Becoming Rain by K.A. Tucker

Title: Becoming Rain (Burying Water #2)

Author: K.A. Tucker

Publisher: Atria Books

Release Date: March 3, 2015

Source: ARC from Publisher

Buy the Book: Amazon / Book Depository / Indigo / B&N

Luke Boone doesn’t know exactly what his uncle Rust in involved in but he wants in on ti—the cars, the money, the women. And it looks like he’s finally getting his wish. When Rust hands him the managerial keys to the garage, they come with a second set—one that opens up the door to tons of cash and opportunity. Though it’s not exactly legal, Luke’s never been one to worry about that sort of thing. Especially when it puts him behind the wheel of a Porsche 911 and onto the radar of gorgeous socialite named Rain.

Clara Bertelli is at the top of her game—at only twenty-six years old, she’s one of the most successful undercover officers in the Washington D.C. major crime unit, and she’s just been handed a case that could catapult her career and expose one of the west coast’s most notorious car theft rings. But, in order to do it, she’ll need to go deep undercover as Rain Martines. Her target? The twenty-four-year old nephew of a key player who appears ready to follow in his uncle’s footsteps.

As Clara drifts deeper into the luxurious lifestyle of Rain, and further into the arms of her very attractive and charming target, the lines between right and wrong start to blue, making her wonder if she’ll be able to leave it all behind. Or is she’ll even want to.

I am such a huge K.A. Tucker fangirl and I will read and will very likely love just about anything she writes. This was true of her Ten Tiny Breaths series, and it’s been true with her Burying Water series so far. I loved the first book, and the second one, Becoming Rain, completely blew me away.

Luke has always known there was more to his uncle Rust’s business than just an auto-repair shop. Sure, the garage is successful, but there’s no way it could support his uncle’s lifestyle. And Luke wants in on it. He doesn’t care that the dealings may are shady, he wants the women, the cars and the money his uncle’s business seem to bring in. Especially when he meets Rain Martines. What Luke doesn’t know is that Rain isn’t exactly who she says she is. Rain is also Clara, an undercover cop on assignment. And her target? None other than Rust, Luke’s uncle. Clara knows what she has to do in order to take down Rust’s car theft ring. Her assignment is clear: seduce Luke Boone and gain access to the operations. But lines becomes blurred between where Rain ends and Clara begins, especially as she spends more time with Luke. When the time comes, will Clara be able to do what she needs to? And if she does, will Luke ever be able to forgive her?

Oh how I love reading a new K.A. Tucker story. There’s just this feeling when starting a new book by a favourite author that I just won’t ever get tired of. And that feeling was definitely there when I started reading Becoming Rain. When I first received my copy of the book for review, I told myself I would just read a few pages and then go back to what I was supposed to be reading. Yeah, that didn’t happen. I got completely sucked in, and before I knew what was happening, a few pages turned into a few chapters and then that quickly turned into me staying up way too late because I couldn’t put the book down. To say that Becoming Rain was captivating and engrossing would be a serious understatement. With this new series, K.A. Tucker has included an element of mystery to the stories, giving the books an almost thriller feel. And I love it. The whole time I was reading, I was waiting for things to be explained, to see if how I had pieced things together was the way they actually were. And as with any good K.A. Tucker book, the romance was there and it delivered. But of course I can’t talk about the romance without talking about Clara and Luke.

Let me just preface any talk of Clara and Luke by saying that my feelings about them were complicated. I knew what I felt, but there were times when I was conflicted about what I was feeling. But by the end of it, there was no doubt in my mind that I was rooting for Luke and Clara. But rooting for them when for the better part of the book one of them was pretending to be someone else was hard. At first I just felt very conflicted. I was reading and I could see the chemistry between Clara and Luke and I could see that they were attracted to each other. But at the same time, Clara was so against the idea of being attracted to Luke that I started to feel that way. But I still wanted them to be together. Did I mention that my feelings were complicated? Beyond wanting Luke and Clara to be together in spite of everything happening around them, I really loved them as their own people. Sure, there were plenty of moments when I wanted to yell at Luke. When I wanted to tell him that he should turn around now before he got in way over his head. Hell, I’m pretty sure there were times when I was straight up talking at the book as if Luke could actually hear me (I swear, I’m not crazy). But at the same time, I knew that Luke was a good person. He was just stuck in a bad situation. And I could understand Clara’s struggle about the way she felt about Luke because half the time I was right there with her. Through it all Clara was being pulled back and forth between her feelings and her duty as a cop. I really enjoyed seeing her work through all that, and I kept hoping that whatever decision she came to would involve her being with Luke. Because as confused as I was about my feelings about their relationship, I would have been seriously angry if Luke and Clara didn’t find a way to work it out.

K.A. Tucker’s Becoming Rain was absolutely fantastic. If anything, I loved this story even more than I did the first one in this series. It’s a little darker, it’s sexy and it has some of the best characters I’ve read about recently. I”m excited to see whose story K.A. Tucker will be tackling next!