"He's not a monster! Elik is my mate. The holder of my heart. He's a protector. He's my protector."
Penelope thought her life was over when she was taken. The abuse lasted months, and there was no light at the end of the tunnel. That is until Elik came along, and ripped the door off of her cage. Literally.
She knows he's different from her kind. He's not human. In fact, he's a 7ft tall muscular alien, and his kind have deemed him unworthy of taking care of a mate. Penelope knows different. She feels safe around him, despite his rugged appearance, and his deadly family history.
Elik doesn't know what to think about the tiny female that is determined to stay glued to his hip. All he knows is that he will protect her no matter what, and he's determined to keep her.
I knew I had to continue the series. An alien species that worship and cherish females? Swoon 😍 Penelope has been through so much but Elik helps with the trauma. They are so sweet together. I liked their journey and progression. I'm happy for the Emperor as well. And that epilogue which showed Posy and Torint's baby was the best. The next book sounds amazing and I can't wait for it. I'm reading the other books by this author. I'm in love with her writing.
This sequel cements that this is just a different spin on the Ice Planet Barbarian series. Which series actually came first, I don't know off the top of my head, but I would probably recommend the Rytarian Mates series over Ice Planet Barbarians. The romance is much sweeter and more wholesome in these books, but I also find the emotional connection between characters to be more realistic than in the comparison series.
I was expecting a lot more tension in this book based on the blurb than what the author actually gives. There are really only two instances of drama when I couldn't put the book down, which I'm disappointed by. This is still really cute and a nice, light, feel-good read - don't get me wrong. I was just anticipating more angst than what I got when going into this book.
I hope the third and final instalment of this trilogy is more along the lines of the first book than this sequel.