Reviewed by Roberta

TITLE: Double Heat

SERIES: Twin Ties, Book 3

AUTHOR: Lynn Kelling

PUBLISHER: Fantastic Fiction Publishing

LENGTH: 105,000 Words

BLURB:

When Evan and Brennan moved in with their boyfriends, Alek and Luka, they knew things would be complicated, but as their privacy gets eroded, and people around them begin to notice the tangled nature of the four-way relationship, coping becomes a struggle. After Brennan leaves on a brief trip home, and Evan remains behind to enjoy the full attention of both Alek and Luka, the careful balance of things gets thrown off.

Ex-boyfriends surface, haunting Evan and Brennan in similar ways as regret for poor choices threatens their happiness, and the sexual freedom displayed earlier in their lives draws predators willing to use violence, coercion, mind-games and force to take what they want. Though Luka and Alek struggle to protect those they love, it soon becomes clear that the dangers surrounding them will find ways to rush in, trying to take what belongs to them. (M/M+)

REVIEW:

So, I love long books. I love long books that are part if a series. So, this book came up on the review list and I vaguely remember buying the first book in the series. Now, normally…I’d just read this book and see if I could just figure things out. However, something told me that this one…I truly would need to read the first two books in order to really get a feel for this story and dammit…I was right. These books…just DAMN!!

So, this book picks up a few months after book two left off and the couples are all moved in with each other. It’s nice, yet it’s also so very scary to have this much togetherness all the time. Evan is dealing with still some of the issues of being out as a gay man. Not only that…but dating someone(s) and having other people know about it. Evan has always lived his life so alone and not to go to an abundance of people around…it still takes some getting used to. Evan has taken to being really good friends with Carter, someone who knows about the relationships that he has with Brennan, Alek & Luka. Evan has lots of issues regarding the loss of his privacy. Evan also struggles with being able to talk about his thoughts and feelings.

Brennan…it’s their mother’s birthday and he’s going back to their little town to go and spend some time with his mother. He’s also made arrangements to hangout with his old friends as well. He’s nervous about that as his life isn’t anything that they could possibly understand. One of the flies in his ointment is this ex, Tommy. Tommy, the guy who still calls and texts Brennan even though Brennon doesn’t respond to his overtures. Brennan who suffers from the very thought of losing more people that he loves. Brennan, the kid who just wants to have his family there and to finally find a measure of peace.

Alek and Luka of course play a big part in this story. These two guys aren’t mind readers and they can’t know what’s in their boys’ heads. They can’t know all the things the boys are hiding away from them. They can only love and protect what is theirs. I love that Alek and Luka are so supportive of their loves and that they just want to find a way to be happy, all four of them. Alek and Luka are just these really great guys and I really can’t wait to find out more about them. I hope the next installment focuses on them. These two have so much that they need to work out, finally amongst themselves. It will cathartic for them to finally allow them to forgive and move past some of their past. But, that’s up to Lynn to let us know what’s going to happen to them.

The secondary characters….Presley, Carter and Jimmy. Now, these guys are true friends to the foursome. They may not like it or Hell, even understand it…but they love and support our guys and that is the true measure of friends. Hailey, a friend of Evan and Brennan’s mother…she loves Brennan and she never meant any harm, she just didn’t understand some things that were never explained. She only wants the best for her friend’s son. Drew…well, that man is just a pig and I hated EVERYTHING about him!! There were no redeeming qualities that that man possessed. I wasn’t sorry for what happened to him. Tommy…now this guy…if I saw him…I would punch him in the throat. Before we even actually met him, there was just something odd about him just with the texts and calls. I mean, if someone breaks up with you and leaves the damn state and won’t respond to your calls and texts…I think it’s over and you should just let that go. Its not that damn serious.

Now, the sexy times in this book were plentiful and yet…it wasn’t the be all end all of this story. That was just another way to bond and also to show the others how much they were loved. I liked that even though there were plenty of sexy times, they weren’t all there was to the story. They were there when they needed to connect to each other and to show love and affection.

So, I will say that there was a scene of rape in this story. There was a near rape and a complete rape. This might be a trigger for some and I just wanted to give a heads up on that front.

This series just seems to get darker and darker and yet, there is always hope and love and plenty of support. I was really glad that I binged read the first two books and it put me in the mindset for the 3^rd book and just allowed me to be completely immersed into the story. I know people say that books are standalone, however, this is not one of them. I really believe that in order to truly understand these characters you should read the first two books. I really hope that Brennan and Evan get some professional help. They need it. Hell, I’ll even throw in Alek and Luka. Those two have some issues to work out as well, but I assume we’ll get into that later.

Now, I will talk about the relationship between the 4 main characters…they are 2 sets of twins that sleep with each other. They are in a committed poly-relationship that they ALL work on. This is huge for all of them. Now, I know that some people are not going to like the subject matter and that’s fine. But for those who don’t mind delving into something different and something darker…this is a really great series. I really applaud the author for taking the chance and writing about a love that isn’t the “norm”. That falls outside of what some people find that they can handle. I applaud the Publishing house that allows author’s and readers the chance to explore things that fall outside the box. I look forward to the next installment.

RATING:

BUY LINKS:

Fantastic Fiction Publishing

Amazon

All Romance