Slow Burn

by Ann Marsh

[Cocktails and Books]

Slow Burn was a very slow read. The book had a very promising storyline but the characters fell flat. They had no depth, no chemistry, and the descriptions used by the author were so repetitive this reader could rattle them off just as I was reading them for the nth time. The author went on and on describing the main male character, Evan as being huge. It turns out that huge and imposing to the author is 6 feet tall, less than 200 lbs. Considering the average US male is 5'9 and 180 lbs I wouldn't call Evan huge in anyone's book. It's pretty easy to see men that are larger on any given day. It wouldn't have been so annoying had the author not hitched many of the main heroine's (Faye) antics and much of the storyline to Evan's size. For example example many paragraphs included some variation of ""Evan's size was intimidating, he was so large she shuddered, even his huge size couldn't frighten her, most would be afraid of Evan because of his large size"" and by the end of the book I was thoroughly tired of hearing about his dimensions.

Faye was dullest heroine I think I've ever read about. She bought a Corvette looking for adventure after divorcing her husband and landed in a small town. The book sort of flip-flopped because Evann didn't want a relationship first and then Faye didn't want to get involved. They finally came together and the sex would have been steamy except that I couldn't tell when it was foreplay and when it was actually physical intercourse. One scene described her feeling him inside and totally filling her. As I read a few more paragraphs I realized they were still clothed and it must have been the author describing emotional fulfillment. This happened several times.

The intrigue was supposed to refer to a fireman that set fires to build his reputation and pad his paycheck. That was resolved very neatly in the cheesiest way possible. The man is spotted, realizes they have identified him, and then sets one more fire while sitting around watching and waiting to be apprehended. It was a terrible end.

The book was a yawn with characters that could have been interesting had the author taken the time to develop the characters and storyline more. One section mentioned Evan's mother beginning an affair with a long time friend. It largely went unexplored and the reader keeps hearing about Evan's great relationship with his mother but there is not a lot of actual dialogue between the two characters.

It was a waste of my time to read this book, and I really am disappointed that such a great premise was so poorly executed.

Reviewed by Michelle for Cocktails and Books