Burying Water
by K.A. Tucker
Summary: 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.
Source: I purchased a paperback
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Review:
I actually loved Burying Water despite having minor issues with some of the story. It was so captivating and I found that it was all I could think about when I put it down. I actually had a dream about it because I was so eager to find out what happened at this one crucial moment of the story. K.A. Tucker is becoming a fast favorite of mine. She might be my go to contemporary romance author next to Colleen Hoover, actually.
Burying Water is told from the point of view of Jesse and Water. Most of Jesse’s narration took place before, whereas Water’s story took place in the present. As Jesse’s story unravels, more about Water was revealed since Jesse knew her before. Who was she? What happened? All of it slowly revealed itself.
I really liked Water in the present. She was a character anyone could easily relate to and understand. Her motivations and the things she wanted out of life were straightforward. However, who she was in the past was difficult to relate to and difficult to understand. Many reviews mention not really “getting” who she was before. But I liked that she remained a similar person with a different path and seeing how different those paths could be without certain characters. I liked Jesse, but I enjoyed his narration mostly because I wanted to know what happened and what led up to the events at the beginning of the novel. I thought he did the right thing and I knew he had a decent head on his shoulders, despite looking like trouble.
The thing I hated most about Burying Water was her ridiculous name. I just couldn’t quite grasp it. She wasn’t a Water. But I got why the author chose to do that. The other thing I didn’t quite enjoy was the way that she had absolutely no idea how terrible the people in her life were before. It was believable that she got herself into a situation she was stuck in and it was believable that she was oblivious, but it was kind of far fetched when the second I met some of the characters, I knew they were what they were and it took her years to find out. The author should have either given us some of her perspective before she got into that mess or at least made it a shorter relationship where she could have been stupid for less time. That may sound a little… cryptic, but I don’t want to give the whole situation away.
Despite my dislike of those things, I really really enjoyed reading the book. I cared about Ginny and Meredith and Gabe and I loved present day Water so so much. It made up for everything else and I still give it 5 stars because it would not get out of my head after I read it and while I was reading it. I recommend it, especially if you like a good amnesia story with compelling characters and fast cars.
Labels: contemporary, New Adult, Review, romance
