The Au Pair Affair
Ratings6
Average rating3.7
15
Ratings6
Average rating3.7
Tallulah is smart, vivacious, and studying to be a marine biologist. She’s also twenty-six and broke. So when Burgess, a battle-scarred hockey veteran and newly single dad, offers her a job as his live-in nanny, she jumps at the opportunity to get paid while living in a super fancy neighborhood and being around Lissa, his cool but introverted tween.
Her tween charge isn’t the only one who could use some help fitting in, though. According to…well, everyone except Burgess, he needs to get back on the dating scene, and adventurous Tallulah is just the girl to show him how. But as boundaries are slowly crossed and Burgess finds himself pulled between his daughter, who wants her parents back together, and his insane chemistry with Tallulah, a huge rift is formed, and Tallulah does the “right” thing—breaks her own heart and walks away.
Though Burgess knows it’s for the best—he’s too jaded, with too much baggage—a chance meeting, and a new push from his daughter, forces him to put everything on the line and fight to prove he learned his lessons well and is worthy of a happily ever after with Tallulah.
Featured Series
2 primary booksBig Shots is a 2-book series with 2 primary works first released in 2024 with contributions by Tessa Bailey. The next book is scheduled for release on 1/1/2025.
Reviews with the most likes.
hm. okay. i think i liked this one slightly less than Fangirl Down. it was a bit more unrealistic and cringy, and the spice wasn't as bad this time around or maybe i just knew what to expect now. i didn't really like Tallulah as a fmc as much as i liked Josephine, but i did like Burgess way more than Wells. Chloe was entertaining af tho, glad she's getting her own book.
Pre-Reading Updates: Did a book trade with my friend and co-worker Madelyn! I gave her Ali Hazelwood's Bride and she gave me this book, Tessa Bailey's The Au Pair Affair! I'm going to read Fangirl Down first though, since it seems to be the first in the series. Can't wait!
Tessa Bailey absolutely kills it AGAIN!!
I loved the first book in the series and I loved this one just the same. The spice oh wow!!!!!!
This is a great addition to Tessa Bailey's sports romance series.
Tallulah is confident, courageous, and good at communicating her needs even when she doubts herself. Burgess is protective and possessive while still being conscious of Tallulah's independence. You get both an age gap and a boss/employee trope which can lead to some tricky power imbalances, but in this case Tallulah's emotional intelligence and her superior understanding of how to connect with a 12 year old girl helps even that out. It's not insta-love but there is an instant attraction between the two of them. I appreciated that we see Tallulah think about Burgess's protective actions critically and, with the context of her feelings, decide whether or not they cross her boundaries. It's something that mirrors my own thoughts when I'm reading and wonder if an overprotective character's actions cross the line from heartwarming to controlling.
I think it's pretty standard for a Tessa Bailey novel. It's steamy, funny, filled with charming side characters, and you get great character growth from both Tallulah and Burgess. There are phrases or lines of dialogue that toe the line of almost too cheesy or a little unhinged but, for me, that's part of why I'm a fan. It's fresh, fun, unexpected, and sometimes realistically awkward.
Although I enjoyed it overall, it felt a little incomplete to me. I expected more from the nanny plot. I was hoping to see the growth of Tallulah's relationship with Lissa and how she fits into the family. You get glimpses of that but they're sparse. It felt like Lissa as a character was only brought in when she was needed to move the plot forward or to deepen the relationship between Burgess and Tallulah, and when that wasn't happening she was just out of the picture. This gives space for the couple's relationship to progress quickly but it makes it seem like Lissa isn't not a priority to her dad and that made me like him less. I would have loved to see Tallulah and Lissa interact without Burgess. A large part of her moving in with him was to help nanny, and we see very very little of that.
I think fans of Fangirl Down will enjoy this one. It feels rewarding to watch them learn to trust each other and trust themselves, you get a look into how Wells and Josephine are progressing, and (like every other character who asked about it) I'm dying to find out what the deal is with Chloe and Sig.
Thank you to Avon and Harper Voyager for providing this ARC through NetGalley in exchance for my honest feedback
