Barbarian’s Lady by Ruby Dixon (Ice Planet Barbarian’s #14)

Kate is a woman from the newly purchased batch of human women who were brought to Not-Hoth to be mates for the unmated alien males. She has not resonated with anyone but Harrec won’t leave her alone, always tormenting her about her size because Kate is a tall, broad, strong woman and he takes every chance to point that out. Harrec just thinks he’s complimenting Kate because he’s a clueless accident-prone doofus.

In order to woo Kate, he challenges her to take a shortcut with him on a trip. During the journey, he is injured and Kate rescues him, carrying him to safety.

I really liked that Kate’s insecurities were what Harrec was attracted to, they just had a communication issue, i.e. Harrec, a fully-grown adult male, didn’t know how to talk to women. It’s just adorable.

This is a cute addition to the story with more steamy cave hookups. -Ford