I was looking forward to this book after having thoroughly enjoyed “Fangirl Down”. However, I was sorely disappointed.

When Burgess and Tallulah were introduced in “Fangirl Down” I was excited to read their story. I figured we’d get a little grumpy/ sunshine action where he falls first with plenty of spice. The spice was definitely there, but I just couldn’t get into their dynamic.

Tallulah was given a backstory in which she went through something major that had her weary of men. Yet, she constantly contradicted herself. I understand that things don’t get better overnight, but she was incredibly wishy-washy and she kind of got on my nerves a lot.

Also, there wasn’t a lot of Au Pairing going on. The kid was kind of thrown in there as filler and occasional pre-teen angst. She of course wanted her parents to get back together so she was supposed to be a wrench in their plans. But Tallulah was truly the only thing stopping the relationship from being what it could be.

I still enjoy Tessa Bailey’s writing, but I wasn’t feeling the overprotectiveness and age gap trope in this one. And the foreshadowing of Sig and his future step-sister having a book is kind of ick to me. I’m sure it’s someone’s cup of tea, but not mine.

Special thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for releasing this arc to me in exchange for an honest review.

I love a book where the guy falls first & this book is good example of why age gaps are a fun trope. It has a little bit of hockey, a smart FMC, and revisits some characters from book 2. And lots of spicy scenes!

Tessa Bailey has done it again!!!!! She is a must read for me Everytime a new book comes out it goes to the top of my TBR. Such a fun read! I enjoyed every minute of it and would love to see what's in store next for some of the supporting cast!

The single father romance that is going to make this summer even hotter with what Burgess and his dirty mouth bring to this story...

When Tessa Bailey first introduced Burgess and Tallulah in Fangirl Down, my instant obsession of a single father/nanny romance kicked in and got me beyond hyped. And then when this puppy landed on my kindle one beautiful and even better Friday morning, I knew that I was going to have an incredible weekend. And my gosh did I devour this story in two days!

Burgess is a Boston hockey player, who is also a single father trying his very hardest to balance the life of a father and a famous hockey star. His career is coming to a near end, him being 37 years old has finally caught up to him physically. And the connection that he tries to have but does not know how with his 12 year old daughter, comes to a situation of dragging him emotionally as well. So when the opportunity arrises for Burgess to hire Tallulah as a live in nanny, he does it in a heartbeat. His instant attraction towards Tallulah is palpable through every page. When the time comes for her to officially move in with Burgess, her hesitation is one that I can truly understand. Tallulah at an instant seems to understand Burgess' daughter and her pre-teen ways. And adding that to his enamor attraction towards Tallulah, Burgess grows even more effatuated with her. But their personalities could not be any more different, especially with Tallulah's past as well as trying to find ways to change it, and Burgess' current present of being stuck in one place. Even so, these two characters make every page worth reading because of how obsessive they turn you as a reader. And that is the power of Tessa's writing.

And let's not forget about the most important part; the dirty talk. The scorching dirty talk that comes from this growly, surly of a man. Oh he knows what he is doing and much more. Combining that with how soft of a teddy bear he also is, and Tallulah's attention and ways of submitting to him is what makes these two one of the favorite couples of the year;
"Only had it once, but I remember this pussy like the back of my goddam hand. It's wet and tight and it's mine..."

This story brings to the table so much more than our daddy Burgess. It brings the best qualities if Tallulah and the battles that she has to fight on her own. But also the protective energy and ways that Burgess wants to give and show to her, even after knowing her past. This story will be a favorite for many! And just as one when I finished reading Fangirl Down, after finishing this one, Tessa already has me giggling and anticipating her next novel. The step-sibling trope is coming our way!

I received this as an advanced readers copy through NetGalley— Thank you!
Audience: Adult
Plot: 4/5
Characters: 4/5
Spice: 4/5
For me personally, this was my first time reading any of the author’s books. But I have seen all her books fly off the shelves, and I think this new novel will be no exception.
Overall, I think that the plot of the novel is very well crafted. Both of the main characters (Burgess and Tallulah) are well-rounded, dynamic, and have flaws, which makes them relatable. Throughout the novel they each work towards getting past those flaws, sometimes even together. I will say that the chemistry between the characters is hot and steamy. When a big event happens, it causes a major challenge. One that Burgess and Tallulah try to work through, but neither are certain if things will be as it was before, or could it possibly end up being something even better? Their romance is a big portion of the novel, so it is definitely for adult audiences. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys contemporary romance with spice.

Fun and sassy!! I just adored Lissa the pre teen in this book, she was sweet and sassy and honest. The banter and attraction between the love interests is so intense!!

3.5 Stars

When Tallulah Aydin was offered a job as an au pair with room and board in Boston, it seemed too good to be true. And now that she learned that the nickname of her new boss is Sir Savage... she is definitely having second thoughts...

Burgess Abraham is single father who needs help... and when his teen daughter bonds with Tallulah, asking her to move in is a no-brainer. But when he realizes that his new employee is scared of him?! Burgess' protective side kicks in...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Au Pair Affair was a sexy, single parent, age gap, romantic read! Tallulah and Burgess share an attraction from the moment they meet, but pursuing their feelings is the last thing either one of them wants to do. Tallulah is ready to live her life again, free and unfettered from previous trauma, while Burgess is an aging athlete, who feels like he would bring the effervescent Tallulah down with him...

Tallulah was a strong and accomplished woman, brought low by an incident that changed her forever. After hiding out in Antarctica for the past year studying penguins, she is ready to start a new venture in healing... attending college in Boston, and living with a man who makes her nervous... and not in a bad way...

Burgess is a professional hockey player, known to be savage on the ice, but when it comes to Tallulah, his soft side comes out, front and center. Hiring Tallulah to help with his daughter is a godsend, but keeping his feelings to himself proves to be a lot harder than he anticipated...

This book was a good read, and I really enjoyed that despite Tallulah and Burgess' individual struggles, the unlikely connection they found with each other helps them both to become better people in the long run. They had a great chemistry with a lot of sexy antics between them, but for some reason this book ended up being a very slow read for me. I usually devour this authors books, but there was something about this one that just couldn't hold my attention. That being said, I am always excited to see what comes in the next book, because this author very rarely fails to bring a fabulous read...

I received a complimentary copy of this book for my honest and unbiased review.

THE AU PAIR AFFAIR by Tessa Bailey is the second in a companion series following America's most lauded athletes (in their own rights.) While the first book left some thing wanting for me, THE AU PAIR AFFAIR filled those gaps by chapter three. I loved the dynamic between the couple. FMC is a 26 year-old grad student working on her masters in marine biology, while MMC is an older, incredibly seasoned hockey player grappling with the fact that his body isn't performing in the same ways it did when he was young. Our couple comes together when she gets a job as his live-in nanny. There is a heavy dose of trauma in our FMC's background, and I think that the MMC reacted to and responded to it very well.

oh of course this ate. has tessa bailey EVER failed?? this book was FIERCELY amazing!!! i loved burgess and tallulah so much. TB will always eat up the boy obsessed trope and this is no exception! also...some of her best steam yet. i cannot WAIT for the rest of this series!! esp the next two...

This is the second book of the Big Shots series. I really am enjoying this series and there’s only 2 books out. I loved that Burgess was obsessed with Tallulah and he would stop at nothing to get her back! Tessa Bailey can do no wrong… I love her writing. I can’t wait to read more in the Big Shots series!

Thank you NetGalley and Avon for the arc of this book.

I'm so grateful for the chance to read this arc! Tessa Bailey is one author I keep coming back to, however THE AU PAIR AFFAIR may not be a specific title of hers that I would reread. The tension throughout was great, but overall it was a bit difficult to stay interested. A perfectly fine novel. Just not great.

If I could rate this zero stars, I would. This Labrador of a man turns out to be one of the most toxic male characters I have ever come across in my life. Knows her past trauma (which, holy heck.. trigger warning) and still says the toxic awful things he says and she’s written as finding it “hot” until he pushes too far and yet they still end up back together. Oh too of his horrible things he says to her, he’s unbelievably jealous and not in a hot way. It’s like someone tried to make him some awful alpha character but instead made him creepy possessive and jealous. She was absolutely insufferable through out most of the book. They were so humpy for each other that it actually got boring about half way through. I genuinely found myself rolling my eyes more than anything through this book. I can’t believe how angry the whole book made me. I really, really, really, hated this book. So much.

The fact that Tessa Bailey can make me care about sports is a miracle enough! This book was just so fun!

I think I liked Fangirl Down better but with every consecutive Tessa Bailey, she proves herself to be a growing and talented author. The humor, the light, the steaminess... Signature Tessa Bailey. I don't think she could ever fail me.

This series is shaping up to be a favorite of mine.

As with many of Dare's novels, you do have to really suspend belief, but plausibility of the plot progression is not why we are here. We are, however, here for a scorching semi-slow-burn romance with just enough tragic backstory to make us really root for the protagonists. The "he falls first" trope is always a good time and Tallulah's history with men provides some grit to the relationship without playing up abuse for plot progression. For an otherwise light-hearted sports romance, Dare handles the topic with grace.

I didn't always love the banter (again, I may have outgrown "cute" flirting from 20-somethings), but the spice was top-notch as always. I enjoyed the way the relationship between books and characters within each story wound together. The friendship between Chloe and Tallulah is a nice break from "all cis-het romance all the time" and provides some insight into the network of characters as a whole. Getting to see the characters from the previous book and the vibe of what I am really hoping is the next book makes this "Big Shots" world very fun and rife with options for more stories.

Another cuteeee romance from Tessa Bailey. This was the story of Sir Savage, or Burgess, who we know as Wells’ hockey friend from Fangirl Down, and Josephine’s BFF Tallulah.

I had a lot of fun with this book. Burgess is a single dad/star hockey player (of course) who hires Tallulah as his au pair, and it gets a little messy. While I really did like Burgess and his alpha-hole tendencies, there were a lot of actions of Tallulah’s that didn’t really sit well with me. She tends to be emotionally driven, and kind of reads as a young college student, not a mid-20s grad student. She doesn’t really consider the impact of her actions but insists that others should.

I wish there was more hockey in this and I didn’t appreciate so much back and forth towards the end. Besides that, the story was fun, swoony, and I enjoyed seeing glimpses into the Wells/Josephine wedding. I can’t wait to read Sig and Chloe’s story.

I am all about the sport romance and a single hot dad....... I am in! This Tessa Bailey book was spicy!! Loved it!

This was a cute book though I wish we got more of Tallulah being a nanny and really working through her background and how Burgess handled it all. He just seemed to have changed over night. But over all I did enjoy the book!

} I’ve long been a @tessabaileyisanauthor fan girl (pun intended) so the moment I had the chance to read #TheAuPairAffair after meeting the characters in #FangirlDown , I had to start it immediately, despite pub day in July.

Age gap, single dad, nanny, hockey player, forced proximity ?!? Seriously, how much more could I ask for?! With Tessa’s patented banter and spice, this was another winner for me and I only hope this series will continue (and I’m placing bets on Chloe please and thank you!)

This was so cute and smutty. I loved Tallulah and Burgess! He was just so sweet with her and all her issues. I can't wait to read Sig and Chloe's book next!

This was a good quick read as all of Tessa Bailey’s books are. I think she handled a touchy subject fairly well and i love Tullulah and Burgess relationship. Overally a 3.5 rounded up to 4.