Barbarian Lover by Ruby Dixon

The third novel in the Ice Planet Barbarians series, an international publishing phenomenon—now in a special print edition with bonus materials and an exclusive epilogue! Kira plans on remaining single on this alien planet—she doesn’t want a mate anyway. At least, that’s what she tells herself. But when Aehako comes along, everything changes. . . . As one of the humans stranded on the ice planet, I should be happy that I have a new home. Human women are treasured here, and one alien in particular has made it clear that he’s interested in me. It’s hard to push away the sexy, flirtatious Aehako when I long to grab him by his horns and insist he take me to his furs. But I’ve got a terrible secret—a few of them, actually. I’m convinced that Aehako can never love me if he knows the full truth. More worryingly, the aliens who abducted me are back, and thanks to the translator in my ear, they can find me. My presence here endangers everyone . . . but can I give up my new life and the man I desire more than anything? And will he even want me if he knows my secrets?

Rating: 4.1 leaves out of 5
Characters: 4/5
Cover: 3/5
Story: 5/5
Writing: 4.5/5
Genre: Fantasy/Aliens/Romance
Type: Audiobook
Worth?: Yeah

I think this is by far the best one in the series I have read. Kira's story was had me kind of broken and towards the end had me pretty scared. It was a really touching story that was a lot more focus on bonding.

I think that's enough monster dick for me this week...

ok ok after DNFing book #2 I decided to try this one bc I still think the goofy-ass worldbuilding is fun but I just couldn't deal with the enemies to lovers of it all and ummm we're BACK hehe

and honestly I can't really explain why bc this whole premise is full of stuff I don't normally enjoy (“fated mates”, pregnancy, etc) but idk when you're on an ice planet the rules don't apply. (I think it probably does go back to the podcast discussion we had about the first book, about it being like kind of an anticapitalist fantasy where you don't have to work or make decisions you just like, vibe in a cave? which obviously is not a life I would CHOOSE but umm it's fun to read about I guess?)

Also the whole time Kira was like "oh no I'm infertile" I was like babe obviously your space parasite will heal you and I was a little surprised literally no one mentioned that but also it was nice that her alien bf accepted her even when he thought she was infertile. Also I appreciated but also LOL'd at Ruby Dixon's author's note about how she was wary about magically curing infertility so she carefully researched to find a condition to give Kira that could reasonably be cured. By the alien parasite!!! lol incredibleeeeee

anyway I took this to a beach house and read the whole thing in one day sooooo....yeah

Back into this series after a long time away

Getting back to Ice Planet Barbarians was a treat! I loved Aehako and Kira together! Aehako is a total sweetheart. Sweet Kira basically becomes a badass, and I loved it!