Reviews

The Au Pair Affair by Tessa Bailey

_lc_'s review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.5

I really enjoy the way Tessa makes her characters with so much banter and this strange sort of lofty sass. Burgess was that lovely grump of a protector while Tallulah was trying to rediscover her sunshine. 

There was plenty of pining from Burgess, who was respectful of her boundaries while also being deliciously hot and essentially giving Tallulah no choice but to jump his bones. Hoping that we get an Sig and Chloe for instalment number three.  

Thanks to #NetGallery and publisher for a copy of this book.

Genre: Romance FM

Format: Dogital

POV: Dual

Tropes: Single dad/Au pair, hockey player, forced proximity, he falls first and he falls hard, 11 year age gap, who did this to you? 

Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️ /5 

Age suggestion: 18+

pandorasboxofbooks's review

funny lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.0

booksta_adventure's review

4.5

“𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙜𝙚𝙩 𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙖𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙙, 𝙏𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙪𝙡𝙖𝙝,” 𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙞𝙙 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙤𝙥 𝙤𝙛 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙢𝙤𝙪𝙩𝙝. “𝙉𝙖𝙝, 𝙄’𝙢 𝙖𝙡𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙮 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣 𝙖 𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙡𝙚 𝙤𝙗𝙨𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙮𝙤𝙪, 𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙣’𝙩 𝙄? 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙗𝙖𝙗𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙮 𝙣𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙚 𝙄 𝙨𝙥𝙤𝙤𝙣-𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙤𝙧𝙜𝙖𝙨𝙢𝙨, 𝙄 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙜𝙚𝙩 𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙖𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙙. 𝙃𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙞𝙡𝙮. 𝙅𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙄’𝙡𝙡 𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙞𝙡𝙮 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙘𝙠 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙮𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙚𝙡𝙨𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙨. 𝘽𝙚. 𝙎𝙪𝙧𝙚.”

When we first met Tallulah and Burgess in Fangirl Down, I was immediately clamoring for their book. Hot hockey player offering this marine biology grad student a position as his live-in nanny, and he obviously can’t keep his eyes off her? Yes, please.

Tallulah has some real deep trauma that she is working through, and I loved how sensitive this big burly hockey player was when with that, while still being the overly protective man that he is.

I really loved the addition of Lissa, Burgess’ daughter. She felt like a real tween, with real tween reactions to situations, and frankly, she was probably the one that had me crying the hardest at the end! 😭 

Overall, I’m really enjoying Tessa’s foray into sports romance, and I’m so looking forward to the next book hinted at in this one! 👀 

Thank you to Avon and Harper Voyager and @netgalley for providing me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

 

What this book is giving:

✅ Sports Romance (Hockey)

✅ Dual POV

✅ Age Gap (He’s 37, She’s 26)

✅ Single Dad

✅ He falls first and hard

✅ Tween Daughter

✅ “Mean Daddy”

Rating: 

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️½ / 5

🌶️🌶️🌶️ / 5

meganclaire7's review against another edition

funny lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Cute light romance read, good banter, I wish there was more depth in the relationship post-Burgess’s injury, it felt kinda superficial after the depth of the initial characterization of Burgess and Tallulah, I liked this more than the first book in the series, I’d like to see a third one!

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this novel! 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content and Injury/Injury detail

cwhitney88's review

emotional funny medium-paced

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

3.0

courttylka's review against another edition

funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

4.5

Honestly this book is 4.5 stars in my opinion so I round up. This book had me kicking my feet and grinning like a crazy person. Burgess and Tallulah’s story is so sweet and cute. This book had me giggling and blushing all at the same time while reading it. I swear I am such a sucker for a single dad, age gap, he falls first type of situation because I truly enjoyed this Tessa Bailey book. 

romance_book_obsessed's review

5.0

4.5 ⭐️

I couldn’t believe I received an ARC from NetGalley and Avon books, but I am so thankful!

I loved fangirl down and was so excited to get my hands on the single dad hockey player romance!

Burgess is the gruff and grumpy hockey player who is down BAD for his au pair. Tallulah is a grad student with some baggage. She takes the gig to take care of Burgess’ 12 year old but ends up falling for her protective boss!

Burgess is so patient and obsessed with Tallulah. He’s possessive and says “Mine” a lot! I can’t wait for everyone to pick this one up!

awright0614's review against another edition

4.0

Oh how I loved this story!!! Burgess was different from other Sport Romance MCs. He fell so quickly and so hard and so, so deeply. He was a gentle giant off the ice. From the moment he met Tallulah, he knew she was different and he wanted to be in her space. Burgess had no clue how to interact with his daughter. He was awkward in the most innocent ways. He wanted to be a good dad, but needed someone to help him see his words and actions through another’s eyes. Tallulah was this person. There were so many obstacles for them to overcome starting at the very beginning of the book. Their road to happiness was not smooth, but it sure was sweet when they got there.

I received a free ARC and this is my honest, voluntary review.

kalayk's review

adventurous emotional lighthearted reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

pterodashtyl's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0