CALLIE’S CATATROPHE is the ninth book in Ruby Dixon’s “Icehome” fantasy/sci-fi romance series about human women and a variety of alien guys on a strange ice world. It’s complicated but, in this series, a parasite and possibly fate create a situation in which two strangers might be intensely drawn toward each other in order to mate. In CALLIE’S CATATROPHE, Callie and M’tok are matched up as potential mates, irrespective of any thoughts to the contrary they may have about it. Added to the drama is that Callie is human and M’tok is definitely not. An initial, but crucial misunderstanding, sets these two up to have a very prickly relationship until M’tok takes action.

Callie all but growls at M’tok to stay away from her. Largely it’s because she thinks he majorly dissed her when he didn’t realize she was listening. That proves not to be the case, but it leads to a bumpy road to romance. In his pursuit of Callie, M’tok does some things that are shady – as addressed by the author in the book’s foreword – but I think Ruby Dixon writes about M’tok’s bonehead moves responsibly. His actions don’t bother me too much, because intent is big for me, and I never get the impression that M’tok ever has any nefarious intentions when it comes to Callie. With this hero and heroine, you just have two major culture clashes and totally expected epic failures when it comes to communication. I think CALLIE’S CATASTROPHE has a lot of classic elements of alien or barbarian-themed romance and you either like that or you don’t. What makes this series, and this story specifically, stand out for me is the humor, the sexiness, and the interesting and multidimensional characters. Every character in this book, and series, is flawed but they’re also relatable in some way.

CALLIE’S CATATROPHE is a fun tale of awkward alpha aliens, and an unconventional yet erotic romance. Early on, Ruby Dixon describes Callie’s understandable depression from that character’s perspective. It’s almost unimaginable to be taken to another planet, away from everything and everyone you know and try to make connections with strangers. I like how eventually Callie and M’tok realize they have a few things in common and can make that emotional connection, in addition to the ever-present physical connection they’ve had. This is very much a character-driven story and the relationship heats up as the main characters talk and get to know each other better.