I was hooked from the beginning of this book. But once the spice started happening, I thought it was very cringe. Usually I don’t mind a little weirdness. Tessa Bailey is good at making weird work. But this just didn’t hit the mark for me. The dirty talk was a bit much. I just didn’t connect with Tallulah and Burgess like I did Wells and Josephine in Fangirl Down. Not my favorite.

Tessa Bailey does it again! I completely enjoyed Fangirl Down and was excited to see that she was exploring Burgess and Tallulah’s story. The banter between the two was fun to read and their chemistry was on point. I was surprised that it was he falls first book which is harder to come by. I loved reading both points of view and seeing both characters being vulnerable. It was so refreshing to see Tallulah learning how to trust again and Burgess being sensitive to her past traumas. I really hope to see Sig and Chlo’s story!

3.5 stars.

I am a huge Tessa Bailey fan, but "The Au Pair Affair" is not my favorite book from her. I *loved* "Fangirl Down," so this book felt like a step down for the series. It's not a *bad* book, but I had a hard time connecting to Tallulah and Burgess as a couple. It's not because of their age gap, or because she's the nanny... I can't quite pinpoint why, but I didn't buy them as a couple. Maybe it's because the tension isn't always there, maybe it's because it felt like they got together too quickly (insta-love, ewwww), but for whatever reason, they were not my favorite Tessa Bailey couple. There's no real spark between them! What I liked the most about this book was Burgess being a growly protector when it came to Tallulah. Alpha male characters are usually not my speed, but for some reason, his insistence that Tallulah be safe around him based on her past traumas really did it for me. What I didn't like? Tallulah. Sorry, it needed to be said! That gal needs *a lot* of therapy (a lot MORE therapy, apparently)! I also didn't like the third act. Burgess did and said some things that felt really antithetical to his character. He was never harsh with Tallulah, and it yanked me right out of the story when he said the things he said to her in a moment of weakness. I get that people act this way in real life, it just didn't feel smooth or natural! There was a lot of miscommunication going on between the two of them, and it rubbed me the wrong way. In the middle of the road is the spice. I usually LOVE Tessa's signature brand of wit and spice, but it felt recycled and a bit forced this time around. I also hated how Burgess called her "girl" all the time???? Made me feel some kind of way! Don't get me wrong, I am still a Tessa fan! I just think I've read better from her.

Thank you to NetGalley, Tessa Bailey, Avon, and Harper Voyager for the complimentary ARC of this book. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated for this review.

“Give me a chance to show you that you’re safe with me."

I feel like at this point I know exactly what I’m getting when it comes to Tessa Bailey. No real surprises and swoon-worthy men. This one is no different.

The dynamic and chemistry between Tallulah and Burgess is so palpable from the beginning. After their brief appearance in Fangirl Down, I was anxious to see how their journey would play out. It’s clear from the beginning that Tallulah has some underlying trauma and it’s actually quite terrifying when we find out what happened. My only issue here is that she definitely needed some therapy for this as it completely changed her personality. I always appreciate when this is included for characters with trauma and I wish it would have been here.

The relationship between her and Burgess is sweet and sexy, and while he does come off as a bit overprotective it doesn’t feel too out of place considering her past. I also really loved Tallulah’s relationship with Burgess’s daughter, Lissa. There’s such a sweet connection there and it adds such a beautiful layer to this story. Especially when Burgess is trying to win her back and Lissa becomes one of the biggest supporters of their relationship, Navigating life with a pre-teen girl isn't easy, and Burgess clearly has some trouble with that since his divorce. He isn't always sure how to relate to her and Tallulah really helps him with this. The dynamic between the three of them is really great and I loved the single dad aspect.

This series has been really cute so far and I’ve really enjoyed it. I also really hope we get some more details on Chloe and Sig!

Single dad hires an au pair for his daughter. Perfect for a romance and it was enough for this girl to stop the laundry and housework for the day so I could read without interruptions. I absolutely loved Tallulah and Burgess was perfect for her. Add in his adorable daughter Lissa, and Tessa has created the best reading for her fans this summer.

Arc review: 4 ⭐️
Tessa Bailey: check
Hockey: check
Single dad: check
Nanny/au pair: check

This one has all the makings of a lovely trope stew - and I generally enjoy all of Tessa Bailey’s books!

I was expecting pure fluff (which I love) but this one had a little more depth to it with Tallulah’s past trauma and her working through it. I would recommend any readers be mindful of triggers with stalking, intimate partner violence, and captivity. While these are all in the past, there are some in depth discussions about it, so it may be hard to read for some individuals.

The first in this series was just SO much of everything for me. I was SO hopeful that this one would be too. But, honestly, I found it a tad boring. Just really predictable. I wasn't able to get past the first half, unfortunately. I love Tessa Bailey, though, and look forward to her next read.

Total fun read. Sexy, funny, and highly entertaining. Single dad who is a star hockey player needs an au pair to help with his moody, 12 year-old daughter. Enter, a smart, sassy grad student who has some trauma in her background. This adds some depth to the story. that I really found appealing. Great follow-up to her first book in the series.

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.

The second book in Tessa Bailey's Big Shots series, The Au Pair Affair is a consistent and fun hockey rom-com. Unfortunately, there's nothing particularly memorable about it.
Tropes include: single dad, hockey, close proximity, he fell first, age gap.

Grad student Talullah signs on to be the au pair Burgess' 12 year old daughter. Burgess is a Boston hockey star/legend who is instantly smitten with Tallulah and wants to do what ever he can to help her feel comfortable with him after she confides in him about a very serious traumatic event.

There's a lot of tension between these two. I loved the scene where Burgess has to pick Tallulah up after a night out.

Thank you to Avon and Netgalley for providing me with this eARC in exchange for my honest opinion. This one was just meh for me but it's a great gateway to rom-coms for anyone new to the genre.

I was nervous to start this book because of how much I absolutely loved the first but I am so happy with the second and cannot wait for the third!! I love this series so much. This grumpy single dad stole my heart! the cuteness vs spice was so perfect! I was rooting for these characters from the first chapter. Such a good book!

I had been looking forward to this book ever since last year when I saw Tessa Bailey on her book tour for Sincerely Yours and she teased that she was writing a single dad hockey romance. And I can honestly say she did not disappoint!

Like many of Tessa's second books in a series, the main characters are people you have already met from the first book, Tallulah and Burgess. This book is chalk full of mutual pining, forced proximity and a sense of forbidden-ness since they are employer and employee. I really enjoyed the complex layers of both main characters as they each had their fair share of internal battles they were fighting, along with helping each other overcome them.

Burgess reminded me a lot of Brenden from It Happened One Summer which I am not mad about because Brenden is one of my all time favorite male main characters. Another pleasant surprise from this book was how much I loved Burgess's tween daughter. Most single parent romances involve a relatively young child, but this provided a new perspective in the best way, the challenges of dealing with a daughter in middle school. I'm somewhat confident that Tessa took inspiration from her own daughter, who I believe is roughly around the same age, which makes the character all the more realistic.

Overall, I really enjoyed this read and Tessa has always been an author whose books I look forward to!

Thank you Netgalley for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review

I’ve read a few Tessa Bailey books including the first book in this series and I was so excited for a hockey romance written by TB. I really really enjoyed the first 75% of the book. I thought the build up between the characters was fantastic and when they finally caved, wooooo you’re in for some classic TB spice.

My issue with this book came with the conflict between the main characters. Technically, there were 2 conflicts taking place almost simultaneously. The first conflict made perfect sense with the trajectory of the story and the characterization we had seen so far. The second conflict, however, felt so out of character and really put a damper on my enjoyment of the end of the novel. For me, when a characters personality suddenly switches and they say hurtful things for almost no reason, it really takes me out of the story.

That being said, I like the way that the reconciliation took place with some other characters we know and love. The epilogue was SO good. And there are so many breadcrumbs for another story, that I am so intrigued by and I hope is coming soon!!!

this one was enjoyable. my only reason for not giving it more stars is the amount of miscommunication. there was just tooo much of it. i liked that this was a nanny romance tho! it’s my first one and i liked that aspect.

This was such a fun read! I loved Fan Girl Down and couldn't wait to read this one after meeting Talulah and Burgess. Talulah is skittish and with good reason but man was she also good at denying her own feelings. I love a good he falls first but she def annoyed me a little by the end with her complete denial of her own feelings towards Burgess. Outside of that I really loved their relationship and how each of them have their own personal journey of self growth through the book as well. Can't wait for the next one in this series!

I couldn't find this one believable no matter how hard I tried. The way she opened up about her trauma so early could have been overlooked if he didn't have every overbearing, controlling man red flag that surely would have triggered her given what had happened to her.

When marine biology grad student Tallulah reluctantly falls for hockey star Burgess, there are plenty of reasons for them not to end up with a happily ever after. They have a significant age gap, and she is also the nanny to his tween daughter, who is holding out hope that her divorced parents will eventually reunite. When Tallulah steps away from the relationship to avoid coming between Burgess and his daughter, and Burgess has an injury that is career-threatening, the odds are against them. Fans of grumpy-sunshine and sports romance will enjoy their love story, but what sets this apart, (and #1 in this series, "Fangirl Down") is how real the obstacles the couples overcome feel. The wedding of Wells and Josephine from book 1 is a major plot point, but it works as a standalone. I will recommend to fans of Ali Hazelwood, Susannah Nix, sport romance, and readers who like the tropes grumpy/sunshine and 'he falls first'.

I’m a sucker for any hockey romance, so reading The Au Pair Affaie was a no brainer and I loved it! When Tallulah agreed to nanny for Burgess’ daughter, she didn’t expect to have so many hesitations as the day to move in approached. Stemming from a traumatic experience, her distrust in men has her running from this job but Burgess is determined to make sure she is just safe overall, whether she works for him or not. After several conversations and a little more time seeing how Burgess is, she agrees to stay and work as the au pair and both find themselves agreeing to put themselves out into the world for some adventures together.

The slow burn tension that we first saw in Fangirl Down between these two continues to build and let’s just say the spice we get does not disappoint. Burgess knows what to say and has a wonderfully dirty mouth.

It releases July 16th and I definitely recommend it for a fun and flirty hockey romance this summer!

✨hockey romance
✨he falls first
✨grumpy sunshine
✨nanny x boss
✨forced proximity
✨age gap
✨single dad
✨opposites attract

Thank you to NetGalley, Avon and Harper Voyager, Tessa Bailey for the chance to read/review an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

The Au Pair Affair 🩵

This one is for the Tessa Bailey lovers 💛

The Au Pair Affair follows the story of Burgess, a hockey player/single father searching for ways to connect with his twelve year old daughter, and Tallulah, a marine biology grad student/au pair looking for an extra source of income and a place to live to offset the costs of living in Boston.

From the moment they meet in Fangirl Down, Tallulah and Burgess have an intense attraction that they try their best to avoid (aka this is a slowwwww burn with a LOT of tension).

Tallulah had a very traumatic experience in her past that causes her to not only distrust new people in her life, but to fear putting herself out there. Though Burgess is a hot shot hockey captain with years of experience under his belt, he’s also a divorced single father who’s been out of the dating world for long enough to doubt if he knows how to be in it. To help them both ease into a new way of thinking, they decide to embark on the adventure of putting themselves out there again as individuals…together (!!!!!)

The thing I liked most about The Au Pair Affair was the emphasis that despite the fact that Tallulah had gone through a tremendously scary experience in her past, she was still a strong person who could experience life while protecting herself. I loved that Burgess, though very protective of those in his life, put what was best for Tallulah above what he wanted from her.

Their chemistry was so palpable throughout the whole book in a way that you could really FEEL, and I especially loved the depth each of them had individually and the way that they were comfortable in expressing it to each other despite the self doubts.

If you love romances that have:
☀️grumpy x sunshine
🏒hockey players
🥼women in STEM
🩵 single dad
💙he falls first
💛age gap (he’s 37, she’s 26)

Then I’d recommend picking this up when it releases on July 16th 🫶🏽

I overall really enjoyed this book and cannot wait to see what’s next in this series!

This book put me back into a hockey romance era! I loved every minute of this book! I think the “Big Shot” series is headed into the right direction! The themes for the book of forced proximity, a single dad, age difference, and opposites attract were like perfection in a pot! I wasn’t expecting the spice to be all that, but I was so so surprised! I can’t wait to read more from this series! Thank you for choosing me to read as an ARC, I am grateful!


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