Burying Water by K.A. Tucker

Series: Burying Water #1

Published by:  Atria

Date of Publication: October 7th 2014

Genres: New Adult; Contemporary

Pages: 354

Format: e-book

Rating: 5 Stars

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?

Non-Spoilery Review
I intentionally posted a partial synopsis from Goodreads because the entire length of it is very spoilery. Burying Water was a roller coaster of emotions for me. Alexandra was very young & poor when she met the man 20 years her senior who would sweep her off her feet. Handsome, successful and yet still managed to set his eyes on her? It all seemed too good to be true…their courtship eventually led to marriage and a life she would pay a heavy price for. A husband who treats her like a trophy wife, physically harms her, an adulterer, and a key player in the Russian mob. Alexandra Petrov found herself quickly drowning with no way out until one rainy night when her life changed its course.

“The mind, it can be a deceitful thing. But it is no match for the heart.” 
― K.A. Tucker, Burying Water

Spoilery Review

The first half of this book was at times brutal and harsh to get through. I felt a range of emotions & quickly found myself loving Alexandra. A protagonist who was “resilient” and strong underneath all the hurt, I couldn’t help but root for her triumph. Viktor Petrov, a man in a position of power attained through illegal activity in the Russian mob viewed his wife as someone to satisfy him sexually & in all the traditional (old school) ways. Alex however, had dreams of becoming a nurse & was enrolled in courses which Viktor saw as taking time away from him. This alone angered me! Then there were often times Viktor had her dress up in skin tight revealing clothes to accompany him to the night club where all of his nefarious dealings took place. I could FEEL the awkwardness & out of place feelings Alex was experiencing. I couldn’t help but scream YES GIRL!!!! whenever she dished out a bit of anger when answering his questions. I also found it hilarious that Alex continued to have car trouble throughout the book simply because she wasn’t the type to drive expensive cars.

ENTER Jesse who I view as “the BOY next door” type, this should be a thing lol. Jesse aka the mechanic savant, finds Alex on the side of the road & helps her get gas, they exchange a kiss which is the beginning of many more encounters that feel very kismet. Jesse was everything that Viktor was not. He’s only 2 years Alex’s senior, blunt when speaking yet always conscious & caring of who he’s speaking to, and overall laid back. Of course, Jesse had his flaws mostly based off of bad decisions he made when he was a teenager running with the wrong group of friends. His relationship with his father the sheriff was strained because of those bad decisions in his past. Having an affair with a married woman didn’t seem like it would mend that relationship any time soon yet it felt right for both Jesse & Alex. Viktor hiring Jesse to restore/repair one of his most prized cars in his home garage felt like fate. When Alex finally made the decision to leave Viktor (after many brutal beatings), I was over the moon happy only to have that feeling squashed by the events of the night that Viktor tried to kill & leave her body buried in a snowy mountain. Thankfully, Jesse is tipped off to what happened & manages to get her the medical attention needed. When Alex wakes up, she can’t remember anything not even her name. She’s left with a scar from her temple all the way down to her chin. See Viktor wanted to make sure he robbed her of her beauty. He raped her, slashed her face, and physically beat and broke her ribs along with other body parts. I’m glad that at the end of the book she never quite remembers the events of that night in its entirety because it really was a second chance at life.

Alex’s journey leads to an amazing cast of characters, my favorite being the grumpy and recluse little old lady Ginny Fitzgerald. Ginny gave me so many laugh out loud moments but also much heart ache. Alex and Ginny’s stories have small similarities but two stuck out the most to me. The fact that she was raped in her youth by someone she also trusted & that both her rapist and Alex’s killed themselves (inadvertently or not). Ginny’s ability to take in another rape victim & help her heal after so many years of secluding herself makes Ginny hold a special place in my heart. Lastly, I loved seeing the relationship between Jesse and his parents (specifically his Dad) mend. Jesse’s parents were key characters in this book & I can now add them to my very short list of fictional parentals that ROCK!