Love Tessa Bailey and loved The Au Pair Affair! I love the way Tessa writes. I always feel like I’m in the story. I enjoyed the chemistry between Tallulah and Burgess. Also love an older man trope.

Tessa Bailey’s The Au Pair Affair delivers everything you could want in a contemporary romance—off-the-charts chemistry, heartwarming moments, and a touching story about love, family, and second chances.

Tallulah is a fantastic heroine. As a smart and lively marine biology student, she’s relatable in her struggles—broke but full of life, willing to take on a nanny job to make ends meet. The dynamic between her and Burgess, the rugged, emotionally scarred hockey player and single dad, is magnetic from the start. Their sizzling chemistry builds at a deliciously slow burn, but what makes the story so engaging is how Tessa Bailey layers humor, heart, and real-world complications into their evolving relationship.

Burgess is a complex character. He’s not just the gruff athlete with emotional baggage; he’s a father caught between wanting the best for his daughter, Lissa, and grappling with his feelings for Tallulah. The dynamic between him and his tween daughter is heartwarming and authentic, showing his softer side and his vulnerability. Lissa herself is a lovely addition, and the bond she forms with Tallulah adds a rich, family-centered aspect to the story. Tallulah's willingness to be both a mentor and a friend to Lissa makes her even more lovable as a character.

Bailey does an excellent job of creating tension—not just romantic, but emotional tension as well. Burgess is torn between his loyalty to his daughter’s desire for her parents to reunite and his undeniable feelings for Tallulah. It’s a delicate balance, and watching him struggle to do what’s right by everyone—while Tallulah tries to keep her own emotions in check—is both heart-wrenching and incredibly satisfying to read.

The chemistry between Tallulah and Burgess is hot enough to melt ice, but the emotional stakes are just as intense. Their flirtations and moments of passion are as explosive as you’d expect from a Tessa Bailey novel, but what sets this book apart is how it handles the more tender aspects of love and healing. Tallulah's decision to walk away, even though it breaks her own heart, shows her strength and depth as a character, while Burgess’s eventual realization that he’s ready to fight for her makes for a deeply satisfying conclusion.

The Au Pair Affair is the perfect blend of romance, humor, and heartfelt moments. Bailey expertly weaves a story about finding love when you least expect it, healing from the past, and taking risks to claim your happily ever after. It’s a must-read for fans of steamy, character-driven romance that hits all the right emotional notes. If you love a good "forbidden romance" between a grumpy single dad and an adventurous nanny, this one’s for you!

Tessa Bailey and hockey romance, need I say more? The way I binged this book should be illegal. It was so good! If Tessa decided to only write sports romance for the rest of her career, I wouldn't be mad about it. Read this one if you like single dad + nanny, age gap, and forced proximity!

Tessa Bailey is the queen of tension and spice. And she definitely delivers in this book! I'm also a huge sucker for when the MMC falls first and BOY DOES HE. First and harder 1000%. Burgess was such an incredible character and I loved how he made an effort to empower Tallulah and show her what she was worth. Tallulah was such a fun heroine and I loved the relationship she had with Burgess' daughter!

Fangirl Down was my favorite of the two, but I'm super excited to see where this series goes next. Thank you Tessa Bailey and Avon for my gifted E-ARC!

The Au Pair Affair is exactly what you expect from a Tessa Bailey novel and it does not disappoint. There is a mix of sports, heat, interwoven stories from other books and a happily ever after. A fun read and cannot wait to read the next story about Sig and Chloe.

Oh Tessa Bailey you can do no wrong.

Just like book one in this series I was literally trapped from the first sentence and the rest of the chapter only ensnared me further.

Not only was this book on par (pun intended) with book 1, it was BETTER because it was Hockey and not golf!

Give me anything to read Bailey and I will love it

Overall, this is one of the highly anticipated, sweetest, high-chemistry sports romances with likable characters. I highly recommend it for a thoroughly enjoyable read!
This second book in the "Big Shot" series has already made me a big hockey fan! I loved Will and Josephine's love story, but I can honestly say I enjoyed Tallulah and Burgess' romance even more. It includes themes of forced proximity, a single dad, an age difference, and opposites attract!

Once again, Tessa Bailey has me in a choke hold. After meeting Talulah and Burgess in Fangirl Down, I knew their story was going to be good, but I was not expecting their story to pull me in the way it did. Tallulah's past was definitely darker than expected, but watching the way Burgess was with her brought me such joy. And watching him realize who he was was also great - I mean, the way that she brought out the best in Burgess just made me so happy. And I obviously am sad that I have to wait so long for the next book - because what we got of the couple in this one? Oh it's gonna be fun.

I LOVE Tessa Bailey! And this book fully lived up to my expectations. The Au Pair Affair was one that warmed my heart, made me kick my feet and kept me enthralled the entire time. I can't wait to finish out this series!

This book!! Tessa does it again! The main characters had my heart from their first interaction! I love a good single dad trope and hockey romances will always get me! Tessa knocked it out of the park with this one! I am so excited for the rest of this series because these characters are just everything! The relationship building, the conflicts, the romance, the passion, all of it Tessa does in such a beautifully real way while still giving the reader all of the things you want out of a good romance book! You feel every emotion with the characters. I was fanning myself during the steamy scenes and kicking my feet giggling during the banter!

Meh ,

I didn’t love it I didn’t hate it , Tessa baileys books are hit and miss with me. She writes great however this sports series’s might be getting repetitive

If you’re familiar with Tessa Bailey’s work, you know you’re in for a romantic, hilarious, and enjoyable read. In this book, Burgess may initially come off as a tough guy, but he’s truly a big teddy bear at heart. I absolutely loved how he protected and supported Tallulah while always respecting her boundaries. His bond with his daughter added an extra layer of depth to his character, and it made me admire him even more as a dedicated single dad.However, while I enjoy Tessa Bailey’s books, this one didnt hit as much. I had a hard time connecting with the couple because Tallulah’s past issues often overshadowed their relationship. It felt to me that she wasn’t quite ready for a commitment or the responsibilities that come with being a stepmother. Additionally, the third-act breakup felt drawn out, and the resolution felt rushed. Overall, while this is a solid addition to the series, it wasn’t my favorite by her. If you enjoy age-gap romances with a single dad/nanny dynamic and a grumpy/sunshine vibe, you might still find this book worth a read!

This book was a roller coaster.
The beginning was fine, the mmc and fmc had instant attraction for one another and that was pretty much it. Towards the end there were just too many back and forth going on that turned me off.
The tropes in this book were NICE:
Single dad
Age Gap
Boss x employee
Slow burn

But by the end of the book, I just felt like both characters were immature?

This book is going to live rent free in my head for at least the next 4 months because how had i never picked up a Tessa Bailey book until now? I am obsessed. Sure there were some parts that made me cringe a little,

But nothing that scarred me for life. Tessa pulled me out of a book slump with this one. I loved the plot, to be honest the whole boss and Nanny trope is one that I tend to gravitate more towards. But it’s only because they seem more intense and lustful. But when I see that as a plot line in any book I just know it’s going to be good.

And I was right. Tallulah and Burgess were exactly what I needed these past few weeks. The flirting made me so giddy, and the fact that Burgess was so smitten by Tallulah it made me wave all the green flags. I feel like Tallulah is me because I’m so reserved and introverted because of my fears I could relate to most of the things going on with her internally and mentally. But burgess really was so supportive but it was also a mutual thing. As much as he supported her she did as well. The book was such a fun read. I am pleasantly surprised. I will be reading more of this authors books. Definitely check it out if this is your cup of tea.

The Au Pair Affair was a cute story, albeit super spicy and Tallulah (main character) was pretty annoying. It was a quick read that held my interest, total fluff. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

Tallulah is regretting her decision to be the au pair for Burgess, a divorced hockey player with an 11 year old daughter. She can’t believe she agreed to move in with a man she doesn’t know. Somehow he convinces her it will all be fine and from that moment forward she can’t deny her attraction to the hulking hockey player. Burgess isn’t looking for love. He had it once and feels like he blew it. But when he is around Tallulah he forgets that he doesn’t want love. Will both of them be able to fight off the mounting chemistry between them and trust one another enough to give things a shot?

I read the first book in this series and really enjoyed it. Tallulah and Burgess were introduced in that book and I was intrigued enough to want to hear their story. Boy, is it a a spicy 🌶️ one! I blushed a few times as I was reading and that doesn’t happen often! Glad I picked this one up!

I really enjoyed this adult romance--too adult for our high school library, but I really enjoyed getting to know the characters and discovering their world.

This is a good book. The two main characters are Tallulah and Burgess. Tallulah is going for her PHD in marine biology. Burgess is a hockey player and divorced dad. He needs someone to be a nanny for his daughter who is a tween. Tallulah takes the job. There is an attraction right from the beginning. Tallulah shows Burgess how to have adventures. They start dating. They fall in love.

The Au Pair Affair is the second sports romance in the Big Shots series. Tallulah is studying to be a marine biologist and needs a job and somewhere to stay while she’s going to school in Boston. Enter Burgess, a single dad who also happens to be the veteran defenseman and captain of Boston’s hockey team, who is looking for an au pair for his daughter. Both Talluah and Burgess have baggage, including the big age gap, but the chemistry between them is off the charts. Will they be able to keep their relationship professional or will lines get crossed?

I really, really wanted to love this book and thought I would from the cover and description, but I couldn’t stand it half the time. The first thing that got me were the character names. I just didn’t like them and that added to my dislike of everything else once I got into the story and couldn’t connect. The story was well laid out and if you connect with this book I think you would enjoy it, but I couldn’t get into it at all. The overprotectiveness of Burgess got to me, Tallulah’s had no depth to her and was boring and unlikeable to me. Burgess was too worried about his career ending soon and not wanting to be attracted to his daughter’s au pair to even pay attention to said daughter. There was so much unnecessary spice and a lack of real romance that it drove me crazy. There was so much potential in this book, but it never hit the mark. The age gap didn’t do it, the single dad trope didn’t do it, even the sports romance didn’t hit for me this time and it always does. This book was definitely not for me, but that doesn’t mean it couldn’t be for you. I’ve seen enough good reviews of it to know there are many people out there who loved it. Just because I didn’t like it doesn’t mean you will, if this seems like it will be your type of book go for it, it just wasn’t for me.

Sometimes Tessa is queen, and sometimes her books fall a little flat for me, and this one fell flat. I couldn't get over some qualms with the relationship between the characters, there was something just a little icky about it for me and I DNF'ed. I loved the hockey dad idea, and I adored the book prior to this in the series, but this one just made me uncomfortable and bored.

🤷🏻‍♀️
I LOVED the first book in this series, Fangirl Down. It was the first book of Bailey's that I'd truly loved in a long time. I had very high hopes for this one, I loved the tropes and was looking forward to reading.
Fast forward to actually reading it. I'm not sure what happened with this one but it just did not hit like the other one.
Look, I love TB and her alphas and high level of spice but this one just missed the mark for me. That's not to say that I hated it, I didn't. I still laughed and swooned and I am glad I read it.
Looking at the next book, I still want to read it and am hopeful that I'll enjoy it a bit more.