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Reviews From This Past Week
R’jaal’s Resonance
Release Date: February 26, 2023
Content Notes
Plus Sized FMC
He falls first
Primal play
Breeding
Off-page human slavery
I imagine Opal Reyne did with A Soul to Keep what Guillermo Del Toro or Tim Burton wishes they could do and that is strange, gothic sexy times. My inner goth Madame felt satisfied and entertained in ways she didn’t realize she needed.
Reyne has a creative world that I was perfectly able to follow along with. Yet it made me sound like a raving lunatic to my spouse while I was trying to summarize it. While she acknowledR’jaal’s Resonance shows Ruby Dixon still has stories left to tell about Not-Hoth. At the same time she still consistently delivers that balance of drama and wholesome resolution that readers love about Dixon’s Ice Planet world.
What I enjoyed the most about this book has been the new world of possibilities Dixon has opened up for this ice planet world. We have some inter-tribal drama coming. There’s new environments, aliens, creatures, plants…it is both the same Not-Hoth but also a whole new saga. Because all of it has seeds of origin for veteran Dixon readers, it isn’t forced. Rather, it has the sense of novelty and continuity I wish more beloved tv shows and movie franchises had. For even just its use of plot seeds in the greater Ice Planet library, I recommend it for its story crafting.
The romance plot is cozy, of course, (because that’s what Dixon does in this universe) with admittedly a lot of stress up at the top of the story. I had some minor anxiety about the FMC being in danger of dying because of the stupidity of males. Was it because I related to it too much? Maybe.
Fellow book nerds will also have something they will probably identify with the FMC. Rosalind’s my people. I’m not exactly like her, of course, but she’s my people just like Devi and Hannah. I’m looking forward to what this trio of book people does on Not-Hoth. I (almost) wish I could join them.ges inspiration from The Ancient Magus' Bride, A Soul to Keep think gets darker and deeper into what a creature like the MMC is and what that means to the FMC, who is already working through deep trauma and abuse. Then she gets a MMC who tries to eat her?
I feel like this plot shouldn’t work, it is so grim. The dystopian world feels like it should be more depressing. Reyne makes this book work not because she fluffs up her characters or their circumstances. She gives them hope that they wield like powerful weapons against this world’s darkness. You’ll want to adventure in this darkness with them.
When She’s Pregnant by Ruby Dixon
Release Date: October 25, 2022
Content Notes
Breeding
Cinnamon rolls in love
Mating of Convenience
Virgin MMC
He Falls First
Sometimes you want things to work out and Ruby Dixon gives readers exactly that with When She’s Pregnant. Drama? Nothing high stakes. Danger? Not really. Just two cinnamon rolls who fuck and fall in love? Yes! And that is precisely what I loved about it.
What I think is important about this book is that Dixon and really no one needs high drama to craft a story that’s just nice and well done. Against the backdrop of a world that can be as unfair or even more unfair than our own, it is nice having two relatable people fall in love and be happy despite anything else.
Also, it’s quite a spicy meatball for something so sweet.
When She Dances by Ruby Dixon
Release Date: October 5, 2020
Content Notes
Sex Worker FMC
Virgin MMC
Sex Slavery
Grumpy/Sunshine
Miscommunication
War vet trauma
When She Dances is slightly darker than other Ruby Dixon work. I also think it is a story where the miscommunication trope not only works but makes complete sense. Thank you, trauma from the complex (kinda evil) social and economic norms of the Risdaverse.
I admit that I don’t always like the miscommunication trope. I will excuse it for this story though because the root of their miscommunication is in their respective trauma coping mechanisms. So part of the MCs’ journeys is working through those coping mechanisms to be vulnerable and open about their mutual love.
Currently Reading
To Be Read
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