Tessa does it again. Like seriously, she needs to write more sports romance books. They are incredible. Burgess & Tallulah are everything. His demanding nature with her carefree mentality are the perfect combination.

The Au Pair Affair is the second book in the captivating Big Shots series written by Tessa Bailey. This romantic comedy, set in the realm of sports, follows the story of a strong yet lovable single father who finds himself irresistibly drawn to his quirky live-in nanny. Packed with a blend of raw sensuality, intense attraction, and witty banter, this novel guarantees to sweep you off your feet on a journey filled with love and laughter. I was immediately engrossed and couldn't tear myself away from this book! I am eagerly anticipating diving into more books in this series and by this author.

Miss Tessa Bailey delivered 🫡

Perfect if you like:
🩵Single Dad X Nanny
🩵Grumpy X Sunshine
🩵“Touch Her & Die”
🩵He Falls First
🩵Age Gap
🩵Forced Proximity
🩵3rd person POV
🩵3rd act breakup

Other authors (respectfully), take notes on this topic notch groveling! Burgess had it bad for our girl from the start and he wasn’t afraid to show it. When tension arises, Burgess has no shame trying to win his woman over again.

The spin on the title is cute, given Tallulah’s job position. However I didn’t feel there was too many scenes that involved Lyssa and Tallulah. Maybe since Lyssa is a preteen and doesn’t require as much, but I still would have enjoyed more between the two.

“Mean Daddy” (going to add that to my personal roster 👀)

The angst between the two main characters *chefs kisses* I ate it up! You know I wouldn’t be a true romance reader if I didn’t mention the spice! So good! Y’all aren’t read for Sir Savage 😏

Can Sig & Chloe get the next book, PLEASE?!??

Thank you Tessa Bailey, Avon and Harper Voyage and NetGalley for the opportunity to be an ARC reader!

thank you to Tessa Bailey, Avon and Harper Voyager, and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

okay so this is heartbreaking for me to write but i had such high expectations for this book and i was let down. while i LOVED fangirl down, the au pair affair didn’t do it for me quite the same.

what i enjoyed: im always a fan of age gap romance!!! i liked the banter, how open burgess is w his communication, and the self deprecating quick witted humor that tallulah has in the beginning (key word: beginning). i like that tallulah is from turkey—it gives her background/values/culture (but i would’ve liked to see that cultural impact even further than slight references). her trauma was def different & an interesting take on tessa bailey’s part...but needed some more nuance especially with such a heavy topic. i also loveeeedd the lil glimpses into wells and josephine’s life 🥹

what i didn’t like: this book was so. slow. i took so many breaks from this book that i should not have had to take. i lost interest. a lot. or maybe i wasn’t invested from the start. burgess and tallulah’s insta lust & insta love wasn’t for me. burgess came off ~too~ perfect…that is of course until the third act breakup (!!!). he was just a bit too unrealistic and had one too many cave man tendencies. 🙃 tallulah’s character fell off for me as well. im not sure why, but i couldn’t connect with her character. she was unlikeable to me towards the end. i honestly didn’t even feel like the conflict that led to the third act breakup was as big a deal as she made it…she knew what she was walking into & his headspace when she began that convo w burgess that led to the breakup. and burgess’ groveling was too. much. 😒 the spicy scenes didn’t do it for me, and even moreso felt cringey to me, especially burgess’ dirty talk. not to mention the build up did nothing to excite me for when the moment actually came. 😕 i wish there was more hockey in this book as well! the moments w the rookies were fun, but we didn’t get much time w the team. or much of tallulah actually nannying. or much of wells and josephine’s actual wedding!!!??? and where was lissa at the end of the book???? i was waiting for a scene of her & tallulah after everything went down & didn’t get it :/ i didn’t love how we jumped from chapter to chapter in third person pov but still got alternated perspectives, it didn’t flow the way it should have. the epilogue was such a miss for me as well. i didn’t care for it and i even rolled my eyes at burgess.

overall, this was an okay read. to be fair, fangirl down is a tough act to follow. that all being said, i’m looking forward to sig & chloe’s story!!!! i loved their moments in this book & can’t wait to read more from them.

Thank you Avon and Harper Voyager for gifting me an E-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is only my second Tessa Bailey book, and it has reaffirmed that I will definitely be taking a dive into her back catalog. This is the second book in the "Big Shot" series, a series of interconnected standalone's and was a quick request for me because I'm a sucker for hockey romance. The characters from the first book Fangirl Down make an appearance within this book, but I do not feel like I missed out on any vital information from not having read that book yet, and can say you will be just fine reading The Au Pair Affair on its own.

Tallulah is a 26 year old grad student, just back from studying penguins (Already won me over with the penguins) in Antartica and in Boston to get her masters in Marine Biology. Having met Burgess and his daughter while visiting her friend in California, she is meant to be his new Au Pair. However, Tallulah is a survivor, after a huge trauma she absolutely doesn't trust anymore and after watching a few videos of Burgess "Sir Savage" playing hockey she's second guessing her choice to trust he isn't dangerous. Despite it all, Tallulah and Burgess have a connection, he is kind-hearted and determined to do whatever it takes to show her he can be trusted. With a big risk, Tallulah does move in, but there is an undeniable chemistry here, are either of them strong enough to resist it? Can Tallulah learn to trust again?

I am so happy that I was given the opportunity to read this book, it was so much more than I expected and has some really great tropes. Forced proximity, single dad, age-gap, black cat and golden retriever, he falls harder.. and the GROVELING, my lord the groveling is so worth it. The banter is great, the pacing is well done, I enjoyed the hints toward Tallulah's turkish heritage and Tessa's handling of the trauma represented in the characters past. Talulah's reactions to people, situations and how it affected her personality were very understanding and I enjoyed watching her growth not only with herself but into the relationship as well.

I can honestly say I'm very excited to see more from Tessa Bailey and am already desperate for the next book if it's the two characters I think it is.

I highly recommend this book to those interesting in hockey romances, single dad vibes and need a sweet, gone for his girl, man to crush on. Definitely add this to your tbrs!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read this arc.

Tessa Bailey does it again! I love this second book in the ‘big shot’ series. Sometimes I don’t always love the sequel as much as the first book but that was not the case with this book! I loved the age gap, the ‘he fell first’ ‘single dad’ storyline. The dynamic between the two main characters had the spice while also the comedy! Highly recommend!

3.5-4⭐️

I loved Burgess so much he reminded me of a big teddy bear🧸 Through the book he has a few problems he needs to overcome but Tallulah helps him so much💙 He for sure falling first and maybe a little over protective but he made me swoon.

I liked Tallulah I thought she was fierce and a little cheesy, she has a couple issues in the book and as much as Burgess helps her like she helps him I think she really helped herself in the end.

I loved this take on a single dad because Lissa is a preteen and not a “child”. I feel like Lissa character was a good representation of a 12 yr old girl.

Thank you NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review 💙🤍

TESSA DOES IT AGAIN. This book was so freaking enjoyable to read. I can’t get enough of the plots that the author is able to come up with that work so well. I thought it was very insta-love, so if you aren’t into that trope, this may not be the book for you… but maybe it is. Because the development. The smut. THE EVERYTHING. I appreciated the inclusion of a traumatic relationship and how that can affect relationships going forward. It felt relatable and realistic.

The Au Pair Affair is an age gap, he falls first, opposites attract, boss/employee, and force proximity with a place of sports. Tallulah is an intelligent, marine biology grad student, who made a deal with a single father, Burgess, who also happens to be captain of the Boston Bearcats to be a live-in nanny for his 12-year-old daughter, Lissa.

Tallulah and Burgess have so much depth to them, and their similarity and differences make their story so much more intriguing. While on the ice, Burgess always instilled confidence within Tallulah, and always sought to protect her. Both characters have their quirks, which causes their relationship to struggle.

I adored the way Tessa Bailey showed what was going on inside both characters' heads and allowed us a glimpse into their thoughts. While the plot of this book was incredible, it also provided some angst and spice.

Overall, The Au Pair Affair was a fun summery read with great characters and a fun plot!

This 2nd book in the Big Shots series, is the follow up to Fangirl Down, in which we met Tallulah and Burgess. Now, Tallulah has, with some trepidation due to past trauma, agreed to become an au pair for the most popular hockey player in Boston. She immediately has a soft spot for his 11 year old daughter, who is trying to navigate the murky waters of middle school girl friendships and Dad needs serious help learning how to communicate with her, and figure out how to french braid a tween's hair! The dad and daughter relationship grows, as does the attraction between Burgess and Tallulah until the Tessa Bailey fireworks explode over a very sexy date at the Boston aquarium. Just when the reader imagines the happily ever after, Lissa (his daughter) who wants her parents back together desperately- catches them kissing and a huge and huge rift is formed, and Tallulah does the “right” thing—and walks away. What's a grouchy, heartbroken hockey player to do next?!

The au pair affair, I take it that Burgess and Tallulah were characters from the previous book that was lightly detailed to us the audience. I am sorrry I have not had a chance to read Fangirl. But I will hopefully soon?

Anyways, Burgess loves to play professional ice hockey just as much loving his daughter. But he doesn’t really know how to handle a little girl. So asking for help wasn’t to easy, yet Tallulah answered his call for help. Anyways, this was a spectacular funny between themselves.

Another great Tessa Bailey book! I didn’t love the first book in the Big Shots series so I wasn’t sure what I would think of this one. I ended up enjoying this book a lot more than the first in the series and was happy I read it. This hockey romance delivers the classic Tessa Bailey spice and has great chemistry between the main characters. The MMC, Burgess is protective in a sometimes comical way. I especially loved the portions of the book that included Sig and Chloe, the focus of the next book in the big shots series. I liked that this book set up the next one and made me even more excited to read the next book! Thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins for the ARC!

Read this book if you like:
-Single Dad
-Age Gap
-Sports Romance
-Nanny/Boss

I liked that this had Josephine and Wells in this one making appearances. Tallulah is studying to be a marine biologist but somehow moves to Boston broke and thinks she can find a place to live for $700 a month? She ends up moving in with a hot hockey player single dad and being a nanny. She is so good with his daughter-braiding her hair, practicing lines for play, teaching her how to cook and they bonded so well. Burgess and Tallulah feel a physical attraction instantly and try to keep things professional which lasts a nano second. There were lot of steamy scenes which I skip over. This book was entertaining.

It takes an injury for Burgess to realize what is important in life and make some changes. The intervention part in hospital was funny.

Burgess Abraham is the definition of “if he wanted to, he would” despite his reputation in the league.

Tallulah is working on getting through grad school and to do so she picked up a gig as a nanny. However, her new boss makes her feel like she’s playing with fire.

There’s an instant connection between Burgess and Tullulah that you can feel from the jump. Which only intensifies when she lets the big bad defenseman in on her past. He’s protective by nature and Tullulah is no different.

This book is giddy and funny yet heartwarming and STEAMY! From start to finish, you get roped into the shenanigans between Tullulah and Burgess as they try to keep their relationship professional…key word is try.

“Time with you could never be a waste. Only a privilege.”

The Au Pair Affair (Big Shots, Book 2)
Author: Tessa Bailey
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Burgess Abraham is in desperate need of someone to help out with his tween daughter. After separating from her mom, Burgess is struggling to handle the demands of his job as an NHL player while raising his daughter. After meeting through mutual friends, Burgess knows Tallulah is more than capable of keeping his daughter safe and happy in his absence. The need for extra money and a safe place to live in the city while finishing her degree in marine biology has Tallulah agreeing to be his Au Pair. As Tallulah ingrains herself in both their lives, Burgess quickly realizes his daughter isn’t the only one becoming happier. Could he really be falling for his Au Pair 11 years his junior, the girl who crashed into his life with a desire for adventure and a complicated past leaving her cautious of love? The odds are stacked against them, but we all know those hockey men are stubborn.

One of my favorite tropes to recommend is a nanny/single dad and you can bet this book is being added to that list of recommendations. The protectiveness that Burgess places upon Tallulah from the first moment he learns about her past made my heart so happy. We love a grumpy athlete who is protective over those he loves. The complexity of both main characters and their past made for some emotional moments. There are a lot of big emotions that can be easily felt by the reader as well. A book that makes me feel something is a book well written! Anything I was anticipating out of this read was completely exceeded. I am hoping for a book three in this series because I am nowhere near done with these characters yet!

If you like:
Hockey Romance
Forced Proximity
Age Gap

Reviewed by: Karley🧡

This review was written by members of the Sporty Spice Book Club (sporty.spice.book.club on both Instagram and TikTok).

The Au Pair Affair is another AMAZING book by Tessa Bailey! I was absolutely smitten with the electric dynamic between Tallulah and Burgess. Despite their differences, their ability to open up and show their vulnerable sides to each other was just heartwarming. A total page-turner! If you're into hockey romance, this book is an absolute must-read. I would like to add that I did enjoy Fangirl Down a bit more. Awesome read though!

Gimme a big boy.

This book was so cute! I didn’t think I’d like it as much as Fangirl Down, but I think it was actually better (both five star reads for me).

Thanks to @netgalley and @avonbooks for my advanced copy in exchange for a review!

Burgess and Tallulah were the cutest couple. I liked the slow burn and how Tallaluh was trying to wade through her past trauma to have a relationship with Burgess. I hadn’t really read anything like that in a TB book previously. It was deep and emotional. Burgess was just this big mountain of a man teddy bear. 🧸 There were also some appearances from Josephine and Wells which I enjoyed.

Read this if you like:
🏒 Single dads
🏒 Nanny x boss
🏒 Age gap (MMC is 37, FMC is 26)
🏒 Forced proximity
🏒 Grumpy x sunshine

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. Tallulah is not sure she should take the nanny position for a hockey player. After watching him play, he scares her. A quick read.

A beast on the ice has his work cut out for him when he tries to win the heart of a young woman he's hired on as his nanny. She's a little bit skittish when it comes to trusting men. There's an attraction there no doubt, but she doesn't trust her judgment enough to fully give in to the temptation. Both wonderful characters, and he is quite swoony. There is an age gap of about 10 years. While this can be read completely as a stand alone, it is part of a series and the previous book's featured couple plays a role in this one, so there may be some spoilers if you have not yet read that book. (There are also hints about the characters of the next book.) There are some laughs. Plenty of emotional struggles. Generally speaking, it's a light hearted read, but there is some subject matter that brings a heavier and darker vibe. There is sexual content and some mild-strong language at times. Overall, it's a good read featuring a brute who finds himself getting 'soft' due to his exposure to the young ray of sunshine he's enamored with, and that ray of sunshine who learns how to accept the love of another for what it is and without any pretense. My only complaint is the frequency the author used "oranges and basil," when the MMC was referring to her and her scent. It seems like anytime the guy was thinking of her (which was often,) that scent was mentioned. That's pretty much the only thing I can tell you about her. I don't remember the color of her hair or her eyes... just that she always smelled of oranges and basil.

*I received an ARC of this book through Netgalley.

The Au Pair Affair is the second novel in the "Big Shot" series, and the story of Tallulah and Burgess. We first met these characters in Fangirl Down when Wells flew in Tallulah to surprise Josephine. During that trip, Tallulah meets Burgess, and we knew there was something going on...

Fast forward, Tallulah is a grad student who needs someplace to live in Boston, and Burgess is a gruff professional hockey player who needs an au pair for his 12-year-old daughter, Lissa. In much appreciated Tessa Bailey style, Burgess is an alpha protector who finds himself very attracted to his daughter's au pair, but it's clear that Tallulah's struggling with a past trauma.

Get ready for all the fun with forced proximity, grumpy vs sunshine, gruff and sexy hockey player, and some of that famous spice. The good news is that the story will (hopefully!) continue with Sig and Chloe, so we haven't heard the last from Tallulah, Burgess, Wells, and Josephine.