We understand Beth when Ehd does not, and we see her make the decision to stay.

The whole book is from Ehd’s point of view, which is rare in the romance genre. Like Ruth’s Bonded, the language barrier is never resolved. Ehd has been alone for a long time, and Beth gives him a reason to live. He takes her to his cave, thinking she is a lost member of another tribe. It’s the story of Beth, who is transported back in time and found by a pre-speech caveman named Ehd. This was one of the first kindle romances I read, and undoubtedly influenced Ruth’s Bonded to some extent. They make a life together against all odds. They have to decide that the heroes are worth giving up everything for, based only on how they behave and treat their mates. The heroines, however, have to make a choice to stay. The men consider themselves lucky to be chosen by their women, even if they are a little weird. Why I like the language barrier in this series is that it makes love into a leap of faith, a commitment with no guarantee or reassurance that the other person feels the same or that the relationship will go the way they want. In the sequels, Moira and Naomi experience the same barrier with their mates: Kranu and Troii, and Krol. Gron is actually a protected species, due to the fact that the language centres in Gandry brains are so different from every other sapient species in the known universe that translator technology does not work on them! This means that the language barrier between Ruth and Gron stays in place throughout the whole series – at least until their son Aric grows old enough to translate for the two of them. They escape together, and the rest is history!

It is the story of Ruth, an average woman who gets abducted by aliens and thrown into a cell with Gron, an ape-like fellow prisoner from a matriarchal society. What can I say about this book that hasn’t been said? If you’re here reading this, I suspect you’ve read Ruth’s Bonded. – Spared by the Monster, by Merry Ravenell

– Ice Planet Barbarians, by Ruby Dixon / Lauren’s Barbarian, by same I guess I really came out swinging by making this my first theme. Most of these will be old-hat to you by now, but I hope you’ll see some that are new to you, and how could I make a list without them? It seems like most of these form the bedrock of the Sci-Fi Romance genre. We’re kicking this off with a popular but under-served trope: language barriers! Below I have gathered some of my favourites.

Venomous by Penelope Fletcher