Reviews with content warning for Sexual harassment - The Au Pair Affair

Reviews tagging 'Sexual harassment'

The Au Pair Affair by Tessa Bailey

15 reviews

linora's review

emotional lighthearted slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

Tessa Bailey is very hit or miss for me. She's a decent writer, but this book was a miss. It really leaned into "big protective man" and was super chill about him sexually harassing an au pair at her job because like, he's hot so she's into it I guess?

There were red flags galore. If I knew this couple in real life and saw their interactions as they were depicted to other characters, I would think that the protagonist was being controlled at least and would worry about her being abused behind closed doors. The male protagonist was perfectly lovely behind closed doors, but there were a lot of red flags that he wouldn' t be. Normally power dynamics like this in fiction don't bug me this much, but it just rubbed me the wrong way because the book really emphasized the protagonist's trauma with men, and I would absolutely hate for someone who has experienced trauma and relates heavily to the main character to read this book and think that this is a healthy relationship that they should aim for.

I think I just like Tessa Bailey's work when it's lighthearted. This felt a little too cavalier of a take on trauma.

Content Warnings

anneof221b's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I don't know why I keep reading sports romances when I don't like sports. I like Tessa Bailey, queen of out-of-pocket similes and dirty talk, but this book just didn't do anything for me. The male main character's possessiveness and obsession with staying young and relevant was an ick for me. As someone who works in wildlife biology, it was painfully obvious that Bailey did minimal research and, like most fifth graders, just liked the sound of "marine biology" when searching for main character careers.

Content Warnings