Reviewed by Valerie

TITLE: Bad Deal

SERIES: A-List Security #3

AUTHOR: Annabeth Albert

PUBLISHER: Self Published

LENGTH: 299 pages

RELEASE DATE: October 6, 2022

BLURB:

I’m a bodyguard and far from ideal boyfriend material, but agreeing to this fake dating scheme might be the best bad deal I’ve ever made…

I’m a fixer. As a SEAL chief, I succeeded in impossible no-win situations. Now I’m retired and determined to improve the lives of my former military teammates through our Hollywood security firm. Plus, I get to guard intriguing people like Ambrose Sterling, creator of one of my favorite TV shows.

Of course, I want to keep Ambrose safe. When he’s attacked, I leap into action to save him and his scrappy little therapy dog.

But my good deed results in a coastal road trip with me pretending to be Ambrose’s boyfriend to keep him out of more danger.

I don’t do relationships, and I’ve never thought about dating a man before, but here I am, sizzling with every touch and dreaming about more stolen kisses.

Each night of white-hot passion brings us closer to an unbreakable bond. But I’m blue-collar, and Ambrose is Hollywood elite. I want a happy ending more than anything. Can I turn this fake boyfriend gig into the real thing, or am I just a guest star?

REVIEW:   

Bad Deal is the third installment in the A-List Security series. It’s the story of Harley, one of the security specialists at A-List, falling in love with Ambrose, a TV show creator/producer. This is a book with fake boyfriend, opposites attract themes between two men in their forties.

Harley is a former SEAL, a prototypical big, tough, ex-military guy. Add in a silver fox aesthetic and Ambrose is a goner. Harley is working security on the set of Ambrose’s television series and one day overhears Ambrose tell his sister he’s sweet on Harley. But as Harley’s boss, he needs to maintain professional boundaries.

When Ambrose needs a fake boyfriend for his niece’s wedding, Harley steps up into the role. Ambrose doesn’t like to fly so they embark on a road trip from Los Angeles to the Oregon coast. Of course, a road trip would never be complete without a hotel with only one bed! The fake boyfriend ruse goes well and it’s a natural progression for it to smoothly morph into real dating.

Harley has never been in a relationship, has never felt the urge for one because he’s never connected with anyone before. It seems he might be demi-romantic and when a connection builds between himself and Ambrose, the idea of a relationship with him is appealing. Yay for the demi-romantic representation. This is an identity I haven’t seen portrayed much.

Harley discovers that having true feelings during sex takes it to a new level he hasn’t experienced before with deeper emotions and a sense of possessiveness (not the icky kind). He loves how their relationship is effortless and familiar. It’s so easy to share his thoughts with Ambrose. The conflict in the story arises from Harley feeling like he was going to fail as a boyfriend since he’s never been one. He needs to face those feelings head on before moving forward with Ambrose who begins to feel rejected.

Ambrose suffers from anxiety and has a therapy dog, a Chinese Crested pup named Hercules, that goes everywhere with him. He’s really more of an emotional support pet, not a true therapy dog. I wish we had seen a little more spirit and maybe some cute antics from Hercules. He came across more like an accessory.

I wasn’t able to connect with Ambrose in this story. He felt like a weakling, but not from his panic disorder. Mental health issues should never be portrayed as a sign of weakness and Annabeth Albert never does that here. Nonetheless, he felt wishy washy. I generally like fake boyfriend tropes but it feels manufactured in this book. It’s not clear to me why Ambrose and Harley couldn’t attend the wedding as friends.

I wish I had enjoyed this book more. It was just average for me, surprisingly since I usually find Albert’s work delightful. I seem to be in the minority among reviewers so hopefully you’ll have a better reading experience.

RATING:

BUY LINK: 

Amazon