Tuesday, January 06, 2015

Audio/Book Review of MARKED (Eternal Guardians Book 1) by Elisabeth Naughton



Book Title: Marked (Eternal Guardians Book 1)
Genre: Erotic Paranormal Romance
Pages: 321
Audio Run Time: 11 Hrs 2 Mins
Author: Elisabeth Naughton
Date Published: 27 May 2010 (E-Book)
27 August 2013 (Audio Book)

Synopsis:

THERON – Dark haired, duty bound and deceptively deadly. He’s the leader of the Argonauts, an elite group of guardians that defends the immortal realm from threats of the Underworld.

From the moment he walked into the club, Casey knew this guy was different. Men like that just didn’t exist in real life—silky shoulder-length hair, chest impossibly broad, and a predatory manner that just screamed dark and dangerous. He was looking for something. Her.

She was the one. She had the mark. Casey had to die so his kind could live, and it was Theron’s duty to bring her in. But even as a 200-year-old descendent of Hercules, he wasn’t strong enough to resist the pull in her fathomless eyes, to tear himself away from the heat of her body.

As war with the Underworld nears, someone will have to make the ultimate sacrifice.

Review:


Marked (Eternal Guardians, #1)Marked by Elisabeth Naughton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is the first book in the Eternal Guardians series. I really enjoyed it!

My sister recommended this series to me as she had read them all (that have been released so far) and thought I would enjoy it. I downloaded this as an audiobook, as it was also recommended by Audible due to my browsing history. How's that for a coincidence?

I started to listen and was quickly pulled into the story. The narrator, Elizabeth Wiley, did a wonderful job in telling the story, but I'm afraid her attempt at foreign accents sounded a bit odd and I would have preferred if she hadn't attempted it at all. Nevertheless, her narration was crystal clear and her tone and modulation for the various characters brought them to life.

Acacia "Casey" Simopolus is a wonderful character. I really liked her. She is not your average wimpy type. She is more kick ass than mousy, which helps when dealing with unruly drunks at the bar she works part time in. But when a mysterious stranger saves her and she later returns the favour, she finds herself thrust into a dangerous world where immortal guardians protect the human population from demons sent from the Underworld.

Theron is a character I wasn't sure if I liked or not. To me, he comes across as very controlling, arrogant and sexist (mostly old fashioned sexism) at times, which made me want to punch him, and I'm not normally a violent person. He is a descendant of Hercules and the leader of a group of guardians, who "police" the demons sent by Hades to the human realm. He and his fellow Argonauts live in Argolea, a city which is in another dimension. When he meets Casey, his life takes an unexpected turn. Could he kill his soul mate to protect his home?

This story is mostly a typical paranormal romance, with lots of action and danger mixed in. However, there are several twists and turns that keep one guessing at what is really going on. There are a few characters other than Casey and Theron who have their say in this book too, which gave this story a more rounded feel. I was intrigued with Isadora, who, although a princess, seemed to have a very weak character and let herself get pushed around, especially by her father King Leonidas. However, she has a core of steel that she did not expose for most of the story, and I actually wrote her off as pathetic because of her lack of back bone. BUT, when she did show her metal, WOW! I certainly have now changed my mind about her! There are also a few other intriguing characters, both in the human world and in Argolea who have caught my interest, but I will leave it to you to discover them for yourselves.

One thing I will say about this story is the world building is excellent. The characters are well developed and extremely lifelike. I have always been intrigued with Greek gods and their offspring such as Hercules, whose exploits became legend (or are they myth?) over time. So reading about his descendants, who were with Jason on his voyage for the Golden Fleece, excited me. I am also a huge sucker for paranormal romances in general, so I am looking forward to continuing with this series and I will (hopefully) get to read/listen to Entwined as soon as I can.

Elisabeth Naughton has written an exciting start to a series. I love her fast paced writing style and the flow is wonderful. I will be continuing to read this series, but I do have one of her romantic suspense novels sitting on my Kindle, which I hope to now read in the near future too!

Due to scenes of a sexual nature that are on the explicit side, I do not recommend this book for younger readers. However, I highly recommend this book if you love erotic paranormal romances. - Lynn Worton

View all my reviews


           

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