OK, I don't read a lot of romance, but when I read the synopsis of this, I was intrigued. An woman with incredible beauty, on the cover of every magazine, but deep down, she's very with a dark past. But then the words "alien slavers" came in and I'm thinking, "Wait, what?" Turns out that it's not only humans who are afraid of the Ice Queen (Sia)- monsters and aliens are as well, but then, of course, someone comes along to melt her icy heart. I honestly wasn't sure I'd like it - fated matches can be very predictable, but this book didn't feel so forced and I ended up really enjoying it!

Thank you to Netgalley and to the publisher for giving me this eARC to review.

I will say that I read this a while ago but my review seemed to never go through so I am having to give this review trying to remember a lot of what happened but I do remember how I felt about the book.

I did not like this book. It felt very reminiscent of Ice Planet Barbarians which I wasn't too fond of either. This book follows the main heroine being kidnapped by Alien kidnappers, landing on a strange planet and then meeting the hero of this story. Together they embark on an adventure together and we watch how they communicate and develop feelings for one another.

If you like Ice Planet Barbarians then you will probably like this.

An interesting read! I really enjoyed the world/planet building in this book, and I found the relationships between characters really interesting in their dynamics. I did feel that some characters could have been fleshed out a bit more or their developmental arcs a bit more drawn out (ie the Ice Queen seemed to melt pretty quickly, as well as, without spoiling, a few key revelations that didn't feel to be entirely explained or questions), however, perhaps this may have been a conscious choice to save more for future books. Regardless, an interesting summer read that you won't want to put down, because you just have to know what happens!

I received this book courtesy of Net Galley for an honest and impartial review. Potential spoilers ahead.


I give this book 3 stars, the plot was interesting enough as it followed the perspective of Tars, an Alien King and Sia, a supermodel from Earth. Sia is kidnapped by alien slavers for an unknown purpose and is rescued by Tars’ army, unbeknownst to her she is intended to be his brood mare.

If you have read Ice Planet Barbarians you will see a lot of similarities in the plot, but this book lacked slightly in its pacing and it fell down on what would have been a really good book due to some structure issues.

The pacing of the book was very slow but the structure was all over the place, one minute Sia was running from Tars, next she’s on him like a rash. Tars is in love with her, then he’s throwing himself in danger as he’s jealous?

There were some good steamy scenes but I do think we needed a bit more to believe Sia and Tars had fallen in love.

Overall, the book is good and I am interested in reading the next but it’s not the kind of book I would re-read.

Fun and sexy, great characters and the story was just as good. The love story was sweet and hot in a perfect mix.

DISCLAIMER: I received an Advanced Reader Copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

I was first drawn to this book by the gorgeous cover (I mean, just look at it!!), and then I read the synopsis, and I was imminently captured.

Whilst reading, I was instantly hooked, and I could not put the book down. I constantly had to know what happened and ended up having a reading binge! I loved how the story was easy to interoperate and just read beautifully. I didn't need to stop and gather my thoughts or re-read parts because it was confusing, it just fell effortlessly into place, and I truly loved that about this book.

The sci-fi and romance genre are two of my favourites, so of course, I knew I was going to enjoy my time whilst reading this. The characters have such wonderful depth and detail, which is what I always appreciate whilst reading. I loved that I felt like I was there with them, travelling their journey; it made the story all the more exciting!

By the end of Book One, I was hooked, and I can't wait until the rest of the series is released so I can binge them all!

Thank you to NetGalley, Troubador Publishing, and Aria Mossi for providing me with this ARC. I was given this arc for free in exchange for an honest review.


So this review is much harder than I thought it would be, so I'll go by category....this might be the most detailed review I've ever written.
Plot: 4/5
I actually really enjoyed the plot, as it was definitely not what I was expecting. I was expecting the plot to be similar to Ice Planet Barbarians, but it turned out to be much different and I found it really interesting. There were some aspects I didn't love, which is why I took away a star.
Characters: 3.5/5
Okay so I liked the characters. Each person was extremely distinguishable by their natures and driving purpose, which is something many authors fail to do. However, I think some of the characters (ahem, Sia) became different too quickly. I love when characters develop and change, but I feel like maybe I missed something with some of the characters because they switched very quickly. That being said, i also try to think about how I would be in similar situations and well I can't say that I could predict my behavior, so maybe Sia's was completely correct. I don't know. I did enjoy each person though.
Relationships: 3/5
This one gets the lowest rating for me because I just felt like it wasn't super great. Not bad, just not fantastic. Sia went from being a terrified kidnapped girl to saying I love you after only a few nights where all that Tars did was pleasure her and protect her. Yes, that would make me feel incredibly strong towards someone (because there is almost nothing I love more than feeling protected and safe), but for a girl who otherwise didn't enjoy people or relationships, it felt out of character for her. It is more understandable by the Sign, but still...
World building: 5/5
Fricking amazing. Though at the beginning it felt like an info dump, I loved how the entire world was set up. its so incredible how the author calls Earth a "Red Orbit" planet, categorized because of their lack of intergalactic travel and technology. Because as far as we know, there actually could be aliens out there and maybe this is exactly why they *rarely* visit Earth. In addition to this, the development of the different species and planets was super interesting. I'm excited to see the development in the future books.
Pacing: 5/5
I really loved this. I was never bored (like I am reading so many books) because there were no dead periods. It was constant action, constant movement the entire time.
Writing: 3/5
I'm also a writer, so I know that this is a really tender subject. My complaint about the writing is the lack of paragraph breaks. The internal thoughts of the characters were all mushed into large paragraphs which makes it incredibly difficult to read. That being said, the actual prose was great and enjoyable. Perhaps a little too dense at times, but otherwise pretty good. The long paragraphs almost made me DNF the book, though....(I'm glad that I didn't)


Okay...so I think all of those categories captured my thoughts, so that leaves this review at a 3.9 (mathematically) which I obviously am rounding to a 4. I'm actually glad I sat and ranked categories, because initially I was going to rate this book at a 3.

The ending of this book has me eager to read book two...because I am a sucker for book series that focus on a different character/couple each book. I'm excited to see Natalia's story and her development

Book Review for The Ice Queen

Full feature for this title will be posted at: @cattleboobooks on Instagram!

I received this book free to review. I did enjoy this book but it did alternate between the main 2 players. I found at times this could be confusing. The story was interesting and sexy on several levels. It had love, jealousy, aliens, etc. This is a single story but will continue to 4 other books. While I found this book interesting I did find in some areas too much background information and in some cases, not enough. I feel it leads with a continuation on to the next book which is fine but I think it leads the 1 book open with remaining questions. Overall, it was interesting, and will keep track of this author and series - I would like to see where it goes from here.

Thanks to the author Aria Mossi, the publisher Matador (Troubador) and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Ice Queen, first book in the series The Tarrassian Saga, tells us the story of Sia, and Tars, along with their lovestory.

It's a beautiful, captivating, and delightful start in this science-fiction and fantasy series.

"The Tarrassian Saga is my praise to Humanity and to everything that makes us special. In an alien world of powerful beings who come with a long list of superpowers, our weaknesses become our strenghts." - The author, Aria Mossi.

I've wanted to read this book so much since the very first time I saw it on Netgalley, and I was so excited when my request was accepted! I expected so much of it, and it almost covered all of the expectations I had.

First, I have to say that I loved the plot (although sometimes I felt like it was so slow). I liked the characters a lot. I felt an instant conection with some of them (Sia, Natalia, Jade,...).

I felt connected with the story since the very first time I started to read it. The author writes in a beautifully, fresh way it catches everything, or at least, the important matter to care about. The descriptions are so clear and fascinating. I absolutely loved them!

Sia is a model from Earth. She uses her coldness to keep everyone else at bay. She doesn't want to be touched. She hides from everyone. She has many insecurities about herself and the relationship that will eventually bloom between her and Tars. She wants to be loved, she desperately wants love and care in her life. She's also funny, and has a peculiar humor that crushes with Tars'. There is something she says about Spiderman that is so funny- I laughed a lot because of Tars' reaction!

Tars, the King of Tarrassia, hates his title, and his duties. He is never in his planet. He's always in the universe fightning and saving other civilizations. There are two things you need to know about Tars: he hates being King, and hates the Noorranni.

When Sia meets Tars, he's at war with the Noorranni, another powerful civilization as theirs.

In an universe plagued of monsters and powerful beings, iced planets and spaceships, wars and slaves,...

Could any human be safe out there, outside Earth?

Could anyone resist to an ancestral power that binds everyone who are blessed with it to its knees?

Is Sia willing to unwear her coldness? Is Tars capable of love someone?

The comparisons between human and alien things are so interesting and sound so funny coming out of Sia's mouth. There are, also, funny and mythological creatures.

The author explores many themes: love, friendship, family, wars,...

The Tarrassian Saga is expected to have five books: one of each human the Tarrassians took from Earth. I can't say the names but you'll know when you finish the book. The next book is called The Queen of Monsters. Can't wait to read it!

I highly recommend this book. It was so enjoyable to read!

Aria Mossi's website!

You can buy it now on Troubador, Amazon and Waterstones.

#TheIceQueen #Netgalley

Same as other reviewers, I was drawn to this book because of the stunning cover. Once I got into the first few chapters, I couldn’t put it down. I just had to know what happens next, not to mention, this is one insanely hot love story.

The writing flows, and it is effortless to follow, yet the story itself is pretty unpredictable. This book is a mixture of Fantasy, Sci-Fi and Romance, and I highly recommended it to fans of those genres. What makes it different, in my opinion, is the beautiful writing and the emotional depth of the characters. You really get to know them and be part of their journey.

The story of Sia, The Ice Queen and the King of Tarrassia doesn’t end in a cliffhanger but prepare to be hooked into the series. Other characters and their possible stories are very well hinted at. I am sure Natalia’s book is next, but I hope the Sphinx will have his own story at some point.

I received this book as an eARC from Netgalley. All opinions are my own!

On Earth, Sia is the Ice Queen, a lonely, broken model who just wants to keep the world out. Until she finds herself under the thumb of the King of Tarrassia, an alien planet that is desperate for the Ice Queen to solve their problems.

I was so pleasantly surprised by this book! It had me hooked from the very beginning, as I was dying to understand the alien worlds and figure out how the humans fit into everything. The plot and the world-building were revealed at just the right pace so that there was no information dump but I never found myself getting bored or too confused. The way in which the humans were worked into the story was really intriguing to me, mostly because in sci-fi we never see humans as being needed in the way that Tarrasia needs them!

I also was pleasantly surprised by the relationship between Sia and Tars! I was weary of the "fated mates" trope at first, but I loved the way that their stories unfolded and they came to truly know and love each other. (Not to mention the amazing tension and spice between them!) Even with an alien mate, their love story really showcased the beauty of human life. Their relationship wasn't as forced as this trope sometimes causes things to become, and I really appreciated that!

I have to say that I loved that this story wasn't just about the sci-fi aspects or the spice, but it got you to think deeper about human life and love. These themes were so well done that it was almost a passive thing throughout the book, and at the end, everything seemed to come together so well that it left me shocked!

I greatly enjoyed this book, and I cannot wait to see where this series goes from here!

This felt very much like the kind of sci-fi romance popular on Amazon, which aren't the best books but are fun to read. The problem is that I didn't actually have fun with this.

I was not sure what to expect when I requested this book, mostly I picked it because of the cover, but it’s safe to say that it surpassed my expectations. I loved the writing. It just flowed so nicely and naturally. I read this in only a day, and I never tired of the author’s writing style. This book has aliens and it play with the fated mates trope, and from that you can draw quite a few conclusions, and yet it was still unique. Not only did it have the Tarrassian lore to keep you interested, it also introduced other alien species. I’m actually really curious about the Sphinx and would love to know more about them. This book ends in a way that really makes you want to read more and if I had to guess I’d say the next books will be about Natalia. At least I hope it is as I would love to read her story next. Overall, a really enjoyable read. I recommend it for people who liked the Ice Planet Barbarians by Ruby Dixon.