Blog Tour Book Review: Surviving Ice by K.A. Tucker

We are absolutely thrilled to bring you the Review & Excerpt Tour for K.A. Tucker’s SURVIVING ICE! SURVIVING ICE is a standalone romantic suspense novel and is the fourth book in K.A. Tucker’s Burying Water Series, published by Atria, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. 

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 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 with a penchant for blackmail 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.

 SURVIVING ICE is releasing on Tuesday, October 27^th! Grab your copy today!

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EXCERPT #3

“We’re closed!” I yell, whipping my head around, my anger at myself for not locking it launched.

 A man I’ve never seen before stands motionless in front of me, amusement in his eyes as he stares. Nothing else about him betrays his thoughts, though. His stance is still and relaxed, his angular face perfectly composed.

My heart begins to race with unease.

“I’d like some work done.” His voice is deep, almost gravelly, his tone even and calm.

I climb to my feet, because I don’t like anyone towering over me. And because his piercing eyes unsettle me. Unlike the two-hundred-and-fifty-pound biker who just left, this guy makes me nervous. The wrench is still in my fist, and I grip it tightly now. “I’m not working today.”

“Tomorrow.”

“I’m not working tomorrow either.” The corner of his mouth twitches as we face off against each other. “When will you be working again, then?”

He’s patient. It’s annoying. But he also seems very interested in this tattoo, which makes it less likely that he’s here to hurt me. I relax my grip on the wrench. “I won’t be. Not here, anyway. Black Rabbit is closed for good, or at least until it opens under new ownership.”

He pauses, his shrewd gaze weighing so heavily on me that I finally have to look away from him. I feel like a sophomore year science class dissection—the unfortunate amphibian donated in the name of education. “That’s a shame.”

Either he’s not from around here or he hasn’t read the news. Or he’s one of those sickos who gets a kick out of crime scenes. “It is.” What’s really a shame is that this guy didn’t come a few weeks ago, because I gladly would have agreed to mark his entire body with my hands then.

On first-glance impression, he actually reminds me of Jesse Welles, the love of my teenage life, though I’d never admit that to anyone. This guy’s eyes are lighter—a cool chocolate rather than near-black—but they have that same intensity; a similar smirk sits atop his full lips. He, too, has dark hair coating his hard, masculine jaw; it’s just sculpted to a perfect short beard. He’s taller and broader than Jesse. Harder looking, not just by a few years of age but as if by life itself. That’s a little concerning, given the kind of life that Jesse Welles has already lived.

But there’s something distinctly different about this guy, too. I can’t quite place it, but I can feel it. Something slightly “off.” Or maybe it’s just this place that’s making everything in my life feel off—after all, my mind is still in a haze over Ned’s death. The last thing I should be thinking about right now is this guy or Jesse or getting laid.

I have been in a reading slump for a while now and this book got me out of it. From start to finish, I was captivated by the story. I finished this book in a matter of hours. The girl: Ivy, an artist with wanderlust and commitment issues, who's entire life is torn to bits when her uncle/boss is murdered in his tattoo parlor. By chance or Fate, Ivy walked into her uncle's shop at the wrong time. Ned, her uncle was very influential in nurturing her artistic passions, unlike her traditional parents. His death was a harsh reality check. The assailants shot her uncle and took off with some cash and the security tapes. The cops don't have any leads on his assailants and what their motives were for killing her. It all looks like Ned owed some bad people some  money and this was the consequence of not paying up, but something wasn't right. The guy: Sebastian aka Ice (like ice water in your veins?). Sent by his boss to watch Ivy and find a VHS tape (I remember those :) with damning evidence against Alliance, his "security firm." The first moment they meet, there's no instant attraction, something I really appreciated. Their attraction for each other grows over time and though the timeline is still a little fast, Sebastian and Ivy are like two side of the same coin with great chemistry. Both have secrets, know how to keep a poker face and never stay in one place for very long. What started out as an easy job becomes complicated when the pair start falling for each other and end up becoming more. Of course, with the tape's location still in question, trained killers have set their sights on Ivy. Overall, I loved this book and how it ended perfectly. This book seems like a stand-alone, but there were some mention of previous characters from the previous books written in a similar style. Be sure to check those out too!

5 stars

And don’t miss the previous titles in the Burying Water Series!

Amazon ** Barnes & Noble ** iBooks ** Kobo ** IndieBound

Amazon ** Barnes & Noble ** iBooks ** Kobo ** IndieBound

Amazon ** Barnes & Noble ** iBooks ** Kobo ** IndieBound

SURVIVING ICE – Review & Excerpt Tour Schedule:

October 19^th

Booklovers For Life – Excerpt

Works of Fiction – Review & Excerpt

Melissa's Book Obsession – Review & Excerpt

Britt's Book Blog – Review & Excerpt

Ficwishes – Review & Excerpt

October 20^th

Four Chicks Flipping Pages – Review & Excerpt

Latte Nights Reviews – Review & Excerpt

Melissa's Eclectic Bookshelf – Review & Excerpt

Once Upon a Twilight – Review & Excerpt

October 21^st

TSK TSK What to Read – Review & Excerpt

Krista's Dust Jacket – Review & Excerpt

Milky Way of Books – Review & Excerpt

Nose Stuck In A Book – Review & Excerpt

Read, Write, Ripley – Review & Excerpt

October 22^nd

Reading Between the Wines Book Club – Excerpt

Bittersweet Reads – Review & Excerpt

thebookdragon – Review & Excerpt

Bookish Things & More – Review & Excerpt

October 23^rd

grownupfangirl // oh the book feels – Excerpt

Desert Divas – Review & Excerpt

Read more sleep less – Review & Excerpt

Renee Entress's Blog – Excerpt

October 24^th

Globug Needs a Book – Review & Excerpt

I Read Indie – Review & Excerpt

Love N Books – Review & Excerpt

Zili in the Sky – Review & Excerpt

October 25^th

The Consummate Reader – Review & Excerpt

Connected by Books – Review & Excerpt

Cocktails and Books – Review & Excerpt

pbc – Review & Excerpt

October 26^th

Little Read Riding Hood – Review & Excerpt

Book Bitches Blog – Review & Excerpt

Will Read for Feels – Review & Excerpt

Books BooksBooks – Review & Excerpt

October 27^th

Collector of book boyfriends – Review & Excerpt

Nerdy Soul – Review & Excerpt

Book Bite Reviews – Review & Excerpt

Short and Sassy Book Blurbs – Review & Excerpt

October 28^th

Reading is Sexy – Review & Excerpt

Book Starlets – Review & Excerpt

Feeding My Addiction Book Reviews – Review & Excerpt

In Between The Pages – Review & Excerpt

October 29^th

Lost in Literature – Review & Excerpt

Chapter by Chapter – Review & Excerpt

LuLo Fangirl – Review & Excerpt

Nicely Phrased – Review & Excerpt

October 30^th

The Book Avenue – Review & Excerpt

Typical Distractions – Review & Excerpt

A Life Bound By Books – Review & Excerpt

The Cover Contessa – Excerpt

About K.A. Tucker

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 currently resides in a quaint town outside of Toronto with her husband, two beautiful girls, and an exhausting brood of four-legged creatures.

Website ** Twitter ** Facebook ** Novel Goodreads ** Author Goodreads**YouTube** Pinterest ** Instagram

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Release Day Blitz: Rowdy by Jay Crownover

We are over the moon excited to bring you the Release Day Launch for ROWDY by Jay Crownover!! ROWDY is the fifth novel in her Marked Men Series published by William Morrow, and imprint of HarperCollins and you do NOT want to miss it!

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The New York Times and USA Today bestselling Marked Men series continues with this sizzling, sexy story of love, heartbreak, fate, and second chances.

After the only girl he ever loved told him that he would never be enough, Rowdy St. James knocked the Texas dust off his boots and set out to live up to his nickname. A good ol’ boy looking for good times and good friends, Rowdy refuses to take anything too seriously, especially when it comes to the opposite sex. Burned by love once, he isn’t going to let himself trust a woman again. But that’s before his new co-worker arrives, a ghost from the past who’s suddenly making him question every lesson he ever learned.

Salem Cruz grew up in house with too many rules and too little fun—a world of unhappiness she couldn’t wait to forget. But one nice thing from childhood has stayed with her; the memory of the sweet, blue-eyed boy next door who’d been head over heels in love with her little sister.

Now, fate and an old friend have brought her and Rowdy together, and Salem is determined to show him that once upon a time he picked the wrong sister. A mission that is working perfectly—until the one person that ties them together appears, threatening to tear them apart for good.

EXCERPT:

When I put the key he had given me in the door to his apartment it felt like the end of a long journey. Really it was only a little over twelve hours and I had stopped to nap once along the way, but it still felt like too long since I had seen his face or been able to touch all that toned and tattooed skin. Jimbo greeted me at the door when I pushed it open. His tongue lolled out of his mouth and he jumped up and put his paws on my legs. He was going to be huge when he finally grew into his fuzzy body and I was overwhelmed at how happy I was to see him. I dropped to my knees and rubbed my face in his neck as he licked me all over my face. I was obviously missed and I had to say it was just one more reason I knew I was finally where I was supposed to be. It was late, so the apartment was dark.

I checked the dog’s food and water, trying to be quiet in case Rowdy was already asleep. I was winding my way toward his bedroom when a haphazardly discarded sketch pad lying on the couch caught my eye in the dim light. I paused for a minute to pick it up and felt my heart stop and then start to race as I flipped through the first few pages. There were a couple of drawings that were obviously for clients, tattoos that hadn’t made it from paper to skin yet, but most of the pristine white pages were covered with images wearing my face. There was mermaid me, and naughty- sailor- girl me. There was sassy Indian girl me with long Pocahontas braids and there was sexy devil me standing next to angelic me. There were dozens of them all in different shapes and sizes, but every single image was undoubtedly modeled after my distinct look. I wasn’t sure if he had drawn them all over this last week while I had been gone or over the months we had been chasing each other in circles.

Either way it made my heart swell and the full certainty that I was it for him settle deep inside my bones. I set the pad down and tiptoed through the hall. Jimbo took one look at where I was going and huffed out a disgusted- sounding snort. The poor guy had learned early on that he wanted no part of what happened between his humans when they were together in the bedroom. The light was off and Rowdy was sprawled on his stomach across the covers. His blond hair was sticking up every- where and he hand one arm bent up under his head. The only thing that could have made the sight better would have been if he hadn’t bothered with the black boxers before crashing out.

Even with them obscuring the view, I couldn’t complain. I let out a breathless sigh and crept closer so that I could lean over and touch my lips to that anchor on the side of his neck. I felt his pulse leap and tasted the salt on his skin as he murmured sleepily and rolled over onto his back. Those infinitely blue eyes glowed at me in the dark as a grin pulled up the corner of his mouth.

“Hey.”

 

About Jay Crownover:

Jay Crownover is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Marked Men series. She also introduced the dark and sexy world of The Point in a new series this last summer starting with BETTER WHEN HE's BAD. Like her characters, she is a big fan of tattoos. She loves music and wishes she could be a rock star, but since she has no aptitude for singing or instrument playing, she'll settle for writing stories with interesting characters that make the reader feel something. She lives in Colorado with her three dogs.

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ROWDY Goodreads ** Jay Crownover Goodreads

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