Book ~ "Burying Water" (2014) K.A. Tucker

From Goodreads ~ Left for dead in the fields of rural Oregon, a young woman defies all odds and survives - but she awakens with no idea who she is or what happened to her. Refusing to answer to “Jane Doe” for another day, the woman renames herself “Water” for the tiny, hidden marking on her body - the only clue to her past. 

Taken in by old Ginny Fitzgerald, a crotchety but kind lady living on a nearby horse farm, Water slowly begins building a new life. But as she attempts to piece together the fleeting slivers of her memory, more questions emerge: Who is the next-door neighbor quietly toiling under the hood of his Barracuda? Why won’t Ginny let him step foot on her property? And why does Water feel she recognizes him?

Twenty-four-year-old Jesse Welles doesn’t know how long it will be before Water gets her memory back. For her sake, Jesse hopes the answer is never. He knows that she’ll stay so much safer - and happier - that way. And that’s why, as hard as it is, he needs to keep his distance. Because getting too close could flood her with realities better left buried.

The trouble is, water always seems to find its way to the surface. 

NOW
A woman is found beaten nearly to death in a snowstorm by the Chief of Police of a small town in Oregon.  She is rush to the hospital and eventually survives ... physically, that is, because she has no memory of who she is and eventually names herself "Water".  When she recovers and is well enough, she moves in with the Chief's neighbour, Ginny, who lives on a horse farm with her dog, Felix, and her two horses, also named Felix (she likes the name "Felix").  Ginny is 65-years-old, cranky and doesn't want anyone on her property but Water and Ginny eventually become friends.  Water gets a job in a store and eventually starts her building her life.

THEN
Jesse and Alex meet when she has a flat tire on a rainy night.  They know people in common so keep seeing each other.  There is an attraction and they start seeing each other.  The problem is that Alex is married to Viktor, who is a Russian mobster who has no qualms in beating Alex up when she is not being the perfect wife to him.

This is the second book I've read by this author and I enjoyed it.  I liked the writing style.  It's written in first person perspective in Water's voice in the present and Jesse's voice in the past (the chapters are labeled so it's obvious) ... given how the two stories (the "now" and the "then") intertwined, this worked for me.  I thought the author did a good job with the character development.  As a head's up, there is swearing, violence and adult activity.

It is the first in the Burying Water series and I look forward to reading the others.