Double Feature

Title: Double Feature
Author: Aislinn Kerry
Cover Artist: Trace Edward Zaber
Publisher: Amber Allure
Buy Link: Buy Link Double Feature
Genre: M/M/M futuristic BDSM romance
Length: 89,000 words
Rating: 4 stars out of 5

A guest review by Jenre

Summary Review:
An unusual futuristic romance which I found engaging, despite its flaws.

THE BLURB

As Hollywood’s biggest holovid star, Adrien Grant has all the money and fame a man could want. The price he pays is keeping his sexuality firmly in the closet. When damning photos get leaked to the press, he decides a nice long vacation in the Spanish countryside is just what he needs. But Spain holds a surprise that he never could have foreseen.

Cristian Rodriguez wants nothing more than to run his bed-and-breakfast in peace with his partner, Felix. But every glance in the mirror reminds him of the one thing he’d rather forget—that he’s Adrien Grant’s clone, a pale imitation of Hollywood’s biggest celebrity. Still, they live a peaceful life until the day Adrien himself shows up on their doorstep, insisting he has a reservation.

Adrien’s a spoiled celebrity with the paparazzi hot on his heels. Cristian’s got a chip on his shoulder the size of Europe and a lifetime of resentment burning inside him. Felix just wants to salvage what remains of his and Cristian’s crumbling relationship. But what if each of them is just what the others need?

THE REVIEW

Set in the future when cloning is part of society, this novel looks at the uneasy relationship with Hollywood holovid star Adrien, his clone Cristian and Cristian’s partner Felix. The story begins when Adrien is forced to take a short break to escape the heat of brewing scandal in his life. A misjudged one night stand leaves Adrien on the verge of being outed, something that would ruin his career as a Hollywood heart-throb. His friend recommends a bed and breakfast in a sleepy Spanish village. However, when Adrien arrives he discovers that the place is run by his clone, Cristian, who is bitter about the years of being compared to Adrien and full of self-loathing for his own looks.

This book has been rather tough to grade for me. I really liked the writing which flowed well and I also found the situation and the characters very interesting. I read the book quickly, engaged with what was happening on the page and wanting to know how it was all going to work out for the three men in the end. Having said that, there was also a lot of things that niggled me about the book. It’s been a balancing act between those niggles and what was a rather good read.

Let’s start with the things I liked. The dynamics between the three characters started off being very awkward. Let’s face it, Cristian is not a nice man at the beginning of the story. His lack of self-worth makes him bad-tempered, prone to hostile silences and sharp words. It was difficult at first to understand what Felix sees in Cristian as he seems to spend a lot of time walking on egg-shells, tiptoeing round Cristian so as not to set off a bad mood. I liked Felix a great deal, especially in the way he grows and adapts as the story continues. He learns to stand up to Cristian, to defy him and also to be a little selfish as compared to the selfless way he behaves at the beginning. It’s hard for Felix because he’s a gentle man who likes to keep the peace, no matter what his own feelings may be and I was happy with the way Adrien was able to bring him to a place where he could ask for what he wanted. As Felix progresses so does Cristian who learns that he can be tender as well as strong. Adrien’s arrival acts as a catalyst. He quickly comes between the two lovers – and those of you who don’t like infidelity will not like this – but once the initial seductions take place, Adrien then brings Cristian and Felix back together. As a three they work, with Adrien balancing out the tensions between the pair. It was cleverly done.

The book has a number of sex scenes and a BDSM theme. I was a little uncomfortable with the way the BDSM was used as a cathartic act for Cristian, especially as it went just a little too far for my tastes, but other than that I liked that Adrien was able to bring that aspect to the relationship. The BDSM worked best, I thought, to show a development in Felix. The sex scenes had a nice progression to them as well as being well choreographed and hot. There may have been a lot of sex, but my attention didn’t waver during the scenes. One thing I did find a little odd though was that  Adrien or Cristian never mention how bizarre it is to be having sex with someone who looks exactly the same as you. It seemed such an obviously strange thing to mention, especially as they occasionally compare sensitive body spots.

What didn’t work so well for me was the plot involving the media and Adrien. Adrien has been brought up in a famous family, followed by the media all his life and yet he makes a number of stupid mistakes which lead to repercussions, such as swimming outside where anyone with a telephoto lens could take pictures. It jarred with the characterisation. I also found Adrien’s publicist wholly objectionable, which may have been deliberate, but it made me wonder whether a famous man like Adrien would really put up being spoken to the way Amber speaks to him, no matter how much of a good publicist she was.

What I also found rather disappointing was that the futuristic setting wasn’t used as well as it might have been. There were lots of great touches, such as the cars that drive themselves and the different technology but the real important stuff such as the cloning was glossed over a bit. I wanted to know a bit more about that, especially the politics behind it.

Fianlly, the book ends rather suddenly. There’s a resolution but the end also marks a turning point in the relationship between the men. I’m guessing that there’s another book in the pipeline, in fact I hope so because there’s much more to explore with these men.

Overall, I enjoyed Double Feature. It was certainly a very unusual book in its themes and because of that, and the strength of the writing, I can recommend it. It’s not a perfect book by any means, but one which I don’t think I shall forget in a hurry.