A review by allingoodtime
Barbarian's Tease by Ruby Dixon

adventurous hopeful reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

I knew the Ice Planet Barbarian world was going to open up much more after what happened in the last book, but the last few chapters of this book expanded this world in ways I didn’t see coming. I’m so excited to see what this will all mean!

In this story, we find out what happened behind closed doors between Brooke and Taushen while they were held captive by the bad aliens. While I ended up liking this couple together, I didn’t get the vibes from them I have with most of the previous couples, which was a bummer. In some ways, their initial animosity can be blamed on a lot of miscommunication and language barriers. Yet there were many times I felt Brooke was being purposely obtuse and harsh with Taushen. Yet when they finally decided to be friends and worked at doing just that, their relationship blossomed and I found myself much more invested in them ultimately becoming mates.

Most of this book is spent on the love story of Taushen and Brooke, but those last chapters really set so much up for the future. There was also a discussion between Brooke and Taushen earlier in the story that set up a possibility of there being relationships that aren’t as hetero-normative as they’ve been so far. I know we’re talking blue aliens and humans here, but it would be nice to see more sexual diversity in this world. 
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