Quick Pick: Surviving Ice, by K.A. Tucker

• Opening lines: Ned pauses to stretch his neck and roll his right shoulder once ... twice ... before lifting the needle to his customer's arm again, humming along with Willie Nelson's twang, a staple in Black Rabbit for as long as I can remember. After all these years, the aging country singer still holds a special spot in my uncle's heart. He even sports the matching gray braids and red bandanna to prove it.
• Reason I picked up the book: I'm a huge fan of K.A. Tucker's Burying Water series, and this is the fourth book in the series.
• And what's this book about?
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, a talented tattoo artist who spent the early part of her twenties on the move, is finally looking for a place to call home. She thinks she might have found it in San Francisco, but all that changes when she witnesses a terrible crime. She’s ready to pack up her things yet again, when a random encounter with a stranger keeps her in the city, giving her reason to stay after all.

That is, until Ivy discovers that their encounter wasn’t random. Not at all…
• Favorite Paragraph: I begin on the outline of the reapers' head, the side of my palm ever so gently resting against him as I work, his body heat warming my skin through the latex.
  
  This is where my clients usually begin talking. They're excited, they're nervous, it's a bit awkward to have a stranger touching their flesh and they want to get comfortable ... there are plenty of reasons for them to strike up a conversation. It always starts with small talk - the basics about the person, the all-too-common "What's the weirdest tattoo request you've ever had?"
  
  Depending on how detailed the piece is and where I'm doing it, at some point the conversation usually veers into personal territory.
• Recommended for: Anyone who likes a good romance combined with a mystery/thriller.
• Something to know: I've reviewed many of K.A. Tucker's books, and they are all great.
• What I would have changed: I can't think of anything I would have changed.
• Overall rating: 4 out of 5 stars.
• Where can I find this book? This book is part of K.A. Tucker's Burying Water series - all are standalone novels but characters sometimes recur from book to book.
  #1: Burying Water
  #2: Becoming Rain
  #3: Chasing River
  #4: Surviving Ice