Tessa Bailey does it again! I am LOVING her sports romance series,

This one gave me so many feelings, and I almost didn’t survive the third act breakup, but it ended up being a 4.5/5 star read for me. The single dad trope is one of my absolute favorites, and Burgess, the grumpy, hot hockey playing dad is the epitome of why I love it so much!! Then you add a smart, maternal nanny with deep trauma to work through? I ate this up.

Thank you NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for an eARC in exchange for my honest review!

It was an honor to receive this arc! Tessa Bailey is a newer author to me and I enjoyed this from start to end! Single dad tropes get me every single time! Super spicy, he falls first, but there was a third act breakup that reduced the rating for me.

The tension in this Tessa Bailey book was some of her best to date. Who doesn't like a "he falls first and hard." But... these third act breakups always have me losing steam. I get it. We need a conflict and resolution but I don't particularly think I found this couple believable enough to warrant how much of the timeline was spent reconciling. Something about a Tessa Bailey book always always has me cringing BUT I keep coming back.... Does that say something about her writing? Maybe it says something about me lol another fun, quick read and definitely recommend! Fingers crossed for book three!

Thank you so much to Avon and NetGalley for the ARC!

Definitely lived up to Fangirl Down! Loved the tension between the characters, and phew is it 🌶️. Has the single dad/age gap (but not in a creepy way), with a little touch of dark past. Really enjoyed this book 😍

This book was very enjoyable to read. It had a high spice level that the author is known for and interesting characters. Some of it was a little unbelievable, but it’s fiction right? I would recommend the book for a fun, light, spicy read.

Posted on Goodreads:

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon/Harper Voyager for this ARC- it was my second ARC ever and the first that I requested. I truly feel lucky that I enjoyed it as much as I did. Because here’s the thing- I started this book with a ton of skepticism. Like, how do you agree to let a stranger that you’ve known for a few minutes live with you AND take care of your kid? How clever of Tessa Bailey to acknowledge the absurdity of this situation in a believable way that also showcased how thoughtful and caring the male main character would be. Plus, people are always saying how much they hate instalove- but I found it to be quite believable in this book. And as per usual, Tessa Bailey writes some of the best sex scenes in the business. This book is officially one of my top five favorite romances I’ve ever read and makes me excited for Tessa’s next book.

Loved the first book of the series. The second one is such a feel good book. Burgess is so yummy! Love his gruff exterior but marshmallow interior.

Thank you to NetGalley, Tessa, and Avon for an ARC of this book. I was DYING to read it after Fangirl Down. You could just tell that Tallulah and Burgess' story was going to be steamy and epic. I'm a big ole sucker for a hockey romance and this definitely did not disappoint...and so many tropes wrapped up in one fun read! I think my only complaint is that I selfishly wished they spent more time being official bf/gf before the third act breakup.

But also can we talk about how much fun it would have been to go to the "research" hockey games with Tessa?

It’s a Tessa Bailey book. It was fine up until the conflict. The resolution was too abrupt, and it felt rushed. I wish the daughter was more involved.

This was a light, breezy romcom that has a little bit of hockey and a lot of romance, just the way I like it. Tessa Bailey has some tried-and-trues that she put to good use here: a growly, strong-and-silent hero, though a little softer around the edges because he's also a dad, a bright, vivacious heroine who's juuuust a little bit of a brat, and of course, everyone being super horny for the size difference.

Tessa's not trying to reinvent the wheel with this book, but there are a couple specific things I appreciated: First the au pair part— Tallulah's charge, Burgess's daughter Lissa is a tween, older than a lot of kids in nanny romances, so it doesn't feel icky in that way where young women are dropped into ready-made families and IMMEDIATELY assume a maternal role— Tallulah is more of a big-sister to Lissa, and even that comes with time. And Lissa isn't weirdly precocious or used as a prop to bring the couple together; she's dealing with her own issues at school and actually functions as an obstacle for Burgess and Tallulah's romance.

There's also the age gap stuff: There's an 11 year age difference between Tallulah and Burgess but she's 26 and he's 37, and I thought it was treated with the right level of maturity, like, Burgess isn't freaking out about how she's *so young* because she isn't; Instead, he acknowledges that they're in different places life-wise, especially because she has her own career dreams, and he's divorced and has a daughter. Which are all valid things to consider, but the age gap itself isn't super harped on. He also treats Tallulah with a lot of care because of her past trauma related to a man she trusted, but again, he acknowledges that she's an adult who knows her own mind.

And that's something that impacts their early relationship; Burgess proves himself as a trustworthy person before Tallulah starts to fall for him, no matter how physically attracted she was right off the bat. There is a third act breakup, but I was actually surprised by what prompted it: it's less about external pressure and lot of it has to do with Burgess feeling like a has-been, and believing that he has no identity outside professional hockey. So there is a grovel and a fairly drawn-out one at that, something I thought was necessary and done well.

The sex:

Here's what you can expect: classic Tessa Bailey dirty talk, allegedly-platonic massages, a very hot mutual masturbation moment that also functions as emotional edging (which, I love), and some dry-humping action. Burgess does another classic Tessa Bailey thing where he refuses to go all the way until Tallulah is willing to commit and won't regret being with him afterwards (leading to the aforementioned edging). And Tallulah is a size queen, because of course she is.

Overall:

Like I said earlier, Tessa isn't trying to reinvent the wheel with this book, but what we do get is solid; it's light and fun, a great beach read with just the right amount of growly possessiveness and sexy shenanigans we expect from this author.

Thank you to Avon Books and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Rating: 4/5
Heat Level: 3.5/5
Publication Date: July 16th

Thank you Netgalley and Avon Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Ok! I will say this feels out of Tessa Bailey's element. Like right off the bat. I'm diving into the bad. It feels so unnatural to see her writing these types of sport romance novels. This just might be me though. However I feel like as just a romance story it works really well. She knows what she is writing and how to go about it. It's a good romance but a sports romance it just feels unnatural.

Tessa Bailey fans are going to love The Au Pair Affair! It is EXTRA spicy, full of angst, happy ending(s), and set up for another book! I recommend this - and most Tessa Bailey books- to those readers looking for gritty more erotic romance with open-door explicit scenes. However, there is a sweetness as the characters deal with strong feelings and personal trauma.

I loved this book like I love all of Tesss Baileys! Tallullah and Burgess are opposites and in completely different parts of their lives. But maybe that’s what’s drawing them together?

Some of it is cheesy like all rom coms but it’s a sweet love story with a fiercely protective bear of a man and an intelligent brave woman.

What a sweet romance.
-Age Gap
-Single Dad
-Grumpy x Sunshine
If you enjoy Tessa Bailey's other books you will love this one! I enjoyed seeing Tallulah and Burgess explore their feelings for one another.

I absolutely LOVED this book!!! I can always count on Tessa to write a swoon worthy man and an incredibly relatable beautiful lady.
This is equal parts cute, and touching, and romantic, and spicy as all hell.
I had such a blast reading it, I loved loved loved the dual perspectives, especially when it came to Burgess making it his life’s freaking mission to get that girl!!!!!!!! And I just loved Tallulah, I felt her anxiety and was so proud of her for growing as much as she did during the course of the book.

Thank you endlessly to Avon and Harper Voyager, to Netgalley, and to Tessa Bailey for the opportunity to read this arc.

Listen, I consider myself to be a Josephine-level superfan of Tessa Bailey’s books. She has her own shelf in my library. My coworkers know her name because I lovingly force them to read her books, too. I never get off of my soapbox talking about It Happened One Summer, and Fangirl Down, two of my absolute favorites, but THIS ONE. I swear, the entire ebook is highlighted.

This whole thing was a red lettered book that I absolutely couldn’t put down for a moment.

Friends, coworkers, bookstagram, prepare to hate me, because I won’t be shutting up anytime soon. There’s a gravelly, protective, hockey-playing male main character, and this book WASN’T supposed to send me into orbit? I had no shot here. Also, a female main character who’s passionate about marine biology? Who gets as excited about aquariums as I do? Yes! This book was everything.

Without giving too much away, the way Burgess TALKS literally had my jaw scraping the pavement. You’ll just have to see for yourself. From the very first chapter I was so excited to be able to see things from his point of view.

Lastly, I was really overly excited about two things: so much Wells time, and a reference to Ted Lasso. It made my heart happy.

Now, go get a copy of this book!!!!

This was such a fun and easy read. I absolutely loved Tallulah's infectious energy for her character. I definitely think this is more so a fun quick read, so if you are looking for something deep and overly emotional, then this may be not it for you. Nonetheless I enjoyed reading and absolutely the character chemistry. I also liked how the daughter had a more realistic reaction as a 12 year old towards her nanny and dad dating. Usually most single dad x nanny books I read have deadbeat mothers so the relationship between the nanny and the kid is easier. But in this case, they really had to work through it with the daughter as a huge part of the climax/resolution of the book. Overall a fun hockey romantic comedy!

I absolutely loved this book! The characters had great chemistry and were just easy to love and root for. I also really liked how she portrayed the family dynamics and how they worked through their issues together. Can't wait to read more!

Tallulah is a graduate student looking for a place to live and Burgess needs help with his tween daughter. He offers a place for her to live in exchange for help with his daughter. What could possibly happen? *smirks*

This is a Tessa Bailey book so I was expecting it to be incredibly fun but it surpassed my expectations. This book had me giggling and kicking my feet. I kept on being like "Burgess the man that you are!!" The way I blushed at some of the scenes, you guys it was so good! I absolutely recommend it.

Tropes: Grumpy/sunshine, hockey romance, age gap, and forced proximity.

Thank you to NetGalley, Avon and Harper Voyager | Avon, and Tessa Bailey for giving me the opportunity to read an ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

I. Loved. This. Book.
The tension was just amazing. Burgess is the perfect example of he falls first, but this man falls HARD. I loved seeing them grow together (even if it hurt me a little). It had the perfect amount of comedic moments which Tessa is an making at. I’m so excited for the next one! ( if there is a next one)