This was one of those books that I devoured in only two or three sittings. The story of Maiko and Adrian had me hooked from the start. While I thought some of the dialogue was a bit off and the ending felt a bit rushed compared to the whole story, this was an entertaining story that delved into deep and emotional topics.

A love a good Hollywood behind-the-scenes story and that's what we get in Double Exposure.

We see the relationship between Maiko Fox and Adrian Hightower a young, beautiful power couple in Hollywood and what led to their unfortunate break-up. We see Maiko and Adrian from their meet cute and their rise to stardom, and fall for one. I liked being able to see the transformation of the relationship between the two characters over numerous years. They seemed like two magnets that were always forced together, even when they didn't want to be. Although I enjoyed the story overall, I did wish that the writing went a little further into the story than we got. The struggles both face felt very surface level. I thought Elissa could have gone further into how both characters overcame the struggles in their individual lives and their life together when they were a couple. The ending was also a little too neat for my liking. I don't need a nice bow on top of all of my stories, but I know a lot of readers do.

I like that Elissa has found a niche for herself writing about the darker side of fame in her novels. I'm here for it and any novels she writes in the future.

Thank you to William Morrow for a copy in exchange for review consideration.

This is my second book by this author as I am a sucker for anything that touches the pop culture realm. They both have been good, but I do think they are missing something that takes them to the next level.

This book was SO good! I really loved the characters, Adrian and Maiko were both fallible people but very lovable. I loved how this book handled abortion, I thought that was really special. There was no shame, it felt really real. I love books about famous people, so hearing about the two of them move up in the spotlight was really fun. I highly recommend this book. Vibe wise, it kind of reminded me of Tia William's Seven Days in June. It was so emotional and good. Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for this ARC!

Double Exposure by Elissa R Sloan was such a great read. I had so much fun reading this one. I was invested in the story line from beginning to end. The characters all seemed really well fleshed out and dimensional. I loved reading the perspective of both main characters throughout the book. A big issue I have with romance novels is how cringey it can get, but this book never gave me the ick, and that's saying a lot. Another characteristic of a good book for me is the chapter lengths. Double Exposure got an A+ on that for me.

Without getting into spoilers- I do wish that the author spent more time on the heavier subject matter, it felt a bit more like a reporting rather than a personal storyline in that sense. I also feel like the ending was a bit rushed, I would've like a little bit more depth into that, However, the rest of the book was perfect to me so I won't complain too much.

Overall, I did love "Madrians" love. Also the spice level was perfect.
I definitely recommend this book for romance lovers and cringe haters.

Following the characters through struggles with addiction, unexpected pregnancies, and personal trauma, I felt drawn into their world and couldn’t look away. Thanks a lot for the ARC! ♥

I was really excited about this book after hearing about it on social media. I really liked parts of this book, and I wanted to keep reading and had to find out how it would resolve, but there was also quite a bit that did not work for me.

I felt like it was trying to take on too much -- infertility, emotional and physical abuse, abortion, addiction, grief just to name a few. Some of the dialog felt like an after school special as the characters addressed these sensitive topics.

I did find myself caring tremendously for Maiko and Adrian. I really wanted the best for them, despite often wanting to shake some sense in to them.

I love reading books about Hollywood and all the parts in the movie industry were very interesting. I loved the news articles and online comments sprinkled in the novel, and I also loved what a large scope of time it covered.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book!

This one started out really strong for me, I really enjoyed the first 25% or so of this one and was very invested. However, it went downhill quickly from there.

The book was so surface level and the dialog was terrible. This book could have been really good because the plot was very interesting but the characters felt really underdeveloped. Somehow, I did still enjoy the book but I think that is solely because of the plot.

At times it felt like an after school special. This book tackled abortion, miscarriages, infertility, death/grief, and domestic violence and doesn’t do a very good job of addressing any of it.

I can’t say I’d recommend this one- I did actually like it but it just wasn’t well done.

Thanks NetGalley and the publisher for the arc .

While the life of a celebrity is one few will experience, I found this to be a beautiful journey of love, loss, growth, and healing. Mind your triggers, but I absolutely believe this to be a journey many, women in particular, can relate to.

Straight out of the gate, heavy women's topics are a reoccurring element. We get a women's perspective through Maiko's experiences, and we get a males perspective from Adrian as his partners deal with these huge life events.
This book is heavy. I had a bizarre and overwhelming sense of temperature, color, and taste while experiencing the ups and downs of this story.

"Madrian." New. Beautiful. Their age and hunger for their careers, coupled with the modeling and movie industry standards made this period feel hot and cold. An acquired taste, like green olives, caviar or brown ale. Many shades of blues and spikes of pink and red.
"Collaboration." Very bittersweet. Maiko and Adrian, for all intents and purposes, are thriving. This period for them, to me, felt like sugar-free candy and that diet that just isn't yielding results. You're healthier for it, but you're not satisfied. Luke warm coffee, muted yellows, and oranges.
"Sparrow." This period felt like one big bruise. Truth and reality are riddled with loss, uncertainty, and suppressed feelings. Very cold, dark reds and purples, wine after a long day, and gluttonous desserts.
"Maiko and Adrian." At their darkest, it felt as if someone turned on the light. All colors became vibrant, food became richer, and warmth finally seeps in.

This book reads as if it were a movie. I can't help but believe it to be intentional, but if not, I'm impressed nonetheless! The timeline spans twenty years. Twenty! Not once did I feel that the pace was rushed or did I find it to be lacking. Again, impressed!

4.5 ⭐️

Read this if you like:
✨Hollywood glamour
✨Second chance romance

Read the trigger warnings for this book!!

I couldn’t believe how fast I flew through this! I read it in a day. I love Maiko and Aiden so much. This book is set in Hollywood and spans almost 20 years of their relationship, or going and coming out of each others lives.

The writing is fast paced and I felt like the story was well written, even though at times a little confusing with some random characters.

I felt like it handled grief well and addiction and just YEARNING.

Loved it.

Thank you William Morrow for my advanced copy.

This book was a great palette cleanser. I read several genres and am a mood reader. I have been feeling in quite a slump and I needed something not so heavy. This was perfect for that! I was heavily invested in pop culture during the same time period the book covers, so for me it was a throw back to my 20's and early 30's. The characters had good chemistry and it covered some serious topics as well such as domestic violence, grief, substance abuse, infertility and pregnancy loss. This was my first Sloan novel and I would definitely read another!

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow Publishing for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

I honestly don’t know what to make of this book. It’s a romance but reads more like a general fiction book. We follow the main characters through 20 years but they are only together for a handful of these years. There are a lot of abrupt time jumps, too.

As a reader, I felt so completely removed from the story. There is no attempt to connect the reader with the characters. It felt like I was just reading a very dry biography for most of the book. The plot is actually very interesting but I never felt like the main characters really cared about each other at all. We were told a lot but not shown a lot.

I haven’t read any other books by this author so this may just be a stylistic choice but it didn’t work for me…definitely not as a romance where emotion should play such a big role in the reader’s experience.

Double Exposure tells the story of Maiko Fox, a model, and Adrian Hightower, an actor, as they navigate their growing careers and relationships. This story follows the two characters throughout many years, detailing their connection and life experiences. The complexity of the characters and the traumatic events they dealt with really added to the depth of the story.

Double Exposure was an intense romance that readers will enjoy if they like reading Hollywood, second-chance romances.

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for this ARC!

I think I missed the memo where this was a romance? I'm not really complaining, but I was waiting for the thriller plot to come, and was delightfully surprised, when I went looking for the synopsis that it was, in fact, a romance.

This romance definitely had some more heavy topics, so if you're sensitive to plot lines with abortion or infertility, then please protect yourself.

I had a good time, and really liked the way that the heavier topics were handled, and seriously wanted to BONK Adrian on the head to stop being such an a-hole. I can't say I was totally rooting for him when we got to the end, but I was more rooting for Maiko's happiness, and if she likes it, I love it.

All in all it was a great time, and I'm always happy to read something Elissa R. Sloan writes.

Thank you to William Morrow and Netgalley for an early copy.

Elissa R. Sloan's latest novel "Double Exposure" has all the signature elements that her fans have probably come to expect, and for new readers, it's an approachable balance of fun and substance.

- Pop culture (this time in the form of a Hollywood super-couple as dual protagonists)
- Real world issues (including but not limited to: addiction, grief, and a controlling relationship)
- 1990s/2000s historical context

I enjoyed the characters of Maiko and especially Adrian, as well as the inclusion of social and political commentary in a way that felt organic to their lives.

Although the book is ostensibly centered on the "Madrian" romance, I think it's actually much more of a look at how life pushes and pulls at both us and our relationships over time.

Books about Hollywood or celebrity culture always catch my attention as a self-proclaimed pop culture junkie, and that was no different with Double Exposure. However, it fell a little flat for me. I didn't really connect with the characters and the pacing felt off — it moved along nicely, but the end was a bit rushed for my liking (this is a me thing and a common complaint I have with books 😂). This book covered a lot, and because of that, I wish it was more focused on a couple of the main issues, instead of having so many conflicts, traumas, etc.

But I do love me some romance (and second-chance romance) and I loved that aspect of the book. Overall, it was an okay book. I didn't love it and I didn't hate it. If you're looking for a solid, quick read this will do the trick!

This was a compelling story about the toxic up and down relationship between Adrian, an actor, and Miko, a Japanese American model turned actress as they work together, fall in and out of love and go through personal hardships over a number of years. The story tackles some tough subjects from abortion, unwanted pregnancies, drug addiction and domestic abuse. Fantastic on audio narrated by Natalie Naudus and while this might be difficult for some to read, I really enjoyed the realistic, raw, and vulnerable look into a Hollywood relationship that forces two people to fight their way back to each other. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital and finished copy in exchange for my honest review!

I received this ARC from Netgalley and I am choosing to leave a review.

I could see this story playing out like a movie in my head. It felt so real and with mentions of actual movies I had to look up these characters to see if they were real. I loved their chemistry and how genuinely excited for each other they were when their careers started taking off.

I think the problems they faced in their relationship was pretty typical of what you'd expect in a Hollywood love story.

I don't want to get into anything spoilery, but I ate this book up. I could not put it down because I needed to know what happened and basically read it in one day. If you like hollywood romance stories, filled with paparazzi and drama then you'll love this one. But it's also a great example of how celebrities are real people with real feelings and emotions and when they make a mistake it's not something that a few people know about....it's known by millions. I liked the ending......it was maybe not as realistic as the rest of the book, but it made me happy. Wholeheartedly recommend.

This was just okay. Second chance romance meets Hollywood. I didn’t really connect with the characters per se. There seemed to be quite a bit of trauma thrown into each of the characters side stories. It was just ok.

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for the eARC.

Elissa Sloan captivated me with "The Unraveling of Cassidy Holmes" and I was so excited to be approved for an advanced copy of Double Exposure. I was immediately engrossed in this love story. It felt so real to me and my heart ached. So beautiful and well done.