The Au Pair Affair

With this second installment in her “Big Shots” sports romance series (following the series opener, Fangirl Down), Bailey offers a steamy, grumpy/sunshine, age-gap, forced-proximity love story that will steal listeners’ hearts. Tallulah Aydin is a broke, single marine biology grad student in need of affordable housing. Pro hockey player Burgess Abraham, a.k.a. Sir Savage, who is 11 years Tallulah’s senior, needs a live-in nanny to care for his 12-year-old daughter, Lissa, when he is on the road. A mutually beneficial arrangement follows, with both Tallulah and Burgess fighting their electric attraction for each other. There is also sensitive treatment of mental illness, as Burgess helps Tallulah begin to address her PTSD from a kidnapping episode in her past that has made her wary of trusting anyone. Narrator Callie Dalton does a wonderful job voicing both the main characters, enhancing the story’s emotional depth with her nuanced tone and layered characterizations.