Bad Deal: MM SEAL Bodyguard Romance (A-List Security Book 3) by Annabeth Albert: New Release Review

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?

BAD DEAL is book three in the A-List Security series. It features a highly protective SEAL bodyguard, a suit-wearing silver fox, an adorably ugly dog, and all sorts of brand-new emotions. Get ready for all the high heat, big feels, and found family feels readers expect from this fan-favorite military romance author. Join A-List Security for this lower-angst series featuring former SEALs and the celebrity clients who win their hearts. Happy endings and no cliffhangers guaranteed!

This is the second book this week that I have read where one of the main characters didn’t have any experience with men, but also didn’t doubt what he felt or that he could be “good enough” for the other main character. So refreshing!

Book 3 in the series (easily read as a stand alone) gives us Harley, owner of the security firm that is working a television shoot on site. One of his favorite tv shows. Written by the silver foxy Ambrose, Hollywood royalty.

I loved that it is Ambrose who has a crush on Harley first, instead of the other way around. It made Ambrose so much more real instead of untouchable Hollywood elite. His sister on the other hand…she bugged me. Anyway.

The overprotective sister enlists Harley as Ambrose’s plus one and to act as a bodyguard to her daughter’s wedding after he had a scare. Which leads us to the classic forced proximity/fake boyfriend. BUT, these guys actually like each other as humans. So many forced proximity/fake boyfriend tropes the guys hate each other for a myriad of reasons.

The self professed perma bachelor is actually quite good at the fake boyfriend stuff. So much that the faint line that was there is easily crossed. And he doesn’t fight it. Just kind of goes with the flow. He realizes that he isn’t straight, but pan. Or maybe not that he just realizes it, but he says it out loud. And is ready to act on it. With Ambrose.

A little more back story to why Ambrose had a panic disorder, or what brought it on would have been helpful. Because that is the main reason his sister is SO protective of him. It was bad enough that he has meds and a support dog. Perhaps she wouldn’t have bugged me so much if I knew more.

The chemistry between the two men is undeniable. They are completely open with each other and what they like sexually. No one stumbles or is afraid to speak up. That confidence that they had together spoke volumes.

This one is definitely my favorite of the series so far. Not that I didn’t like the others because I certainly did. But there’s something about these 2 guys that was just perfect.

4 pieces of eye candy

This is the third book in the A-List Security series, but does well as a stand alone. You do see the characters from the previous two books, but for short periods of time. This book spends quite a lot of time with Ambrose and Harley on a road trip.

Ambrose, a silver fox, grew up in Hollywood, because his father was famous, but he was more creative, as opposed to his sister who was more of the business side of their production company. (**Small spoiler here: I’ll be honest, I kept wondering if the sister was going to be a “villain” in the book – like perhaps she organized the protests or something – because she was not my favorite. She was beyond overprotective, almost a bit condescending for my tastes. But alas no villain, which was nice since I didn’t want Ambrose hurt.) Ambrose had a lot of anxiety, having an emotional support dog, which my visual of Hercules made him so adorable, yet we don’t really understand what that was about. I would have liked to know more about that. He did seem to become more confident as he felt safer with Harley, though. I also REALLY liked that Ambrose wasn’t a snob (his sister was). He was willing to help around the cabin, learn new things, not something one would expect from his pedigree.

Harley, meanwhile, only recently came to the realization that he was pan (prior to starting anything with Ambrose), and was surprisingly okay with it. Some nervousness telling his family, but overall, he understood that it was just another part of him, just as yet unexplored. We don’t often read about pan or demi characters, so it was nice to have that. As a fake boyfriend, he was great, even if he thought he would never make a good one, in real life or fake. He treated Ambrose so kindly, never made him feel less than when Ambrose had any sort of anxiety or nervousness, and treated Hercules like he was his own.

I loved that they explored sex and intimacy together, as Harley learned what they both liked. Harley didn’t have a SEAL ego that he had to know everything, he let Ambrose guide him to what would work for them both. And while they were hot together, they also were fine with just being together, hanging out, cuddling, etc. It also wasn’t all about f*cking, there were aspects of their sex life that you very rarely read about in books, which isn’t easy to do!

I really enjoyed this one, because these two were so romantic together. They definitely needed to learn to communicate better, but they cared about each other, and weren’t afraid to speak the words, when they could get the nerve to do it.

I’m looking forward to the next book (there’s a little preview in the back of Bad Deal), which has Avery, which we meet briefly in this book. Should be another fun one. (Speaking of Bad Deal…I never did figure out where the title came from. lol)

4 pieces of eye candy