Callie’s Catastrophe by Ruby Dixon

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Title: Callie's Catastrophe
Author: Ruby Dixon
Series: Icehome #9
Published by: Tantor Audio
Release Date: June 2, 2020
Format: Audiobook
Narrator: Felicity Munroe, Sean Crisden
Genres: Contemporary, Erotic Romance, Science Fiction
Source: Hoopla
Reading Challenges: Lenoreo's 2022 Audiobook Challenge, Lenoreo's 2022 COYER Summer, Lenoreo's 2022 Diversity Reading Challenge
Find it: Goodreads ✩ Amazon ✩ B&N ✩ Google ✩ Kobo ✩ IndieBound ✩ iTunes ✩ Libro.FM ✩ Chirp
My rating:

Blurb:

What’s a bigger disaster than being stranded on an ice planet with a bunch of aliens, never to return home? Resonating to the biggest jerk of all those aliens, of course. I hate M’tok, and it seems to be mutual. He thinks I’m ugly and unpleasant, and doesn’t understand why I don’t just fling myself at him. In his eyes, resonance has decided, and that’s that.

Problem is, resonance keeps pushing us together. And when that doesn’t make me jump into his furs…he steals me away from the camp. I can’t avoid him if there’s nowhere to go.

I want to hate him even more for that. But I keep finding out that M’tok isn’t who I thought he was. And the man I hate? Doesn’t hate me at all…

My Review:

3.5 stars — Callie was pretty hard to connect with for quite a bit of this book.  Honestly, I would have rounded down, except that once I finally connected with her nearer to the end, I really appreciated how her fiery personality came out in a spirited sense of humour.  And I think I laughed the hardest at something M’tok says in the epilogue, so I’m rounding up.

Callie was very focused on herself, and her emotional upheaval came with a side of anger at everyone.  While cerebrally I get what was going on with her, and that we all react differently, it didn’t make her very likeable at first.  She was self-admittedly bitchy.  And I definitely felt for her struggling with the loss of her family and everything she knew, I just didn’t connect with it as I did with how other heroines on the planet reacted.  I was especially frustrated with how long she kept up her attitude with M’tok without giving him the opportunity to explain and connect on a deeper level.  I guess in that way it helped me to feel like M’tok’s extreme actions were kinda reasonable.

M’tok is never going to be a favourite hero just because of the nature of who he is — I have a feeling I’m going to be a big S’bren fan on the other hand.  But honestly, M’tok kinda grew on me.  I loved his neat freak tendencies.  I loved that even though he was a devious Slytherin in the way that he made things happen, he truly paid attention to Callie and tried to do his best for her…tried to learn who she was.  He just got a bit focused in some cases, and had a hard time explaining himself when he needed to.

Once Callie finally let her guard down, I actually liked them together.  They were both fighting spirits, so they bickered and bantered in a good way eventually.  I think I was just bummed at how long it took.

So yeah.  Not my fave, but the second half definitely helped me enjoy the story more.