Surviving Ice - Review

Surviving Ice (Burying Water, # 4)

By: KA Tucker

Expected Publication: October 27th 2015 by Atria Books

320 pages

Genre: New Adult, Contemporary

Source: Publisher via NetGalley (Thank you!!)

( Goodreads | Amazon )

*Note: The above link to Amazon is an affiliate link. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--The USA TODAY bestselling author of the Ten Tiny Breaths series and Burying Water—which Kirkus Reviews called “a sexy, romantic, gangster-tinged page-turner”—returns with a new novel packed with romance, plot twists, and psychological suspense.

Ivy, a talented tattoo artist who spent the early part of her twenties on the move, is finally looking for a place to call home. She thinks she might have found it in San Francisco, but all that changes when she witnesses a terrible crime. She’s ready to pack up her things yet again, when a random encounter with a stranger keeps her in the city, giving her reason to stay after all.

That is, until Ivy discovers that their encounter wasn’t random. Not at all…

The Burying Water series hasn’t been as good to me as the Ten Tiny Breaths series by KA Tucker overall. Although, I did absolutely love Chasing River. Ivy has been present in more than one book in this series, but I can’t say I was particularly looking forward to her book necessarily. I mean I expected it to be good, but I guess I just don’t really relate to her aversion to commitment and stability. I can appreciate that not everyone is like me, but the more I can relate the more connected to a character I feel. I really enjoyed Ivy’s relationship with River’s brother in Chasing River. I guess it’s more realistic that her relationship with him would be temporary, but I guess I was more interested in him than I was her.

Ivy’s finally finds herself drawn to potentially settle down and call San Francisco home. Her uncle owns a tattoo shop there, and she’s been living with and working for him. Even though he was her uncle by marriage and not blood, he’s the reason why Ivy fell in love with tattooing to begin with. He sparked and cultivated her passion. And truly he’s been more like a father figure than her own even though he’s surly and often cold. As the description says, Ivy witness a horrible crime that results in her being very much alone in a place that was beginning to feel like home. And even though she’s normally tough and completely capable of taking care of herself, she finds herself jumpy and scared. Enter Sebastian.

Once a Navy SEAL who served multiple tours overseas, Sebastian now works for a private security firm that is contracted by the government to handle some jobs that the government can’t get their hands dirty in. He’s fully invested in his job as being necessary for the greater good. He might have to kill a few to save thousands…maybe even millions. And he’s okay with that. He gets a call for a new assignment…there’s an incriminating video that a young woman may or may not know anything about that could destroy the company he works for with lies. His assignment: recover the video and determine if the woman is a risk that needs to be eliminated.

Of course, feelings begin to develop and Sebastian realizes that Ivy needs his protection more than his employer does. These two develop feelings and their relationship progresses pretty quickly. It didn’t necessarily feel too quickly while I was reading the book, but looking back the timeline really only spanned a couple of days before things started heating up. There weren’t too many descriptive scenes even if the reader knows what’s going on, I appreciated the description level being kept to where it was.

It really took no time for KA Tucker to hook me into her story and have me more involved in the characters than I expected to be. While I didn’t relate to Ivy’s typical anti-commitment nature, I could connect to her love and passion for her uncle, for her art, her fear over what she witness, and of course her feelings for the handsome stranger. Sebastian had me with his struggle to do the right thing even when it meant going against someone he cared about and respected. I blew through this book and any time I was forced to put it down I was thinking about it and wanting to come back to it.

Surviving Ice is probably my second favorite book of the series. The ending felt a bit rushed to me and of course everything tied up perfectly. But I didn’t let that ruin my experience as I couldn’t quit thinking about this book when I was away from it. I connected to the characters more than I expected to, and I enjoyed how the pieces of the puzzle ended up fitting together. Surviving Ice gets 4 Stars. Have you read Surviving Ice? What did you think? Let me know!

Waiting on Surviving Ice

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

Surviving Ice (Burying Water, # 4)

By: KA Tucker

Expected Publication: October 13th 2015 by Atria Books

320 pages

Genre: New Adult, Contemporary

( Goodreads | Amazon )

*Note: The above link to Amazon is an affiliate link. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--The USA TODAY bestselling author of the Ten Tiny Breaths series and Burying Water—which Kirkus Reviews called “a sexy, romantic, gangster-tinged page-turner”—returns with a new novel packed with romance, plot twists, and psychological suspense.

Ivy, a talented tattoo artist who spent the early part of her twenties on the move, is finally looking for a place to call home. She thinks she might have found it in San Francisco, but all that changes when she witnesses a terrible crime. She’s ready to pack up her things yet again, when a random encounter with a stranger keeps her in the city, giving her reason to stay after all.

That is, until Ivy discovers that their encounter wasn’t random. Not at all…

Love KA Tucker, and I've enjoyed this series so far. Can't wait to read the next installment. What are you waiting on this week? Let me know!

Chasing River - Review

Chasing River (Burying Water, # 3)

By: KA Tucker

Expected Publication: July 7th 2015 by Atria Books

320 pages

Genre: New Adult, Contemporary

Source: Publisher via NetGalley (Thank you!!)

( Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository )

*Note: The above links to Amazon and Book Depository are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--Armed with two years' worth of savings and the need to experience life outside the bubble of her Oregon small town, twenty-five-year old Amber Welles is prepared for anything. Except dying in Dublin. Had it not been for the bravery of a stranger, she might have. But he takes off before she has the chance to offer her gratitude.

Twenty-four-year-old River Delaney is rattled. No one was supposed to get hurt. But then that American tourist showed up. He couldn't let her die, but he also couldn't risk being identified at the scene—so, he ran. Back to his everyday life of running his family’s pub. Only, everyday life is getting more and more complicated, thanks to his brother, Aengus, and his criminal associations. When the American girl tracks River down, he quickly realizes how much he likes her, how wrong she is for him. And how dangerous it is to have her around. Chasing her off would be the smart move.

Maybe it's because he saved her life, or maybe it's because he's completely different from everything she's left behind, but Amber finds herself chasing after River Delaney. Amber isn’t the kind of girl to chase after anyone.

And River isn't the kind of guy she'd want to catch.

Chasing River is officially my favorite book of the Burying Water series. Amber is Jesse’s (from Burying Water) twin sister. Where Jesse was always getting in trouble and even sometimes breaking the law, Amber has always been a rules follower. She’s not a step-outside-of-the-lines kind of girl. She’s dated safe guys in the past. She lives in a safe, small town. She works at the same hospital that her mom does—again a relatively safe choice. But when a relationship that she saw leading to forever goes south, Amber decides that she needs to get out of her comfort zone and find out who she really is. She plans this extensive trip travelling to a dozen or so countries and she actually sets out on it.

Chasing River starts with River. I don’t tend to re-read book descriptions right before starting the book and since Water (from Burying Water) and Rain (from Becoming Rain) were both girls, I kind of assumed that River would be a girl. That and there wasn’t anything (at least that I picked up on) in the first chapter until the very end to indicate that River was a boy. Now this bothers me. I really like for the gender of the character narrating to feel obvious almost immediately even if the author doesn’t immediately specify. But that wasn’t the case. Just a slight annoyance.

River works at his family’s bar. And his family is about as complicated as Irish national history. His father and his father’s father and so on used to fight for Irish Catholic freedom against English Protestants. Over time this has gotten twisted into something very different from where it started. His father no longer has anything to do with that, but his older brother has gotten caught up in the worst of the worst. River is just trying to keep the pieces of his family puzzle together. But his brother does something really stupid which starts a spiral of events that River can no longer control. Luckily though, he does keep Amber from being killed or severely wounded in an accident at his brother’s hand.

After a stranger risks his own life to save hers, Amber has to find a way to thank him. But thanking him just turns into this back and forth exchange of meetings and flirtations. It doesn’t take long for feelings to develop between these two. But things aren’t simple either. What happens when the police find out the identity of the man who saved Amber’s life and then left the scene? What happens when River’s brother realizes that River knows the American girl who was at the scene of his crime?

Normally, I’m not a fan of politics in books, but maybe since this wasn’t American politics it didn’t bother me so much. Plus it wasn’t what I would call political even if it did involve Irish national history—something I know nothing about. This part was actually extremely interesting to me. Another bonus was that KA Tucker did the perfect amount of including Irish dialect without overwhelming me as an American reader. I was able to pick up some Irish accent in places, but entire words and phrases weren’t spelled phonetically throughout most of the book. That I appreciate. I got the vibe of an Irish accent without having to get too bogged down with pronunciations.

Without giving any spoilers, I really loved the advice that Amber’s dad gave her. I think it was some real life practical advice. And I’m glad that she made the decision to follow his advice. I feel like she would always have “what ifs” and regrets plaguing her if she hadn’t followed his advice.

I didn’t highlight (anything I don’t think) throughout Chasing River to share as a favorite quote or even moments that I found funny or particularly moving, but that’s okay. I very much appreciate that this book was not extremely graphic. While there were some physical scenes, they were tastefully done and I didn’t feel outside of my comfort zone there. Similarly, things were realistic. The characters weren’t surviving a bomb during day and then staying up all night long the same night. There were boundaries—physical and emotional—that kept this book from being one of those that you have to roll your eyes at because of how improbable that aspect was.

As I said, Chasing River is so far my favorite of the Burying Water series. I liked the characters. I liked the backstory. I liked the side pieces. I appreciated the slight Irish dialect and how KA Tucker kept it from being overwhelming. I also appreciated the physical scenes being kept tasteful and not overly descriptive. Chasing River gets 4 Stars from me. Have you read Chasing River? What did you think? Let me know!

Waiting on Chasing River

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

Chasing River (Burying Water, # 3)

By: KA Tucker

Expected Publication: July 7th 2015 by Atria Books

320 pages

Genre: New Adult, Contemporary

( Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository )

*Note: The above links to Amazon and Book Depository are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--Armed with two years' worth of savings and the need to experience life outside the bubble of her Oregon small town, twenty-five-year old Amber Welles is prepared for anything. Except dying in Dublin. Had it not been for the bravery of a stranger, she might have. But he takes off before she has the chance to offer her gratitude.

Twenty-four-year-old River Delaney is rattled. No one was supposed to get hurt. But then that American tourist showed up. He couldn't let her die, but he also couldn't risk being identified at the scene—so, he ran. Back to his everyday life of running his family’s pub. Only, everyday life is getting more and more complicated, thanks to his brother, Aengus, and his criminal associations. When the American girl tracks River down, he quickly realizes how much he likes her, how wrong she is for him. And how dangerous it is to have her around. Chasing her off would be the smart move.

Maybe it's because he saved her life, or maybe it's because he's completely different from everything she's left behind, but Amber finds herself chasing after River Delaney. Amber isn’t the kind of girl to chase after anyone.

And River isn't the kind of guy she'd want to catch.

I've loved KA Tucker books, but the previous two books in this series haven't been my favorites. I'm hoping this one is much better and back to the KA Tucker I love. What are you waiting on this week? Let me know!

Becoming Rain - Review

Becoming Rain (Burying Water, # 2)

By: KA Tucker

Expected Publication: March 3rd 2015 by Atria Books

320 pages

Genre: New Adult, Contemporary

Source: Publisher via NetGalley (Thank you!!)

( Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository )

*Note: The above links to Amazon and Book Depository are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--Luke Boone doesn't know exactly what his uncle Rust is involved in but he wants in on it-the cars, the money, the women. And it looks like he's finally getting his wish. When Rust hands him the managerial keys to the garage, they come with a second set-one that opens up the door to tons of cash and opportunity. Though it's not exactly legal, Luke's never been one to worry about that sort of thing. Especially when it puts him behind the wheel of a Porsche 911 and onto the radar of gorgeous socialite named Rain.

Clara Bertelli is at the top of her game-at only twenty-six years old, she's one of the most successful undercover officers in the Washington D.C. major crime unit, and she's just been handed a case that could catapult her career and expose one of the west coast's most notorious car theft rings. But, in order to do it, she'll need to go deep undercover as Rain Martines. Her target? The twenty-four-year old nephew of a key player who appears ready to follow in his uncle's footsteps.

As Clara drifts deeper into the luxurious lifestyle of Rain, and further into the arms of her very attractive and charming target, the lines between right and wrong start to blur, making her wonder if she'll be able to leave it all behind. Or if she'll even want to.

I’m a big KA Tucker fan. Ten Tiny Breaths blew me away. It’s one of the few books that I’ve actually made time to re-read in the last year. The other books in her Ten Tiny Breaths series were good, but not AS good to me. Then KA Tucker comes out with a new series, right? I thought Burying Water was just going to be released as a standalone initially, but I was immediately drawn to Luke from that book, and so I was excited to hear that he was getting his own book. Burying Water was actually a bit of a letdown for me. My issue wasn’t that Burying Water was so different from the Ten Tiny Breaths series but that one of the major plot points came up against something I just have a hard time getting behind. I didn’t feel like I could root for the characters like I wanted to. And that’s one thing I was worried about when I read the description of Becoming Rain as well.

Even though I was drawn to Luke from Burying Water, it was easy to see that Luke was way too comfortable with the world that he was getting pulled into. Despite it not being specifically stated that his uncle’s other businesses were illegal, Luke’s not an idiot. He knew that Rust was dealing with some bad people. Luke was involved with everything that went down with Alex and Jesse in Burying Water. He knows that although the garage and Rust’s other legit businesses are doing really well they don’t make Porche-911-kinds of money.

And here’s where I struggled with Becoming Rain, how can an undercover agent respect someone who is eyes open walking into this world? And that’s where I get frustrated with this book. Sure, Luke has a soft spot for animals, family, and the elderly/homeless. But does that equal enough reason for a police officer to fall in love with a criminal? And “fall in love” is the key there. Sure they spend time together, but more than anything, I just felt like Clara was attracted to Luke physically and she closed her eyes to everything else. I hoped Luke wouldn’t get drawn into Rust’s side businesses, but then that wouldn’t have made for much of a story would it?

When I try to look past my small issue of whether or not this relationship could actually work given the circumstances and whether or not these two could overcome the lies their relationship is built upon (IRL I think the answer to that would be a big fat “no”) then I found myself enjoying this book. I read it in one sitting. I pretty much made up my mind that I was going to read until I was done, and I did. The writing style was easy to read and flowed from one event to the next nicely. I highlighted a good bit, but most of that included notes like “idiot” and “I’m only going to back this relationship if she can respect him,” etc.

All in all (without spoiling as much as I can), Becoming Rain was also a letdown for me. Again, I felt like even though I liked the characters individually, I just couldn’t back their decisions. I couldn’t see why they were in love. And I don’t think a relationship built like this and lacking such a necessary component as respect could really stand the test of time. I enjoyed the story, but it didn’t feel realistic in these areas. I feel like there’s more to say, but that’s the gist of it. Becoming Rain gets 3.5 Stars from me. Here’s hoping that Chasing River will be about some characters I can fully get behind. Have you read Becoming Rain? What did you think? Let me know!

Waiting on Becoming Rain

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

Becoming Rain (Burying Water, # 2)

By: KA Tucker

Expected Publication: March 3rd 2015 by Atria Books

320 pages

Genre: New Adult, Contemporary

( Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository )

*Note: The above links to Amazon and Book Depository are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--Luke Boone doesn't know exactly what his uncle Rust is involved in but he wants in on it-the cars, the money, the women. And it looks like he's finally getting his wish. When Rust hands him the managerial keys to the garage, they come with a second set-one that opens up the door to tons of cash and opportunity. Though it's not exactly legal, Luke's never been one to worry about that sort of thing. Especially when it puts him behind the wheel of a Porsche 911 and onto the radar of gorgeous socialite named Rain.

Clara Bertelli is at the top of her game-at only twenty-six years old, she's one of the most successful undercover officers in the Washington D.C. major crime unit, and she's just been handed a case that could catapult her career and expose one of the west coast's most notorious car theft rings. But, in order to do it, she'll need to go deep undercover as Rain Martines. Her target? The twenty-four-year old nephew of a key player who appears ready to follow in his uncle's footsteps.

As Clara drifts deeper into the luxurious lifestyle of Rain, and further into the arms of her very attractive and charming target, the lines between right and wrong start to blur, making her wonder if she'll be able to leave it all behind. Or if she'll even want to.

Oh...this sounds so interesting! And possibly so much better than Burying Water. What are you waiting on this week? Let me know!

Top Books I'm Excited About in 2015

Top 10 Tuesday is a post hosted by The Broke and the Bookish and this week's topic is Top Ten Books I'm Excited About in 2015.

But you guys know that I have a hard time keeping my lists down to ten. So...I'm not even calling this a "Top Ten" post.

1. The Heart of Betrayal (The Remnant Chronicles, # 2) by Mary E Pearson
2. Winter (Lunar Chronicles, # 4) by Marissa Meyer (no cover yet)
3. Never Never by Colleen Hoover & Tarryn Fisher
4. Confess by Colleen Hoover
5. Forever Summer (Summer, # 4) by CJ Duggan
6. Becoming Rain (Burying Water, # 2) by KA Tucker
7. The Fill-In Boyfriend by Kasie West
8. All the Rage by Courtney Summers
9. Six of Crows (The Dregs, # 1) by Leigh Bardugo (no cover yet)
10. Nowhere But Here (Thunder Road, # 1) by Katie McGarry (no cover yet)
11. P. S. I Still Love You (To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, # 2) by Jenny Han (no cover yet)
12. Deep (Stage Dive, # 4) by Kylie Scott
13. Unrequited (Woodlands, # 4) by Jen Frederick (no cover yet)
14. Asa (Marked Men, # 6) by Jay Crownover (no cover yet)
15. Untitled (The Fifth Wave, # 3) by Rick Yancey (no cover yet)
16. Lady Midnight (The Dark Artifices, # 1) by Cassandra Clare (no cover yet)
17. The Ruby Circle (Bloodlines, # 6) by Richelle Mead

You guys, I’m sure I’m not even touching the surface of the amazing books set to publish in 2015. But this is quite an impressive list isn’t it? I’m so excited to get my hands on each and every one of these! Which books are you looking forward to most in 2015? Let me know!

Burying Water - Review

Burying Water (Burying Water, # 1)

By: KA Tucker

Expected Publication: October 7th 2014 by Atria

368 pages

Genre: New Adult, Contemporary

Source: Publisher via NetGalley (Thank you!!)

( Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository )

*Note: The above links to Amazon and Book Depository are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--The top-selling, beloved indie author of Ten Tiny Breaths returns with a new romance about a young woman who loses her memory—and the man who knows that the only way to protect her is to stay away.

Left for dead in the fields of rural Oregon, a young woman defies all odds and survives—but she awakens with no idea who she is, or what happened to her. Refusing to answer to “Jane Doe” for another day, the woman renames herself “Water” for the tiny, hidden marking on her body—the only clue to her past. Taken in by old Ginny Fitzgerald, a crotchety but kind lady living on a nearby horse farm, Water slowly begins building a new life. But as she attempts to piece together the fleeting slivers of her memory, more questions emerge: Who is the next-door neighbor, quietly toiling under the hood of his Barracuda? Why won’t Ginny let him step foot on her property? And why does Water feel she recognizes him?

Twenty-four-year-old Jesse Welles doesn’t know how long it will be before Water gets her memory back. For her sake, Jesse hopes the answer is never. He knows that she’ll stay so much safer—and happier—that way. And that’s why, as hard as it is, he needs to keep his distance. Because getting too close could flood her with realities better left buried.

The trouble is, water always seems to find its way to the surface.

I’ve read KA Tucker’s entire Ten Tiny Breaths series and I enjoyed each book. Ten Tiny Breaths was my favorite of all, but each book was pretty enjoyable, easy to read, and sucked me in quickly. That being said, Burying Water is very different from the Ten Tiny Breaths series. And I have to admit that I struggled with Burying Water a little bit. I wanted to love it. I wanted to get sucked in quickly, but that’s not exactly what happened for me.

Burying Water is told from two different narrators and in two different time periods. Jesse narrates the past or “then” and Water/Jane/Alex narrates the present. I’ve read other books in the past that were very similar to this. Colleen Hoover’s Ugly Love comes to mind where Miles narrates the past and Tate narrates the present, and I loved that book. But I found myself getting annoyed with the chronological jumps in Burying Water. I had trouble connecting to both time frames, but I specifically found myself disappointed when the narration would swap back to the past. Maybe that was because of the events taking place in the past. Alex is married to a huge jerk, and while I think she needed to find a way out of the situation that she was in, I can’t really condone all of her actions either. I was much more interested in how Water was going to uncover her suppressed memories than I was in seeing them play out in the past.

Yet, even though I had trouble connecting (it wasn’t until about 45% that I got more invested) and the chronological changes bothered me, I don’t know that Burying Water could have been told in any other format that would have been better. I also don’t feel like I can discuss what happened in any depth because that’s the entire mystery of the book. What happened to Water and why? Who caused her injuries? What was so bad that she need to mentally suppress everything from her past? Even though the pacing felt a bit slow to me, the who and the why didn’t take too terribly long to figure out.

Also, I love the fact that the horses kept being renamed the same name with each new horse. My grandparents actually do that with their dogs. They named the first one "Peanut," and then it died. And every dog after that was called "Peanut." It's a running joke with most of the family, but my grandparents are totally serious about it.

Favorite quote:

The mind, it can be a deceitful thing. But it is no match for the heart.

I’ve found that Burying Water has stuck with me since finishing it, but the process itself wasn’t as thrilling and all-consuming that I’m used to experiencing from KA Tucker. It was still a good story, and I loved that things didn’t really push my comfort level as some of the Ten Tiny Breaths books did. But I’m not sure that I can say I really enjoyed the process of this story either. I’m giving Burying Water 3 stars. Have you read Burying Water? What did you think? Let me know!