One thing is certain when it comes to paranormal fantasy: readers love a sexy guardian, particularly if he or she is drop dead gorgeous, highly principled, and virtually immortal. Just look at what sells: Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Dark-Hunter sequence, Meljean Brook’s Guardian saga, Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight novels, Christine Feehan’s Dark series, etc. With that in mind, Elisabeth Naughton’s latest release, Marked—the first installment in her Eternal Guardians saga—is bound to strike paranormal fantasy gold.
The two main characters are Acacia “Casey” Simopolous, a seemingly unremarkable everywoman who lives in Oregon and who works days at a bookstore and nights waitressing at a strip joint; and Theron, six and a half feet and two hundred and fifty pounds of solid muscle—a descendant of Heracles and heroic leader of the legendary Argonauts who is “danger on a stick… every woman’s sex fantasy come true.” When Casey sees Theron at the crowded strip joint, she is instantly drawn to him. “He was huge… his legs were like tree trunks, his chest so wide it was all she could see. And that face? Greek god came to mind, with that olive skin, the shoulder-length hair the color of midnight and those black-as-sin eyes.”
He is with another woman, however, and doesn’t seem to notice Casey. Later, after her shift has ended and she is just beginning her drive home, she sees what first appears to be a group of dogs scavenging the carcass of a large animal behind the building—but closer inspection reveals a much different scene: the godlike mystery man is being brutally attacked by a group of demons. She stops her car to help and watches as the nightmarish beings simply disappear into thin air, leaving the half dead man behind. Although severely injured, he doesn’t want to go to a hospital so Casey is forced to bring him to her home where she administers some first aid and, at his request, other unconventional healing therapies...
In a matter of moments, Casey’s world is turned upside down. She is pulled from her mundane existence and thrust into a reality where figures from Greek mythology (Atalanta, Hera, Hades, Peresephone, etc.) actually exist and the human realm is only one of many. But none of the numerous bombshell revelations are as shocking as the one that connects Casey to an ancient prophecy that could put an end to a looming apocalyptic war—or start another one…
It’s apparent from the get-go that Elisabeth Naughton had some serious fun writing this novel—and that she didn’t take things too seriously. There’s obviously an intensely sensual (ie: “humping and bumping”) theme throughout but that romantic/erotic tone didn’t overwhelm the other narrative elements. In fact, the fantastical and mythological elements complemented the tumultuous relationship between Casey and Theron perfectly. Naughton adeptly intertwined the Greek mythology-fueled storyline with virtually nonstop action, fantastical adventure and humorous pop culture references to create a read that I not only devoured but almost instantly found myself wanting more. (Thankfully, the second Eternal Guardians installment, entitled Entwined, is scheduled to be released in late July!)
As far as literary guilty pleasures go, Marked ranks right up there with some of the best paranormal romance I’ve ever read. An excerpt from the novel describing a sexual encounter between Casey and Theron also fittingly describes the book's narrative: "fast and frantic, hard and violent... completely and utterly bone melting." If this storyline doesn't get your pulse racing, well, you're dead.
Paul Goat Allen has been a full-time book reviewer specializing in genre fiction for almost the last two decades and has written more than 6,000 reviews for companies like Publishers Weekly, The Chicago Tribune, and BarnesandNoble.com. In his free time, he reads.
Speaking of which...I can't read this book...I'm reading The Passage right now....I won't be coming up for air in this century! It's dense....I'm only on page 65, but it felt like 500....Only 701 pages to go.....Very good, so far! 
Something about this writing/story reminds me of a Robin Cook book....it's cooking at it's best!
