Dark Prince’s Captive

A Realm of Dragons & Scrolls, Book 1

De: Anna Zaires, Charmaine Pauls

Narrado por: CJ Bloom, Sebastian York

One minute, I'm in a hospital, about to kick the bucket, and the next, I’m in a weird jungle teeming with ridiculously oversized bugs and demon-like lizard people determined to enslave me. Nope, I didn’t die. And no, sadly, it’s not a hallucination.

I'm pretty sure it's going to end badly, but then a darkly gorgeous, terrifying man steps through a portal and dissolves the lizard dudes where they stand before carrying me away.

Apparently, he's a prince with scary superpowers… and I'm his fated mate.

©2025 Grey Eagle Publications (P)2025 Grey Eagle Publications

A whole new world

What a captivating new world Anna and Charmaine have created. It drew me in from the start. It had fascinating characters. The narration was top notch with CJ Bloom and Sebastian York. The bring the story to life. I loved listening to this audiobook! Excited to find out what happens next.

Good start and great world building!

Good start to a new series and the world building is great! Elsie on earth is at death’s door and then boom! she’s on an alien planet with her health restored and an alien prince’s mate! Aruan is possessive and protective of Elsie. His powers are very interesting and so are those of his siblings.
Lots of mysteries and secrets and I have lots of questions. Hoping book two will answer some of those questions.

CJ Bloom did good in her narration, especially her portrayal of Elsie and her feistiness.

Sebastian York’s voice fit for the powerful Aruan. The sound of his voice and his performance always makes my ears happy. No complaints.

Strong start to the series!

This is the first book in the A Realm of Dragons & Scrolls series. It's a strong start to the series! Aruan and Elsie’s story is intriguing, complex, entertaining, and captivating. The characters are well-developed and engaging, and I really enjoyed the tension between them. The pacing is engaging. The world-building is enthralling, and the supporting cast adds a lot to the story. CJ Bloom and Sebastian York deliver an outstanding and dynamic performances that elevate the experience. I enjoyed it and look forward to listening to Dark Prince’s Mate, the next in the series, to find out what happens next.

What a creative qorld

I love both these authors. I have to say, Elise annoyed me i understand she was dying in the beginning. Now she finds herself on another planet and she was ungrateful, hard headed and frankly immature at times. Auran despite his alpha ways tried to understand her not kmowimg what was going on but she was not helping. An abrupt ending but the story will continue.

Audio was fantastic Sebastian York and CJ Bloom did a spectacular job

Awesome!

Wow! This story drew me in and I couldn’t stop listening! The narrators did a fantastic job! Get this Audio!!! You won’t regret it!

Riveting Alien/Sci-Fi Romance 💘

The story starts out on Earth with Elsie Barnikoff (MFC) in a hospital room in Cleveland receiving bad news again about her health issues and basically being told that due to all her comorbidities her only option is hospice..again.

Elsie is suddenly on another planet, Zerra, having been kidnapped by alien Lizard like beings.

She is having quite the adventure and finds she is the fated mate to Aruan, a powerful royal Alite alien and he’s claimed her and fully intends to marry her & keep her 💕

Lots of adventure, mystery and creatures on Zerra. This was a very quick read and the story is continued in book two, that’s also releasing this year, July 2025.

Saving judgment

I loved the premise of the story. I didn't care for Elsie. Let's see if she redeems herself in the next book.

Dark Prince’s Captive

A fantasy novel with lizard people, a dying young girl, portals, dragons, and the handsome prince and his castle.

For me it was a slow start but I kept on as I wanted to get to the handsome prince. He’s a broody, powerful, dominant man. Powers beyond the likes of any before him. He feels her. His mate. The mate he has believed dead for far too long. Claiming her, keeping her safe and mating her and his top priorities. Unfortunately, communication is not his forte.

From her hospital bed where she’s just been told she has days to live, she’s shocked to find herself amongst lizard people. They have plans for her but those plans are not acceptable to her. Surprisingly healthy, she puts up a fight and keeps on fighting. Picture this…a beach, a boat, lizard people everywhere. A portal opens and the handsome prince appears! Any girls dream, right?

This is where the book finally grabbed me. No more secrets. You’ll have to read to learn about Elsie and Aruan.

Stella narration

Audiobook: Narrators - CJ Bloom and Sebastian York

Anything by these authors is already a win but with CJ Bloom and Sebastian York bringing it to life, it’s next level. This story is phenomenal, with vivid worldbuilding, nonstop tension, and characters you can’t help but root for.

The setting is intense, a brutal alien world full of danger, but what really shines are the characters. The heroine is tough, witty, and real. Auran, the hero, is dark and powerful, yet deeply compelling. Their bond crackles with tension and emotion, and the “fated mates” angle is done with a refreshing twist.

Fast paced, emotionally rich, and flawlessly narrated, I highly recommend this audiobook for fantasy romance fans. I’m already counting down to the next in the series.

A questionable 2.5

I.. Have mixed feelings.
This is a overdone premise that I personally eat up each and every time but this? Although it shares the predictable elements I'm fine with that comes with these alien romances and had a fair helping of its own unique, interesting elements, I couldn't for the life of me comprehend the tone these authors were setting here. Is it because two authors were writing this? I fell for a booktokers marketing plant as she said those who enjoy Ice Planet Barbarians would LOVE this...I'm assuming that comparison was due to the unadvanced "alien" planet and the biological driven bonded mate romance? However, I was grimacing at majority of Aruan and Elsie's interactions for how Non-consensual they seemed. IPB never gave rapey vibes. I'm not sure what particular lens Elsie's and Aruan's "romance" is supposed to be viewed under. Dude threaten to rape her more than once under the reasoning that "her body will ultimately like it" ... But then he'd opt to be tender and romantic with her. I'm no prude or anything lol I enjoy my share of titles with dubious consent but is this supposed dark or not?
The book didn't do a good job at all at rounding out Aruan to make him a likeable hero either way. It was always "me this, me that.." MY duty, MY mate, MY responsibility, MY fate, your place is in MY bed, I waited long enough... Everytime he'd say or do something swoon worthy/charming his mouth, actions or monologue would replace it lol He had no consideration, care or actual concern for Elsie outside of his biological duty/claim of her belonging to him despite being able to feel her emotions. A part of me wants to read the second book just to see if his controlling, brute behavior and how harshly he pushed Elsie gets addressed and he crashes out because he knows it's his fault because the best thing about his book was Elsie attempting to fight back against his control and her biology. This book in EVERY interaction told us that mentally, Elsie does not want that man. The writers truly made their relationship (seem) strictly biological as she fights it every second when her brain is in control and hates she can't control what her body wants. I assumed this was going in a fake out route, that her real true love somehow will rescue her from her tyrant captor and be endgame since nothing romantic in this book was done outside of the bond driving them and that would explain why Aruan was so rapey and unlikeable but alas... I guess Elsie is just tsundere judging by the conclusion and book two's description...