Chasing River by K.A. Tucker

Published by Simon and Schuster on July 7th 2015
Genres: Coming of Age, Contemporary Women, Fiction, General, Romance
Pages: 336
Format: Paperback
Source: Publisher
Goodreads


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A suspense-driven New Adult romance novel from the USA TODAY bestselling author of Ten Tiny Breaths and Burying Water. Armed with two years’ worth of savings and the need to experience life outside the bubble of her Oregon small town, twenty-five-year old Amber Welles is prepared for anything. Except dying in Dublin. Had it not been for the bravery of a stranger, she might have. But he takes off before she has the chance to offer her gratitude. Twenty-four-year-old River Delaney is rattled. No one was supposed to get hurt. But then that American tourist showed up. He couldn’t let her die, but he also can’t be identified at the scene—so, he fled. Back to his everyday life of running his family’s pub. Only, everyday life is getting more and more complicated, thanks to his brother, Aengus, and his criminal associations. When the American girl tracks River down, he quickly realizes how much he likes her, how wrong she is for him. And how dangerous it is to have her around. Pushing her away would be the smart move. Maybe it’s because he saved her life, or maybe it’s because he’s completely different from everything she’s left behind, but Amber finds herself chasing after River Delaney. Amber isn’t the kind of girl to chase after anyone. And River isn’t the kind of guy she’d want to catch.

K.A. Tucker is an expert at delivering compelling stories which entwine mystery, drama and romance. Chasing River is a perfect example of that!

Wanting to explore the world and see what life is like outside of her small town, Amber Welles is ready for her European adventure. An adventure she wasn’t expecting to cost her her life. When a gorgeous good Samaritan saves her from an explosion and then flees, Amber is determined to track him down. River knows he should distance himself from Amber – for his own sake as well as hers. With their families complicating matters, the police involving themselves and Amber knowing anything between them can only be temporary – she should stay away. But there is just something between them that neither can deny and Amber finds herself chasing River hoping he will let himself get caught…

Chasing River has been one of my favourite new adult reads of this year. The Irish setting was beautiful and added both the scenery as well as a political climate for the novel. I don’t know very much at all about Ireland’s political history or the IRA but Tucker did an amazing job of delivering the reader enough information to understand the dangers of Amber and River’s situation without making it feel like a history lesson.

And then there’s the characters. I loved reading Amber and River’s love story. They are from completely different worlds but they seemed to fit each other so well. She’s the police chief’s daughter who dates doctors. He’s doing his best to keep on the right side of the law, occasionally stepping over the line of what is legal. They are both three-dimensional characters who have their flaws which just helps make their story seem believable. Their romance gets a bit of a kick start with the drama and life threatening situations but this isn’t a story of instalove. Their relationship grows as they get to know each other and there is the sense that they both look beyond the lust and attraction to see the person underneath.

I’ve not read any of the other books in the Burying Water series but that is not necessary to understand Chasing River. If anything, having now met Amber and River I’m desperate to get my hands on a copy of the other books of the series.

If you enjoy exciting stories full of romance, excitement and realistic characters, look no further than KA Tucker. Her characters are interesting and vivid. The plots in her books are compelling and will have you wanting more. Chasing River is exciting, suspenseful and delivers an amazing love story.