I'll be honest, I found it really hard to get into this one. It did get more interesting before the end, and I do have to say that their first kiss was HOT af. Tessa does great spice.

Overall, I liked Tallulah and Burgess, both individually and as a couple. The way their love for Lissa was what drew them together was so lovely. Enjoyed this, but not as much as Fangirl Down.

I tried … I really did. I’ve had so many people recommend her books that I wanted to try one. The plot itself had a few cute elements although even early on there were situations that were so unrealistic that it fell flat.

I know so many people who love books by this author including this one, unfortunately it is just not for me. I won’t include this review on social media but am thankful to Netgalley for letting me read the advance copy

Thanks to NetGalley, Harper Collins Australia, and the author for the chance to read this book.

This is the 2nd book in the Big Shots series by Tessa Bailey. This time, the sport is hockey.

It's definitely a spicy novel, but it felt like there was no build-up. I get that it can't be completely relatable to real life in the timelines, but it honestly felt like they jumped in unbelievably fast, especially considering the trauma Tallulah had previously suffered. Also, if someone hires out an entire venue for just the 2 of you, would you seriously leave after 5 minutes because you got too horny!? Like seriously! 🤨

The way Tallulah helped Burgess regain his self-confidence and interacted with his daughter was sweet.

Overall, it was an OK book that didn't really delve deep but delivered on the spice level.

I wasn’t really sure how to review this book because I think you need to get Tessa Baileys humour to appreciate the ridiculousness of the storyline and dialogue. I remember a few people saying this when I read my first TB book (and cringed) telling me it’s just Baileys style - so please go into the book with an open heart.

I enjoyed the Fangirl Down (book1, 5⭐️), this one is also very binge worthy and worth the read but I only liked the character development of the MMC and frankly, I wasn’t shipping the couple so wouldn’t have minded if they broke it off in the end.

Book3 (Dream Girl Drama) sets up for an interesting premise with a step siblings-to-be relationship. Sig is coming thru to be another overprotective man while Chloe seems like Piper Bellinger (It Happened one Summer) - I’ll def be picking up the third book just to see what the deal is 😆

Overall, aside from the minor cover details not truly matching the character description (a pet hate), this book was still devour-able and I actually laughed out loud on many occasions.

The Au Pair Affair is the book every hockey romance lover needs to read.

Tallulah and Burgess chemistry is so natural and amazing. It is the perfect second book of the series and be well written. The tension between both characters is incredible and the tension between other characters was so well written it felt like it was happening right in front of me.

Tallulah is a 26 year old that is working hard to get her degree in Marine Biology. She pockets have started to run dry so when she gets the chance of a lifetime to be the live-in Nanny of hockey player, Burgess. She takes it. Burgess is struggling with the being a single dad and hockey player, so when he hires Tallulah, his hope is to help his tween daughter, Lissa.

This book is perfect for people who love;
- Hockey romance
- Nanny / Boss (Single Dad)
- Age gap
- He falls first
- Grumpy / Sunshine
- Groveling
- Close Proximity

This book is so amazing that I brought a physical copy and the audio when it came out. Thank you so much, NetGalley and Tessa for this wonderful book

An easy, fun and light read that will sure to delight fans of Tessa Bailey. Single dad who plays hockey, falls hard for the nanny in this fast paced romance.

I love these books so much! I was super excited to get my hands on this and absolutely loved it. Such a fantastic read for anyone who is into Tessa Bailey or sports romances.

Oh boy, I was so looking forward to this book and it left me disappointed. Instalust rarely works for me, and unfortunately that is all Tallullah and Burgess had. I’m sure newish readers to smut will love this but eventually, and I’m at this point, you want a little more substance with the shagging. I want to feel the emotional connection, feel the longing they have for each other. I couldn’t find an ounce of it. Perhaps Bailey succumbed to TikTok pressure and wrote a smutty good time, but I hope she goes back to writing couples with heat and heart.

I was unable to read this book properly as there was no option to send to kindle and the formatting was really difficult to read on my phone unfortunately. I would’ve really loved to read it!

*Thank you to NetGalley & HarperCollins Australia for sending me a digital copy*

A word I would use to describe this book is superficial. From the annoying two-dimensional characters to the plot. Au Pair Affair follows the romance (if you want to call it that) between a professional hockey player and the college student he hired to look after his daughter.

These two characters annoyed the hell out of me. Burgess’s inner monologue was painful to read, constantly saying that he shouldn’t think about sleeping with Tallulah, but the very next sentence did exactly that. And wouldn’t stop for the entire book. This guy’s only personality was wanting to sleep with her constantly and worrying he was too old to play hockey. This guy was a red flag from the very beginning and just got worse.

Tallulah was slightly better but not great. The trauma that she experienced in the past once again felt superficial and I just didn’t care about her journey. This girl is supposed to be a masters student and just did some stupid and cliche things. There’s also this other pair of characters that had a weird relationship - I don’t even want to go there.

Tessa Bailey's second book in the Big Shots series is another winner! I adored Fan Girl and I'm pleased to say that The Au Pair Affair is just as good. Marine biologist Tallulah and hockey player Burgess' romance was an emotional one. I loved the ups and downs with their relationship, making it feel very authentic. Burgess' protectiveness was sweet and I loved that Tallulah was portrayed as being so clever. I can't wait for the next book in the series.

This was such a fun and quick-paced rom-com with spice and banter. I loved Burgess and Tallulah and was rooting for them from the beginning of the book.

Burgess is a grumpy but unintentionally funny, hockey player and a single dad. He is so protective over Tallulah and has the touch her and 💀 vibes that I really enjoyed. Tallulah is tortured sunshine in human form, a marine biologist and the au pair of Burgess’ 12-yr old daughter, Lissa.

While Burgess falls first and hard, it took some time for Tallulah to reciprocate his feelings as she struggles with some serious past trauma and has trust issues.

The character growth of the MCs was so well-written, especially Tallulah’s. Her struggles were so realistic and easy to relate to. I was glad that there was no ex-wife drama and that Burgess and his ex-wife were co-parenting Lissa in a healthy way.

This book is sweet, spicy and swoony with so much banter, tension and angst. The side characters were amazing and I’m looking forward to Chloe and Sig’s story😮‍💨

Also, can we please have the Netgalley arcs in the epub format as I really struggled with the font size on the Netgalley Shelf with this one🫣

Thank you so much Tessa Bailey, HarperCollins Australia and Netgalley for this arc copy🫶

So excited to see a hockey romance from Tessa! Her books are always a fun time. I really loved Tallulah‘s journey and how Burgess helped her find herself again. Loved the new characters introduced and can’t wait for the series to continue!

Thank you so much for the opportunity to read this ARC! I loved this story, it was extremely well written. I will definitely be on the lookout for more books by Tessa!

CW: Description of stalking and kidnapping

Dear Tessa Bailey,

I loved Fangirl Down earlier this year and was hoping for a similar experience with the the second book in the Big Shots series, The Au Pair Affair. I was not disappointed.

We met Burgess “Sir Savage” Abraham and Tallulah Aydin in Fangirl Down where, Tallulah agreed to take the job of au pair for Burgess’s tween daugher, Lissa, when she moved to Boston for her graduate program in marine biology after completing her stint in Antarctica researching Adelie penguins. It was obvious from that first meeting that Burgess had it bad for Tallulah. He just about swallowed his tongue. However, Burgess is 37 and Tallulah is 26 so he thought he was too old for her.

As this book begins, Tallulah is having second thoughts about the wisdom of moving into, essentially, a stranger’s house. Burgess is a professional hockey player and a very large man. As one might expect, he’s aggressive on the ice. Some years earlier, a former hook up and would-be boyfriend stalked and abducted her (there was no sexual assault) and she still bears the emotional scars. She’s very wary of men.

Burgess, when it comes to Tallulah, is a marshmallow. He is fiercely protective of and for her and in no way wants her to be scared of him. He would cut off a limb before doing physical harm to her. He also understands that she doesn’t know that (yet) and it’s okay for her to do whatever she needs to do to feel safe. He therefore reacts exactly the right way when she lets him know about her second thoughts re the job. That is, he doesn’t get angry and he is accepting of her decision, even going to far as to help her find an alternative place to live.

She started to say something, but no words came out. That telling reaction caused Burgess to dig his fingertips into his thigh hard enough to cause pain, his pulse pumping loudly in his ears. Name the dead man who hurt you.

Tallulah decides to take things slowly and think further before actually moving in but she did hit it off with Lissa when they met all those months before and wants to reconnect with her so she doesn’t want to walk away altogether.

“Hey, girl,” Tallulah said. “You still have those insane dance moves?”

Lissa giggled. “Maybe. I haven’t danced since the last time.”

“Not even in the shower?” exclaimed Tallulah.

“People don’t dance in the shower,” scoffed his kid. But she was smiling.

Tallulah gave an exaggerated toss of her hair. “I do.” Burgess would be mulling over that piece of information for the rest of the day.

It quickly becomes apparent that Burgess needs not only practical help with child care, he needs help connecting with his daughter. He loves Lissa (and Lissa loves him) but they’re having trouble communicating that and Burgess is particularly struggling because he doesn’t speak tween. Also he can’t braid hair for shit.

Not only is there an 11 year age gap between the couple, there are also some personality differences which represent a challenge. Burgess feels old. He is old for a hockey player. He feels defeated after his divorce and has become a homebody. He’s worried about what happens after he can’t play anymore, believing that hockey is pretty much all he’s good for. He’s always been more on the introverted side of things and is decidedly anti-social.

“When I made plans to meet for drinks today, I figured the more the merrier, so I texted Chloe to join us.” Burgess couldn’t help it, he was completely fascinated by that mentality. Making plans with people she’d just met? Mixing friend groups? Where did the chaos end?

(I feel you Burgess.)

Tallulah is the opposite of Burgess; she’s been hiding to a degree* since the incident with the stalker but she wants to be brave and adventurous again. (*It seems to me to be a brave thing to go to Antarctica and spend months with five people isolated from everyone and everything.) Burgess offers to stand by and protect her while she has these new adventures, so she’ll feel safe. But he doesn’t offer to join in. Both of them have understandable hesitation about whether they are compatible for the long term. But, it quickly becomes apparent that Tallulah is endgame for Burgess and Tallulah, even though she is not actually looking to settle down (and certainly had no plans to be a stepmother to a nearly-teen) may just have found her soulmate.

They do have some things to work through and I’m pleased to say that Burgess finds his sense of adventure, eventually. Ultimately, he wants Tallulah to be happy to live her life to the fullest and he will not be what holds her back. *heart eyes*

I gather that the Big Shots series was originally planned to be two books but that has expanded to possibly five? I wonder if the final two heroes will be the rookies (aka the “orgasm donors” – self named by the way) who look up to Burgess like baby geese after imprinting on their mother . I hope so. They were fun and I’d happily read about them going from fuckboys to devoted partners. At the least, they provided some additional laughs in this book:

“Is that what that whole silent communication thing was about earlier?” They gave a synchronized shrug. One of the orgasm donors smacked the other one in the shoulder. “Why don’t we communicate silently like that?”

“We do. What am I thinking about right now?”

“Banana pudding.”

“Holy shit!”

Burgess (which is not a hot name but he was hot regardless) and Tallulah have scorching chemistry and sizzling banter. The broader cast were a lot of fun too. I fell in love with Chloe and Sig and there were also cameos from Wells and Josephine (more particularly Wells – who remains the lovestruck hot doofus I adored in Fangirl Down.)

As much as I enjoyed the book, there were some things I queried. The timeline seemed a little out of whack to me (but that may have been an ARC issue rather than a finished book issue) and given what I know from my day job, six weeks seems awfully fast to recover from a certain surgery to the degree depicted. I would have a liked a little more of Lissa. I was interested in how she navigated her friendship woes and what advice Tallulah had specifically given her. I figure, if Lissa is going to be in the story, make her more a part of it.

Also, even though I rate Tessa Bailey as A+ in the hot and sexy scenes department (honestly most all of the sex scenes in this book are fire), an MC spitting on a FMC during oral sex is not sexy to me. (Maybe I’m just old.)

I was a little dubious at first about the third act conflict which occurred earlier than I expected it would, but it turned out that just gave Burgess another courtship opportunity and a courting Sir Savage is a thing to behold so I became convinced.

There’s a particular vibe to this series; super protective heroes completely gone for their love interests, a great balance between “caveman” desires and a modern understanding of autonomy and consent. (Of course, consent in the sexual sense but more, in the sense of help when you’re asked to not when you think it’s needed.) Personally, I find it delicious to watch a hero struggle with his protective instinct and want to do everything to keep his lady safe and make her happy versus knowing that for her to actually be happy she needs to be able to do for herself and stand on her own. The other thing both books in the series have in common is the fierce pride the guys have on behalf of their ladies’ professional accomplishments. For me this is a great mix of feels and romance.

Were I to rate Fangirl Down and The Au Pair Affair next to one another, I’d say that Fangirl Down is just slightly better but only just. Both are bangers.

I can hardly wait for the next book in the series, which must surely feature Sig and Chloe and promises to provide me with the same reading glee.

Grade: B+

Regards,
Kaetrin

The au pair affair
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5
🌶🌶🌶/5

It's been a hot minute since I've read a Tessa Bailey book but they never go wrong and I was so so so happy when I got accepted for an ARC from @harper.collinsanz for the newest release!

It was sweet, swoony, spicy, angsty, and so sexy with a lot of vulnerability and honestly I didn't see coming. As always Tessa Bailey characters have a lot of depth and complexity to them and Burgess and Tallulah were no different. Each character is dealing with their own issues but they way they came together to get out of their comfort zones was so amazing. My heart burst a little reading how proud Burgess was of Tallulah with everything she achieved. This is a single dad romance and the relationship that developed between Burgess and Lissa with Tallulah's help was so beautiful.

The spice was spicin - Burgess had an utterly filthy mouth and made each moment between him and Tallulah so angsty and hot even before they got together. I was happier this was a bit more of a slow burn compared to some other Tessa baileys. I also think that some more of the interaction between Burgess, Tallulah and Lissa and seeing them interact in a more domestic setting would have absolutely made this a 5⭐️ read for me.

PS. There is a lot of set up for the next book in this series through this read and I am. So. Freaking. Excited!!!

Thank you so much @harper.collinsanz for the ARC!!

This book was so damn cute oh my I could not get enough of this hot grumpy hockey player and the sweet sunshine au pair and student the whole romance unfolded really well i was surprised as alot of books either have it too slow and not developing at all or too fast and kind of shallow. But not this couple I would also really love to learn more about Sig and chloe they were so cute together. The one thing I didn't like is that there was a 3rd act break up and they weren't together very long before hand. And it did take a while for me to get into the book.

I really enjoyed The Au Pair Affair - I liked that Tallulah didn’t just cave, she didn’t tell her whole life story immediately but she also knew when to stop and give herself a reality check. I liked Burgess and his ability to know what Tallulah needed, even if he didn’t quite know why yet, he didn’t push or pester her and he was there when she needed him.

I loved the way this was written, it was clever and easy to read and I loved the characters, but there were just some things I would have liked to have seen happen - at the very least the reunion between Tallulah and Lissa. So there were times when I was like ‘okay but how did we get from that to this?’ Otherwise I enjoyed it and am going back to read Fangirl Down and I am KEEN for Sig and Chloe.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins Publishers Australia for this ARC.

Tessa Bailey has hit the nail on the head with this one! Liveable characters, captivating plot, popular and well loved tropes!

Tropes:
Hockey romance
Age gap
Single dad
The nanny
Forbidden love

The characters were extremely likeable and I found I was rooting for them from the get go! The format and pacing of the plot made this book easy to read, and boy did I DEVOUR it! 10/10 recommend!

“Believe me gorgeous, I could make you come a hundred times and getting to experience you once would still make it fucking fair.”

Tallulah is studying to be marine biologist, leaving her 26 and broke. When she lands a live in au pair job for a hockey veteran single dad she jumps at the chance to get paid and live in a fancy neighbourhood.

Lissa is the coolest preteen, who needs a bit of help fitting in. He’s not the only one that needs some help getting out there. Burgess needs a kick start back in to the dating world. Tallulah is just the girl for the job. As the lines between to cross she finds herself torn between wanting him and wanting to respect Lissa, who thinks her parents will get back together.

After a tragedy strikes and true colours are shown doing the right thing becomes an easy decision. Being mean doesn’t always get you what you want, and winning the girl back doesn’t always come easy. But holy moly the tension!

Single dad, grumpy sunshine, certified mean daddy, hockey romance with some familiar characters from Fangirl Down. Such a fun and spicy read, you always know Bailey delivers top tier romance. Highly recommend for all sports romance lovers.