BARBARIAN’S HEART is book 9 in the Ice Planet Barbarians series by Ruby Dixon.  This is a sci-fi romance with huge blue alien barbarians living on an ice planet.  It features fated mates, and, as the author blurbs say, “cinnamon roll heroes.”  BARBARIAN’S HEART is 222 pages full of angst.  At nine books in, there are plenty of other already-matched couples fleshing out the clan’s ranks, with lots of back story.  This book can be enjoyed as a stand-alone without the need for prior book knowledge, however. 

This book has an amnesia trope for the sweet alien hero, and also a helpless human female who was pretty annoying.  There is an earthquake that destroys the cave system that the ice planet barbarians and their stranded human female mates are living in.  Pashov is crushed by the rockfall and terribly injured.  He awakens with amnesia.  I do like how, in the author’s book forward, she discusses considering and then rejecting the idea of him recovering his memories.  It’s nice to have a little reality introduced!  Despite their previous Resonance and insta-mating, Pashov does not remember his mate Stacy or their little boy. 

Stacy spends much of the book focusing on how Pashov’s amnesia is an affront to her and their love.  It was hard to feel sympathy for her.  While I typically root for any given couple’s Happily Ever After, Stacy was pretty wearing, and I struggled with her as a sympathetic character.  Poor Pashov got the short end of the stick here, for sure!  There is also a Big Misunderstanding that could have been fairly easily resolved with a simple frank and open conversation, so I found myself frustrated with both of them at times.  

The Ice Planet Barbarians series is just what you’d expect from its name- frothy alien fun and some sexy escapades.  BARBARIAN’S HEART is probably my least favorite of the series, but don’t let that dissuade you from picking up others by Ruby Dixon.