A review by howlinglibraries
Ice Planet Barbarians by Ruby Dixon

adventurous tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

This was one of those books that I always went back and forth on whether or not I wanted to read it, but I seem to be one of the few people who really adores the new cover design, and it finally drew me in. This wasn't my first rodeo with alien romance, so I can't say I found anything shocking or disturbing, but if you're not used to alien or monster smut, this book's scenes definitely, uh, go there lol.

My problem with the book laid more in the pregnancy-related topics than anything else. Slight spoiler here, but I don't like surprise pregnancies in romance books — I love babies, kids, etc. in books, but not when it's a total shock and especially not when the heroine didn't necessarily consent to the idea of being knocked up. I also struggled a bit with some of Vektal's more possessive moments, and I found it immensely unrealistic that Georgie, who none of these women truly knew, could convince nearly a dozen adult women to give up their lives on earth and stay on this alien planet with basically no hesitation whatsoever.

All of that aside, I was intrigued by the planet (the flora and fauna were interesting), I liked a lot of the sa-khui characters we met, and I definitely enjoyed Liz enough that I need to read her story. I'm eager to continue the series aaaand will probably cave and order a copy of this new collector's edition for my bookshelf, just because it's so damn pretty. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings