Description

The Au Pair Affair by Tessa Bailey

The Au Pair Affair by Tessa Bailey

The Au Pair Affair by Tessa Bailey is the second book in the Big Shots sports-romance series, following Fangirl Down.

This contemporary romantic comedy centres on Tallulah, a twenty-six-year-old marine biology student who is smart, adventurous and seriously short on money.

When she receives an opportunity to work as a live-in nanny for a wealthy professional hockey player and single father, the offer seems almost too good to refuse.

That hockey player is Burgess.

He is experienced, physically imposing, emotionally guarded and carrying plenty of baggage from his past.

He is also raising his tween daughter, Lissa, and trying to balance fatherhood with life as a professional athlete.

The arrangement is supposed to be simple.

Tallulah needs money and somewhere comfortable to live.

Burgess needs help with his daughter.

Neither of them needs a complicated romance.

Unfortunately, chemistry has other plans.

HarperCollins’ description presents the novel as a sports romantic comedy in which Tallulah becomes Burgess’s live-in nanny and their professional boundaries become increasingly difficult to maintain.

Tallulah

Tallulah is not simply looking for romance.

She is studying to become a marine biologist and is focused on building her future.

At twenty-six, however, finances are a constant concern.

Working for Burgess gives her a chance to earn money while living in a comfortable neighbourhood and helping care for Lissa.

Tallulah is energetic, curious and adventurous.

She is also much more emotionally perceptive than Burgess initially expects.

Her relationship with Lissa becomes important in its own right, giving Tallulah a place inside Burgess’s family life long before romance becomes impossible to ignore.

Burgess

Burgess is a veteran professional hockey player.

He has physical scars, emotional baggage and a reputation for being intimidating.

He is also a father.

That makes his priorities more complicated than those of the typical sports-romance hero.

Burgess is trying to give Lissa stability while managing his career and the aftermath of his previous relationship.

His friends think he needs to start dating again.

Burgess is less convinced.

Tallulah, however, seems determined to push him out of his comfort zone.

Single-Dad Romance

One of the major tropes in The Au Pair Affair is single-dad romance.

Burgess’s relationship with Lissa matters just as much as his growing attraction to Tallulah.

This creates a more complicated emotional situation because any romantic decision could affect his daughter.

Lissa also has her own feelings about her parents and about whether Burgess should move on.

That family tension becomes important as Tallulah and Burgess grow closer.

Live-In Nanny Romance

The live-in nanny setup creates plenty of forced proximity.

Tallulah and Burgess are not simply dating while maintaining separate lives.

They are sharing a household structure.

Tallulah is helping care for his daughter.

Burgess is her employer.

Those boundaries create tension.

They also raise questions about how much of their attraction should be acted upon.

Readers can expect:

• Live-in nanny romance
• Single-dad romance
• Forced proximity
• Sports romance
• Workplace romance
• Age-gap elements
• Romantic comedy
• Emotional tension

Hockey Romance

Burgess’s professional hockey career gives the novel its sports-romance setting.

The story is less focused on game statistics or technical hockey detail and more focused on what being a professional athlete means for Burgess personally.

His career affects:

• His schedule
• His physical condition
• His reputation
• His confidence
• His family life
• His ideas about aging and retirement

The sports setting also connects the novel to the wider Big Shots universe.

Romantic Chemistry

Tessa Bailey is known for writing highly chemistry-driven contemporary romance.

That is central to this novel.

Tallulah and Burgess are attracted to each other early, but the situation surrounding them makes acting on that attraction risky.

Their dynamic combines:

• Banter
• Physical chemistry
• Emotional vulnerability
• Protective instincts
• Family complications
• Professional boundaries
• Romantic tension

The relationship gradually becomes more serious than either character originally intended.

Family Conflict

Lissa plays an important part in the emotional stakes.

She is not simply present to create the “single dad” trope.

Her feelings about her family situation affect Burgess’s choices.

HarperCollins’ publisher description specifically notes that Lissa wants her parents to reunite, which creates a major problem once Burgess and Tallulah’s chemistry becomes impossible to ignore.

Tallulah eventually decides that stepping away may be the right thing to do, even though doing so hurts both her and Burgess.

That turns the story into more than a simple attraction-based romance.

Second Chances and Growth

Although the book is primarily a romantic comedy, the characters must also confront their own limitations.

Burgess has to decide whether his past should continue defining what he believes he deserves.

Tallulah must decide how much emotional risk she is willing to take.

Their eventual choices revolve around:

• Trust
• Emotional maturity
• Family responsibility
• Personal growth
• Courage
• Choosing love despite uncertainty

Big Shots Reading Order

The series reading order begins:

1. Fangirl Down
2. The Au Pair Affair

Tessa Bailey’s official Big Shots page places The Au Pair Affair as the second main novel in the series.

Google Books and Apple Books also identify it as Big Shots Book 2.

While the central couple has a self-contained romance, reading Fangirl Down first gives better context for the wider character group.

Themes in The Au Pair Affair

The novel explores:

• Love
• Family
• Parenting
• Trust
• Career pressure
• Personal confidence
• Starting over
• Emotional baggage
• Independence
• Commitment
• Second chances
• Choosing your own future

Adult Romance

This is an adult contemporary romance.

It includes:

• Explicit romantic and sexual content
• Strong chemistry
• Adult language
• Mature relationship themes
• Family conflict
• Emotional tension

It is not a YA romance despite the bright, playful cover style.

Who May Enjoy This Book?

The Au Pair Affair may appeal to readers who enjoy:

• Tessa Bailey books
• Hockey romance
• Sports romance
• Single-dad romance
• Nanny romance
• Forced proximity
• Workplace romance
• Romantic comedy
• Steamy contemporary romance
• Family-centred romance

Readers who enjoyed Fangirl Down should continue directly with this second Big Shots novel.

About Tessa Bailey

Tessa Bailey is a bestselling contemporary-romance author known for combining humour, strong chemistry and guaranteed romantic happily-ever-afters.

Her books include:

• Fangirl Down
• The Au Pair Affair
• It Happened One Summer
• Hook, Line, and Sinker
• Secretly Yours
• Unfortunately Yours

Her official site describes The Au Pair Affair as a sports romantic comedy about a single-dad hockey player who falls for his live-in nanny.

For readers looking to buy The Au Pair Affair by Tessa Bailey in Sri Lanka, ISBN 9780063429390 is a 2024 HarperCollins India paperback edition.