Mrs Tessa does it again! At first going into I will say I kind of struggled to get that “hooked” feeling but once the story line developed I was all in. I really enjoyed the story/romance of the characters and it was nice to see the previous characters as well. The only thing I would have liked to be a little more involved with would be the story behind her family/the boy etc. While we got mentions of them it never really broached the topic beyond what happened and the postcards. Thanks so much for letting me ARC!

I was thrilled to receive an eARC of one of my anticipated reads for 2024. I’m thrilled to report that I enjoyed it.

Tallulah is a grad student, studying to be a marine biologist. To make ends meet, she takes a job as an au pair for Burgess Abraham and his 12 year old daughter, Lissa. Their beginning was a little rough to get going due to Tallulah’s past trauma. I thought for sure that she’d agonize more due to the nature of her trauma, but it wasn’t mentioned too much after the beginning of their story. The MCs from Fangirl Down are pretty prominent in this entry to the Big Shots series, and it was fun catching up with them. That said, the bulk of the book centered around the burgeoning relationship between Tallulah and Burgess. There’s an age gap trope, and he definitely falls first. He’s also very “touch her and see what happens” with anyone that even hints at being interested in her. The spice was enjoyable and I was having a good time until the third act breakup which felt a little rushed to me. Then we were left with a time gap that felt like it took too long before the eventual HEA. All in all, I had fun with this one.

Thank you Netgalley for providing an eARC and Harper Collins / Avon for providing an early finished copy in exchange for my honest review! My opinions are my own, as per usual.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc!
I’ve finally deigned to read a sports romance bc if Tessa Bailey writes it I’m reading it!
Really enjoyed this one and especially the character elements, I found Tallulah very interesting relatable and inspiring to read and of course loved our MMC who Tessa always manages to make so scrumptious with their falling harder and falling first ugh I eat it up. Do I like hockey romances now?!

📖📖 Book Review 📖📖 I’m going to fess up and admit that this is my first Tessa Bailey book and I am beyond thrilled!!!! What a treat this was. Tallulah may be broke as can be but she has aspiring goals to be a marine biologist that she is going to make happen! When the chance to be a live in au pair to a hockey player becomes available in Beacon Hill in exchange for a place to live, she takes it! I paid rent in an apartment in Beacon Hill for a year and can indeed attest that this is a good bargain! Tallulah brings her honesty, vulnerability, and just all around good nature to Burgess and his daughter, Lissa’s lives.

The characters were absolutely delightful and beyond likable, immediately feeling like old friends. Both Tallulah and Burgess show us that success can come in many different versions and can create a beautiful balance among individuals. What starts as playful banter between the two quickly becomes some amazing chemistry!

At the end of this book, I was okay with not having read Fangirl Down- I will 💯 be going back to devour the first book in the Big Shot series because I cannot get enough of Tessa Bailey’s writing and fantastic characters!

Review is posted on Goodreads and the final review I’ll be posted on Instagram ahead of the publication date.

As a second book in a romance series, The Au Pair Affair did well combining the world Tessa Bailey set in FanGirl Down, and a new bubble for Burgess and Tallulah's relationship to exist. Tallulah And Burgess' conflicts felt real and not contrived which is a breath of fresh air for this genre. I have an affinity for hockey romances and would have liked a bit more of the sport but the spice was just right. I would give it a 3.5/5 on my spice chart.

Thank you to both Netgalley and the publishers for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars, rounded up.

This was a fun read! After reading Fangirl Down earlier this year, I was frothing at the mouth for Tallulah's book. I'm a die-hard lover of hockey romance, and the idea of a romance between a player and his au pair? I was hooked.

The romance between Tallulah and Bergress was amazing. Tessa Bailey never fails to write a romance where the male falls first and falls harder. We love to see it. And while I really loved the way the romance unfolds, I do feel like it happened a bit fast. Apart from that, it was sweet, sexy, and an overall fun time.

The characters themselves I found to be complex and intriguing, especially Tallulah. She was such a well written character that I found myself often feeling the emotions she was feeling. It was like her anxiety or elation jumped straight off the page. Her and Burgress together I found complimentary. Her softness to his roughness, his calm to her storm. They worked very well together, and I loved watching the characters come together.

I think my biggest critique would be the lack of relationship between Tallulah and Lissa. I found myself wanting more by the end of the book. I loved them so much in the scenes they were in together and it would've been so much better if we just got a few more crumbs of them in this book.

Overall some rough bits but a lovely addition to my Tessa Bailey addiction. I can't wait to grab my physical copy on release day!

The Au Pair Affair was a great read and it was just as good as the first book, if not better. Tessa Bailey is a master of romantic comedies and this is a prime example. If you want a hockey romance that has a protective MMC, a sassy FMC, and a preteen trying to figure out the world, this is for you. Definitely spicy and lots of tension.

Tessa has done a fine job with this sports romance. Always a fun read with spice that is on point. Always glad for the HEA!

We met Tallulah and Brugess in book one, and now you get to fall in love with them in book two. As Tallulah gets to Boston to become Burgesses live-in nanny she starts second-guessing herself, mostly from her traumatic past but the mans nickname is Sir Savage. Burgess, ever the gentlemen and not exactly Sir Savage off the ice. He tries to help Tallualh feel comfortable in his home while trying not to fall in love with the nanny.

Only Tessa Bailey can come through with the pure magic of Burgess and Talullah after blowing our minds with Fangirl Down. Round. Of. Applause. 👏👏👏

I am so glad I found out this is going to be a series before I started reading because the way I felt about Burgess and Talullah in the first book is how I now feel about Sig and Chloe.

I really tried to wait closer to publication date to read in hopes I would for sure know the status of the third book, but I couldn’t wait any longer and now I will be crossing my fingers until Sig and Chloe are confirmed!

The Au Pair Affair does need a TW: stalking, harassing, kidnapping (prior to start of book), ptsd, chronic pain, and injury.
(I am glad I came across a review with this information because I know I needed it to be in the right mindset to read)

But don’t let that take away from this being a romantic comedy because you better believe there is a whole lot of romance and many a laugh out loud moment 🥰💕😂💕🤗

There is also talk of penguins and 500 pound sea turtles, a revenge dress, Wells and Josephine’s wedding, athlete intervention, memories of being a 12 year old girl, $75 sweatshirts turning into a heart-melting moment, banter for days, rookies who are precious like misbehaving puppies, personal growth, groveling, and a happy ever after!


5 stars and a book I highly recommend!!!!!


Dual POV
Sports romance
Single dad
Live-in nanny
Grumpy x sunshine
He falls first
“Touch her and die”
Age gap
FUN 🤩

Grad student Tallulah agreed to be the live-in au pair for professional hockey player Burgess’s tween daughter, but the idea of living with the imposing player with a brutal reputation makes her nervous. Both have been attracted to each other since they were introduced by their best friends Wells and Josephine (the couple from Fangirl Down), and their newly found proximity only allows the attraction to grow. Burgess knows he needs to start dating again, but the only woman he can focus on is the one living in his house. They have a fling that ends in disaster and must work out their issues to come together in the end.

Tessa Bailey books are the perfect palette cleanser for me. I needed something fun and steamy and this was exactly that. The book is not perfect and I don’t care because it was fun. The connection between Tallulah and Burgess was palpable from the beginning and they still managed to form an emotional connection that was believable. I love that while this was an age-gap and boss/employee book it never felt gross and it was clear the two saw each other as equals and respected one another. I don’t typically like books that involve children but Burgess’s daughter didn’t bug me. I enjoyed the side characters and I do desperately want Sig and Chloe’s book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon for the digital ARC and Avon for the paperback ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Holy hell man this book was the best. I’m a whore for Tessa honestly. If she writes it, I’ll read it. The first book in this series, Fangirl Down, was probably my favorite book of hers to date. But this one…was also just so freaking good, it might be a tie 🫢

This is a nanny/boss, age gap romance with a sprinkle of grumpy/sunshine because my man Burgess is a grump only for everyone else but is a teddy bear for Tallulah. Tallulah is a hot, smart, marine biology grad student, who takes a job as Burgess’s live-in au pair. She’s got some trauma and is understandably restrained around a large man who happens to be 11 years her senior and is unsettlingly good at breaking noses on the ice, but they work together to navigate each other’s boundaries. My favorite thing about both Fangirl Down and the Au Pair Affair is the amount of respect that the MCs have for each other (I know respect should be a bare minimum but it rarely is in this world). There are constant check-ins, accommodations, and efforts to communicate, for both parties and you can tell there is a sense of comfort that doesn’t feel manufactured.

The smut was so perfectly smutty, the romance was a punch in the heart, and the characters had so much personality, I couldn’t stop laughing. I can’t wait to read about Sig and Chloe 🥰

This book needed more edits, but overall a solid Tessa Bailey. The kidnapping sub-plot was completely unnecessary and should have included a content warning!

Extremely thankful to have received an ARC for this summer release! A highly anticipated continuation of this Tessa Bailey universe and I will take 12! Never in my life have I been this invested in these little sportsmen! Or not so little in this MMC’s case 🤣!

Tallulah & Burgess are going to take the hockey romance fanatics by storm with this heartwarming & deeply emotional love story!

They say Sarah J Maas is the queen of fantasy but Tessa Bailey is the QUEEN of romance.

I’m honestly so obsessed with Tallulah & Burgess, although I loved them at the end of Fangirl Down. Which is book 1 of big Shots. Although you do not need to read it to be able to read The Au Pair Affair. I highly suggest it because it’s an amazing read as well!

I loved reading their relationship bloom, and watching Tallulah heal and fall back in love with life was like taking a breath of fresh hair after a northeastern. Which also brings about, this is set in Boston, Ma. I live an hour away. It was so well written. From the weather, to the Boston landmarks, to watching a baseball game outside of Fenway. This will honestly become my new comfort read.

Thank you NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for the e-arc!

Tessa Bailey is still an insta-buy author for me and to add my weak spot of a grumpy hockey player just made this book all the better. I liked the first book Fangirl Down more, but this one was still really good!

I absolutely loved the first sixty percent of this book, but the break up just fell a bit flat for me. I already have some issues with third act break ups in general, but this one felt like it came out of nowhere pretty quickly. Burgess really redeemed himself in the end. The last thirty percent was equally heartbreaking and heartwarming which made up for it!

I do hope we get to see Sig’s and Chloe’s story!

Tallulah, a marine biology grad student, is finishing up her degree in Boston and needs a job and a place to stay. Enter Burgess Abraham, aka Sir Savage, a surly hockey player and father to a tween. All things in the Bailey-verse align, and Tallulah ends up moving in and working as the au pair.
Tallulah and Burgess try to deny their attraction to each other, but no one can resist a 'mean daddy' for long.
Full of snappy and sassy dialogue, Bailey hits the right balance of sweet and steamy in the second book of her Big Shots series.

thank you soso much to netgalley for a free ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!!

this is my first ARC and for that i’m so grateful - i just wish i was leaving a higher review. i’m the biggest tessa bailey fan: i’ve been reading her books for forever and it happened one summer is on my favorites shelf. i absolutely adored fangirl down and could not wait for july to read burgess and tallulahs story - that brings us here. in hopes of keeping this review spoiler free, i think i can sum it all up by saying this book was trying too hard to be so many conflicting things at once and no one trope (or plot line) was flushed out enough to be enjoyable. it was all over the place and gave me whiplash.

this being said, i’ll still read whatever tessa puts out there and i know that not every book for me will be someone’s cup of tea and vice versa!!! there are certainly readers out there that will eat this book up; unfortunately this time, it wasn’t me.

I rated this book a 2.5/5 stars. This is the first Tessa Bailey book I've ever read, and I understand the hype! Her writing style is very fun and easy to read, this book actually got me out of a rather long reading slump, in fact. I really enjoyed the beginning of the book, and thought the relationship between Burgess and Tallulah (and between Lissa and Tallulah) a lot! There was a fun dynamic, and plenty of drama to keep a reader hooked. It was a fun read, but also covered serious topics like Tallulah's past experience with men. However, the one thing I didn't love was actually Burgess' possessiveness. I found it to be a little much at times, especially when he would make comments about her being his 'entire life' and the only reason he existed. It just came on a little bit strong, and paired with Tallulah's past trauma and need to break out of her shell again, it just didn't sit right with me. All in all, I did enjoy reading this book, but some parts just felt unbelievable and unnerving. Tessa Bailey has a very obvious talent, and this won't be the last time I pick up something by her.

I am generally a huge fan of Tessa Baileys work. However, and comparing this book to her latest release Fangirl Down, it fell a little short for me. The romance felt a little forced, and it felt rushed. I however did enjoy the book and had a fun time reading it!