Review:Necessary Medicine by M.K. York

TITLE: Necessary Medicine

AUTHOR: M.K. York

PUBLISHER: Carina Press

LENGTH: 251 pages

RELEASE DATE: April 24th, 2017

With intelligence and humor, debut male/male author M.K. York delivers an emotionally charged slow-burn romance set in a prestigious Bay Area teaching hospital

In the high-intensity world of hospital residency programs, there's no room for romance. So it's a good thing for first-year surgical resident Neil Carmona that his crush on the gorgeous cardiologist Eli Newcombe is sheer fantasy. Not only is the sexy doctor Neil's superior, he's also recently divorced.

As Neil's skill as a surgeon grows, so does his friendship with Eli, and his silent, hopeless longing for more. It isn't until Neil's final year that Eli at last admits his own deepest desires. But Neil's joy is short-lived: Eli has no intention of pursuing a relationship. Their positions in the hospital would make it unethical, even if he was emotionally ready for someone new.

Wounded and furious, Neil is determined to forget about Eli once and for all. But when a near-tragedy strikes, a new question arises: Is a life without love—without Neil—a greater risk than laying his heart on the line?

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What I thought about Necessary Medicine

It begins with a glance between a young surgical resident and a visiting lecturer. Neil and his crush Eli end up working together in the same hospital and a very slow burn between these two begins.

Oh, I got why they didn't feel they could act on their attraction to one another.  I thought that the consideration of their respective positions in the hospital was a good one, and it was nice (in a way) to have the main characters care about the ethics of them getting together.  

The hospital action also seemed very realistic, and the incredible demands on Neil as a resident were also realistic and well-written.  There was a real sense of time being a barrier to Eli and Neil acting on their attraction to one another.

And there was some definite heat between these two. I think I did like that the most, the slow and gentle build-up of the tensions between them that are acted upon when Eli's guard finally develops a crack. It takes a long time to get there, so if you are looking for a romance that is more physical and explicit, Necessary Medicine doesn't go that way. 

This is a slower paced story with lots of elements of realism. While the slowness got on my nerves, especially when opportunity presented itself, got on my nerves in the first half of the book.  The second half had more conflict between Eli and Neil and that helped the build up to the big moment.  

I liked aspects of this book and felt other areas could have been better.  The gradual growth of the attraction between Neil and Eli was well done. I really didn't mind the slow burn, but the pace could have been better, especially in the first half of the book. I found myself wanting to know how these two would resolve their situation, and that kept me reading.  I definitely liked the characters. There are also some good secondary characters in Mark, Neil's colleague and Pete, his mentor.

I'll be interested in seeing what this new author will do for a followup. 

An ARC was provided for review.

About M.K. York

Twitter:mk_york_books

Michelle K. York is a medical student on the West Coast with a master’s degree in psychology. Necessary Medicine is her debut novel. Previous work includes fanfiction, as well as academic publications on the social perception of sexual orientation and the intersections of sexual orientation and gender identity with patient experience in the medical profession.