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 Lee, a talented tattoo artist who spent the early part of her twenties on the move, is looking for a place to call home. She thinks she might have … call home. She thinks she might have finally found it working in her uncle’s tattoo shop in San Francisco. But all that changes when a robbery turns deadly, compelling her to pack up her things yet again.
When they need the best, they call him. That’s why Sebastian Riker is back in California, cleaning up the mess made after a tattoo shop owner who resorted to blackmail and got himself shot. But it’s impossible to get the answers he needs from a dead body, leaving him to look elsewhere. Namely, to the twenty-something-year-old niece who believes this was a random attack. Who needs to keep believing that until Sebastian finds what he’s searching for.
Ivy has one foot out of San Francisco when a chance encounter with a stranger stalls her departure. She’s always been drawn to intense men, so it’s no wonder that she now finds a reason to stay after all, quickly intoxicated by his dark smile, his intimidating strength, and his quiet control.
That is, until Ivy discovers that their encounter was no accident–and that their attraction could be her undoing.more
* A review copy was provided by the author via NetGalley *
Well it’s again an end of a K.A. Tucker Series. This series was definitely an entertaining and intriguing series. I am always sad to see her series’s end. Surviving Ice is the final book in the Burying Water Series and what an exciting journey she has taken us on over the course of these 4 books.
I enjoyed Surviving Ice but I have to be honest and say it wasn’t my favorite of the series. I liked the first three books better. That’s not to say this was a bad book in any way, I just didn’t connect with the characters or storyline like I did with the others in this series. I don’t think I can really pinpoint one thing that held me back from fully investing in this story, but it was just missing something. At times I felt like it was too wordy and it felt like some of the background information was repeated too much. With that said, I would still 100% recommend this book to anyone and I am glad that I read it.
As like with any K.A. Tucker novel, you know you are going to get a great story and well developed characters. I felt that Surviving Ice was slightly different than the other books in this series, in that it wasn’t the typical sweet love story we saw with the other couples.
I guess that makes sense, because Ivy was a different type heroine from the other ladies. Ivy was independent and stubborn. She wasn’t like other heroines in that she was broken, she was just a strong girl who didn’t take anyones crap. So obviously K.A. couldn’t just give Ivy the typical swoony Hero, she had to give her someone who is on the darker side….not the normal hearts and flowers type. What I love the most about this and any K.A. Tucker book , is the amount of research she puts into these books. Her story lines are so well developed you just know she puts in the effort to give us the most accurate piece of fiction she can.
In this novel we follow the story of Ivy and Sebastian. We met Ivy in Chasing River (Book 3) but she also gave us a little connection to Jesse and Alex (Burying Water Book 1) I thought that was interesting. Ivy has always been kind of a wanderer and free spirit in that she doesn’t like to stay in one place too long. At the end of Book 3, Ivy is going back to San Francisco to live with her Uncle. This is where this story starts off. She has been living and working with her Uncle Ned for the past 7 months and things are going well for both of them, until one night when everything goes terribly wrong. Something happens that night that puts Ivy in danger, which leads Sebastian to come into the picture. Ivy is under the impression that Sebastian is just a stranger that came in for some ink, but we all know there is a secret there 😉 I don’t want to say anything more because it will spoil the story, but just know that Ivy and Sebastian embark on a wild ride together, filled with mystery, suspense, lies and betrayal. Will they come out better in the end?? You’ll just have to read this book to find out!!!!
Surviving Ice is a standalone novel. You don’t need to read the other books of this series to understand this book, but to get the full value of these characters my suggestion is that you read these books in order.
Even though this wasn’t a 5 star like the other books in this series for me, K.A. Tucker remains one of my favorite New Adult Authors and I will continue to read anything she writes. I am never disappointed in any book I read by her.