Series: (The Guardians of the Realms, #1—but can be read as a standalone)
Author: Setta Jay
Genre: PNR
Rating: 3.5/4-Stars
Cliffhanger: No, not for the MC's
HEA: Yes
As one of the twelve 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 when his sexy voyeur will find him again, watching him from the shadows, continuing their wicked game. All Guardians are forbidden contact with the little goddess and her brothers, but his need for her escalating, he finds it increasingly difficult to keep from pinning her down on the nearest surface and making her his.
Alexandra has managed to evade the Guardians and being cast out from the human Realm for centuries, ever since the Creators sent the Gods to sleep for their sins against humanity and banished all Immortals. Always sensing that she was needed on Earth, only once has Alex gone against her instincts and the price she paid will forever haunt her. It is for that reason she forces herself to stay away from the only male who has ever truly enticed her. The only one who has ever made her long for what she knows is dangerous.
In a desperate need to help her beloved brother, she will have to go to the enthralling Guardian, her dark obsession, and even though he will surely attempt to exile her, she won't go easily…
"The impossible is possible. Creatures of myth exist, but are not the same."Ecstasy Unbound is a book about a world within our own—filled with paranormal creatures (vampires, guardians, dragons, shifters, etc.), heart-pumping action and romance, and most of all...each page of the book drips with eroticism.
Seriously. This book is hot, hot, HOT. The sexual tension has been building between the two main characters—Uri and Alex—for decades, and you really feel it. Like, realllllllllly. I mean, the book even came with a warning label: "Warning: This book contains explicit and sizzling sex scenes with big dominant males. MFM, ménage, and light bondage."
"I'm going to lick all the way inside your hot little cunt until you're clenching around my tongue. Then, I will flip you onto your stomach and take you so deep and hard you will scream and beg for more."As a Guardian, Uri is charged (along with eleven others) to watch and protect the Four Realms of the world. Alex is a Demi-Goddess who hides on Earth along with her her twin brothers. And from page one, you're thrust into their dark, sensual world.
"He enjoyed doling out some pain for his pleasure."For years, Alex and Uri have played a forbidden game of voyeurism; she watches from the shadows of sex clubs as he and his brother fuck moral women. Neither of them know why they're drawn to one another. What they do know, though, is that they must keep their distance—otherwise Uri will be forced to exile Alex from Earth.
"He wondered if it was the impossibility of the whole thing with his little Goddess that made it somehow hotter. The itch he had for her was a damned obsession."But when Alex's brother is in danger, she has no choice but to turn to Uri—so they finally, after years of wanting, get to meet each other. To smell, to kiss, to touch one another. And there world changes—forever, there fates entwined...even as outside forces threaten their lives.
"The male needed to come with a warning label; he was freaking lethal in more ways than one."Overall, I thought this book was good. It kind of reminded me of the Black Dagger Brotherhood series by JR Ward.
The world was build excellently, with a solid foundation, and the characters were intriguing and likeable. Although I did have a few qualms and maybe a few triggers for some people:
<spoiler>there were instances of mentioned rape—one where the victim was forced to find pleasure in the act.</spoiler> That made me a wee bit uncomfortable, and I didn't really know what to think of it.
Also, there is a few scenes of m/f/m sex—which is fine, hot even (though I don't care for it too much when the H has sex with OW). But that wasn't the problem, it was actually <spoiler>the menage that involved the H and the h.
I just really didn't connect with their m/f/m scene, where the newly mated Uri and Alex invited Gregoire into their bed for a threesome.
I didn't understand the necessity of this menage. The book's explanation (that the mating ceremony was intended for the female's pleasure) felt like an excuse.
I'm all about gettin' freaky and reading a good threesome, but this one felt odd and awkward and I could've did without it. If Uri, Alex, and Gregoire had done it before the mating, I think I would've felt differently. But I thought that the mating should've been for the mated couple only.
But I suppose that's just my opinion.</spoiler>
Even taking what I liked and didn't like into account, I still felt like this book was a 3.5/4-Star read and would recommend it for a reader who loves erotic PNR.
*PS:
I was given an ARC of this book from NetGalley. But I do solemnly swear
that I am up to...good. ;) This is a fair and honest review of this
book. Pinky promise.
PSS: Spoilers are available; you just have to highlight them to read! (:
ROUNDED BOOK RATING:
