Ice Planet Barbarians: Volume 1

This was the first ever adult fantasy/smut audiobook I've ever listened to and completed. If it wasn't for life getting in the way I would have listened to this all in a day if I could have. I genuinely love the world building and lore of this story beyond the smut scenes. And in all honesty I've only ever read one other book like this before and I feel like I should have started here first, I'd definitely recommend this for people starting to listen/read these kind of books. As an audiobook the narrators did an excellent job. There was only a few times did I feel their voices felt a little off or strained but I'd suspect thats normal for a person reading out loud like this, but overall both narrators were amazing to listen to. And I will say there were a few times I acted like a father durring football season listening to the super bowl at certain parts of this story. I'm super excited to start the next book on audio and I hope to buy the physical books someday too.

4 stars — Well that was EXACTLY what I was looking for. I will admit that the majority of books I read are contemporary romance…and I love them. But I was sort of in a funk, couldn’t get into any books, couldn’t decide what to read, so after reading my dear co-blogger’s review (and seeing COUNTLESS recs for this series), I pulled up my library and checked it out (though now I find out it’s on AE, *rolls eyes*). Well that totally got me out of my funk!! I was sucked in, entertained, horrified, amused, and on occasion aroused. It was exactly what I was looking for from this series — a guilty pleasure. I will DEFINITELY be checking out more in this series!! My hubby tried to ask me what exactly I enjoyed about it so much, and honestly? It’s kinda hard to quantify. But it’s like the perfect escapist erotica. I mean, come on, she’s abducted by aliens (note trigger warning here), stranded on a planet, and encounters a large, blue, horned, ridged, hot (literally) alien, complete with a tail and suede skin. And when I say ridged, I mean ridged EVERYWHERE (for her pleasure if you know what I mean). I mean for goodness sake, she wakes up to him going down on her! And while if this were a contemporary novel, that would nudge at my boundaries, but it’s like easier to accept when you throw in aliens somehow. Plus, quite frankly, Georgie’s thoughts during that scene were hilarious. I loved watching Georgie and Vektal try to communicate with one another in between their mating. I actually thought that Vektal was pretty sweet in the end. I loved how strange so many elements were, and how the author didn’t pull punches on the awful conditions of the cargo hold, or the total oddness of the kwui shiznit. As for the narrators? I enjoyed them both! Ms. Jackson had the dry delivery of Georgie down pat, and I loved her Vektal voice too. Mr. Lloyd was amazing with all the different alien words and pronunciations, not to mention mimicking how it must sound to hear Georgie speaking English and not understanding it. Occasionally I didn’t enjoy his Georgie voice (once she learned his language), but not as bad as some male narrators. And I loved listening to his male voices! So all in all, would definitely listen to more of them both in this series! So yeah. I was worried I wouldn’t like it as much as others, but apparently it fit the bill for me. Colour me entertained.

**This review is for the ebook version, not the audiobook version.** Georgie was a bank teller trying to make ends meet and looking for love when she went to bed. When she wakes up, she is surrounded by extremely bright lights, little green men, and then other women in a holding cell. She learns that she has been kidnapped by space aliens for breeding purposes. However, on their intergalactic trip to wherever, the aliens decide to dump the women on a nearby planet and come get them at a later time. Georgie, a natural-born leader, is chosen to tour the frozen planet to find resources and shelter. During her recon mission, she ends up hanging upside down from a strange tree. Vektal is hunting for food to help feed his fellow tribe members. Unfortunately, he traps Georgie in his hunting net. Can love overcome interspecies dynamics and language barriers? I choose this book because it was recommended as a novel that had steamy intimate scenes from a book newsletter I receive. Well, I can tell you by the first 50 pages or so, you understand why this novel made the list. Vektal was an alien that knew what he wanted and diligently went after it. Georgie really did not stand a chance. I enjoyed the miscommunication situations between Vektal and Georgie throughout the entire novel. There were some funny moments due to the interspecies language barrier. However, the author found a way around that more than halfway through the novel. Like most novels of modern-day Earthlings and aliens, Earth women are not easy. Georgie was presented as somewhat of a prude when it came to personal displays of affection and intimacy with others in the vicinity. I am going to at least read the next installment in this series. Some of the secondary characters in this novel sounded like interesting personalities, so I doubt this series is boring. Overall, I enjoyed the entertaining read.