Review: The Problem with Perfect

The Problem with Perfect by Philip William Stover
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Ethan Wells has been producing a lifestyle tv show Myles of Style hosted by an openly gay presenter, Chase Myles. Ethan is the brains and the flair of the operation, Chase is the pretty front-man, I was going to say nice but dim, but he isn't very nice, in fact he's a complete diva and very unprofessional. The studio also likes the idea of Chase and Ethan as a couple so the two of them have been fake dating for years, even though Chase is sleeping with other men left right and centre. When Chase swans off to a party in Miami when the team have time-critical social media pictures and content to film and post Ethan can see his longed-for promotion slipping out of his reach. With no time to fly to Miami and drag Chase back, Ethan decides to try to persuade Chase's identical twin brother, who lives in the wilds of rural New York, to step and take the shots.

Chase's brother Beau is nothing like Chase, intelligent, thoughtful, kind, mindful, oh and he looks like the wild man of Borneo, although that's easily fixed. The trouble is, on set no-one can understand how 'Chase' is no longer throwing tantrums on a daily basis and suddenly remembers the names of all the crew members. But when Chase decides to fly off to Abu Dhabi with a film producer he met in Miami will Beau be able to pull off a longer deception? And what will happen when Chase eventually returns?

Literature and films are mildly obsessed by identical twins/doppelgangers. Just think of The Parent Trap, The Prisoner of Zenda, The Man in The Iron Mask, or Dave. So the idea of a look-alike or twin being nicer than the original is not a new one. But if you enjoy that sort of thing (which I do) then this is a fun take on the theme.

I think my grading would have been higher if Beau hadn't been so dargone perfect, he felt too good to be true. Even his big bad secret was truly nothing of the kind. And in contrast, Ethan seemed to be the one who had to change himself, it's interesting that this is often a complaint I make about hetero romances, it is always the woman who has the faults and has to change - maybe its just something that writers lean into more heavily on the protagonist rather than their love interest? Anyway, it did make me wonder what Beau found to like about Ethan when he was (apparently) so bossy and needed everything to be perfect. But a minor gripe, otherwise it was a fun read.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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