THE AU PAIR AFFAIR
By @tessabaileyisanauthor
ARC thanks to @netgalley - Book Releases July 16th

Yet another truly delightful book by Tessa Bailey. I finished this baby in less than 24 hours, despite having other responsibilities, because I could not put it down!!

The protectiveness of Sir Savage with his grumpy attitude mixed with his utter hopelessness of connecting with his tween daughter made for the most lovable MMC. I was rooting for him with every page.

Tallulah was such a strong FMC. I really felt like it was a breath of fresh air when we learned the details of her past trauma early on in the book. It helped me understand her and her actions more. I much prefer this over getting little, tiny, mysterious hints of it all throughout the book then a big reveal of it like 80% of the way through the plot.

Lissa was also written so well. True tween angst shown through and it was spot on to those big, giant 12-year-old emotions.

I feel honored to have been given this opportunity with how popular this author is and it’s for good reason! I’m a forever supporter of any words Tessa Bailey puts on paper.

FIRST OF ALL, thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins for this advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

Tessa Bailey’s books are ones that I can never fully seem to stay away from. It Happened One Summer/Hook, Line, and Sinker are my favorite books of hers (especially HLS), and I feel like I always check out what she has coming just to see if anything will match that feeling.

I’m not a sports romance girly, but I follow her on TikTok and find her commentary very funny, so I decided to check the Big Shots series out (especially after seeing the videos related to the NEXT book starring Sig & Chloe - which taps right into the little Life with Derek/Dasey-obsessed monster that once lived inside my brain).

Anyway, with that being said, I enjoyed Fangirl Down and The Au Pair Affair… overall.

Once TAPA got to the 70% mark, I didn’t want to keep reading. I know, people have bad days and people screw up, but Burgess? Fuck that guy.

INFRACTION 1: Hugged Tallulah and made his 12 year old, rattled daughter’s heart BREAK. Like, yeah, Lissa was being a brat. SHE’S ALSO 12???? HELLO?? You went for YOUR (barely) GIRLFRIEND over your DAUGHTER?

INFRACTION 2: The way he talked to Tallulah in the hospital room was genuinely unforgivable. This girl has done nothing but support you, and he let all of his ugly colors shine RIGHT THROUGH. You don’t say the shit he said to her if he hadn’t already, even if just subconsciously, been thinking it. I didn’t feel bad for him. I no longer was rooting for him.

INFRACTION 3: The dirty talk, dude. Like, I know it’s standard for Tessa’s stuff but I just can’t do it to the extent that it’s given sometimes. It just yanks me right out of it. But that’s a me thing, and I get it.

All of this to say, I still enjoyed this book. I am ABSOLUTELY going for Sig & Chloe’s book the second I can get my grubby little hands on it.

Tessa does a wonderful job at writing comedies and writing tension. It just sometimes gets a little too caveman for me.

Thank you, again, for this ARC!

“The Au Pair Affair” by Tessa Bailey delivers sizzling chemistry and sweet romance between Tallulah, a live-in nanny, and single dad Burgess. With palpable tension and heartfelt moments, this captivating hockey romance is highly recommended for fans of Bailey’s work.

Quickly becoming my favorite Tessa Bailey series. I loved everything about it! And the spice 🌶🌶🌶🌶. So good, I cannot wait for more books in this series!!

This is a sports rom-com single dad story. It's a dad who fall for his ive-in nanny. I normally don't go for the single dad trope but this was worth the read.

Our FMC is Tallulah. She gets hired to be the live-in nanny of Lissa. Mmmmm helloooo single dad and live-in nanny!!! You know where that's going. However, the girl does want her parents back together.

The chemistry between Tallulah and Burgess is strong. The tension is there!
Tallulah ends up walking away. Burgess then goes to prove that they are worth it.

Love the spice and chemistry between these 2!

Love! I love Tessa bailey books and am a sucker for hockey romance when you throw in a single dad well let’s just say she got me hook line and sinker. I loved this book and I loved the relationship between the FMC and the MMC 💜

This second book in the "Big Shot" series has already made me a big hockey fan! I loved Will and Josephine's love story, but I can honestly say I enjoyed Tallulah and Burgess' romance even more. It includes themes of forced proximity, a single dad, an age difference, and opposites attract!

Tallulah is a quirky marine biologist and a survivor of past trauma that left her insecure. She's a free-spirited, kind-hearted heroine who always puts others' needs first. She's easy to like, with Turkish heritage (her last name is "Aydin," which is a city in Turkey), but her first name is Native American, meaning “running water”—a perfect fit for her character and her tendency not to stay in one place for long.

Burgess is kind-hearted and gentlemanly, although he can show some violent tendencies on the field as an occupational hazard, which makes Tallulah question whether to work at his house after his outburst during a game goes viral.

He amicably parted ways with the mother of his 12-year-old daughter Lissa (thankfully, the book doesn't involve an evil ex-wife or a love triangle). Due to his busy travel schedule as a hockey player, he needs to hire an au pair to help take care of his daughter. That's when his best friend Will's future wife, Josephine, recommends Tallulah, who needs a change of scenery. As soon as they meet, Burgess realizes he's in trouble. After a dinner together, he falls deeply for her. But isn't it unethical to pursue someone who works for him, even if the feelings are mutual? When Tallulah decides to do the honorable thing and help little Lissa, who wants to see her parents back together, by quitting her job, things get more complicated!

I don't want to spoil more, but this book contains some very satisfying and well-deserved groveling scenes that I actually enjoyed! (I believe in some books, the men easily get away when they make big mistakes, but this book is different, giving readers pure happiness with a fair conclusion.)

Overall, this is one of the highly anticipated, sweetest, high-chemistry sports romances with likable characters that I highly recommend for a thoroughly enjoyable read!

Many thanks to Avon and Harper Voyager for sharing this adorable romance's digital reviewer copy with me in exchange for my honest thoughts.

3.25⭐️

This follows Burgess and Tallulah. Burgess is a single father and star hockey player in need of a nanny. Enter Tallulah, marine biologist and nanny for Burgess’s daughter.

I loved Burgess relationship with his daughter. It was hilarious to watch him try to understand pre teen drama.

He was so understanding and patient with Talllulah becoming comfortable around him.

Her being able to slowly overcome her fears on her own takes so much courage.

There were some timelines that didn’t make sense to me.


Thank you NetGalley for the ARC

Tessa Bailey has done it again. The Au Pair Affair follows Tallulah and Burgess as they decide if their age gap and past experiences can be put aside to embrace their attraction. Content warning, Tallulah's history includes a stalking/kidnapping situation. Overall, I loved this story of growing together, embracing change, and picking each other. Definitely worth the read!

Love love love! Hockey romance is a favorite of mine, and this one does not disappoint. Tessa Bailey is the queen of romance!

A five star masterpiece!

There is so much more substance to this book than what makes it in the blurb. Tallulah has a heart wrenching backstory and a beautiful character arc of healing and moving forward. Then we have Burgess, who seems to be the one dimensional hockey player, but he’s so much more to him as a single dad and all the weight he carries for the ones he loves. I only wished for more of the relationship of his daughter and Tallulah! Feed me some bonus chapters please!

We know Tessa for her masterclass in grand gestures, but combining that with groveling? Leaves the reader head over heels for Burgess. We all need a slice of the “beefcake” and “Mean Daddy” Burgess.

Thank you NetGalley and Harper Collins for the EARC!

I cannot even express how much I love this book. The first book in the series was good, but the protective single dad vibes drew me to this one a million times more. As always, Tessa Bailey tackles HUGE topics with grace, humor, and respect. Her main characters are people you want to be friends with, and you root for the couple the whole time! Will be preordering a paperback copy and recommending to anyone who will listen!!

I finished this in one day. I couldn't put it down it was so good. It was light hearted and fun. I love a good single dad romance. I also love hockey main characters and nanny situations. It was a great mix of all my faves. It was a great novel to jumpstart my summer vacation. I can't believe I missed the first book in the series. I will be remedying that immediately.

Wow. Wow. Wow. Tessa Bailey has done it again! The Au Pair Affair was the perfect mix of fun, light hearted and romantic. I really enjoyed how although the MMC, Burgess is a hockey player, it wasn’t the main topic of conversation and the way hockey was intertwined really added to the plot and the characters developments. Tallulah is such a lovable character and fit the job perfectly.

Hoping for a Sig and Chloe book next!!!

Thank you NetGalley for sending me this e-arc.

The Au Pair Affair is the second installment in the Big Shots series. This one features Burgess , a grumpy older single dad hockey player and Tallulah and 11 year his junior grad student.

This one was definitely better than the first one and that may be partly cause I have a soft spot for single dads since I was raised by one.

Lissa was a cute addition and really enjoyed and wish there was more of her in the story.

This was a fast read and I read it in one day.
Burgess in the beginning was great but his dirty talk at times made me cringe.

To be honest I am not sure I will read the heavily hinted at next couple just because they have a rather odd relationship and not sure I will be into that. We shall see since I cannot seem to not read a Tessa Bailey book.

Thank you to Net Galley, Tessa Bailey & Avon for a copy of this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I'm going to be honest-- if this weren't an ARC, I would have DNFed about half way through.

I was SO looking forward to this one because I absolutely loved Fangirl Down and was hoping TB had found her stride again and would keep the instalove/instalust/ridiculousness that I've come to have a love/hate relationship with to a minimum. Alas.

Burgess is low-key obsessed with Tallulah after one meal with her and the level of instalust was instannoying. I have little patience for adults who can't control themselves. All the back and forth about whether they should get together or not got old fast. And he straight up tells her NO on going further multiple time because he wants her to know what she wants more but she doesn't listen because SHE wants the physicality.

At one point I started a Notes list about all things that were annoying me because it was too much to keep up with. A little taste- her age really shows and her nativity was exhausting at some points (like the dating mixer for a well-known pro athlete? come tf on, that would end up on the local news AT A MINIMUM). They both are in desperate need of therapy. The custody schedule for Lissa makes zero sense for his schedule during the season. Why would Tallulah's family not come and visit HER? Why does she need to be the one to visit them when she's the one who went through a very traumatic experience? The littering of the postcards made me rage (a little issue, but an unnecessary plot point). Burgess seemed to only remember he had a daughter when it was a plot device. Like, after his incident he did not even consider or think about her until she walked into the room. It was all Tallulah Tallulah Tallulah even though he had only known her for like a second. This brand new girlfriend is mad at you and you don't want to go on even though you have pre-teen daughter? Ick. The complete 180 on his personality was also a huge red flag. Pass.

This was not for me and I am really disappointed at how much I dislike this one compared to the first in the series. A true bummer.

*Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review

The Au Pair Affair, by Tessa Bailey, was an excellent addition to her Big Shots series. I read the first in the series, Fangirl Down, and gave it five enthusiastic thumbs up! (I still HiGHLY recommend that book.) The Au Pair Affair had a tough act to follow, but Tessa Bailey did an excellent job on this book as well. Tallulah is Josephine's best friend from the first in the series and Burgess is Will's best friend. That is how they meet. Burgess needs a nanny for his 12 year old daughter, Lissa. I thought this was going to be a book about a mom mostly abandoning her child and the dad needing to step up, thus the need for a nanny. I was actually pleasantly, surprised that that is not the case. Lissa's mom is not a bad mom, they just split custody and because Burgess plays hockey, he cannot be there all the time and needs someone to help out, thus the need for Tallulah. You do learn fairly early in the book that Tallulah had a horrific thing happen to her in the past that she is still recovering from. It was not a situation I've read about in a book before and it really added some depth to this book. I could understand why the trauma would still impact your life, even years later. I can highly recommend this book and cannot wait for the next book in the series. Thank you NetGalley and Tessa Bailey for an advanced copy!

Uhhhhh, hate to say this, but there was too much sex. And the sex was too gritty for me. I suppose it would appeal to me as a story if the author had toned that down a bit, but I’m certain she has an audience for it, as she has written many other books. I did enjoy the hockey and marine biology elements immensely, though. And I appreciated the “tour” of Boston.

This book was so incredibly fun!! Burgess and Tullulah had such fun chemistry! I loved how they pushed each other to be the best version of themselves, with Tullulah learning to face her fears and Burgess learning to be more open with the people in his life! The spice was really good, no one does it quite like Tessa Bailey! I loved Sig and Chloe and I’m hoping we’ll get a future story about them! As far as sports romances books go, this one was great! I always think hockey is such a fun sport to focus on!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Avon Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!!
My review on Goodreads is linked and I will add my Instagram one closer to the publishing date!

Let me preface this by saying I haven’t read (and didn’t initially realize that there was) a first book in this series (Bigshots Series - Fangirl Down). With that said, I think that is one of the attributes of this book, I was able to jump right into Tallulah and Burgess’ story - and WOW what a story it was! The chemistry, banter, and trust between them is unmatched. Our MC Tallulah stayed true to herself and her needs throughout the book, and the way Burgess was able to meet these needs (along with some of his own!) - well, swoon. Suffice it to say, up next I’m reading Fangirl Down!