Review: Barbarian's Touch by Ruby Dixon

 

Barbarian's Touch (Ice Planet Barbarians #7)  by Ruby Dixon

Publication Date: January 2nd 2024 by Berkley (special edition) 

Pages: 339

Source: Publisher 

Rating: ★★★★

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Audible | Goodreads

My Thoughts:

Barbarian’s Touch is book seven in the series. It’s best to start at the beginning, even though each book focuses on a specific couple. The human women and sa-khui have come together, but it’s been an ongoing process best experienced in order.

 

Kira, one of the Earth women, and the sa-khui men venture back to the crashed spaceship to awaken two of the women in stasis. Lila wakes up and has no idea where she is, but she can’t hear. Her cochlear implant is gone and she’s terrified. The situation is disturbing and not being able to communicate with the others adds to the panic. Fortunately, she has her sister Maddie to translate in sign language.

 

A few of the male aliens are focused intensely on Lila and Maddie, which is unsettling. Little do they know, the sa-khui men are anxious to find a mate and there are few females. The journey back to the tribal caves is cold and treacherous, so they both rely on the aliens for survival. In route, one of sa-khui males kidnaps Lila. She’s afraid he’ll start to make demands if she doesn’t do something soon, so she plans her escape. I was enraged in Lila’s behalf!

 

Each couple has had a unique journey with obstacles to overcome. Being deaf, Lila faced her own set of challenges, and I was impressed by how she handled it all! Rokan was amazing and supportive, giving Lila space to make her own choices and helping her learn to survive on her own. It was empowering and I love how it helped her confidence grow.  I adored both Rokan and Lila so much! This was a slow burn romance, but as with the previous books, this is extra-spicy, hot stuff!

There was a new, exciting discovery that I think is wonderful and should enhance living on “Not-Hoth”.

I felt like Barbarian’s Touch was a bit of a reset/refresh, as Lila and Maddie have just been awakened and are coming to grips with being taken from Earth.

I read/listened to the first few books a while back, so I was excited about the Berkley Special Editions. I love their new, gorgeous covers and extras! This copy had an extended epilogue and a special guide of characters with descriptions, which is helpful. I also really appreciated the author’s note describing her own personal experience with hearing loss.

4 Stars

Book Description:

The next novel in the Ice Planet Barbarians series, an international publishing phenomenon—now in a special print edition with a bonus new epilogue!

Lila has never been more frightened in her life, but when Rokan appears, everything changes.

When I wake up on the ice planet, I’m scared of This place is cold, silent, and the locals look more like blue devils than aliens. To make matters worse, one of the strangers decides I’m going to be his girlfriend and kidnaps me away from my sister. I’m completely and utterly alone. What’s a girl to do?

Well, this girl escapes.

Of course, that means I go from the frying pan into the fire, and my situation gets even more dangerous. Just when I have no hope left, a new hero shows up. Sure, he’s blue, horned, and has a tail. He’s also fierce, protective, makes me purr...and thinks I'm perfect.

But is what we have real or just a mating instinct?