Raven's Return

Icehome, Book 12

By: Ruby Dixon

Narrated by: Sean Crisden, Felicity Munroe

No one ever comes back for me.

I've always been on my own, and why should it be any different on an ice planet? So when I'm kidnapped by a feral outcast, I suspect I'd better learn to love raw fish and rough living.

Then...U'dron comes to my rescue.

He's always understood me more than anyone else. He's been my friend and my confidante. We've made music together. And now that he's my hero? The crush I've had on him is turning into something more, something deeper. He won't want me when he hears my terrible secrets, though.

But it turns out that U'dron has a secret of his own....

Contains mature themes.

©2020 Ruby Dixon (P)2021 Tantor

Another good addition to series

Storyline was interesting with different problems for main characters. Goes to show how being judges can have extreme consequences on one’s psyche. Narrators continue to do a great job with characters. On to the next book.

The couple connecting

Loves the story except the dancing in front of people that was not necessary we got the point. Plus why was she so quiet about stripper job is a job and no one needed to know. She could have say she was a dancer it was nobody’s business what she did in the last.

Another great escape!

I love Ruby, her work is so comforting to me :) I will say that she does her best work at around 65-75k words. Anything longer and we tend to get bogged down in village dynamics and lots of other characters, which pauses the romance for a little too long. Having said that, every book is still a joy and I’m purchasing the next one!

A Homeworld with Depth

This is the first book by Ms. Dixon that I have listened to, that actually has serious depth to it. Both the lead characters struggle with being less than reputable people in their native societies and for the first portion of the book, they are purposely hiding these low statuses from one another. A few chapters in, they encounter actual outcasts, individuals shunned from all societies on the planet because of ‘birth defects.’ This meeting gives both characters a lot to consider in their own lives in this new world, 'Ice Home' and to grapple with the question of whether or not their lives have really changed by their new circumstances or will they forever have to be lowly members of society because of the hand fate has dealt them? Unfortunately, the book couldn't fully explore the seriousness of these situations, which were very interesting and moving, asking the question if you were to be thrown into a completely new context, would you still be the stripper? the convict? the non-hunter? Or could you reinvent yourself by lying and would that be satisfying? Or tell others around you it is a new world so a new rule? And it's such a pity because Raven was such a complex and intriguing character in so many ways, especially when she demonstrated her dancing skills. Pure brilliance, I mean, of course, this is Raven's logic and it just shows how she had justified her stripping to herself throughout her life and proud of it even though she knows many find it morally objectionable (Raven’s whole character is hot and cold, smart and stupid, needy and strong, generous and defensive, etc.). But none of this character development ever gets any further because the book then turns and it’s a flurry of well-wishers to meet the HEA. I hope that Ms. Dixon starts a series where she gives herself space to flex her emotional and social IQ that may not always be in a formulaic HEA book but explore soft science fiction which can also have intimate scenes, which is one of Ms. Dixon’s superpowers. Overall, the book’s story is 4 stars because I felt like the book was going one way and then I was disappointed that from Chapter 24 the story took a U-turn to reach HEA. The narration was good.

Raven's return

I enjoyed this story about a woman who feels that she has to hide who she really is so that others in the tribe will like her. I enjoyed the narrators and found myself eager to keep listening for long stretches of time during my day. l look forward to listening to more stories from this author and these narrators.