Lauren's barbarian has become my favorite Ruby Dixon book so far! I loved Lo and K'thar are so awesome. Lauren is practical and level headed. Stranded on a strange, frozen planet? Not great, but its gonna be okay. Don't speak the language? Tough, but she manages. While others are falling apart (cough Marisol), Lauren is mature enough to recognize that freaking out won't help her and that she needs to be brave. I really appreciated her attitude towards the situation because it was realistic. Of course being stuck on a strange planet is sucky, but being a drama queen like Marisol isn't helpful.
K'thar and his tribe are great as well. I loved getting K'thar's POV as he is trying to figure out what is 'wrong' with Lauren-she only has 2 arms, she is very small, her skin doesn't camouflage. Lauren has already met some aliens, so while K'thar is different than than the other aliens she has met, she still isn't as totally confused as K'thar! I also loved the new 'setting' they are in and the extra danger of it. While Lauren and K'thar are the center of the story, there is a lot more going on that really helped me feel like the story was fast paced. The pet bird, the baby, the injured tribemate, the strange animals, and of course the great smoking mountain.
Lauren's Barbarian provided my 2 favorite Ruby Dixon characters and my new favorite 'Not Hoth' story! If you haven't read any of the other Ice Planet Barbarian books, you can start with this one and still enjoy it all. I haven't read ALL the Ice Planet Barbarian books but that didn't deter my enjoyment at all.
Now that I have extolled the awesomeness of the story, let me tell you about the awesomeness of the narrators! Holy moly was Sean Crisden amazing! He has an accent and does the strange language so well. He mimics Lauren's voice perfectly and I was just so in love with his narration. I was giddy every time a chapter from K'thar's POV arose because I could listen to his voice forever. Felicity Munroe was perfect as Lauren as well! These two might be my favorite narrators and if they narrate the rest of the series, I will be ecstatic!
- POV: dual 1st
- Tears: no
- Trope: aliens, fated mates
- Triggers: none
- Series/Standalone: stand alone
- Cliffhanger: no
- HEA: yes
other Sci Fi romance authors like Anna Carven, Evangeline Anderson, Cynthia Sax...then you will probably like Lauren's Barbarian!
See full review on The Book Disciple