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.
COMPELLING, POWERFUL, INTENSE STORY THAT WILL KEEP YOU REELING UNTIL THE FINAL PAGE.
Rating: ★★★★★
Told in alternating perspectives of the past and present, Burying Water tells the story of a woman who wakes up in a hospital severely bruised and traumatized. Water was found nearly dead after she was raped, beaten and dumped in the fields of rural Oregon. What happened next was almost as awful…
“My memory—my life—isn’t simply riddled with holes. It has been sucked into a black hole, leaving nothing but this battered husk behind, my mind spinning but unable to gain traction.”
No memory of name, no traces of her past and existence. Where her mind pushes it into some inaccessible corner of the unconscious, Water needs to start a new life. A place where she can find solace and be with people she can truly trust.
Will she find the security she is looking for in the arms of Jesse?
“She had warned me. If I had just listened, had stayed away from her, had not told her how I felt…had not fallen wildly in love with her.”
What happens when her memories suddenly resurface? How can things be the same again?
” Am I happy? I am lost and yet somehow found. I am afraid and yet somehow comforted. I am drifting and yet somehow…home.”
I really loved Burying Water! The storyline is so captivating and really got to me. From the very first page I was undeniably locked in and the mystery and intrigue had me in its grips. I felt just as crazy as Water, dying to figure it out and trying to formulate guesses as to what is really going on. But I was loving it all.
There was some sexy, steamy tension and that was a nice distraction from the mysteries and confusion (LOL) I was in. The way the characters’ stories were intertwined and told in alternating chapters really worked for me, too as I learned more about ttheir life in smaller pieces — which really piled on the suspense! I was so invested in both Jesse and Water’s story that I’d finish one chapter and be all, “Oh man! I don’t want to switch POV yet” but then immediately be absorbed in the other’s narration. I loved learning about Water’s back story and how miserable her life is in the past while simultaneously learning more about what happened after the heartbreaking incident. K.A. Tucker sure knows how to deliver bits of answers in a way that you can’t help but hastily read because you really care so much about what happened.
At first, I was afraid I wasn’t going to really connect with Water but Ms. Tucker really made her into a character I loved as she had so many of her own heartbreaking issues to deal with that really drew her to this story. While obviously regaining her memory was the shining storyline, I thought that Water’s marital issues and the unfortunate accident that happened in their life was really interesting and I loved the healing that went on throughout the story in different ways. The only thing that I will say is that sometimes I thought things were a little bit too much of a coincidence but not in a way that really detracted from the story at all. But besides that, this book was fantastic.
Burying Water was the perfect blend of mystery laced with romance, and a serious page-turner. The pieces of the mystery were revealed in a way that its truly moving and will leave you a bit teary-eyed, gasping for more. K.A. Tucker has just such smooth & exquisite writing — the unraveling of the mystery, the scenes that make your heart ache, the amazing characterization & more — it was just all so neatly and wonderfully written.
If you are craving for a romance novel with a little more substance, beautiful prose and a dash of good mystery, you will definitely enjoy Burying Water.
” the truth is like water: it doesn’t matter how hard you try to bury it; it’ll always find some way back to the surface. It’s resilient.”
Jesse
Then
September was a heavy month for rain. It looks like October is competing for a record, too, because it’s pouring again tonight. It’s only a matter of time before the car gives out on me, right here in the middle of this deserted road. Then I’ll be just like the poor sucker on the shoulder up ahead, his hazards flashing.
Even though I’ve already made my mind up to keep moving, when I realize it’s a BMW Z8, my foot eases off the gas pedal. I’ve never seen one in real life before. Probably because there are only a few thousand in the entire country and each one would go for a pretty penny. It’s rare and it’s fucking gorgeous.
And it has a flat tire.
“Nope.” Changing tires in the rain sucks. That rich bastard can wait for roadside assistance to come save him. I’m sold on that plan until my headlights catch long blond hair in the driver’s side. Twenty feet past, my conscience takes over and I can’t help but brake. “Shit,” I mutter, pulling off to the shoulder and slowly backing up.
No one’s getting out, but if she’s alone, she’s probably wary. With a loud groan, I step out into the rain, yanking the hood of my gray sweatshirt up over my head. I jog over to the passenger-side window. Growing up with a sheriff as a father, you learn never to stand on the road, even if there isn’t a car in sight. People get clipped all the time.
I knock against the glass.
And wait.
“Come on . . .” I mutter, my head hung low, the rain pounding on my back feeling like a cold hose bath. It can’t be more than 40 degrees out here. Another five seconds and I’m leaving her here.
Finally the window cracks open, just enough for me to peer through. She’s alone in the car. It’s dark, but I’m pretty sure I see tears. I definitely see smeared black makeup. And her eyes . . . They glisten with fear. I don’t blame her. She’s driving a high-priced car and she’s sitting alone out here after eleven at night. And now there’s a guy in a hoodie hanging outside her window. I adjust my tone accordingly. “Do you need help?”
I hear her swallow hard before answering, “Yes. I do.” She sounds young, but it’s hard to tell with some women.
“Have you called Triple-A?”
She hesitates and then shakes her head.
Okay . . . not very talkative. She smells incredible, though, based on the flowery perfume wafting out of her car. Incredible and rich. “Your spare’s in the trunk?”
“I . . . think so?”
I sigh. Looks like I’m changing a tire in the pouring rain after all
Born in small-town Ontario, K.A. Tucker published her first book at the age of six with the help of her elementary school librarian and a box of crayons. She is a voracious reader, and currently resides in a quaint town outside of Toronto with her husband, two beautiful girls, and an exhausting brood of four-legged creatures.
