I'm going to be honest, I'm hit and a miss with Tessa Bailey. I loved the Bellinger sisters, but I couldn't stand the vineyard series, so I went into this hesitantly, and only because I love a hockey romance.,

I loved the characters independently, their backstories and their quirks and traits; a turkish lead, who was an academic, brought a freshness that you don't see in a lot of main characters. You don't need to sell me on the tall, dark hockey player - I'm already there. I liked the idea of them as a couple. I loved the daughter and the super accurate struggles of a thirteen year old girl. I loved them all. The thing that really put a damper on it for me (outside of the really dramatic and traumatic back story that I don't think was overly necessary) was the insta attraction. You can be attracted to someone, but this overtook the whole book. It wasn't insta love, but it was so intense that it detracted what could have been a good love story. I just find this cheapens it and makes it a little surface level,

Also, I get the alliteration, but I think we really need to asses the "au pair' part of this book, because at best, she could be described as a live in sometimes babysitter.

This has an interesting dynamic with Sir Savage - Burgess being an older experienced hockey star and a single dad. Tallulah is our main heroine and she has trust issues around men due to a horrific experience in her past. Their interactions are sweet. He is very protective and respectful but a bad ass on the rink. She is someone who is trying to break out of her bubble of safety and learning to live again and trust men. She is offered a position as his au pair to his daughter Lissa and it blossoms from there.
He does come on very strong as he falls for her first and can't help it but is a super respectful man and tries to go slow and let Tallulah take the lead. The third act shocked me. But this was a classic Tessa Bailey romance. The spice was spicing. The emotional side of the story hits hard. It was a wild ride the whole way through.

Tessa Bailey has done it again……..

I have a love/hate relationship with Tessa Bailey books, since reading it happened one summer and getting all the feels I was yet to find another of her titles to give me those feelings, Then along came Fangirl down and I fell head over heels for Wells and Josephine! So ofcourse I was intrigued to pick up The Au pair Affair to see if I would love it and it’s even better!

It has everything I love in tropes from single dad, age gap and he falls first but my ultimate favourite of touch her and die vibes were just the best in Burgess.

The relationship between Burgess and Tallulah was organic and I felt while reading I were watching from the sidelines squealing with satisfaction as the two made their way together. Tallulah had an interesting backstory and I enjoyed seeing her growth in the book.

Burgess is going to be everyone’s new book boyfriend! I just fell in love with him and couldn’t get enough.

This story flowed from the beginning to the end and I really hope we get more of these sport romances in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this arc.

This book was an absolute gem! I was completely enamored, especially the snip bits of the tender moments between Wells & Josephine and the scintillating romance crafted by Tessa Bailey. The chemistry between Tallulah and Burgess was pure magic – each interaction felt like a culinary masterpiece, deserving of a chef's kiss!

However, I must admit, the third act breakup did put a damper on the otherwise exhilarating narrative. While breakups are a common trope in romance, the prolonged timeline of reconciliation and the characters' incessant back-and-forth left me questioning the believability and enjoyment of this portion of the story.

Nevertheless, my excitement for the next installment, featuring Sig and Chloe, knows no bounds. The forbidden allure of their step-sibling romance promises an intriguing storyline. Yet, I can't help but harbor some reservations, particularly regarding Chloe's characterization as a 'ditz.' It remains to be seen how her role as the female lead will unfold.

In summary, this book offered moments of sheer delight intertwined with elements that left me somewhat conflicted. Despite its flaws, the captivating romance and the promise of future narratives kept me hooked until the very end.

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Don’t want to give too much away but I absolutely love this book. As a hockey romance lover I can definitely say this is one of my favourite books. I’m definitely going to be recommending it to everyone!

The only downside for me personally is that it was in third person they aren’t my favourite types but that’s just a personal preference.


Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book

This book is a delicious slow burn, forbidden, age gap, hockey romance. The burn is slow but scalding. I loved all the characters, and their character growth all around is fantastic.
There is heartache and hard lessons to learn. Past issues to overcome, and an angsty teen to win over. But the biggest obstacle is always ourselves.

This was a fun and entertaining romcom style book with extra spice sprinkled on top. I went into this book not knowing it was a sequel to another of the authors books, the characters from that book are background characters in this story and it still makes sense reading as a stand-alone.

Thank you Harper Collins & NetGalley for my e-ARC of The Au Pair Affair. Tallulah takes on an au pair gig to hockey superstar Sir Savage, and a tense slow-burn immediately follows!

I loved the banter between the two MCs.

Tropes
🩵 Sports Romance
🩵 Grumpy/Sunshine
🩵 He falls first
🩵 Age Gap
🩵 Single Dad
🩵 “Who did this to you?”

I wasn’t a huge fall of the third act breakup, and would have liked to see more background about Tallulah’s Turkish background.

Didn’t stop me from absolutely devouring this over a weekend. I can’t wait for the next book, and hope it’s Chloe & Sig!

When he falls first and he falls HARD! Burgess our grumpy NHL player has been smitten from first glance when he meets Tallulah the next thing you know she’s taken a job to be his Au Pair.

The temptation to stay away from the nanny was too much and had the tension building so well between these two characters. With navigating a tween girl and past traumatic experiences the two have a lot to work through but boy is it worth it.

The spice in the book is delicious 🌶️🌶️🌶️

Favourite quotes:
-“Mean Daddy”
-“I’m hungry and your body is the only thing that feeds me” 🥵

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.