Fun and tension filled read

📚 hockey romance
📚 age gap (37m 26f)
📚 single dad x nanny
📚 grump
📚 Who did this to you?
📚 dual POV

🌶️🌶️🌶️

|Thoughts|
Enjoyed the tension and plot more so in the first part of the book. There was a particular event (in the hospital), that tarnished the story a little for me.

In saying that, I feel like I did enjoy this more than Fangirl Down (which was a fun read). And the trauma each brought to the relationship made it an interesting read.

“My instincts are telling me it will be safe to live with you, but I have a hard time relying on my instincts when it comes to me.”

Although, this is an age gap romance, it’s one I don’t mind reading as they’re all well past their teenage year.

“Yeah,” he said, voice rusted. “We’ll call it massage”

“There will never be an adventure that lives up to you”

This book sets up what will be the third instalment in the Big Shots series. Not exactly sure how I feel about Chloe. She comes across as a bit airy and superficial.

I really enjoyed this book. It was a great fast paced enjoyable read that kept me engaged throughout the whole book. Burgess isn’t my favourite character from Bailey’s novels but I still found that the relationship between him and Tallulah. She was a really fun main character and I enjoyed the growth she had from the beginning of the book.

I would like to say a massive thank you to Harper Collins and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this book.

holy heck this book was simply amazing! CHEF'S KISS

I love Tessa, she can do no wrong and will read absolutely anything this woman writes. my favourite book by her is Unfortunately Yours but this one may just tie up with that 🙈

This book is a nanny/single dad hockey romance and oh my god I at this up. Burgess is a grump towards everyone except sunshine Tallulah. Burgess is a 37-year-old Boston Hockey Player, Tallulah is a 26-year-old marine biology grad student, she takes a job as Burgess’s live-in au pair to look after his 12 year old daughter.

This book had me smiling and kicking my feet like a school girl but also had me sobbing like a baby at points. The story is so well written, and I wish I could read this again for the first time! Burgess is so obsessed with Tallulah it was so heart-warming to read. His grovelling and willingness to do anything to get her back was everything.

This book is the second book in the Big Shots Series which I am already so obsessed with (book one being Fangirl Down) and I am very eager to see what Tessa has planned for the upcoming books in the series.

This book literally made me forget I was reading and felt like I was watching a movie. I ate this up.

Please do yourself a favour and read this book if you love grumpy sunshine, single dad x nanny, sports romance, age gap, he falls first. This was perfection.

This was my first Tessa Bailey book I have read, and I can absolutely see why people love her.

The characters in this book had me smiling, laughing, and at times a little flustered! I loved Sir Savage and how caring and protective he could be whilst being a little cheeky and a lot naughty at the same time.

Great read for those who like a bit of spice with their romance, don't mind an age gap, single dad, he falls first, and a touch of hockey.

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC..
Her books are always predictable, which is sometimes what I need to break up my reading. An easy read I don’t have to fully ‘concentrate’ with. But I do like her books, she’s always got the same spicey sprinkle throughout.
Tallulah has many issues from her past- which makes it so weird that she just got over them so quickly. But the heart wants what the heart wants right?

allulah es estudiante de biología marina, necesita dinero y cuando el amigo del novio se su mejor amiga le ofrece un empleo ella acepta, pero conforme busca información de su nuevo empleador empieza a tener miedo porque le trae malos recuerdos.

Burgess es un jugador de hockey, tiene una hija de años que necesita una niñera. Desde que conoció a Tallulah se siento atraído por ella, pero los 11 años de diferencia de edad y otras cosas hacen que ignore su atracción.
El Burgess gruñón que conocimos en el libro anterior no siempre fue así, el era el alma de las fiestas y todo cambió hasta que se divorcio. Honestamente me sorprendió su personalidad.


El final me cansó un poco.

Quiero saber la historia entre Sig y Chloe, espero tengan su libro.





Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Au Pair Affair was one of my most anticipated reads of this year. I loved Fangirl Down and am most certainly in my hockey romance era, so was excited to read this one. I'm happy to report that this one didn't disappoint, and was the perfect balance of sweet and spice. Tessa Bailey is an auto-buy author for me now. I can't wait to see what the next book is about. I think this one will have a wider audience than Fangirl Down as hockey romance is very popular right now, but I'd highly recommend starting with Fangirl Down first then moving onto this one. I pretty much read this book in one sitting, it's so easy to immerse yourself in and you will want to read just one more chapter. I loved that Burgess falls first and is obsessed with Talullah from the get-go.

- Hockey Romance
- He falls first
- Live in nanny
- Single dad

I received the au pair affair from Tessa Bailey as a arc from harper collins australia on NetGalley. This dual pov hockey romance was a a good read i really enjoyed the grumpy mmc the sexual tension was done very well. Glad i got the chance to read as its not my normal read but i did throughly enjoy it worth the read.

The Au Pair Affair was exactly the fun and spicy read I was anticipating from Tessa Bailey! I hadn’t read any books in the big shots series yet, but I really enjoyed reading about the grad student and live-in nanny, Tallulah, and her boss, the single-hockey-playing-dad Burgess. Their dynamic, given their histories, was interesting to see unfold. I am definitely going to go back to catch up on previous books in the series and I really enjoyed all the characters, and am looking forward to Sig and Chloe’s book given how much they are teased in this one! Overall, a good read! Thank you to Harper Collins for the ARC!

Single father hockey player Burgess offers Tallulah a job as an au pair with a room in his apartment. Tallulah jumps at the chance but will her past trauma and growing attraction to her new boss find her happy ever after or break her heart.

This seems like a classic Tessa Bailey story with sizzling spicy scenes and interesting characters. I loved the beginning of the book and thought the beginning of the relationship between Burgess and Tallulah was perfect. About half way through it lost some sparkle. If felt like most of the drama was dealt with in the beginning and the break up arc felt a little disconnected. I didn’t love this one as much as the previous book. Still a good quick read though.

I voluntarily read a copy in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to the author, publisher and netgalley for the chance to read this early. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Sir Savage, hellllllllloo 🥵

This man can dirty talk! Absolutely loved Burgess' character, he was sexy as sin. He and Tallulah are all about the tension and the slow burn, with plenty of teasing and anticipation sprinkled throughout.

The Au Pair Affair is the second in the Hot Shots 'series' (I think it's TBD how many books there will be!) and it's just as good as Fangirl Down.

This has:
Hockey romance
Single dad
Age gap
Boss/employee
Third act breakup
Grand gesture
Spice and allll the dirty talk

There is discussion of some rather traumatic abuse that Tallulah experienced, so check the warnings for that if needed.

Chloe and Sig next pleeeeeease, I need their story right now 👏

Big thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC.

This book was trope-a-licious!

You can expect:
▪️Boss x employee (single dad x nanny)
▪️Forced proximity
▪️Age gap
▪️Sports romance
▪️Grumpy x sunshine
▪️He falls first (and harder)
▪️Third act breakup
▪️On page 🌶️
▪️Dual POV

Some of my thoughts:
📍Firstly, I received an ARC of this book through NetGalley. All comments here are my own, are my honest thoughts and I am leaving this review voluntarily for free. HUGE thanks to HarperCollins Australia for allowing me access to this title. I was absolutely stoked!!

📍Tessa Bailey is a consistent romance author, always delivering things I love. A broody alpha male, character depth, emotional intimacy, excellent sexual tension and spice all in dual POV with a light hearted touch of humour! This book was no exception.

📍Special mention to the on page hockey moments and the 12yo daughter. Both very enjoyable and realistically written.

📍The only part I didn’t enjoy was the third act breakup. I don’t always mind this plot device, it oftentimes serves its purpose, but in this particular case, it grated. Following the breakup up, when they saw each other again, their feelings flip/flopped so much it was annoyingly messy. I would have preferred the FMC to have been firmer in her resolve, the MMC to do more grovelling and a singular moment of reconciliation as opposed to the chaotic too and fro.

📍All in all though this was a very entertaining, binge-able book! I’m

"Hotness isn't a natonality."
"It is in my book," Mailer said, letting his tongue hang out.
"Your book is just a notepad with a bunch of dick drawings," Burgess commented.


The au pair affair is everything you expect in a rom-com in the best way possible.

Burgess is the epitome of grumpy masculinity aided by a soft spot for his pre-teen daughter who keeps him in a state of confusion and frustration.

Tallulah is well-rounded female main character who has a depth we don’t often see in typical rom-coms. The trauma she has experienced and how she deals with it are very grounded in reality and are not overcome because of her love interest but rather in spite of him.

The banter in this book is amazing. I loved every second of it. The duality of Burgess’s experience as a captain and leader of his team and the vulnerability he expresses with the women in his life is fantastic.

I think I experienced as much emotional damage as Tallulah when Burgess had his lash out moment. I loved that Tallulah made him work for forgiveness despite knowing the reasons why Burgess lashed out because it shows that actions have consequences which are often forgiven too easily in romance novels.

I am thoroughly invested in the continuation of this universe. I absolutely adore Chloe already and cannot wait for her to get her guy.

This is the second Tess Bailey book I’ve read, I wanted to give it a chance and try another because I really didn’t like the first one.

Unfortunately, I felt the same with this one. I find that there’s a lot of stuff in her books that make me feel a bit ick. It’s usually in the way characters talk during spicy scenes, it makes me cringe!

I really wanted to love this because Tessa so popular… but I don’t think Tessa is for me.

In saying that, the plot is solid and interesting! I like the characters themselves, they’re very well developed and intriguing.

Thank you so much NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book!

The ingredients for a good time:
* 1 Tessa Bailey
* 1 Tallulah (possibly inspired in part by Tessa's love of Turkish Dramas?)
* 1 Burgess (single Dad hockey player)
* a few 🌶️🌶️🌶️
Method:
Mix together facing your fears, admitting your weaknesses and finding the one you can't live without.

I really enjoyed the second instalment of the Big Shots series. There were parts of Tallulah's backstory I found relatable, making the growth in her character so rewarding. Burgess was just the kind of MMC that Tessa writes so well. I call it, the 'enlightened caveman.' He can't help but be all broody and protective, but he's trying his very, very best to be a feminist too.

Perhaps, for me the third act wasn't quite what I was expecting plot wise. Overall though, it's up there with my favourites of hers.

Thank you to HarperCollins Australia and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

In Tessa Bailey's latest sports rom-com, readers are introduced to Tallulah, a spirited young woman studying to be a marine biologist. When she's offered a job as a live-in nanny by Burgess, a gruff hockey veteran and newly single dad, she sees it as an opportunity to make ends meet while enjoying the perks of living in a fancy neighbourhood and bonding with Burgess's tween daughter, Lissa. Despite Burgess's initial reluctance, Tallulah takes it upon herself to help him re-enter the dating scene, leading to a blossoming romance between them. However, when complications arise and boundaries are tested, Tallulah makes the difficult decision to walk away, believing it's for the best. Yet, fate intervenes, prompting Burgess to confront his past and fight for a future with Tallulah.

God is a woman and her name is Tessa Bailey.

I LOVED The Au Pair Affair so much! I had been eagerly anticipating it since reading Fangirl Down and being introduced to these two and their chemistry but also from so many of the teasers Tessa had posted online.

Burgess and Tallulah have such an intense connection and it was written beautifully. Their journey was well paced and the tension was 🔥!

The character development for both Tallulah and Burgess was so captivating to watch unfold.

Bring on July when The Au Pair Affair is released and it can find its home on my shelf amongst the rest of Tessa’s works!

Read Time ⏱️ 4 hours

*****

"Time with you could never be a waste. Only a privilege."

"One day in hell feels a lot worse after spending weeks in heaven, Tallulah"

"I might not have you anymore. I might have thrown away my chance, but I'm not going to throw away the lesson you tried to teach me. If it's the only piece of you I'm allowed, I'm keeping it."

Tessa Bailey never ceases to make me laugh and swoon! She is constantly keeping things interesting without being repetitive or unoriginal.

The Au Pair Affair is by far one of my favourite books by Tessa so far! I absolutely adored both Tallulah and Burgess as characters and bought into their romance whole-heartedly.

I related to a lot of the messaging in this book as well which I wasn’t expecting, especially surrounding Tallulah’s fears and people pleasing tendencies. I think a lot of us can relate to feeling like we have to tell white lies to get out of things instead of just being honest. I deeply related to Tallulah being scared to reject a guy who was hitting on her.

On another note, the tension in this book was incredible! I noted that at 50% of the way, the tension was still building more and more. I was thinking about this book day and night and wanted to see what was going to happen next the whole way through the book.

This book made me feel all the feels! I went from laughing to tearing up, smiling to being frustrated at Burgess.

In short, this was the perfect book to get me out of a reading slump. Another amazing book by Tessa Bailey! Cannot wait to see what comes next. ❤️

Thank you to netgally, Tess Bailey and Harper Collins Publishers Australia for a copy this arc.

I didn’t love this one, it certainly wasn’t a bad book but after falling in love with the first book in the series Fangirl Down, I guess I was just expecting more. It doesn’t help that I don’t love the single dad/ nanny trope but I was hoping my love of hockey romances would balance it out for me. I do have a few nitpicks I don’t think these would be considered spoilers but look away now if you absolutely do not want to know anything about the plot….. you have been warned.

Tallulah is a marine biologist, which is very cool but other than a few passing references, her career and studies don’t matter too much to the plot which annoys me. If you are going to have women in STEM representation, make it matter. I also think that Burgess is a pretty rubbish dad. The single dad trope was used as a reason to have Tallulah move in with him but I think there could have been another way to write this into the plot. I love a single dad trope when their kids are everything, Lissa absolutely felt like an afterthought to both Burgess and Tallulah. I would love to know how this rates for those bookstas who love the single dad/nanny trope. Maybe this trope just isn’t for me or is one that just fell a little flat.

Another good Tessa Bailey book, cute hockey romance, but personally found the formatting hard to read.