This book was so amazing!! I loved it so much I didn’t want to end. The smut level was 10/10 amazing!! This was the best age gap and nanny book ever! I also loved how broody and large Burgess was as a hockey player. Tessa is amazing and had great character depth for Burgess and Tullulah. I am so excited for the next book in the series! Thank you so much for the ARC!

The dispair that is Tallulah has faced in her life would be enough to close off any woman. But, Tallulah doesn't let that stop her. Taking on an Au pair job for the handsome, brute of a man hockey player was out of her comfort zone. Burgess the single dad, hockey player wants nothing more than to protect Tallulah and make sure she feels safe. The electricity and tension between the two cannot be ignored by either one of them. Watching the two come into their full potential despite everything working against them keeps you reading all the way to the end.

**I did receive this book as an ARC through NetGalley**
After reading Fangirl Down, I was hype when I saw that Burgess and Tallulah were going to be getting their own story- and Tessa did not disappoint!! The Au Pair Affair was sooo steamy with lots of tension and dirty talk- I couldn't get enough. I enjoyed the hockey player and grad student dynamic and was rooting for Burgess and Tallulah the whole book. This is a slower burn with LOTS of tension Burgess's dirty talk is also next level. My only 2 criticisms are one- I wanted more spicy moments between these two since the scenes we did get were HOTTTT. and 2- I am personally not a huge fan of romance books that end right as the couple has sorted their shit out. I want to get more than just an epilogue showing the happy couple. This book does end quick and I wish there were a few more chapters following the reconciliation. Other than that, I recommend this book to people who enjoy an age gap, sports, or forbidden romances.

Spice rating: 3.5/5
Overall rating: 8/10

The way I squealed, yes, SQUEALED in delight when NetGalley approved me for this ARC!!!

The Au Pair Affair is book #2 in Tessa Bailey’s Big Shots series, and focuses on Tallulah Aydin and Burgess Abraham. We briefly meet our main characters in Fangirl Down, as friends of Josephine and Wells, respectively

After the tease in Fangirl Down, I was excited and ready for this pairing, and they did not disappoint! Our story centers on Tallulah, a young woman who has spent the last few years hiding from trauma in her past. She has taken internships after internship in remote places, in the safety of a lab setting- all to avoid romantic connections, and men in general. Why then, did she put herself in the position of volunteering herself to be an Au Pair for a behemoth hockey player single dad? When she realizes her new job would mean being alone with a man she hardly knows, she panics and resigns before starting.

Of course, the story doesn’t end there as we see MMC Burgess slowly win Tallulah over with his even temper, excellent listening, and gentle reassurances. And as he wins her over, we also get to see his less than gentle sexy side…prepare yourselves for mean daddy 🥵

You might love this if you like:

- hockey/sports romance
- third act breakup
- witty banter
- tension, tension, TENSIOOOOON (Tessa Bailey is queen of this, in my humble opinion 😌)
-

Spice: 2.5-3 🌶️
Open door, plenty of graphic scenes but nothing too wild.


Just for fun// If you have read both Fangirl Down and The Au Pair Affair, I must ask: do you prefer Wells? Or Burgess?

Coming off of the high that I felt with Fangirl Down, I was so excited to get my hands on this arc!

Sadly this wasn't my favorite. While I usually love Tessa's dirty talking MMCs and quirky writing style, I wasn't super connected with this one. I did love Tallulah and Burgess as a whole; however, I felt that their relationship wasn't entirely believable. Especially with Tallulah's past and her experience with men; it didn't make sense that she felt comfortable in that form of forced proximity that quickly.

Some of the dialogue between the two and their inner monologues took me out of the story and I felt that the plot was lacking at times. I was wanting more of the nanny aspects throughout the story and we didn't get to see Tallulah working that much.

I did love getting to see Wells and Josephine make a re-entry into this world! The moments with them truly made my heart so happy. I also loved getting to meet the new characters like Sig, Chloe, and the two rookies. I am excited to see where she takes this series!

Overall, I wished that I liked this more, but I still can't wait to read the rest of the series when it comes out!

Thank you Tessa Bailey, Avon, and Netgalley for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

An absolute delight! Funny, charming, spicy and full of characters you can‘t help but fall in love with. Tessa Bailey does it again and is at the top of her writing game. This one isn‘t out until July but I couldn‘t resist jumping in. Highly recommend!

Another fun, cute and heartwarming Tessa Bailey book! The Au Pair Affair had me laughing out loud at the antics that the main characters got up to. I will say that I wish we got to see some more of the side characters and I thought the main character had a very rough background story that was kind of glossed over. I do love that Tessa Bailey's writing can have me laughing at one moment then crying the next. I can't wait to read whatever Tessa Bailey writes next!
Thank you Netgalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for the ARC!

I started reading Tessa Bailey in late 2023, and greatly enjoyed her books. When I finished Fangirl Down and had the opportunity to read and Review the Au Pair Affair, I was very excited. I enjoyed her previous books, but I devoured these. The Au Pair Affair was incredible. I loved every second of this book, and couldn't put it down. I can't wait for more Tessa Bailey books, the story was rich, feeling, passionate, and so much fun! I never expected so much from a single dad/nanny and sports romance, but it just kept giving and didn't stop. Tessa did an incredible job blending the two together to include a stimulating sports romance learn how to lead his team and learn there's more to life than hockey, while simultaneously navigating life with a teenager. Burgess and Tallulah are a wonderful story of healing, adventure, and growth. I cried, I laughed, and can't wait to add a copy to my library.

This book was well written and spicy in a way that Tessa Bailey is known for. While somewhat predictable I wasn't mad, because it gave me everything I was looking for and more. Definitely worth the read, and really hope that Chole's story is next because I need more!

Hockey romance for the win! This was so so good and so so hot. He was super cute with his overwhelming crush and so anxious not to be a creeper on his younger nanny. She was damaged just the right amount and his respect for her and care with her issues was fucking great. The twist of his injury at the end was emotional and a great third act break up. Loved how patient he was. Also really liked how much Wells and Josephine from the previous book were in this one, it worked really well. Nicely set up the next book too. Love love loved it

Tessa Bailey does it again, hitting the mark with "The Au Pair Affair" in a way that's sure to impress even the most discerning hockey enthusiasts!

I'll admit, I wasn't initially thrilled about diving into yet another hockey romance, being not much of a fan myself. But boy, did this book change my perspective! "The Au Pair Affair" had me hooked from the start.

Enter Tallulah, a graduate student in marine biology, who's struggling to make ends meet. When she lands a job as a live-in au pair, she's thrilled for the opportunity.

Meanwhile, Burgess, a single dad and veteran hockey player, is in need of some assistance with his pre-teen daughter. Upon meeting Tallulah through mutual connections, he offers her the job.

As Tallulah settles into her new role, she proves to be a perfect fit for Burgess's family, providing much-needed support for his daughter while unexpectedly finding herself helping Burgess too. Sparks fly between Tallulah and Burgess, but their budding romance is complicated by his daughter's lingering hope for her parents to reconcile.

When tragedy strikes and Burgess is injured, their relationship blows up, leaving Tallulah no other choice than to walk away. But can their fractured hearts find a way back to each other amidst the chaos or is the damage too deep?

Thanks to NetGalley and Avon for granting me early access to this novel before its official release in exchange for my honest review.

3.75/5 ⭐️
Another quick, cute read by Tessa Bailey. The banter was next level, and I love when the guy is so down for the woman. He was constantly reminding the reader that he would do anything for Tallulah.

One thing even Tessa Bailey couldn't redeem was a single dad trope... Something about it is always uncomfortable in writing. However, this was the best written single dad story I have read thus far.

It's cute! I would recommend.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

I loved the first book in this series so much that I couldn't wait until July to read Tallulah's story. This book was just as steamy as the last and I enjoyed it almost as much. Hockey is my favorite sport, so I thought I would enjoy that side of it more than golf, but there wasn't a ton of sport here. There was a ton of steam though! I'm also glad that we're being set up for a third book in this series. Can't wait!

I already auto-buy everything Tessa touches, but I’m REALLY enjoying this new series far more than I expected. There is just something about the way she writes these big burly sports men with their big emotions. While I didn’t love The Au Pair affair quite as much as I loved Fangirl Down, I DID love Burgess, Lissa and Tallulah so much. I loved the tie ins to all the past and future characters and can’t wait to see where else this series will take us.

I think I’m just a Tessa Bailey stan. I’ll eat up anything she writes at this point. This was cute, steamy and laugh out loud funny. I devoured Fan Girl Down and was hoping book 2 would live up to that and it did. This was an age gap, close proximity, sports romance with lots of scandalously yummy moments.

I am a little biased since Tallulah is a marine biologist and Burgess is a hockey player. I am a sucker for a sports romance but there is just something about hockey players that just fits the criteria perfectly. I related to Tallulah in many ways, and I just adored her as an FMC. The relationship between her and Burgess was honest and sweet. I loved that Burgess was very straightforward with his feelings. Gotta love a protective mean daddy (iykyk).

There was a genuine build to their connection, tension with their close proximity and the dirty talk was out of this world. But that is always the case when it comes to any Tessa Bailey novel.

It was such a fun read, and I can’t wait for the next book. I am basically salivating at the mouth to get my hands on it. The introduction to the next couple has me dripping with curiosity and I’m hoping there are more cameos with Wells, Josephine, Burgess and Tallulah. I almost don’t want to let them go.

Tessa Bailey hits it out of the park again! I was so excited to read this after Fangirl Down, which I also loved. Burgess... can I get an amen?! Tessa Bailey knows how to write a man, woof! I'm also not usually into the divorced parent trope but I really liked that aspect of the book. His relationship with Lissa was adorable. Something I didn't like... the break up. That was rough and honestly a little too harsh for me. But I understand the point, and enjoyed the groveling. Still loved it even though the last 20% was hard to read. Side note: In fan girl down Tallulah talked about how she wanted children and I would have LOVED to see the subject discussed between the two of them in the epilogue. Please do a bonus epilogue!

Coming off of the high that I felt with Fangirl Down, I was so excited to get my hands on this arc!

Sadly this wasn't my favorite. While I usually love Tessa's dirty talking MMCs and quirky writing style, I wasn't super connected with this one. I did love Tallulah and Burgess as a whole; however, I felt that their relationship wasn't entirely believable. Especially with Tallulah's past and her experience with men; it didn't make sense that she felt comfortable in that form of forced proximity that quickly.

Some of the dialogue between the two and their inner monologues took me out of the story and I felt that the plot was lacking at times. I was wanting more of the nanny aspects throughout the story and we didn't get to see Tallulah working that much.

I did love getting to see Wells and Josephine make a re-entry into this world! The moments with them truly made my heart so happy. I also loved getting to meet the new characters like Sig, Chloe, and the two rookies. I am excited to see where she takes this series!

Overall, I wished that I liked this more, but I still can't wait to read the rest of the series when it comes out!

Thank you Tessa Bailey, Avon, and Netgalley for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

(3.5 stars)
I didn’t know if I was going to like this book and I did like it a lot more than I thought I would. Tessa Bailey’s banter rarely misses and this was definitely full of fun banter but some of the other scenes aren’t my favorite. I did really like the 2 main characters and their chemistry overall. A fun read and I will definitely be reading the next book.

The Au Pair Affair by Tessa Bailey

Tessa Bailey has become an auto-buy author for me! This book is the second in a series, and while you could read it as a stand alone, I wouldn't because Fangirl Down is a great introduction to Tallulah and Burgess.

Tallulah is studying to be a marine biologist but she's broke. When her best friends boyfriends best friend offers her a job as a live-in nanny, she jumps at the opportunity. Only after accepting does she question if living with a burley hockey player stranger is the best option for her.

Tallulah is a natural with Burgess's tween daughter who is angsty and angry! But when the undeniable attraction between Tallulah and Burgess blurs the boundaries, Tallulah knows she needs to walk away.

Tallulah and Burgess have baggage to unpack! And you already know I'm ready for the next in this series!

Thank you to Avon Books, NetGalley and Tessa Bailey for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

A solid followup to Fangirl Down. This one deals with much heavier issues in the characters' backstories, so it felt less fun than book one, with good reason. I wanted a little more from it, but I haven't pinpointed what that detail is yet.

Loved getting to see a glimpse of Wells and Josephine's wedding. Definely looking forward to Chloe and Sig's story whenever that rolls around.