Publication: March 3rd 2015 by Atria Books
Source: Purchased
Goodreads description: Luke Boone doesn't know exactly what his uncle Rust is involved in but he wants in on it-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 blur, making her wonder if she'll be able to leave it all behind. Or if she'll even want to.
Becoming Rain is the second book in the Burying Water companion series. I absolutely loved the first book, Burying Water and immediately after finishing that book, I picked up this one. I am generally wary of sequels in a companion series because I tend to get very attached to the characters in the first book and become very invested in their story. I usually go into the second book not expecting too much at all because I just want more from the characters that I already know and love. (There was a brief appearance from Jesse and Water from the first book though, so that made me very happy.)
However, I was pleasantly surprised with Becoming Rain. The writing was just as amazing but this one had more of a suspenseful atmosphere to it which I loved. The undercover angle was something new and it made things so interesting. The plot in this one became so complex and had me completely hooked. I stayed up till the early hours of the morning because I just couldn’t stop reading.
There were a lot of characters in this book. A few had been mentioned briefly in the first book but a lot were new ones. Most of them were shady criminals involved in the organised crime rings and particularly towards the end, I found it difficult to keep track of who was working together and who were enemies. But I loved the two main characters.
I liked Luke in the first book, but I loved him more in this one as we got to know him better. He was a genuinely good guy who got just caught up in criminal activities thanks to his uncle. There was so much character growth that happened and I really liked the person that he was by the end.
Rain was a fantastic character as well, even though I thought she wasn’t the smartest person to get so emotionally involved with her target in the first place. She was not only putting herself and other in danger, but also risking the case they had invested so much in!
Having said that, I really liked the romance. Even more than the romance in the first book. I knew that an undercover cop getting involved with her target was a bad idea. A very, very bad, terrible idea. And yet something about K.A. Tucker’s writing is just magic because I found myself wanting them together anyway! Of course things blew up when everything came out into the open, as it inevitably would. But the ending made up for it and my only problem was that I wanted more! However it was such a wonderful change to have a romance without cheating or a love triangle. It can be done people!
Overall, I loved everything about this book. I was surprised that I ended up enjoying this one more than Burying Water because I really didn’t think I would. I gave it a 5/5 rating and now I’m actually scared to read the next book in this series in case it doesn’t live up to this one. Maybe I’ll be surprised again.
