Book Review: Callous By Sybil Bartel

Callous
(Alpha Bodyguard #6)
By Sybil Bartel

Bodyguard.

Tracker.

Silent Observer.

Life was in the details. The weight of a government issued rifle, the trajectory of a bullet, the speed of the wind—those details were crucial in the Marines. But outside the military, that level of observation was currency, and I was selling my skills to the best security firm in South Florida.

Except I wasn't on a job when I noticed the nervous brunette pushing through the crowded street. Her hair loose, her shirt borrowed, she stumbled in too-big shoes before looking over her shoulder. I didn't follow her glance. I didn't have to. I'd already spotted the muscle after her. The question was if I was going to do anything about it. Before I could decide, her pursuer took aim. It was the wrong move.

Now he was going to find out how callous a bodyguard could be.

CALLOUS is a sexy new standalone book in the Alpha Bodyguard Series.

The Alpha Bodyguard Series:

SCANDALOUS
MERCILESS
RECKLESS
RUTHLESS
FEARLESS
CALLOUS

Available At:

| Amazon | B&N | Kobo |

Check Out The Other Books In this Series:

(Linked to my review)

My Review:

Based on how this novel started out I thought it was going to be amazing but then it just wasn't. Before the pitchforks come out let me explain! It starts off with a prologue type of situation which I was excited about. The present story starts off nicely with the heroine telling us about present hero and action-packed-problem hits and.... then proceeds to get resolved within a chapter?

I guess it was wrong of me to think that all the books in this series would follow the pattern all the other books have set. It was just weird to have the couple interact because they wanted to and not because there was a big bad after one or all of them.

Most of this author's novels feature insta-love and she's one of the few that make me not hate it. Mercy (at least in the beginning) seemed to have a good head on her shoulders. She was sassy, mouthy and knew that she would put her son above anything else. Though in the last third of the novel she got this annoying tick where she started running off when small problems would come up with Preston instead of talking to him about it even though they always made up afterword anyways. 

Speaking of her son, (even though I dislike children in novels) I would have loved to have known what condition he has (or if he even has one?) that caused him to be born deaf. I can already imagine the future story he could have if/when the author ages him up.

Preston was a whole other ball game compared to the other heroes this series has featured in past books. He's broken due to happenings in his childhood and the way he's found to circumvent that is control in every aspect of his life and his surroundings. Counting and calculating is a way of life for him. If there was anyone who would benefit from talking to a therepist it would be him. Living like that is not what I would call living at all. As much as he is controlling he's also secretive. Getting personal information out of him is like pulling teeth. I would have liked to have gotten to know him more.

The ending was sweet! Considering there was no big bad (remember that ended almost before the present story began), it was just that: sweet. I'm not excited for Thomas's book to be next. The way the heroine Summer was presented didn't make me like her one bit. I'm still on the bandwagon of let's-give-Neil's-cousin/nephew(I forget who he was only that he was presented at the beginning of another character's book) a book for himself! 

My Favorite Quotes:

"Bad sh*t happened in odd numbers."

"Our experiences shape us."

"Feelings are never wrong, they just are."

My Rating: