Tobias Gamble knew from a young age precisely the kind of woman he was going to make his. She was not going to be like his mother. She was going to be like the mother he claimed. In other words, she was going to be just right.And when Toby returns to his hometown of Matlock, Kentucky and claps eyes on Adeline Forrester, he knows she’s the one.The problem is, his brother Johnny has a new … Johnny has a new girlfriend. And Addie is her sister. Last, Toby would do nothing to hurt Johnny’s chance at happiness.
Toby hangs around town to get to know the woman Johnny fell in love with. He also hangs around to get to know Addie.
But he’s fallen hard, and he knows the best thing for him—and Addie—is for him to leave.
Addie Forrester is thrilled her sister Eliza found a good, solid man. Johnny Gamble is the salt of the earth. The best guy in the world.
The best except for his brother, Toby.
Toby doesn’t know it, but Addie’s fallen hard too. He’s perfect, except for the fact that he’s hands off and it’s torture, being friends with Toby when she wants so much more.
Addie also has a lot on her mind. She’s got bills to pay, her young son needs food, Christmas is coming and her job at the grocery store just isn’t cutting it.
Toby is steering clear of Addie. Addie is steering clear of Toby. But everyone around them knows this is the slow burn.
Because just like Eliza and Johnny, Addie and Toby were made for each other.
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Kristen Ashley is my favorite author, so I might be a little biased when I say that The Slow Burn is fantastic! Toby Gamble (and his brother Johnny who got his story in The Hookup) are some of the sweetest alpha heroes she’s ever written. Addie and Toby’s story is beautiful and made me want to plan a big family get-together in the near future.
A good story made beautiful through the story and interactions between friends and family. In my review for the first book of this series I mentioned Margot and how she was the MVP..oh her role in this story was even better and had me bawling. So sweet, so loved, so beautiful.
Through this story we catch up with the characters from the first book, but also focus in on their siblings….together!! Friendships are made, family dramas are resolved and romances evolved and it was all done in this picturesque town where we follow along and learn some life lessons with this group of friends and family.
I loved the sass and sweetness, the anger and love, the sadness was overwhelming but led to some amazingly beautiful moments. A great read and storyline
After doing a reread of the first story ‘The hookup’ in the ‘Moonlight and Motor oil’ series, I decided to finally read the second story in this series too. ‘The slow burn’ is the story of Johnny’s younger brother Tobias/Toby and Eliza’s younger sister Adeline/Addie. If you have read ‘The hookup’ (and I would recommend that you start with that story first) than you have met these two characters already. I liked Toby and Addie’s character in ‘The hookup’ so I was curious how their story would go.
One of the things that I love about this story ‘The slow burn’ is that the writer Kristen Ashley did a wonderful job of giving Toby and Addie their own story, based on their own personalities. Where their older siblings are more calmer, thoughtful and responsible. Toby and Addie are the ‘wild’ ones, the free spirits with little worries and a longing to travel and have adventures. But that was when they were younger, now both are older, wiser and more mature.
Toby is back in his small home town and he’s thinking of working together with his older brother Johnny and maybe start a family of his own. Addie was wild when she was young but after a failed marriage and becoming a mother, she’s calmer now and working hard to take care of her young son. Both Toby and Addie are attracted to each other, but first the timing isn’t right and later they both question if it’s wise to start a relationship with each other. So they just become friends and keep their distance but there is always that moment that a line is crossed and once crossed, they can’t return to being friends. That is the start of the love story of Toby and Addie.
I’m a big Kristen Ashley fan but this story left me with mixed feelings. It had nothing to do with the main characters! I LOVED Addie and Toby!! They were both a bit ‘wild’ (in a good way) and I loved how their relationship developed. These two were just made for each other! Just like his older brother Johnny, Toby is an alpha guy who wants to protect and spoil his woman. Addie isn’t always happy about that but she learns when to give in and when not. I love their interaction with each other and their playfulness in the bedroom. And it was wonderful to see all the other secondary characters again. Johnny, Eliza and all their friends.
So what gave me mixed feelings about this book? The emotional drama. At one point in the story there was just a bit too much ‘emotional drama’ for me. Normally, this is one of the things that I love in Kristen Ashley’s stories but here it was (for me personally) a bit too much. It was one after the other without much room to breathe in between (or at least it felt that way to me).
Maybe if the story had been a bit longer and the drama more divided over the story, I would have liked that part more? But still, it was a good story but just at times a bit too much.
(If I can give you an advise, read the two epilogues at the end in private. I made the mistake of reading them at the hairdresser and BIG MISTAKE!!! Because how do you explain that you are emotional (and almost crying) because you’re reading a very emotional story and not because they did something wrong with your hair?! LOL But seriously, that is one of the most emotional epilogue that I have ever read!!!! So that made me love the story again very much.)
This book was Kristen Ashley at her very best!! We were introduced to Toby and Addie in The Hook Up. Addie is a single Mom, and Toby took it among himself to be there for Addie. He was a great book boyfriend!! And as always, we are given great epilogue!!
Of the Gamble brothers, Tobias is the one who lived for the next adventure never really settling with one woman or place. After years of moving around Toby decides to head home and he doesn’t expect to walk in on Adeline Forrester telling off her ex or that his brother Johnny has found his one. Toby vowed as a kid that he would never settle until he knew for a fact she was the one but when he sees Adeline he knows he has met her but she is off limits as the sister to Johnny’s girl.
Toby is ready to move on after months of torture of seeing Adeline and not being able to act on it. However he doesn’t realize that Adeline is barely holding on by a thread for a few reasons, Toby being one of them but pride another. When one heated moment leads to Toby making an announcement that rocks her to her core, Adeline pushes back their path changes.
I don’t want to delve in to much as to how the story plays out because it is a wild ride and worth savoring every moment of your reading adventure with this book. Toby is so opposite Johnny and I loved it. Adeline is sweet and in ways strong but at times vulnerable with where her confidence is. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, hope there is more in this series.
I am a KA fan and I enjoy all of her books. I didn’t love this as much as some of the others, but I really enjoyed it nonetheless. It’s a hard gig when she writes AMAZING stories all the time – the competition is tough.
I liked Toby because he wasn’t perfect and he knew it. I also liked that Addy’s struggle was real. KA was true to the challenges single parents face and I appreciated that.
The side characters, especially Margot really came into the light, and I got into the community feel as the story went on.
A very enjoyable read.
Heartfelt conclusion to the duet. Addy and Toby are sassy and strong-willed. Family means everything and they love deeply. Their passion is . The beauty of family take a front seat in their story. Margot and Dave are family by choice, a relationship far stronger than the family by blood of their youth.
My heart stuttered with the last chapters/epilogue. Sadness, peace, joy and the beauty love.
This book was really sweet and then ended up making me cry. It really needs a tw/CW so I’m gonna put it below:
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Tw/CW: cancer (not main character)
I’m including this because some readers could be reading this book to escape their own diagnosis and/treatment other that of a loved one’s,name they really don’t need to have a cancer storyline sprung on them.
For the most part I loved this. I do struggle with some of the characteristics of a Kristen Ashley male. This usually keeps her books from being a 5 star read for me. But, I also like them enough that I can see myself re-reading them.
One of the things I hate about her males is when they lecture their women. It always comes off as if they are treating them like a child and that just gets under my skin. They also judge pretty quickly. Depending on how much of that stuff is in a book, will measure how much I can enjoy it. Thankfully, it was minimal with Toby.
What I do love about a Kristen Ashley male is how protective and possessive they are. In this series I’m also a fan of the gentleman behavior.
Addie was a respectable heroine for the most part. I didn’t not enjoy her melt down in the beginning but after that, she was a pretty strong character.
I recommend the audiobook for this one. Stella Bloom is one of my favorite narrators.
I’ll admit it…over the years, Kristen Ashley’s writing has really grown on me! Granted, not all her series are my cup of tea, but the Moonlight and Motor Oil series is one I really enjoyed! Book 2, Slow Burn is Addie and Toby’s story. Personally, I enjoyed the low angst and honest truths of their relationship. Some of the most moving moments in the book were the quiet and unspoken looks between characters. Words can say a lot, but so can a simple look. Loose threads from The Hookup were also tied up and helped end the series on a happy note.
I absolutely loved the story, the characters all of the extended family and even the drama!
This is a book that I will be recommending to all my friends.
I wasn’t completely in love with the narrators but it wasn’t terrible.
Amazing! I couldn’t put it down. Laughed and cried…definitely one to read.
Toby and Addie spent months dancing around each other, harbouring feelings they did not want to admit, until Toby got to the point he could not stick around and watch her possible live her life with someone else. He loved her son and he wanted her, but all the familial connections would make it impossible. Until it didn’t. Addie struggles daily with life as a single mother, trying to make enough to put food on the table and pay her bills, spend enough time with her son and give him everything he needs, but she can’t make the ends meet. One very stern talking to from Toby and she realises she may just need to accept the help everyone around her has been offering. And she might just have to take other matters into her own hands, namely Toby. Their life may be lovely and sweet, but the past has a way of never staying where you want it to, and together they will have to face it and losses to hard to even begin to describe. I cried and cried through parts of it and I loved every minute of it. Sweet and perfect and definitely a five star read.
I had the opportunity to listen to the audiobook of The Slow Burn by Kristen Ashley and enjoyed listening to Tobias and Adeline’s story. Though this is the second book in the series, it was the first I read and was able to enjoy it and not feel lost, though I plan on listening to the first book soon.
Tobias has always known the kind of woman he wanted to make his own. The woman who gave him birth left his father, brother and himself behind, but good riddance. He wants a woman like the woman who stood by him and loved him his entire life. He was strong, cocky, and determined. He traveled the world and dreamed big. But when he finds himself back home and meets Addie, all bets are off, even if she is the sister to his brother’s fiancé.
Addie has not had an easy life. Her father left them when they were young and her mother, sister and herself struggled but moved forward. Now she is out of a relationship and raising her son. She is determined to make it on her own. But when she meets Tobias, can she give him a chance? We see Toby and Addie work on their relationship, struggle, and find their way. The Slow Burn by Kristen Ashley was an emotional and heartwarming story about love, family, friends and hope.
Happy listening!
Loved it!!! Love all of Kristen Ashley’s books!!!
Better than “Free”! Woohoo. High praise. I liked The Hookup as the H was very appreciative of his shabby chic, Johnny-loving heroine, and while I may have moved on from Shabby Chic I still like it. A lot. So the sequel was a must, and I am a pathetic masochist.
This wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t what I was hoping for. The H and h are cute in a way, in love or lust and have the EQ of middle schoolers and say the “F” word A LOT. They are way too cool for school for me. Yeah, he has a hunky beard, but he wears an emo beanie, and she wears cowboy boots and mini-skirts. Hey, I’m old school, and I am shallow.
The heroine is/was a less-than-discriminate-with-her-sex-partners kind of chick before she married and got pregnant by a cheating jerk. Ever since she moved to Smalltownville, she and the H have danced around their attraction.
Manufactured angst and some sad times with secondary characters from the first book had me heading to a 2 star rating. The first half had me rolling my eyes at some sentences that I am still trying to decipher and some kind of icky sex. The latter half improved as KA remembered to include a plot that evolved around more than the heroine teasing her hair, having sex being too cool, and obsessing about her bills. SPOILER: Two bad parents come back from the mists of time to liven up the joint. END spoiler
One issue I can’t ignore is the H’s smackdown of an ex-ONS. I love, revere and yearn for more evil OW smackdowns, but when it comes at the expense of either the H turning into a total creep by publicly humiliating a character it wasn’t so much fun, but I am being picky.
Those Gamble men are really the best book boyfriends ever!! When we learned a bit about Toby in Johnny and Izzy’s story I honestly was not quite sure about his story. How wrong was I, Toby was kindest, sweetest, swooniest but still that alpha male who is very protective and determined to get his girl, and in this case a little boy too.
We also learn about Addy in the Hookup, she is the little sister of Izzy. Addy is the wildchild of the two. Ever since the end of her marriage, even with so much support, she is barely making ends meet and she refuses to ask for help. She was trying so hard to make it on her own and emulate her late mother. It was not until Toby, who was pretty much the only one who notices what she was doing to herself, confronts her that things for her turns around. It was a close call though, harsh words were spoken and almost caused a rift between the two. That particular scene was rough and I was so frustrated with both of them. So much pride almost got in the way but once this was resolved it was almost all good.
Not sure what else I can say because there are already so many reviews out for this book, good and bad. I definitely was on the side that enjoyed this immensely. There was so much heart in their story, including such heartbreak. The last few chapters and epilogue, all the emotions!! Another 5-star read for me!
A Kristen Ashley FAVORITE!
Looking for a mini review? Skip to the Down & Dirty
Kristen Ashley….HOW DO YOU DO THIS? The Slow Burn was EVERYTHING. Let’s get this out in the open now. Kristen Ashley is my favorite author. So much so that she has her own rating scale in my mind because I love them all. But there are a number of her books that truly stand out as a favorite. The Slow Burn is one of them, and as I write this review and re-read the quotes, tears are rolling down my face again.
“We so totally fit.”
To get ready to read The Slow Burn, I listened to The Hookup (I had previously read it and loved it), and though The Slow Burn can stand alone, I truly think you need to read The Hookup first to get the background, the hero and heroine of The Slow Burn are the siblings of the couple in The Hookup and they met in that book.
“Take ’Em and Leave ’Em Toby and Wild Child Addie, a match made in heaven.”
Toby and Johnnie’s mother left them and their dad when Toby was only 3. Toby spent the rest of his time watching his father suffer the loss of the love of his life. Luckily they were blessed with family friends, Margot and Dave. Toby and Margot’s relationship was one of the most special ones I’ve read, and she shaped him into the gentle, loving alpha he is today.
“Tobias Gamble was not going to be his father. He was not going to pick the wrong one and end up broken in a way no woman—or no child, not even his own blood—could fix. She was going to be just right. She was going to love the children they made more than anything in the world. She was going to worship the ground he walked on. And she was going to be so spectacular, he’d be willing to die for her without even a blink of an eye to think.”
If you read The Hookup, you know that Toby found the right one the minute he laid eyes on Addie and her son Brooklyn. But she had just left her husband, so they just became friends and family. But the attraction was always there…simmering away, until the simmer became a boil.
“Give them time and a situation that was not extreme—like both of them wanting to go there for seven months, nursing a slow burn, they blew on it, and it became an inferno—it was likely to take the phenomenal of what they’d just done to f*cking cosmic.”
Addie and Izzy grew up poor but happy. And both of them are stubbornly proud. Addie was a single mom barely scraping by and desperately needed help, but her pride stopped her from asking, or even taking what was offered in her attempt to be as strong as her late mother. I loved Addie and her stubborn pride, but I really loved how their mom, Daphne, played such a beautiful role in the story even though she wasn’t with them anymore.
“I wish Mom could put her hand in the hand of a Gamble man. Mix moonlight with motor oil.”
Toby was a protective alpha but Margot and Dave taught him how to treat a woman. and after Johnnie’s bossy “you come and kiss me” ways, Toby was much easier, and he isn’t the bossy caveman you find in most of Kristen’s books. Margot raised these boys to be gentlemen.
“Come here.”
“You come here,” I retorted.
“Okay,” he said.
Whoa…yes, surprise! That was a Kristen Ashley alpha! There were no games. There wasn’t a lot of angst, and there was a whole lot of emotional sweetness.
“This was the best day ever. Maybe it was even better than the day I had Brooklyn. Because that day, I got Brooklyn. But this day, both my boy and I had everything.”
The Slow Burn had everything I love about a Kristen Ashley book including the beautifully detailed descriptions, but there was something different; it was a family-centric story with a message I really took to heart. It’s about appreciating the little things, it’s about family, whether blood-related or not; it’s about friendship, it’s about accepting help from those who love you, it’s about stopping to admire the moonlight and catch snowflakes on your tongue, and I think I may have cried harder reading this than any other Kristen Ashley book.
Likes:
•Everything I love about Kristen Ashley and more.
•I love single parent stories.
•Though it can stand alone, it was very much a continuation of The Hookup (but even better).
•I loved Margot and Dave, especially Margot and Toby’s special bond.
•There were a few messages at the crux of the story — to appreciate the little things, being rich has nothing to do with money, family doesn’t have to be blood, and to take the time to smell the roses.
•The sex was HOT.
•She wasn’t innocent and virginal.
•How Daphne was such an important part of the story even though she was gone.
•I think it was Kristen’s most emotional book.
•Toby was still an alpha, but he was patient and never steamrolled Addie into doing what he wanted.
Dislikes:
•There weren’t enough tissues for the amount I cried! (not really a dislike.)
•If I had to pick one thing to change, I would have liked to experience Toby and Addie’s relationship development a bit more. The book could have ended at 50% and it would have still been a great read— the ‘Slow Burn’ was more about the time between the two books than this book alone, because once they are together, they are TOGETHER.
“I wonder what the poor people are doing?”
The Down & Dirty:
Sigh…I know I know, you all don’t want to keep seeing raving reviews. Maybe you assume that because she is my favorite author I give an automatic 5 stars. I went into this with a pledge to write shorter and more critical reviews, and then Kristen Ashley proved to me why she is my favorite and surpassed most of her other stories, which is saying a lot. The Slow Burn is Kristen Ashley at her finest, mixing friends, family, romance, alphas, sex and tons of emotion into one hell of a read. For those of you that still say they prefer Kristen Ashley’s older books, The Slow Burn reminded me of The Burg Series in many ways, and I think this one will bring you back to loving her writing. I loved The Hookup as well and absolutely think they should be read in order to fully appreciate The Slow Burn. The second the audiobook releases I am jumping right back in to experience it all over again, and I will update this review with notes about the audiobook narration.
“She was his. And he was hers.”
Rating: 5+++ Star Favorite, Heat 4.5 Flames
With an Ashley book you can’t go wrong. Love her!!!
I love this author and have most of her novels. This one, however, seemed a bit slow and not a great plot. Character’s thought processes were pretty flawed and I really didn’t buy into it much. Ok book but definitely not up to her usual standard.