Genre: Romance
Publication Date: July 16, 2024
Rating: 4 Stars
NetGalley Blurb:
#1 New York Times bestselling author Tessa Bailey returns with an all-new sports rom-com about a burly, surly, single dad who falls head-over-hockey-stick for his quirky live-in nanny…
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.
What I liked about the book:
1. I love an age gap, single father x nanny romance, especially when the FMC is not in her teen years. Tallulah was 26 years old to Burgess’s 37, and there were several things about this that just felt like a mature relationship, no doubt due to her age.
2. This book is a great example of why I love older MMCs as well. Burgess just acted like you would expect a grown ass man to act. There were several interactions where I was swooning over him for just doing…the bare minimum, and that says a lot! He also recognized his flaws and faults and worked to be better, even before their breakup. Like Tallulah, I also find that super appealing.
Here are a few of my favorite points that prove this:
She couldn’t help but remember that yesterday, when she’d explained her reservations to Burgess in the smoothie shop, he’d acknowledged them without making her feel silly or like she was overreacting. He hadn’t tried to badger her into changing her mind. He’d just quickly gone and done something to help without getting any credit.
– Why is this bare minimum so hot though? But seriously, his wanting to be her protector and supporter, but also stepping back enough to let her stand on her own two feet was just prime book boyfriend material.
She really wanted to see that garden. Enough to go somewhere alone with a man, which she hadn’t felt safe doing in quite some time.
Did she feel safe now?
“There are usually other residents up there,” Burgess said quietly while drying his hands on a kitchen towel. “Not a lot, but my neighbor’s dog gets the zoomies around this time of night and he brings her up there to run in circles…He should be there.”
– This man bringing up the fact that she wouldn’t be alone with him because he understands her thought process but he isn’t calling attention to it and definitely isn’t patronizing her for it, is just so good!
Although, she didn’t freeze up when Burgess got close, did she? No, just the opposite. She heated like a tea kettle. He had a way of approaching her at just the right pace, giving her room to stop…which only made her want more of her spaced invaded by him.
– And it’s always the big ass guys!
3. I liked how even when they were broken up, they both totally had each other’s backs and best interests in mind. When they were in Costa Rica ziplining and they had to finally flip a coin to see who went first because they both wanted to make sure the other was safe and kept bickering about it, it tore me up a little bit. Even though they were not together, their care for one another was so prevalent in everything they did. I like seeing both MCs protective of each other, rather than just the gruff MMC protective of the FMC. It’s refreshing to see the FMC be just as protective 😊
4. I also liked that Tallulah definitely made Burgess work to get her back! After breaking her trust (in probably the only way that we could have been fine with as readers, mind you), the man definitely needed to work to redeem himself and get her back, so I’m glad we got to see that.
5. It’s a Tessa Bailey book. The spice and swoon were great! There are too many lines to pick from so you’ll just have to trust me and read it!
6. I CANNOT WAIT FOR SIG AND CHLOE’S BOOK!!! February 2025 cannot come soon enough!
Sig is definitely the kick in the ass that Burgess needed several times in the book, but he also has a super soft spot for his soon-to-be stepsister, so I can’t wait to see more of that.
Chloe – Chloe is going to drive me nuts in the best way, I can already tell. She can’t tell a lie to save her life and it appears that she doesn’t know how to survive without help from Sig, who appears to be all for helping her. HOWEVER, she is a girls’ girl through and through. My favorite exchange between her and Tallulah was:
*Chloe’s gaze bounces between Tallulah and Finn, lighting up with interest, and she leans in close to speak near Tallulah’s ear.*
Chloe: “Should I make myself scarce?”
Tallulah: “No.”
Chloe: “Gotcha. Should he?”
Tallulah: “Uh. Yeah, I think so.”
Chloe: “Double gotcha. Sorry, babe, I’m stealing her for drunk girl talk.”
[…]
Tallulah: “Thanks. He wasn’t being excessively creepy or anything. I’m just…”
Chloe: “You don’t have to explain. It’s just a no.”
There were seriously so many snippets of fire between Sig and Chloe from Sig launching some rando’s pen across the room who wanted Chloe’s number to quietly reading a book about investments when she mentioned wanting to open her own business. I kinda have a feeling they are going to be my favorite couple to date in this series!
What I wasn’t a fan of:
1. I felt like we didn’t get a whole lot of page time of Burgess’s daughter. With this being a single father x nanny romance, I was expecting not just more drama with his daughter, but more quality time between the three of them, father and daughter, and daughter and nanny.
2. While I understand the need and the underlying reasoning for the breakup, it just seemed really out of character how Burgess reacted. The things he said were in direct contrast to the character I’d liked for 80% of the story at that point.
3. I thought there would be more adventures between Tallulah and Burgess. They made this deal about him joining her on adventures to expand her life, while she got him out into the dating market, and that kinda just didn’t occur? There were more adventures between them once he was trying to win her back in my opinion.
Thank you to NetGalley, Avon and Harper Voyager, and Tessa Bailey for the opportunity to read this book. The thoughts and opinions expressed above are honest and my own.
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