
- Tallulah is not an Au Pair (misleading title), she is a live in nanny
- 3rd act breakup
- Not enough time spent on the relationship with the daughter. With this book having the single dad and nanny trope, why didn't get more time with Lissa and Tallulah or even Lissa and Burgess?
- Too much spice and insta-lust
- Tallulah pushing Burgess at other people
- Wish there was more slow-burn

3/5 stars for me but excited for the next book to come out.

I am here for the sports romances, especially from Tessa Bailey!
This was such a fun read, especially after Fan Girl Down. I usually don't love when one of the characters is instantly attracted to the other with no explanation, but it didn't bother me this time around. Maybe because Burgess is so likable. He's mature, smart, caring, thoughtful, and honest. He lets her know what he wants without being creepy or too pushy. Bailey built the tension well and every time Tallulah backed away, I just had to read the next chapter to see their next interaction. The third act breakup wasn't the best, but the apologizing/groveling/winning her back was pretty epic. Also, the spice level is exactly what I expect from Tessa Bailey.
I knocked this down to 4 stars instead of five because it felt like his daughter was second fiddle the whole time and it probably shouldn't be that way. It felt like Tallulah was the nanny for one day and then her focus totally changed, and again, the daughter becomes background. If I'm being picky, I also don't like the name Tallulah and I felt like her family backstory was odd.
Overall, I still loved this installment in the Big Shots series and can't wait for Sig's and Chloe's story!

Au Pair Affair by Tessa Bailey, book two in her Big Shots series, is heartwarming, humorous, flirty and sizzling; with wonderful but troubled characters; a nanny/boss, age gap romance with a sprinkle of grumpy/sunshine. Burgess was a divorced, grumpy hockey player who traveled with his job, and in need of an au pair to help take care of his 12-year-old daughter, Lissa. Based on the recommendation from his best friend, Burgess hires Tallulah, a marine biology grad student who was broken, nervous to be around any man because of her past and in need of a a place to live. Despite their eleven year age gap his heart was falling fast for Tallulah. Overall, this is a sweet, high-chemistry sports romance, with likable characters that made me laugh, cry and blush.

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book.
#NetGalley, #Avon

I don't read a lot of romance, but I loved Fangirl Down so I knew I had to read this too. The Au Pair Affair just ignited something unexplainable inside of me. I need more. I need every Tessa Bailey book she has to offer. I was a promise, or legally binding contract where she vows to write 20 more novels.
I loved this so much. The characters. The close proximity. The humor. The last half was especially romcom gold, and I truly enjoyed it so much.

Whenever I pick up a Tessa Bailey novel, I know I'm in for a treat, and *The Au Pair Affair* did not disappoint. This book delivers delicious tension, a heartfelt storyline, and main characters you'll inevitably fall in love with and root for. The pacing is perfect, the writing is engaging, and the chemistry between the characters is electric. It's the kind of romance you'll want to devour in one sitting. Don't wait—grab this one now!

I was soooo excited to read the second book in the Big Shots series! This can be read as a standalone novel but I highly recommend reading the first book, Fan Girl Down! It was SO good.
Like all of Tessa Bailey's books, The Au Pair Affair, was a feel-good, light-hearted and enjoyable read with just enough spice!
Tallulah is a broke student who needs a job and Burgess is a successful hockey player who needs a nanny - so she agrees to take the job despite her misgivings.
I'm sure you can assume where this goes :) I do wish we got to see a little bit more of Tallulah with Burgess' daughter - that part felt a little rushed. Overall, so cute and will definitely read book 3!
Thanks so much to Tessa Bailey and NetGalley for giving me the ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

Taking a job as an au pair should be easy but Tallulah has reserves and is scared to be employed by an aggressive hockey player nicknamed "Sir Savage." After watching a clip of him on youtube breaking another players nose, she tries to pull out of the job. Burgess Abraham is sweet and caring. He sees reason in Tallulah's decisions and doesn't belittle her need to be cautious, especially when it means she will be living with her employer full time. I enjoyed their romance story but didn't care for the second act break up. Him verbally acting out felt like it wasn't his character, but I guess that was the authors point. Everyone is going to make mistakes, if we love them we fight through it. Tallulah, although fighting her own demons/past, is independent and caring. She's younger than our MMC but you don't really feel the age gap, even with it constantly being mentioned within the story. Overall I liked the plot and read it within a few days.

As if I couldn't love Tessa Bailey and her superb contemporary romance skills more, she scores another game-winner with The Au Pair Affair. After the tease of a potential romance between Burgess and Talullah in Fangirl Down, I was so thankful to receive the ARC copy of this book through the publisher and NetGalley.

Bailey knows just how to balance the heavy, emotional moments with laugh-out-loud and often sarcastic comedic relief. Her books take romance trope favorites and through the character development she does and the inventive plots she drafts, they feel fresh and new. She can do no wrong in this reader's eyes and will always be a must-read! To fully understand this book's storyline and its cast of characters, and just because this new avenue by Bailey into sports romance is so fantastic, I'd recommend readers tackle Fangirl Down before reading The Au Pair Affair. Both are 5-star reads in my book!

The Au Pair Affair is Tessa Bailey’s sequel to her bestselling sports romantic comedy, Fangirl Down. The main characters in The Au Pair Affair were introduced in Fangirl Down as Josephine and Wells’ best friends. This is a steamy age-gap opposites-attract romance.

26-year-old Tallulah is a broke graduate student studying penguins in Antarctica. After meeting Burgess, a professional hockey player, he offers her a job as a live-in nanny for his 11-year-old daughter, Lissa. Burgess’ lovely Beacon Hill home is perfect for Tallulah to attend classes at Boston University. While Tallulah and the introverted Lissa bond, Burgess can’t help but fall for the very extroverted beauty. Unfortunately Lissa wants her parents to reconcile, so Tallulah walks away. Burgess has to really work to win Tallulah back.

The Au Pair Affair has more emotional angst than Fangirl Down. Tallulah is both a party girl and a scientist, while Burgess is socially awkward. Tallulah is good for both Burgess and Lissa. Readers will alternate between laughing and holding their breath as they wait on Tallulah and Burgess to find their happy ending. As with other books by this author, the story contains profanity and sex scenes.

I received an Advance Review Copy (ARC) from NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This book was everything and more !! The spice, the drama, the emotions and the way that Tessa Bailey really had you falling in love with these characters!! I think my only regret was that Tessa didn’t give us the reunion i anticipated with Tallulahs sister, I was hoping she can reconcile! But other than that I loved Burgas’s and his protectiveness and just over all soft spoken but passionate love for her!! And THE ENDING!!!! Excuse me was the absolute cutest! 10/10!

I did not like this book. At all. The relationship felt so forced and I did not root for them to be together.
The daughter was there to bring the characters together and add drama. I did not sense a father/daughter relationship. Making the ex-wife seem upset and confused about the main couple was also not needed. Especially since she was engaged to be married again.
Tallulah did not seem like a person that thrived in an academic or research field. Her "traumatizing" event was something that was mentioned in passing when it should have been handled better. Also, it was mentioned that she was not wealthy and couldn't really afford housing. But then she has all this money to travel on her own and go skydiving (and other activities). Like how?
As for Burgess, he was just a no.

3.5⭐️ 3🌶️

This book was funny and spicy! Burgess was the perfect grumpy MMC who fell hard and fast for Tallulah and was just waiting for her to be on the same page. He was patient and kind and so respectful of her boundaries. I probably would have pushed Tallula off a bridge if it meant Burgess would look at me like he looked at her.

So why 3.5⭐️? Because of Tallulah. I wanted to love her so much and I really liked her most of the time. She was a great friend to Chloe and Josephine and an amazing au pair to Lissa. I just didn’t like how she treated Burgess. I know she was terrified of making the same mistakes as in the past. I know she was just trying to protect herself. But she was so focused on herself it never even occurred to her that she was hurting Burgess. She wanted him to be patient with her and respectful of her boundaries (which he absolutely should do and he did) but when it came time to extend patience and understanding to him she had none.

That being said I can’t wait for the next book in the series! Step siblings? Say less!

Thank you so much to Avon for the copy of this eARC!

Fangirl Down is one of my top romances of the year and I knew once we were introduced to Burgess and Tallulah that it wasn't going to be the last of them.

"When two people love each other, they create a love snowflake, and it can never be re-created by anyone else."

I am very torn on how I feel about this book. There were elements that I absolutely loved about this book but my biggest qualm had to be with the Tallulah's character. It wasn't her past and her fear of being around men that was my issue it was how she kept leading Burgess on and being so hot & cold with her feelings. I really felt bad for him that she only seem to come around when it was convenient for her and that wasn't fair. And then on the contrary, there was a moment when Burgess was injured and he was nasty for no reason. I would have love for Bailey to have used that opportunity for Tallulah be a caretaker and let that help be the bridge to repairing the relationship with Lissa. But hey I am not a writer and she knows best! I don't know if I would necessarily say that they are toxic for each other but I feel like sometimes I find them both doing questionable things.

Despite all the above I still really enjoyed the book! I loved the relationship between the two and the overall story. I was engaged the whole time and their flirtatious energy was superb! Tessa knows how to write tension and a sex scene - whew!

I have been really lucky with the romances that I am reading lately where the male falls first and this one was no exception. There was no question whether or not if Burgess was into Tallulah. He made it very well known from the beginning how he felt towards her. "The only woman I'm calling is you." I mean come on SWOOON! Burgess was so protective of Tallulah and towards the beginning we learned that when he had to pretend to be her boyfriend to scare off her classmate.

I love in sports romances when we see the actual sports being played so I was happy that we got to see Burgess playing on the ice. And even better that Tallulah at the game. Cue sweet moment with her and a sweatshirt - iykyk.

As I mentioned in the beginning, I love Fangirl Down so I was extremely happy to see Wells and Josephine pop up throughout the book. And that we got a sneak peek into the wedding!!!

There is going to be a third book and I am very nervous at how that book is going to be. I don't think Tessa will go so taboo under Avon but who knows! I don't like the idea of a future step brother/sister having a relationship but I don't think she will let me down in it.

PS - Of course I have to shoutout Yuengling being mentioned in the book!! Love seeing a localish beer being mentioned!

4.5

Well I didn’t realize this was the second book in a series when I applied for the ARC lol. Despite that it still made sense and I enjoyed it overall.

I liked their chemistry a lot but my main complaint was the third act breakup. The vibe completely changed and brought things down which made their makeup seem a bit rushed at the end. I thought it was unique while following some tropes most people like:
-Grumpy x Sunshine
-Age gap
-Single dad
-He falls first
etc.

And please consider changing their names or at least Burgess’s because it sounds like two last names together.

The Au Pair Affair continues in one of my favorite universes of characters Tessa Baily has created. (Honestly, it's equally tied with the character universe of It Happened One Summer.) I loved Fangirl Down, so the Au Pair Affair was at the top of my most anticipated summer reads, and Tessa Baily did not disappoint. Burgess is a hockey player and single dad who hires Tallulah as his Au Pair. The chemistry between these two was sizzling. I also loved the multiple appearances of Wells and Josephine throughout this book. I highly recommend reading both of these books, Fangirl Down and The Au Pair Affair. Reading them in order made me love these characters even more.

Seriously, Tessa Bailey is a genius at romance. Her banter is always on point and her love scenes are sizzling hot. I have loved every single thing I’ve read of hers and this is no exception. Perfect love story and very hot. Highly recommended.

Thank you @avonbooks for a gifted copy of this wonderful book!

💛 𝙈𝙮 𝙏𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨 💛
Sir Savage! Burgess! 🥵 Tessa just nails it with the hot athletic men! I’m a sucker for a grumpy leading man, who grunts, so Burgess just fit the leading man perfectly. Throw in single dad too?! Sold!

Tallulah, girl, she is someone you root for! She has something in her past that makes her wary of men now, and I love reading a story where you see the character work through their trauma and come out on the other side! I also love when that gets incorporated into a romance, and the two can work together to grow!

Burgess and Tallulah just brought out something in each other that was lovely to read about. Tallulah is hired as a live in au pair for Burgess’s 12 year old daughter Lissa, and from the start she naturally starts making their house a home. Burgess doesn’t know how to relate to his daughter, and Tallulah walks him through that and it helps their father/daughter relationship!

Also, side characters! The hockey players we meet and new girl friends. I enjoyed them all. And I can’t wait to learn more about them in the future! 👀 More sports romances Tessa please!!

💛 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙞𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚:
💙 Hockey Romances
💛 Single Dad/Nanny
💙 Age Gap (11 years)
💛 Grumpy Sunshine
💙 Spicy Romance! 🥵🌶️
💛 Fun Adventures
💙 Strong FMC

The Au Pair Affair is a heartwarming hockey romance with some humor and all the feels. I love a good single parent book especially a single dad and Tessa Bailey knocked it out of the park with this one.

I loved both Tallulah and Burgess separately, and even more so together. Their attraction to each other was undeniable and you could feel the tension between them. Of course, Tallulah being the au pair for his daughter gave it a bit of a forbidden element and I'm always a sucker for an age gap.

I did not read the first book in the series and did not feel like I was missing anything. But I will definitely be adding Fangirl Down to my TBR.

Thank you to Avon and NetGalley for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Another great spicy romance from Tessa Bailey. I was worried there would be too many sport references and sports talk but it was fine. Burgess is a hockey player who falls in love with his au pair with some bumps along the road. This can be read as a stand alone. I did not find it confusing even though I did not read the first in the series.