Marked - Eternal Guardians Series, Elisabeth Naughton

Our book of the month is Marked from the Eternal Guardians series by Elisabeth Naughton. From the first page the reader is taken on a gripping, exciting ride into an alternate reality of the everyday human world.

Casey is just your average lonely girl.  She is pretty but not stunning and a character most can relate to.  Upon her grandmothers death she finds making ends meet and keeping her grandmother’s cherished bookstore open difficult.  So she takes a job as a waitress at a strip club.   It is here that her world begins to get turned upside down as her path collides with Misos – people that are half-human and half Argolean (descendents of blessed heroes such as Hercules).  

Theron is a hunk straight out of Greek Mythology.  As a descendent of Hercules himself, he is the strongest and the leader of the Argonauts, eternal guardian warriors who protect Argolea.  As such it is his duty to marry the Argolean Princess and provide stability and an heir for the monarchy.  Even if he has no desire to bound to her for the next 500 years. 

The Princess Isadora, however, is aware that there is a much bigger problem then the lack of attraction between her and Theron.  There is a prophecy that will only allow her to live if she finds her half sister that is completely unaware that Argolea even exists.  If she is able to unite with her then Isadora will survive and if she is unable to find her then they both will die.   It is this knowledge that sets things in motion.  Isadora travels to the human realm and Theron follows trying to stop her not understanding her motivation.  Upon their being attacked by Demons, Theron sends Isadora back through a portal to protect her and sacrifices himself to the battle.  Just before it is too late for Theron Casey stubbles onto the battle scene.   Demons recognize her as the key to the prophecy and rush off to tell their master.  

Casey nurses Theron back to life and the chemistry between them is immediate.  His duty to his kingdom and his lack of knowledge about who she is force him to return home.  However, once he is home the king informs him of the prophecy and this time he has to return to the human realm to bring her back as a sacrifice to save Isadora. 

Once he returns to try to convince her to return with him the connection between them continues to grow.  Before he can get her to return they are once again attacked by the Demons and find themselves running for their lives.  Through their struggles to stay alive their connection becomes soul deep to the point where he realizes that he has to find a way around the prophecy and his commitment to marry Isadora.  His honor to do anything to protect his kingdom becomes a battle with the desire to protect his heart.

This is an extremely well written story and series.  Ms. Naughton is very clever and creates a very involved world within our current world.  Although the basis of the framework is   Greek mythology and characters, she incorporates them into a fresh new adventure.   The characters are well thought out and evolve with the story.  Theron is a strong Alpha male character but in order from him to connect with Casey he must turn over everything to her and in doing so he makes for a very compelling character.  Casey has a ton of spunk and holds her own making the book a very fun read.  The entire series if fabulous and definitely disserves a place on the “to keep and read again” shelf.

RATING:  Five chocolate dipped strawberries.

Many thanks.