Marked

Eternal Guardians, Book 1

By: Elisabeth Naughton

Narrated by: Elizabeth Wiley

Length: 11 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

©2011 Elisabeth Naughton (P)2013 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Conniving Greek gods, horrifying demons, vengeful warriors, and true love clash in this sexy, fast-paced paranormal romance series launch." ---Publishers Weekly

An interesting PNR with mythology

The narration was okay. I don't feel like added or detracting from my enjoyment. It got the job done.

I liked this book, but I didn’t love it. It has great potential as a book one of the series as the writing was pretty fast paced. Constant action and an interesting mix of mythology made the novel interesting. I really liked Theron, but I liked the sister Isadora more than I liked Casey. I didn’t want Theron and Isadora together, but I liked Isadora’s inner fortitude. Both sisters obviously had the capacity for self-sacrifice and get love, so that was really cool. I never quite understood King Leonidas and his fascination with humans when he didn’t really care about humans either. I also had a hard time with “Eternal guardians” who were more human acting, eating sandwiches and wearing jeans. But there was a clear sense of duty and what was right, and the guardians strived to do their duty. How they could spend time on earth fighting demons but be clueless about Misos, half breeds, was beyond me.

I actually enjoyed Hades, who was kind of a villain, and his wife Persephone. They brought a special kind of mischief to the table and it was entertaining. I also enjoyed having a woman, Atalanta, be the villain because of the discrimination she suffered. I felt her pain, though her means of exacting retribution was too extreme. I look forward to her next plan to slaughter the Argoleans. I am hoping book 2 will fill in some more background and tell us more about Isadora’s deal with Hades and Persephone.

not like a lot

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

new paranormal base

Would you ever listen to anything by Elisabeth Naughton again?

as long it was not with the argonauts or the narrators were different

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Elizabeth Wiley?

mason lloyd or jeffrey kafer or robert petkoff

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

bored

Any additional comments?

i love paranormal stories but i have a hard time with the "gods" and Argonauts. not keen on the narrator either. the guys sound weird.

loved the story....hate the narrator

Elisabeth Naughton is one of my favorite authors when it comes to greek mythology love stories. i feel like she was not dont justice on how great this book was because the narrator made the characters sound as if they were 20 years older than they were. Thuron voice also sounded creepy instead of sultry and sexy.

Awesome!

Loved it. It had it all, love suspense, and demons!!! Can't wait to listen to the next books!!

Love a Sexy Greek Guardian!!!

Wow what story! I totally enjoyed this book. Hot and sexy guardians and the perfect amount of hot and steamy sex! The story was great, the plot was great, and all the characters were great! It was more of story telling to me as there was not as much dialogue as I usually like. However, I also read along on my kindle to the audible and it was fantastic. The narrator did a great job. I am looking forward to listening and reading the next book in the series. I hope the rest come out on audible, it looks like only the first 2 books are on audible so far (well the 2nd will be out in 2 days). Here is the series order if this helps anyone. Enjoy.

MARKED (book 1)
ENTWINED (book 2)
TEMPTED (book 3)
ENRAPTURED (book 4)
ENSLAVED (book 5)
BOUND (book 6 - coming soon)

Better reading

I enjoyed it better reading rather than listening. Something with the performers voice, and the tones used are irritating. I'm having a difficult time finishing it.

Good series if you can get through the first book

What did you love best about Marked?

The story was good, heroine a bit stupid at times, interesting characters set up for future books.

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

The narration was the hard part to get used to. Over acting, too long dramatic pauses. I seriously considered ending my read with this book but kept going.

Any additional comments?

Stick with it, you get used to the narrator.

Good Beginning to a Series

This was a good beginning to a new series. It was unique enough to keep my interest. The narrators voice seemed a little mature for the age of the characters. I wouldn't listen to this one again but I will listen to the rest of the series.

Great series, great narrator, worth the credits!

Any additional comments?

Although I’m already on the 4th book, I thought it would be more helpful to write my review on the first book to encourage the new possible readers.

I love this series! No two books are alike and in each book the story-line evolves. YES! These books have an actual story-line and are not just books about sex, sex and more sex. The focus of the books is not just on the main character(s) in which it is written for, but involves characters from the previous book while introducing new characters. In each book you will see the characters’ relationships develop with a lot of twist and turns and that the heroics is not just one sided where the alpha males are always saving the day, but the female characters are strong with purpose and heroic as well.

A book to come back to

This is my second time listening to this book. Elizabeth Wiley makes the book come alive. I probably wouldn't have read it all the way through- the constant tease become annoying- Wiley kept it entertaining. Now I have listened to it twice and will keep it in my library as something to come back to for those times when I cant find anything better.