So to apologize for being gone for so long, I’ve started with a monster of a review. It’s actually not very long, but it is a 7 book series with more on the way! If you decide to read this series you’ll at least have A LOT of books to add to your TBR (to be read) list.
Also, I hope you like the new header. The photo credit goes to Linda Ross, a friend of mine who loves to take nature photos. In fact, her car has a bumper sticker that reads “I stop for horticultural oddities.” In any case, I’m glad to be back!
Ice Planet Barbarian Series by Ruby Dixon
Romance/Science Fiction
Ice Planet Barbarians (Georgie)
Barbarian Alien (Liz)
Barbarian Lover (Kira)
Barbarian Mine (Harlow)
Barbarian’s Prize (Tiffany)
Barbarian’s Mate (Josie)
Barbarian’s Touch (Lila)
Note: There are two additional books that have been published since I’ve read this series a couple of months ago. I have downloaded them to my Kindle and will update the review as soon as I can!
Overall Rating: 3.5 (XXX)
Quick & Dirty summary: For all of the women who wake up on an alien spaceship, their worst nightmares have nothing on the creepy creatures who have stored them all in a cargo hold in unsanitary conditions. To make it worse, their guards have no problems with violence and rape. When their spaceship crashes, the women’s safety is uncertain since it’s bitterly cold outside and they have only a limited supply of food. As the women explore the planet they’ve landed on, they meet the local barbarians, almost all of whom are male and in need of mates. As one by one they fall in love with and mate with these alien barbarians, they realize that their new lives may be better than the ones they’ve left on earth.
After a brief scan of other reviews on Amazon, I should point out that the first book, Ice Planet Barbarians, has rape in it. If that is the kind of thing you’d like to avoid in your romance novels, then please avoid this series. The ice planet barbarians with whom the women fall in love with are not the perpetrators of the rape, but it is a topic that reappears throughout the series, as the women must deal with the ramifications of the violence.
Each of the storylines is relatively unique, which I enjoyed. It is hard for me to conceive of how to make what is essentially the same situation all the women find themselves in, into unique love stories, but Ruby Dixon somehow manages to do this. Partly this is because the women are all substantially different characters. Georgie is perhaps the most sassy and traditional as a romance heroine, but all of the other women have their own quirks and foibles. Likewise, the barbarians are not written as flat characters. They have their own histories and places within their society so each reacts differently to the human women. This makes for great individual stories as well as a fun series to read.
Of the series, I think my favorites are Barbarian Lover, because I like Kira and Aehako, and Barbarian’s Prize because I was caught up in Tiffany’s emotional state. Surprisingly, while I liked the first book, which is traditionally the best book of any series, it wasn’t my favorite. I know Georgie is suppose to be spunky and sassy, but she fell kind of flat for me—same with Liz in the second book. You don’t have to read the books in order, but I highly recommend it. All of the other women show up in each of the books, so it’s nice to follow them as they mate and have children.
Another warning here: if you didn’t notice the sex rating at the top of the review, I am reminding you again here that this is an intensely sexual series. It’s basically erotica and the aliens have similar enough body parts to make the sex familiar, with a few tweaks that make the sex scenes even hotter. However, if you’re not into aliens who don’t look EXACTLY like humans, then you may not enjoy these books. Some reviewers on Amazon thought it was bestiality, which I want to point out it’s not since the two races can procreate which means they are not separate species, but whatever, I can understand feeling that way. So if your imagination doesn’t go in that direction, then you might want to skip this series.
Is it worth buying? ($0.99-$3.99 Kindle)
I really had fun with these books, so yes I think they are worth buying. That being said, I didn’t buy them—I read them all for free with Kindle Unlimited. You could also buy them as an 8 book set, which includes Ice Planet Holiday, a novella chronologically set in the middle of the series, for $25.92. I’m not sure if I’ll read them all again, but I couldn’t wait to read each book and read through the whole series in a matter of days.
Something else you might enjoy:
I haven’t read very many science fiction series with as much romance and sex in them as this one. That being said, one of my favorite science fiction series is the Dragonriders of Pern by Anne McCaffrey. This is a classic science fiction series and it has a bit of romance and sex in it. I highly recommend it if you haven’t read it.
love serially 