Wed to the Ice Giant (Arranged Monster Mates, #1) by Layla Fae

Wed to the Ice Giant (Arranged Monster Mates, #1) Reviews

• 
  Starr (AKA Starrfish) Rivers

  So…. Don’t be swayed by the gorgeous cover like I was. I mean, there’s nothing particularly wrong with the writing, other than the fact that there’s no real story here beyond an ice giant taking a human wife who is a third of his size (she doesn’t reach his waist, and when he fills her with cum, she looks so bloated she looks pregnant, and his cock bigger than the size of a 12 lb baby based on the description of how big.)
  
  Think of it this way - one of his fingers is the size of three of her fingers, and his cock is thicker than TWO of his giant fingers put together, and if he’s like 12 feet tall, and his dick is at least proportional, it would be a 10 inch (AT LEAST) dick, but more like 12 to 14 inches given that he’s also well hung for his race.
  
  Most of the book is describing how the sex would actually work. And oh by the way, she’s a virgin. And her first time consummating the marriage had to be publicly witnessed by strangers when her own husband is a stranger…
  
  And there’s his thing about showing his rival she’s his. LOTS of mention of that.
  
  It was just simple and uninteresting and honestly not terribly erotic either. I don’t have fantasies about having sex with a giant with a dick the size of a fire extinguisher.
  
  Not my cuppa.
• 
  Daryna

  2/10
  
  Мені дуже сподобалась обкладинка і концепція, і я вирішила прочитати.
  
  Спочатку все було досить багатообіцяюче. Але потім...
  
  Суть історії полягає в тому, що будь-яка людська жінка може здати зразок своєї ДНК і бути підібраною в пару до монстра на основі їхньої генетичної сумісності.
  
  Люсі, яка живе в злиднях та змушена дбати про всю свою родину, наважується здати свій зразок ДНК у надії знайти свою пару та вийти заміж, отримавши змогу фінансово підтримувати своїх братів та сестер.
  Олдриг - король крижаних гігантів, хоче знайти дружину, щоб зміцните своє становище правителя, народивши спадкоємця, і убезпечити себе від зазіхань брата, який за будь-яку ціну хоче захопити владу (і який всіма правдами та неправдами переманив до себе двох останніх партнерок Олдрига).
  
  Але знаєте, коли я начиталась монстр-романсу, де до жінки ставляться як до пари, яку вони чекали все життя, і яка є найвищою цінністю, то мене вся ця патріархальна альфа-самцівська історія тільки бісила.
  
  Типу як:
  - коли чоловік платить гроші жінці за те, що вона вийде за нього заміж і народить дитину;
  - коли у весільних клятвах вона віддає йому свій послух, і "відкриває своє тіло, щоб прийняти його насіння";
  - коли це її перший секс, а він такий: "наші традиції включають в себе публічну консумацію перед моїми братами"🗿.
  
  І сам секс займає третину книжки.
  Ну це новела, ніхто не розраховував на глибокий і майстерно прописаний світ, але я не люблю, коли там зовсім немає історії, просто потрахушки.
  
  Так що, як ви бачите, іноді трапляється і така лажа🤷🏻‍♀️
  
• 
  V. P. Nightshade

  Ice Giant Romance
  
  I purchased this because I love the cover, which many times doesn't bode well for the interior. So, I am truly surprised to report that this is a Great start to a new multiauthor series! This is a short read, just over 100 pages, takes place on the planet Aria Terra, and blends both sci-fi and paranormal romance genres.
  
  Marriages are arranged through DNA test at a mysterious religious temple, travel is accomplished with both current and futuristic methods (trains, cars, and PORTALS). Despite the interesting aspects borrowed from both genres, there is not a lot of world-building, and though I like to hope that we will get more detailed information on this world I am not really expecting it like I would for a series created by one single author. Multiple authors end up with multiple ideas about settings and a shared world that pretty much guarantees that we won't see the depth required to make this a five-star series.
  
  But does it matter in the end? Probably not. After all, this is really a short, smutty, monster romance. It checks all of the boxes that is required: pages of intense smexy times, not a lot of external angst or drama (just the tiniest bit to make
  It interesting), and an eventual HEA usually ending with a pregnancy or children if the epilogue takes place in the distant future.
  
  TROPES: Arranged marriage, Public Consummation of the Marriage, size difference (height and sexual), social status differences (he's a King, she and her family worry about where their next meal will come from). It is not just statements on how poor she is, there are good descriptions how thin she is and actually how physically unhealthy she is in the beginning of the book (she has dizzy spells) and how after living with him for several weeks she has gained weight, and her hair is shiny.
  
  Why didn't it get 5 stars? I could probably give you a poor to fair description of the King, but I could not describe Lucy with any such accuracy. He's various shades of blue, and she is a twenty-five something skinny white woman, with no boobs, who blushes constantly. I can't tell you hair color, or eye color! Or if she is short or tall. I think she's short because she comes up to his waist, but hey he IS a freaking GIANT so who really knows?
  
  If I can't see the characters in a novel in my head while I am reading about them, I find that it is very difficult for me to connect with them or to love them. I have gotten to the point where I feel that physical character descriptions are the most basic part of novel writing, if they are absent from the work or weak I can't give it a 5 star rating.
  
  I do really like smutty monster romances, so I did enjoy the story, and do recommend it as a good read! So if you like short smutty, quick reads, definitely try this one out! I think you will like it. I did!
• 
  Kate V

  I've been fooled...
  
  
  
  Wed to the Ice Giant has an intriguing and lovely cover but the story was...not. This was less than 100 pages of no plot, sex and some dick measuring between monsters. The hero needs a wife and the heroine needs to feed her family.
  
  The descriptions of their size differences?
  
  
  
  So overall? Meh.
  
• 
  Bianca

  4.5 stars 🌟
  
  Sometimes I just have to laugh at myself bc it really doesn’t take much to convince me to read something. You just have to put monster and arranged marriage in the title and I will drop everything I’m doing to read it 😂
  
  This was a short, spicy monster novella. For a novella, I’m surprised with how well rounded it was? The plot was definitely there. It did have some elements of insta love, as you would expect, but the whole story doesn’t happen overnight.
  
  Ok listen if you’ve made it this far get ready bc I’m taking you for a ride 😂 Aldrig is proportionally huge, like HUGE everywhere. To those who have a size kink, you would definitely love this book. He has to prepare her very well to not split her in half and he has a bit of trouble holding himself up to not crush her on their bed. This isn’t one of those “ohh he’s so big and I’m so tiny” bullshit, he’s a GIANT. He’s so big to the point that he distends her stomach.
  
  They had to consummate their marriage in front of an audience. Heavy on the breeding!! There’s a bit of cum inflation and cock warming. I honestly do feel like this book was made just for me 😂
  
  tw: attempted sexual assault by secondary character
• 
  ToriLovesHea’s

  This had a whole lot of potential in the first 20% and then we went downhill pretty fast.
  
  I don’t expect novellas to have immense, detailed worldbuilding. But I do expect what worldbuilding they do have to make sense. That was not happening here.
  
  I’m still heavily unsure if this is supposed to be sci-fi, dystopian, fantasy, or a combination. At times it seemed like society had regressed to a medieval state due to the “shift” (which isn’t explained so idk what that is). But then a paragraph later we were talking about hovercars and portals and I was confused the whole time. If it stuck to one avenue or the other, this would have been much more cohesive.
  
  I will say the whole hoopla about her being a virgin made no sense (and I’m real tired of that anyway) and served no purpose. Also “break her in” makes me cringe. Nope.
• 
  Ava

  OBSESSED WITH THIS!
  
  Lucy applies for a genetic match bride program, where human women get matched and wed to different monster creatures that now live on Earth. She gets matched to an ice giant named Aldrig, whom she is initially somewhat intimidated by because of their significant size difference. But this ice giant king will do anything to make Lucy feel comfortable and woo her.
  
  I could not put this novella down! I loved the plot, characters, and the size difference!!
  
  Read during the Novellathon
  
  TW: attempted SA (not from the hero)
  
  TROPES: size difference, kindle unlimited, monsters, royalty, novella
• 
  Christi (christireadsalot)

  In this futuristic earth, the world that once belonged to humans is now called Alia Terra and belongs to the monsters. Thousands of years ago there was the Shift and now the land is haphazardly divided into territories, walled cities, with the poor living on the fringes, barely surviving. There are temples where women can save themselves from starvation, or give their families a chance to not starve, by being placed in an arranged marriage to different monsters. The temple acts as a sort of genetic-matchmaking service that pairs the human woman with her exact match.
  
  Aldrig, who became king of the ice giants after winning the crown in a duel (heirs aren’t named, the crown has to be won), is wanting to find a mate and perform the ritual to have her become his wife when the story starts. His half brother Ullag lost to him in the baffle for the crown 5 years ago—they never got along anyways—but after, he sought revenge by seducing Aldrig’s partner and the following partner after that. So this time Aldrig plans to marry a human woman, they don’t meet or even know what one another looks like pre-wedding.
  
  Which is how Aldrig comes to meet Lucy, on their wedding day. Lucy is a human woman who signed up for the temple matching because her and her siblings were in desperate need of food. Close to starvation themselves and not wanting to perish like their extended family, Lucy signed up to get money to provide for her siblings and food for herself. This gets right into their arranged married setup and the consummation of that. I was liking the first half more, but then it starts moving real fast (like time/weeks/etc pass within sentences of one another 😅). Lots of time passes and the couple isn’t together a whole ton that we see. I just wanted more of the couple together. This has some sweet moments but didn’t have quite enough for me.
• 
  ❁ lilyreadsromance (and other stuffs too) ❁

  I need this, okay. I need to feel safe within my romance books.
• 
  romancelibrary

  Okay, but this gorgeous cover though?? If you couldn't tell by the title already, Wed to the Ice Giant is an arranged marriage between a human woman and an ice giant king. Yes, an ice giant king.
  
  Listen, don't expect much in terms of world building. This is just a short novella about an ice giant bedding his human wife, in addition to a conflict involving the hero's half brother. There's nothing spectacular here, but it was a fun short read. I would categorize this as a HFN, but the epilogues do a good job wrapping up the romance with a HEA.
• 
  B.E.Love

  DNF for me
  ******spoiler*******
  ****
  
  ******
  I don’t like reading book with voyeur elements in the books.
• 
  Jenn (The Book Refuge)

  this was quick and fun and... size difference and lube. Loved it.
  
  4 stars
  2.5 on the spice scale
  
  CW: attempted assault
• 
  Sheen⚘ ⃰⃰

  Didn't even read the blurb. I'll read it cause the cover is pretty.
• 
  Emily

  i wish this was longer :(
• 
  Viv “BookVixen” Gutierrez

  I walked into this one with no expectations—it had a virgin heroine and I downloaded it for that reason alone, any monster romance with a virgin heroine will get my attention immediately. And I was pleasantly surprised how well this was written. It was a novella, but it had an interesting plot that drew me in. The world building was an intriguing mix of medieval and fantasy and futuristic—I’d love to see more of this world!
  
  The hero is BIG, an actual giant compared to the heroine and he’s also cold blooded. The contrast between the two was really cool and I don’t think I’ve ever read a romance with an ice giant.
  
  There was some palace intrigue with the hero’s brother trying to usurp him and that angle added some tension. (See safety details below)
  
  I normally hate voyeurism in romance but the one scene where the union is consummated didn’t bother me since it wasn’t done to titillate strangers and make the heroine the sexual object of some creep’s gaze. It had the same purpose as when done to royals when they had to consummate their marriage in medieval times—to verify the marriage is legal. I would’ve preferred the romance without it, but it didn’t gross me out.
  
  Altogether this was a quick, interesting and enjoyable romance with a cool hero, a heroine who melts his heart (he he he) and a great ending!
  
  SAFE-ish The hero had had two mates (not wives) before the heroine and both had been seduced away by his brother. Didn’t mention if he had loved them, but it didn’t come off as he did or that he was a manwhore. Some OM drama when the hero’s brother attacks the h physically—she’s rescued before he can violate her. Heroine is a virgin and belongs only to her hero. No ow, no cheating or sharing. HEA with epilogue
• 
  Hails

  Unsurprisingly, I loved this novella. Absolutely everything about it was perfect. Aldrig and Lucy are both such lovely characters to read about: he’s protective and caring and she is determined and open minded. I honestly did not expect this story to be such a perfect mix of spicy and tender (sounds like I’m talking about chicken, but no, just the love between an ice giant and his human wife). Who doesn’t love a fast paced romance, with a size difference monster/human coupling, a giant monster peen that defies science and ✨fits✨, and a monster who knows how to make his lady feel good? I’m just saying, that is MY idea of a good time. Honestly, I think Wed to the Ice Giant is one of my favorite Layla Fae monster novellas to date.
  
  Also of note, I always appreciate Layla Fae’s care in placing TW at the beginning of chapters just in case you miss the list at beginning of the book.
  
  Star Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  Spice Rating: 🌶🌶🌶🌶
  Releases on March 1st!
  Will be available on Kindle Unlimited
• 
  Cat Hoffpauir

  3.2 stars.
  I liked it, but unfortunately, it seemed like most of the book was spent with zero interaction between the main characters. After they had already been married.
  So they got married, consummated that marriage, then immediately something pulled them apart, for weeks, and then at the very, very end they finally reunite and it’s over.
  So. The only real interaction we get between the two is the sex.
  And I didn’t really like the way Aldrig talked about their consummation afterwards to his witnesses..it seemed a little disrespectful honestly.
  
  I don’t know. I have some mixed feelings.
  It was hot. It was short. I did enjoy it. But I also wish it’s pacing and timeline were different since it’s such a short book. She could have skipped over a lot of the parts where they were separate and still given the feeling of time passing by putting in little excerpts from certain days instead of letting it take up most of the book and not having enough time left to show the characters actually developing their relationship and getting to know each other.
  
• 
  Mandy

  This one has been sitting on my kindle for ages and I decided to give it a shot and I'm glad that I did because I was hooked right from the start. I found the concept for the arranged marriages interesting using blood to find the perfect genetic match. This story is about the king of ice giants Aldrig looking for a monogamous wife. While Lucy a human girl who entered to be matched that the money will help her family.
  
  This is a fast paced steamy arranged marriage romance that captures the heart as well as the imagination. I admit I'm a little addicted to romance and this was my first ice giant. I wasn't sure how it would work out having children but the author did an amazing job of pulling it off. I finished this one in just a quick reading session it's a perfect introduction to the series and I look forward to read more monster romance. As well as checking out books by the author.
  
  
• 
  Ashtyn Oney

  I wish I could glue one singular acrylic nail on my index finger so I might poke myself in both eyes so deeply that I cannot read again.
• 
  Oleksandra

  йоооой, тільки подивіться на цю обкладинку 🫠🫠🫠
  А заголом, це досить стандартний представник monster's smut, де розкривається дуже багато різних kink'ів і де закони фізики мало працюють 😅
  Мені історія сподобалась, тільки було замало всього, окрім сексу)) я не проти була б почитати детальніше про культуру цього холодного гіганта і як вони з людьми знаходять спільну мову 😅👅
• 
  FV Angela

  I basically read this for the cover… and then ended up enjoying it quit a bit.
• 
  clara

  I don't think I've ever read something like this. It was SO wrong I couldn't even imagine it, I could only think "what the heck is going on?" all the DAMN TIME talking about oil, I thought I was in a soap shop. I don't get the point of this type of "literature". Just watch a corn movie or sum. The characters don't even develope. Is a corn tale. Little red riding the wolf typa thing.
  
  Y'all are dry.
  
  SO out of my comfort zone. Traumatizing.
  
  AFTER READING REVIEWS:
  They call it novella, I call it horny stuff in 76 pages.
• 
  Andréa

  2.5 Disappointed ? Stars
  
  I dont really know if I liked this story or not. While it’s a novella and wasn’t expecting an impressive world building, I feel that I didn’t actually get to know our MCs or them each others.
  
  Between the wedding at the beginning and the ending, a month went by. And the main characters only interacted twice during that time. I’m sure they met more in all logic but on paper we didn’t get those interactions. And so it was harder for me to connect or even care for them.
  
  I’ll give points to Aldrich for trying though. Also not a fan of how he talked to the FMC when he did speak with her (mostly before sex)… felt too human to me in a way.
  
  Interesting idea but not convinced by the execution.
• 
  kymagirl

  Desperate for money for her younger siblings, Lucy (h) signs up for an arranged marriage to a monster, sight unseen. Aldrig (H), king of the ice giants, desires a human bride who will be his and only his, in contract to females of his own kind. Ultra-hot and steamy romance with MMC of significant size difference and special eggplant – marriage consummation ceremony entail witnesses and special oil preparation. Little bit of drama, including attempted assault of FMC. Lovely to see that while she might financially need to get married, Lucy is responsible and honorable in her relationship. Hot enough to melt his icicle.
• 
  Taramisu

  Amateurish writing, typos. The couple spent more time apart than together. I'm supposed to feel the building of a romance based on the MMC doing a couple nice things before he disappeared? Or was I supposed to understand her attraction because he was way better than the other guys in the room during the witnessed consummation with an 8 foot dude and correspondingly sized manhood and magic oil. I digressed, but you get the idea.
• 
  Shantelle

  Yet another great read from Layla Fae! I really enjoy her take on monsters and their ladies! I adored the ice King and his snowflake 😀 I just wish this book was longer. I really would have loved to have read more about them and I am hoping that she makes more books about the other Ice giants! Especially little Daisy and her friend 😍
• 
  Trixie

  ice hot
  
  Oh Boy, stories like this makes me wonder how a giant will accomplish the impossible with a human. Apparently, they did in the story because she gave him children, so how did they accomplish a miracle? Well, with lots of loving and …😁.
  
  I enjoyed the story. There were parts where you might not liked our MMC but there’s a reason for it. He is actually a good ice king.
• 
  Veronica Albertson

  This was a good one! I loved how the characters came together, I really enjoyed how the story played out, it was different than most “alien” romance type of stories, but I really enjoyed this one. I would be interested to see if the author writes one about Daisy and this other character she grows fond of. I would definitely read that one!.
  
  I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
• 
  Shaun

  Short and sweet HEA with interesting new take on character pairings and technology while including believable details to fully immerse into the plot.
  
  [Pitcher w/golden liquid on "dazzle blue" crocheted book blanket.]
• 
  Moto Z

  If you watched Game of Thrones and thought the White Walkers looked good, this is the book for you. Surprisingly, it’s not as spicy as the books I’ve read before😅.