I have yet to read a bad Tessa Bailey book and The Au Pair Affair is no exception. You will fall in love with Tallulah and Burgess and the ways in which they really come through for each other.

3.5 this one kinda missed the mark for me after I loved fangirl down so much. Burgess sometimes treated Talulah like a child and it gave me the ick especially when they were in Costa Rica with the third act breakup

True to fashion, enjoying another Tessa Bailey delight. Fun, flirty and the audiobook did not disappoint with the engaged verbal banter given to us by the narration. The narration added to the story line highlighting the great importance of voice actors! I don’t need movies give me great narrators any day.

*2.5 stars rounded up*

ARC provided by Publisher in exchange for an honest review.

“Why are you taking your clothes off outside my room? If beefcake was on the room service menu, I didn't order it.”

I would like to thank Avon, Harper Voyager and NetGalley for the copy of this eARC. I'll be honest that I had avoided Tessa Bailey for a while as she was a popular Booktok author, and I tend to steer clear. That said, after reading and loving Fangirl Down I instantly jumped at the chance to read this book.

That said, when Fangirl Down's ending set up Burgess and Tallulah I was so excited, but at times I feel like this entire book was just a set up for Sig and Chloe. I understand the close friendship to both of them and that they were in the same city this time rather than separate states/continents, but it just felt like very obvious. Kinda like getting too much Benedict in what was supposed to be Colin and Penelope's season, for those who will get this reference.

Meeting Tallulah in this story I felt like I didn't recognize her at all from the previous book. It felt like being introduced to an entire new character, and while I love her, I felt her trauma at times was almost overly focused on. I even at one point worried that Bailey was going to make the climax of this book be someone assaulting/harassing her.

There was a small point of this with her class partner and while I know it showed her growth and standing up for herself, this conflict/person was never even mentioned again throughout the story. It just felt a little disjointed to completely drop this arc, and then bring in Lissa's left field thoughts that her mom and dad would get together. It made the classmate storyline feel like a red herring--almost throwing a bunch of potential conflicts out to see what would stick, and weirdly the classmate conflict felt like it made more since than Lissa's delusions--girl, your mother is literally engaged.

Side note: Super pissed that T got the entire blame from Lissa after Tallulah literally told Burgess he needed to talk to her. It made this so obvious that they were going to get caught.

Despite it all I feel like Talullah and Burgess never really had a true connection. Everything was always about her attraction to him, and him having a desire to be overly protective of her due to her past. I wanted more basic interactions, send them grocery shopping I beg. something simple. Have more conversations about her family in Istanbul even. I just needed more relationship building on things other than their trauma and their relationships to those around them.

Maybe I'm being unfair, but for all the times I was enjoying the writing style and descriptions, I felt like I was pulled down by the lack of deep relationship building. Maybe its as simple as just not being one for the "overprotective teddy bear" type of guy. I wanted Tallulah to be able to find her self and grow without him, and her only finding that drive to do so in spite of him after their break up drove me crazy, right alongside her flightiness and constant fear to commit. Her fear was understandable, but to have no growth on this adds to my point of them not having a deep connection.

I think so many people will adore this book for the exact reason I found it was not my cup of tea. Age difference, single dad, hockey romance--readers will eat it up--but I was left skipping my meal and hoping for desert at a place that had none on offer.


8/21/24 -- First thoughts after finishing
This might be a controversial opinion, but I just couldn’t handle the overbearing protectiveness 2018 and the “I don’t want to define this” repetition. The ideas are great in theory, but it was so repetitive in the dialogue and I wish I was shown rather than told constantly.

I’ll try and do a full review soon but I just felt let down. I’ve avoided Tessa Bailey because I worried she was overhyped but after reading “Fangirl Down”, I thought I had been wrong. Don’t get me wrong. The story was fun and I enjoyed her writing style which is why gave it that extra half star but the dialogue just falls flat for me for this relationship.

So good. So, so good. I loved Wells from the first book, and while he wasn’t knocked off his best book boyfriend spot, this book and characters are close to perfect!

Now when I read a Tessa Bailey book I don’t have high expectations. In their simplicity though it can be enjoyable or an easy read after a heavy book. In this book Tessa attempts to touch on a more sensitive topic, the trauma of kidnapping and stalking. Now there can be important dialogues to open up on these subjects but instead it was mentioned and we went right back to the sexual advances a man is making on his younger employee. It lacked the sensitivity the material called for and their seemingly random chemistry made all of the intimacy super cringe.

This might be Tessa’s hottest book to date. It is a master class in soul, steam, and heart, a combination that Tessa works magically. Tallulah and Burgess are so incredibly human and complex that it is easy to forget they are fictional. Throw in Burgess’s daughter and it’s easy to see why this book has become one of my favorite romances of 2024.

2.5 stars rounded down

I'm still chasing the high of the Bellinger Sisters, and Big Shots #1 should have told me that this wasn't necessarily the series for me. But alas, I requested this book before I realized that, and so I'm reviewing this book.

This was one of those books where I could feel the review yo-yoing around as I read. It went as high as 4 stars, but splatted as low as 1.5 stars, so here we are. I think my biggest issue was how Bailey treated and used Tallulah's trauma throughout the whole book, and how Burgess reacted as a result of that trauma. I also really struggle with kids being used as a plot device, and I don't feel like Lissa was done a service in this book.

Bailey's spicy scenes did seem more accurate to her characters, which was something I'd noted in the past that she didn't do particularly well, so if that's why you read Tessa Bailey books, I think you'll be pleased. But if you're looking for something that resonated with you like the Bellinger Sisters, this just didn't hit for me.

This was so cute! I DNF'd the first book in this series, so I was skeptical coming into The Au Pair Affair. Tallulah and Burgess were couple goals, juggling life as a single dad, school, and Tallulah trying to teach Burgess how to date. I loved the chemistry between them, and I seem to be a sucker for a good single dad romance where they try to fight their feelings. I 100% would recommend this book to others.

Okay, I did not love this one as much as her first sports romance book, but it was still good! Wells and Josephine were and are end goals, but Tallulah and Burgess were cute too. Plus we got a new sport! First golf, now hockey.

I love a protective, slightly overbearing teddy bear of a man in a book. As Tallulah calls it, "mean daddy" vibes were abound and welcomed! Burgess falls first and hard, while Tallulah falls later. We did see a third act breakup which seemed petty and useless and I think that's why this one was harder for me. I believe it happened in book one as well, but it was less dramatic than this. The way Burgess kind of freaked out and treated Tallulah the way he did seemed super callous and completely unlike the character that Tessa had written the entire previous part of the books. Didn't love that and for that I removed a star.

Other than that, this book was smutty with a HEA, and honestly what more could I ask for?

*Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this title. All thoughts and opinions are my own and were in no way influenced by receiving this copy.

Respectfully, if a man said that I was (paraphrasing) nothing without him and wouldn't be anything if it weren't for him, I simply wouldn't have sex nor associate with him ever again?? But maybe I have a little more self respect than our FMC?

Also, why pack a yellow string bikini when earlier in the book the bride specifically told you to pack a baby blue bathing suit?? ALSO, THERE IS NO POSSIBLE WAY THAT I HAVE THE FORETHOUGHT THAT MAYBE A STRING BIKINI IS A BAD IDEA TO CLIFF DIVE IN AND NOT DOUBLE/ TRIPLE NOT THAT BITCH??? BOTH the top and bottom coming undone is so unrealistic???

Overall, this one actually redeemed Bailey for me because she brought the cheese factor way down compared to Fangirl Down, so maybe I will read another book by her. idk. But I have feelings about the "future" step-siblings fucking so idk...

I haven't been the biggest fan of the Big Shots series, even though I normally love everything Tessa Bailey puts out, but this was still a solid rom com!! I thought some of the conflict was a bit much and at times Burgess was a little bit hard to root for. You know I will still be eagerly awaiting her next book though!

Tessa Bailey does it again. A very hot follow-up to Fangirl. Appealing female and male main characters, witty banter, smoldering, cameos from previous book, and a perfect set-up for the next book.

Book 2 in the Big Shots series brings a single dad, his nanny, close proximity, and age difference.

Tallulah is in school studying to be a marine biologist. She needs a job and needs it now. Burgess is a hockey player and a single dad in need of a nanny. He offers the job, she accepts, has second thoughts and finally ends up there.

I loved both characters and you could see the sparks immediately. Burgess wanted to be a grump but had a cinnamon roll heart!

Thanks to Avon Pub and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

3.75 ⭐️

MCs: Tallulah + Burgess
3rd Person Dual POV

• single dad x nanny
• hockey
• rom com
• grumpy x sunshine

Tessa never fails to make me laugh in her books, and it’s one thing I really enjoy about picking up a book of hers. The tropes in this book were right up my alley, and although I didn’t read Fan Girl Down, I didn’t feel like I missed too much in this one. This had all the classic Tessa markers and I thought it was good, it’s just not a fav of mine! There was just something missing. Also 3rd person is just SO hard for me to get into 🙃

*This book is NOT included in Kindle Unlimited.

xo,
booklover

Perfectly lovely rom-com in line with Bailey’s other books. Solid spice. Cute characters. Good fluff read

The Au Pair Affair, the second book after Fangirl Down, is a romantic comedy about a young woman who is hired by a famous professional hockey player in Boston to be is Au Pair for his young daughter. Let me start this review by saying that I did enjoy Fangirl Down and was looking forward to reading this e-arc. For me, however, this second novel fell short for me in both romance and prose. The writing wasn't great and there was more smut in my opinion than plot. Even when there was plot, the characters (to me) felt very bogged down in their own self-pity. The FMC definitely had some major legit trauma to deal with, but the way the MMC was constatnly overcompensating and do I dare say...whining...about it drove me crazy. If you are a fan of sports romance books with a little more romance romance than plot, this book is perfect! It just wasn't for me, at least not right now. If you love Tessa Bailey, I highly recommend Fangirl Down!

One thing that keeps me coming back to Bailey’s books are the intense emotions between the main guy and girl.
When I first read Sir Savage I felt tingles and shivered with delight.
Burgess is a big bear who roars but is brought to his knees by fiery Tallulah.
Of course their ride is rough and bumpy but that’s,what makes it delicious plus the steamy scenes, oh my!!
Treat yourself to a Bailey hero and heroine story right now if you’ve never indulged before.

A few months ago, I read Fangirl Down because Tessa Bailey books never disappoint. I don’t read many sports romances, let alone one centered around golf, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. Josie and West’s story ended up being my top read for the month of March. So, when I saw the novel’s sequel, The Au Pair Affair on @netgalley , I requested it right away.

The Au Pair Affair stars Tallulah, a grad student new to the city of Boston trying to find a place to live. Burgess, also known as “Sir Savage” is a star hockey player looking for a live-in nanny for his tween daughter. Although Tallulah and Burgess are featured in Fangirl Down, their story can be read on its own.

This book had perfect amounts of fun, spicy, sporty romance mixed with depth and emotion. Tallulah’s story of her past relationship may be triggering for some readers, but her heartfelt character experience made the novel extremely special. The bond between Burgess, his daughter Lissa, and Tallulah is also a perfect addition to the love story.

The Au Pair Affair is out NOW!! Go get your copies! Thank you so much @netgalley @tessabaileyisanauthor @avonbooks 🏒⛸️🥅

Not able to complete due to life circumstances. I have been dealing with health issues that have led to me needing a feeding tube.