Sam B Morgan - Slow Burn

Detective Douglas Brody has only ever known the life of a cop. Raised strict but fair by his police chief father, he joined the academy right out of school, climbed the ranks hard and fast, and now works homicide for the City of Charleston. The job is his entire life. For years it’s kept him happy enough to minimize the side of him that craves what he believes is wrong. An accident on the job puts him on medical leave and everything in Brody’s world changes. He has to prove himself once more to be best cop in the department, all while dealing with Zack – his persistent, sexy, and out of the closet physical therapist.
Zack is tan skin, big grins, floppy hair and tackles his job with the same full-blown enthusiasm he does everything else. When the “patient from hell” is thrown his way by another PT who can’t handle him, Zack is committed to achieving the impossible. His new patient is a head strong and hot as hell homicide detective, who oozes as much resentment as he does sex appeal. Any involvement with a patient, especially a man who is so deep in the closet he can’t see light, is something Zack swore he’d never do. But Brody slowly proves too much to resist…

Comment: I got this book after seeing some good reviews in a couple of blogs. I go interested enough to get the book but only months later did I pick it up to be read.
This is the first story I read by this author.

The book tells the story of detective Douglas Brody and how he gets injured while pursuing a suspect. Then, he has to endure physical therapy on his knee to get back to work. But his PT is a very gorgeous guy and very professional. Brody feels attracted but is deep in the closet.
Zach is used to difficult patients but he never felt as attracted to anyone as he is to Brody. Trying to keep things professional is difficult but what about after that?

What got me hooked was the blurb. It seemed this would be an interesting voyage through healthy therapy to make Brody's knee better while he would go through an emotional journey as well. In a way, it was so, but I also got the idea things would be slower and more emotional. Although we see a lot of inner battles both in Brody and Zach over their hang ups concerning relationships, I didn't think it was enough when it involved the two of them.
Sure, the sexual tension was good enough and the sex was appealing too as was some of the conversations they had. But I can't say I wasn't expecting more, because I was. This story, these characters had everything to create the perfect environment for a great developed story line with two different people trying to be together but in the end, after all things considered, it felt a bit flat.

Brody has fears, he is a workaholic and he is intensely worried about the case he's been working on. He has an aggressive nature most times and deep down he hides his wishes and desires like a defense mechanism. We understand he wants to be different but his childhood and his father's behavior and influence has left its mark and he fears ridicule and antagonism if people new he was gay. He feels attracted to Zach since the beginning but tries to deny it. I think his character is interesting, sort of well balanced in terms of possibilities to develop but his evolution seemed too fast, although I think the problem is the length of the novel itself.

Zach is a laid back person but professional when it's time for that. Brody admires this in him and so did I, no playing on the job which should be a rule everywhere..anyway, after the job is finished they continue their relationship even though disguised as "training", and we get to know more about Zach. He has a heartbroken past because of a man like Brody, someone in the closet. I would have liked to see more of Zach and his past, his state of mind...once again, I thin this wasn't as explored as it could have been, again, probably page limit or something.

The guys' path towards happiness isn't easy but by the way things are presented, it felt like a bit rushed when parts pf the story weren't, so it's a mixed feeling that ends up being my overall opinion. I expected more, I recognized the interesting possibilities but the results weren't as well done, or should I say, weren't as appealing to me after all. It looked like the author was creating a very good environment and path to finish but somehow it didn't quite got there.
I'll try something else by the author one day...
Grade: 6/10