So, I struggle believing a man falls so hopelessly in love with a woman who is summarily super hot and kind - like, that’s it?? He falls fast and hard for his new au pair, 11 years younger, and his thoughts are consumed by her. Not a desire to simply sleep with her - he wants “all of her” and “needs her love”, etc.
he’s a hot, grumpy single dad hockey player. She’s a hot, young foreign au pair.
Maybe too easy to write this romance?
I was confused by the Sig/sister in law piece as well… I must’ve missed a plot point in their line.
The over the top emotional, love and lust driven dialog of Sir Savage is just not believable or relatable to me.
“She ruled my dick and didn’t know it”
The obsessive discourse about her basil and blood orange scent.
“I don’t want you to see me weak so I’m pushing you away, despite being desperately in love with you”
I’m sure I’m being tough.
Thanks NetGalley for the ARC!

DNF’d at 35%

I’m so sorry, Tessa, but this ain’t it. I was sooooo looking forward to this since their encounter in Fangirl Down, but I could not get past the toxic vibes Burgess was giving. (also it’s a single dad trope and that is my 2nd least favorite trope of all time)

I enjoyed the first half of this book, it was cute a quirky and a fun easy read.
But at about halfway the character's personalities kept changing and they did not feel well flushed out. The spicy scenes were cringy and hars to read because it felt like all character development went out the window for the spice.
I normally love Tessa Bailey, but this felt rushed and improperly developed.
I'm giving three stars soley because I really enjoyed the first half.

Whew! What a roller coaster of emotions! In The Au Pair Affair, Tallulah and Burgess are a sizzling couple battling all kinds of doubt and pain that try to keep them apart. They are endearing and fascinating characters, their passion lighting up the page! But it was the hurdles they had to climb that really drew me to their story, giving it depth and substance, along with the humor and steam. Do I dare hope to read Sig and Chloe’s story next?! I was given an advance reader copy of this book from the publisher.

Tessa Bailey has done it again. I always love a live in nanny but this is the best one yet. Pairing it with hockey makes it perfection.

4.25 stars

Burgess is a burly single dad & hockey player who falls for his live-in nanny Tallulah, a grad student and the best friend of his best friend. Sparks fly and they have to decide if they can put everything on the line to find their happily ever after.

I loved this! Burgess and Tallulah are great main characters. They both have very realistic strengths and flaws, and they had a lot to overcome before they could be together. I liked that there was a such a strong conflict; at times, it felt like there was no possible resolution and I was on the edge of my seat wondering "how can they make this work!?". I also like that Burgess's daughter and ex-wife were presented as real people and not overly-stereotyped caricatures. Burgess and Tallulah also had individual problems to solve before they could even begin to work on their relationship issues, so it was nice to see them grow personally.

As much as I loved the characters, there was a short point in the last third where I started to lose interest. I think this book could've been a bit shorter and still have the same emotional impact.

I'm really enjoying the Big Shots universe and I hope we get a book for Sig and Chloe.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This is honestly Tessa Bailey's redemption arc in my eyes. I first read her books when her smash hit It Happened One Summer released, and I thought she would continue to release bangers...but it's been a smattering of mid to downright terrible books since then.

HOWEVER, I feel like she's gotten her magic touch back with The Au Pair Affair. The tension built fantastically, and I actually really loved both of our main characters. I wanted both to be able to overcome their challenges, and be able to help each other heal. I think what she does beautifully in this book that has been lacking in a few of her previous ones, is the delay of gratification. I was literally punching my sheets waiting for them to finally give in!!!

All in all, I am so happy with this book.

i didn't love this one, but it was still an entertaining read! i am very grateful to be granted the chance to read this book prior to release, thank you to the author and publishers!

I received this ebook from Netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion and review. I liked how this book can be read as a standalone or as part of a series. I’ll definitely go back and read the first one now! As far as these two go, i enjoyed their love story, but I have to say who decided to name them Tallulah & Burgess? i had a hard time taking them seriously because of that. Otherwise I liked their characters.

I loved this book! It was such a good way to continue the relationship that we caught wind of in Fangirl Down! Tallulah agrees to be a live-in nanny for Burgess and his 12 year old daughter, despite her trust issues, and his rough reputation. There is so much emotion, humor, and steam in this book, I couldn't put it down!

I was obsessed with Fangirl Down and this is a fun continuation of that series! Love to see TB venturing into sports romances!

**Ok, here's the thing about this one. I really wanted to like it more than I did because I was such a fan of Fangirl Down, but I'm realizing I never like my digital reads as much as I like my physical ones. I may update my rating after I grab a physical copy of this and do a re-read!

I really enjoyed the second book in the Big Shots series. I'm a huge fan of Tessa Bailey and her writing style. She always does a great job of including banter, emotions and spice and this book didn't fall short in those categories. The characters were very likeable and I love that the minor characters from the series make small appearances. This book is worth your time.

4.5 stars rounded up to 5 stars. I feel like at a different time of me reading this it might have been a solid 5 stars. That being said, I really enjoyed this book. I probably liked it even more than the first one of the series. The first part of this book hooked me right away. I loved how sweet and considerate Burgess was towards Tallulah especially when she was uncomfortable. The tension in this book was burning! It had the typical great Tessa Bailey spice but I liked the slower burn and build up that these two had. The reason why I did not fully give it a 5 stars is because I did lose some interest towards the end. I never wanted to stop reading there were just some parts I could skim and was okay with it. Overall, this was a great book and one I can see myself reading again. Burgess's daughter was a fun addition to the book, I like how there was not OW drama with his ex wife and I really liked Sig and Chloe. Hopefully we get their book next!

Thanks Tessa Bailey, NetGalley, and Avon and Harper Voyager for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review!

What a fun second book in the Big Shots series!
We get to get to know Burgess aka Sir Savage, burly hockey defenseman and Tallulah, the au pair to his preteen daughter. We also get to see LOTS of Wells and Josephine from Fangirl Down seeing as how Josephine is Tallulah’s best friend and how Burgess and Tallulah met in the first place. 11 years her senior, and against his better judgement, he falls first, and he’s down bad for her. It takes quite a while for him to break down her walls, she’s dealing with some pretty significant trauma, but their chemistry is undeniable and he’s patient while she comes around. My only complaint is that there was a lot of wishy washiness on T’s part. Lots of, “This will NEVER happen!!” And then a page and a half later, they were hooking up in the kitchen. “Don’t talk to me, I need space.” Banging on the couch. “It’ll never work.” Doing it up against the side of the building. I’m a big proponent of USING YOUR WORDS! But then you’ve gotta back up your words with action (or inaction, as the case may be.) I get that their chemistry was red hot, couldn’t be denied, etc. but then stop trying to keep him at arm’s length, it’s not like he’s a bad guy. Anyway, I still enjoyed it a lot, and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys Tessa’s writing!

Tessa Bailey 🥰 this is a second book in a standalone series! If you’ve read Tessa Bailey before and you love her books, this book stays true to her typical formula. I really liked this, I think it will make for a great beach read

This was my first Tessa Bailey and I loved it! This book was adorable and so much fun! Tallulah becomes the au pair to the Sir Savage of hockey and she cannot keep her eyes and mind off of him. Burgess is a single father to a preteen daughter, who thought hiring Tallulah would help him navigate through, but what he didn’t expect was how she would affect him. The spice level was 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ and the real emotions portrayed were incredible. One of the best reads this year!

Ever since reading Fangirl Down I have been eagerly waiting for the sequel that features her best friend, Telilulah. Thanks to Netgalley I had the opportunity to read this early and it lived up to all my expectations. As Bailey always does, she did an amazing job of telling the story of Tellilulah, who is stating a masters program and needs a place to stay. Burgeese is a professional hockey player who needs help with his daughter. This was such a good story of earning someone’s trust and coming back from trauma. I loved the book from start to finish and hope the next book will be about Cleo!!

Thank you to Netgalley and to the publishers for allowing me to read this advanced copy.

love love loved this book! such a cute hockey romance and a great single dad romance! loved the entire thing! 4.5 ⭐️

Oh how I loved this story!!! Burgess was different from other Sport Romance MCs. He fell so quickly and so hard and so, so deeply. He was a gentle giant off the ice. From the moment he met Tallulah, he knew she was different and he wanted to be in her space. Burgess had no clue how to interact with his daughter. He was awkward in the most innocent ways. He wanted to be a good dad, but needed someone to help him see his words and actions through another’s eyes. Tallulah was this person. There were so many obstacles for them to overcome starting at the very beginning of the book. Their road to happiness was not smooth, but it sure was sweet when they got there.

I received a free ARC and this is my honest, voluntary review.

Is this my new favorite Tessa Bailey read? Very possibly. I loved the depth of the characters and character development they experienced! It was such a great compliment to the quality spice!