Ecstasy Unbound

The Guardians of the Realms, Book 1

By: Setta Jay

Narrated by: Aiden Snow, CJ Bloom

Length: 7 hrs and 49 mins

Publisher's summary

As one of the 12 Guardians, Urian has spent the last several centuries in a constant battle to keep the inhabitants of Earth’s realms under control. Humanity has to evolve, hell beasts need to die, and Immortals need mates. But lately, Uri's mind is overrun with thoughts of the sexy demi-goddess he’s forbidden contact with.

Alexandra and her brothers have managed to evade the Guardians for centuries. Sensing she was needed on Earth, Alexandra forces herself to stay away from the only male who has ever truly enticed her. Until her world turns upside down.

For 100 years she’s watched Urian from the shadows, playing a wicked voyeuristic game to no end but to fuel her obsession with him. But now, she must seek out the enthralling Guardian to save her brother’s life, even if it means her own exile. Either way, she won’t go quietly.

©2014 Setta Jay, LLC (P)2023 Setta Jay, LLC

Enjoyable and Sexy!

Ecstasy Unbound is definitely addicting. Author Setta Jay does a nice job developing and creating a world that is intriguing and sexy. The paranormal genre and the romance blend great together; this book has immortals, demons, shifters, and dragons. There is even more than I listed, but it doesn’t make the reader feel overwhelmed with so much going on.

Aside from the plot and creatures, Uri and Alexandra, the main characters, were excellent, I enjoyed how the narrators Aiden Snow and CJ Bloom really embodied them as well as their performance of the other characters in the story. I love Aiden Snow’s deep timbre and CJ Bloom is the perfect complement!

Overall, with a great cast of side characters this was an enjoyable listen!

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this audiobook.

super steamy fantasy romance

Story Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ (0-5)
Audiobook Rating: 🎧🎧🎧🎧🎧 (0-5)
Overall Rating: 4.75/5
Steam: 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 (0-5)

What I’m Starry-Eyed Over:
🤩 Super steamy fantasy romance lovers, you are going to devour and adore this one, especially if you’re an audiobook lover. It’s so hot and action packed!
🤩 This narration/duet is such great audiobook entertainment. Their voices match the main characters’ strong but loving personalities and the range of emotions so very well.
🤩 The backstory—how Alexandra has spent years and years as a voyeur in Urian’s shadows—gives the reader so much love, lust, and longing from the start. (Read the book blurb.)
🤩 Powerful guardians, big beastly creatures, and mating bonds. Oh yeah! 😮‍💨
🤩 Uri’s private cavern—please take me here to refuel—turquoise rocks, water fall, candles . . .
🤩 The steam is so stinkin’ good. There’s just something extra intimate about physical connection being how they replenish their energy. Alex and Uri absolutely need and want each other.
🤩 Beautiful descriptions of people, places, encounters, and ceremonies.
🤩 Pets-in-books lovers, you’ll be smitten. It’s really good.
🤩 The side characters & interactions give just enough lighthearted fun and comedic relief from all the serious topics and situations.

What I’m Wishing/Dizzy About:
💫 Realms, energy forcing—fantasy/sci-fi is not my normal read and it felt a little over my head. I had to pay such good attention, and I’m sure I still didn’t comprehend all of it. I might need to listen again. But, my TBR, you know.
💫 The multiple POV is clever but confusing at times. As much as I like audiobooks, I wonder if it might have helped to have the physical book as well. Why didn’t I think of this sooner?!

🌟 Update: I grabbed the ebook in KU for my second listen. It is so helpful to have the glossary from the beginning of the book, so I suggested the author add that to her website for audiobook listeners.

🤩 Oh, & I don’t know if I can ever get over hearing Aiden Snow as Uri saying, “F%ck” when he finally touches his girl. And “MINE.” 🫠

Entertaining and Steamy!

This was my first Setta Jay's book. This is the first book in the Guardians of the Realms Series. Urian and Alexandra's story is entertaining, and steamy. The world building is original, interesting, and complex, filled with action, and steamy romance. The supporting characters are intriguing. Looking forward to listening to the next book in the series, to know what happens next. Aiden Snow and CJ Bloom did an excellent job bringing this story to life. #HomeCookedBooks

Great Start!

I enjoyed listening to this story. A great start to the series. The narrators did an excellent job keeping me entertained and giving a voice to the characters. I look forward to listening or reading more.

Good story, Great narration.

I enjoyed this story. With the help of Uri, Alex was able to control her fears about getting close to anyone. Their mating to start was an interesting thing to behold. His determination to help her control her shield so that they could be together overlooked the injuries that he might incur. After centuries of watching each other, they were happy that they were meant to be together all along. Alex's strength and willingness to go into battle made her a fun heroine to read. The interaction between Uri and Gregoire with regards to Alex was intoxicating. I really did enjoy this read and look forward to the rest of the series.

I had a chance to listen to the audiobook version. I enjoyed the story again, and Aiden Snow and CJ Bloom enhanced it more. I loved how they split the female and male voices. A recommended listen.

Love it couldn’t shop listening

The narrator CJ Bloom and Aiden Snow made justice to there characters and bring out their struggles and emotions.
Ecstasy Unbound is a paranormal erotic romance novel by author Setta Jay. Number one in the "Guardians of the Realm" series, Ecstasy Unbound centers around goddess Alexandra, and Guardian Urian or "Uri" as he is known. Big rule: Guardians and immortals do not mix because it is the task of the guardians to banish the immortals back to the realm of Tertaros
Alex, an immortal demi-goddess who escaped being exiled, was strong, brave, caring and sacrifices an unbelievable amount in her quest to watch over humans.
Uri is an alpha had been just surviving all these long years, not really living. His long existence was wearing on him but the forbidden glimpses he'd get of his demi-goddess kept him going
The chemistry between these two even before they officially come face to face is off the charts hot. When they finally do get together it results in one heck of a panty wet.
The rest of the Guardians along with Alex's brothers all had me wanting to know more about them and for all of them to find their destined mates.

Spicy Paranormal Fantasy

• Fated Mates • Paranormal • Shifters • Magic System •

The narrators did amazing! I loved both Aiden Snow & CJ Bloom!

The story was interesting and definitely steamy! “Open door” scenes starting in the first chapter. It’s fated mates with an interesting magic system. Intriguing overarching plot that will span multiple books. Could have used a little more world building and tension in this first one. No real conflict between the FMC and MMC.

Overall, it was an enjoyable break from reality.

♥️This story has it all including Aiden & CJ♥️

Wow just wow. This is a new to me author and I thoroughly enjoyed her writing. This story has it all from the plot to the intense heat. We’ve got guardians, sleeping Gods, goddess’ and mortals. The guardians were charged with watching over humanity. Alex, Vane and Erik each with their own abilities were the mercenaries who helped protect the realm while avoiding the guardians so they were not caught and exiled to Tetartos. Alex and Uri have played game for the last century of being in each others peripheral but never within reach. Alex avoided him until something happened to Erik and then he was the only one she could go to for help. And then it begins. I could not stop reading this book until work got in the way. However this page turner was finished in one day. I cannot say enough good things about this story and it leaves you wanting more. The narrators brought this story to life. When you need a growly alpha male there is no one better than Aiden Snow and when you need a take charge female who is better than CJ Bloom. They were pure perfection together.

Great start to this series!!

Ecstasy Unbound is book #1 in the Guardian of the Realms series. This is my first book by the author, but it won't be the last. I'm not usually a paranormal/fantasy listener, but I love the narrators and thought I'd give it a try. Was I surprised! I did have a little confusion in the first couple of chapters (then saw there was a book before this one), but I caught up quick enough and it was great writing and steam from there on out. This story opens up hot. Urian is a Guardian and a protector. His people feed on sexual energy (mmm hmmm). Alex is a voyeur and she's been watching Urian for awhile. I'm not spoiling anything, but this story is very original, steamy, and I hope the rest of this series makes it to audio. Ms. Jay creates such a visual image of the story setting, well, it's just amazing.

The narration was just brilliant. I love Aiden Snow's voice and he doesn't disappoint at Urian or any other characters in the story. CJ Bloom is another one of my favorite narrators. She is the perfect Alex. This is also done in Duet style, so it is just divine! Some narrators just sound like "readers" of the story. These two make it so much more, like a movie in your mind. 5 steamy stars!

Great Start to the Series - I want more

This is the first book in the series and it was a great way to start. I'm excited to read more from this world.

We have Urian (Uri) and Alexandra as the focal romantic couple. He's a guardian with a pet hellhound. She's a Goddess living on the run from the guardians... but she can't stop herself from watching Uri at the clubs (the shmexy kind). They have this distance voyeur game going and though they've never gotten close enough to each other, they are both highly focused on one another, drawn to the other for hundreds of years.

However, there are other things going on in the world. Some sicko is kidnapping and experimenting on women, trying to break a curse/condition that was magically put in places ages ago. Alex, using her most inconvenient gift jumps into the mind of one of the victims and is then compelled to investigate and try to help.

The world building in this is done so well. It never feels overwhelming or dry. It's presented in snips and chunks interspersed through the plot to provide history and depth that enhances the flow of the story. In the end we are left with unanswered questions and loose threads to be resolved in a future book, but it doesn't feel like a cliffhanger. It's more episodic. We've dealt with the battle, but the war rages on in the background.

The audiobook was performed by CJ Bloom and Aiden Snow. They performed POVs for Alex and Uri (since they are the main couple) but also each took on an additional POV. CJ also narrated sections from the POV of Sam, the victim Alex jumped into that launched all the events in the story. Aiden provided narration for Cyril the villain running the experiments, pulling the strings and giving the orders. Having 2 different characters each provided a whole lot of opportunity for performance and variety. Both narrators rose to the occasion and dragged me along with the story. Alex was sassy, strong and driven but also has a bit of a past that left it's fingerprints on her present. Uri is protective and growly, possessive of Alex once he gets close enough to realize they are fated and belong together (this is very rare). Sam is vulnerable and wounded but still has a small amount of hope. Cyril was sick and twisted and selfishly driven to make his dream a reality at the cost of any other.

I requested and received an advance copy of the audiobook. These are my honest opinions.