Slow Burn by K. Bromberg

From the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Driven series.  ONE NIGHT. THAT'S ALL IT WAS SUPPOSED  TO BE. Reeling from the sudden loss of her sister, Haddie Montgomery has sworn off relationships. All she wanted from Beckett Daniels was a sexy distraction to help her escape her pain for just a little while....There weren’t supposed to be any strings attached—so why can’t she shake the memory of that unforgettable night from her thoughts? Or the taste of his kiss from her lips? No matter how hard Haddie tries to forget about him, Becks relentlessly tries to prove that she should start living for today. But she is determined to avoid romantic commitment, and she can always use her ex-boyfriend’s reappearance to help snuff out the slow burn within her that Becks has sparked.... Or will fate force her to realize that this kind of connection doesn’t come along very often and a chance at love is worth the risk?

I had such high hopes for this book, especially after that scorching first chapter, but to say I was disappointed would be an understatement.

This was my first book by K. Bromberg, so I went in not sure what to expect, which sometimes isn’t a good idea for me and contemporary romance. The premise itself sounded good, I just think the execution didn’t work so well for me.

Haddie Montgomery is struggling though the loss of her sister to breast cancer, and at the wedding of her best friend she just wants to get lost and not think about it anymore. Enter Becks… She wants one night – no strings and after some convincing he caves. But Becks isn’t a one night only kind of guy, and he’s wanted Haddie for quite some time and after one night he knows it’s never going to be enough. But Haddie isn’t ready to commit to anyone when her future is so uncertain … not even Becks.

My issues:

I was bored by midway through this book. I hate, hate, hate when relationships go back and forth and back and forth simply because of a lack of communication. I actually feel like this book was about 100 pages too long and found myself skimming large passages just to get to something interesting.

The hero wasn’t exactly the guy he was sold to be. Becks was supposed to be this guy next door type, but I never really felt like that was who he was at all. There were times I seriously wanted to punch him in the nuts… he more than once infers that Haddie just wants to whore around, and even if he didn’t mean it, even if it was said in anger, that’s not acceptable to me.

And while he’s doing this he’s doing it to make her feel bad for not jumping into a relationship with him and he basically guilts her into feeling bad about her choices. That’s not okay. Sure, there were times that he was sweet and comforting and understanding, but more often than not, each time they had a disagreement he was mean and insulting to her. Definitely didn’t endear him to me at all.

I snort out in disbelief. Want me, push me away, and want me again. Can this get any more confusing? But I’m not sticking around to be insulted. To be manhandled, kissed until I’m breathless, accused of wanting to sleep around, and then be told to stay. I try to pull my arm from his grip, but he holds firm.

Guess what…. She stays.

The heroine. I don’t even know where to start with her. I 100% understand her sadness, her sorrow, her struggle to be happy right now. I even get her hesitancy to start any kind of relationship with someone knowing her future is up in the air… but what I didn’t get was her back and forth, back and forth… back and forth.

It was frustrating as a reader. We never really get to experience them together and cheer for this amazing possible relationship before it’s on the rocks again. They never really were a “we are” for longer than a couple hours and it never had me feel there was anything other than sex between them that was holding them together. Sure these two are ‘friends’ before their first time, but I never really got a good feel of that friendship. I feel like they were more acquaintances than anything else and like I said, I feel like that part of the story was missing … besides, a friend, no matter how much they are hurting doesn’t make a girl feel the way Becks does to Haddie in this story at times.

Also, can we just talk about this Dante character? I can’t understand why she didn’t just kick his ass to the curb after the first time she denied his advances and he continued to push. I wanted her to stick up for herself… and not only in this situation. Instead she just took the things these guys were doing and saying and felt guilty for wanting things the way she wants them.

Overall, not what I was expecting. I just couldn’t connect with these characters and I couldn’t overlook some of Beck’s reactions to being pushed away in order to fully see the relationship here. That said, you might want to give it a try! I feel like if you’re a fan of her other books, you’ll probably enjoy this one.

Thanks to the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.