Ice Planet Barbarians came highly recommended by The Ripped Bodice bookstore. The blue-skinned alien on the cover had me intrigued! This is the first book of SEVENTEEN about a group of young women stranded on the said ice planet. Each introduces us to a different woman and a potential barbarian suitor. In this one, we meet Georgie on Earth where she is kidnapped in her sleep by some slave trading bobblehead aliens. Half the women are crowded in a cage while the other half sleep in pods. After witnessing some horrific atrocities, Georgie mounts a rebellion against their captors. Just when they get the upper hand, their ship loses gravity. The traders jettison their “goods” onto the ice planet intending to come back later.
On the planet, Georgie reluctantly takes on scout duty even with some minor injuries. She is determined to keep some tiny hope for the group alive. In her wandering, she falls into a hunting trap set by Vektel. He isn’t sure what to make of her until his body begins to “resonate” with her. For his race, this is a physical reaction to meeting one’s mate. So in typical barbarian fashion, he drags her to a cave to make love to her. Georgie is understandably wary of the blue horned alien. But her body warms up to him when he starts doing wonderful things with his tongue. I laughed out loud when hearing Vektel’s point of view chapters. The author weaves in lots of humor as they try to navigate their species-related differences. Desire is clearly understood across the universe. As expected, she begs Vektel to take her back to rescue her friends. It takes some doing, but they make it back to the crashed landing ship full of terrified and starving women. The women must decide if they should resign their fate to this icy planet or try to find a way back to Earth.
Georgie was a great protagonist to introduce us to the world. She is a no-nonsense woman who takes life as it comes. She strives to be a fair leader and does everything she can to bring the two races together. I wasn’t expecting such a dark opening, but it did make the HEA that much sweeter. These women have gone through the wringer with their kidnappings, a space crash, and freezing conditions. They come out the other side somehow willing to give these blue aliens a chance. Not sure if I’d be so nice. I’m curious to read more from Ruby Dixon. Her new dragon paranormal romance series has caught my full attention. I plan to continue the Ice Planet Barbarian series at a luxurious pace since they are short reads. This one was just over 4 hours on audiobook. You should try out this series if you’re into sexy romances and tales of humans stranded in space.