Claimed

By: Rebecca Zanetti

Narrated by: Karen White

A Daring Rescue

Emma Paulsen is a geneticist driven by science. But she's also a psychic, so when a dark, good-hearted vampire frees her from the clutches of the evil Kurjans, she realizes he must be the man who's been haunting her dreams. But with a virus threatening vampires' mates, Emma may discover a whole new meaning of "lovesick"....

A Deadly Decision

As King of the Realm, Dage Kayrs has learned to practice diplomacy. Still, it's taken 300 years to find his mate, so he'll stop at nothing to protect her - even if it means turning his back on his own kind....

©2011 Rebecca Zanetti (P)2015 Audible, Inc.

A wonderful opportunity to revisit the series

AudioBook Review: Stars Overall 4 Narration 5 Story 4
Emma is Cara’s older sister, intelligent, independent and fiercely protective of what’s hers. Her father’s alcohol and physical abuse of the girls when young have Emma particularly uninterested in bossy, take charge men that set limits. A geneticist, she is completely confident in her own ability to solve nearly every problem with science, although she does rely regularly on her psychic abilities. Her pairing with Dage is meant to be.

Fortunately, as the King, Dage has more ‘diplomatic’ skills even as his nature is struggling to break free and take Emma for his own. It was cute watching his reactions to her refusal to accept him as mate, and his struggles with his own nature so as not to lose her. The development of the characters as a couple, and their own individual growth trajectories are wonderfully described, even if some of the approaches IN to the relationships are less than soft seduction. These alpha males are used to getting their own way. Of COURSE they aren’t used to being defied, but they never hit anger, but frustration, utter confusion and a touch of the petulant two year old do appear, usually with a laugh from the reader.

The complexities of the realm and worlds are further explained, as the war heats up with the introduction of a virus that threatens a tentative balance. A solid source of tension and immediacy from that ongoing thread is present and ties all of the stories together with the ongoing mystery.

Narration for this series is from Karen White, and she again brings a solid sense of the characters and the emotion to the forefront. I’m honestly wondering just how she kept all of the different voices straight, as Talen, Cara, Emma, Dage, Janie and all the others have distinct tones in their voices and I knew who was who from the first book right off. From a note left on the first review: I know these were all recorded in order, but my brain scrambles thinking about it. Wonderful insets that allow the emotional impact of the words are used: pauses, hesitations, even sighs and smiles all add to this narration that is fast becoming my example of stellar work.

I’m really enjoying this series: the characters, the world building and the narration that breathes life into every moment. A perfect opportunity for fans of the series to start again, or to bring in new listeners who want a long-running story trajectory with characters that intrigue and amuse.

I received an AudioBook copy of the title via Audible Communications for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.

Great continuation and good narration

Would you consider the audio edition of Claimed to be better than the print version?

I did not read the book.

What does Karen White bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I like that each character had a voice and you can recognize it.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

There were several scenes that rang with true emotion. Not just brainless alpha male and sappy female.

BOOK 2 IN THE THRILLING DARK PROTECTORS SERIES

This story continues where book 1 left off - the evil Vampires called the Kurjans have developed a virus that's deadly to the psychically gifted Human mates of the good Vampires and one mate's life is slipping away fast and now other paranormals are threatened too. Emma is the Scientist who helped to develop the virus unaware of the paranormal world.... that is until the Kurjans kidnap her. However, a daring rescue is at hand by a man she has been dreaming about since puberty but she was about to enter a whole new world..... a world where she will become Queen.

Because it's Dage the dark, dangerous, delicious and very sexy King of the Vampire Realm who was rescuing her to work for him to find a cure but as soon as he touched her the 'mate mark' appeared on his hand..... and he was ready (and all too eager) to bite and claim his mate. Emma on the other hand was reluctant, she had visions and one kept repeating itself - Dage on his knees heartbroken because of her. So she puts up quite a fight to avoid falling for Dage however he had waited 300 years for her and he wasn't about to wait any longer.

This listen has good world-building, imagery and is full of action, mysteries, twists, fighting and it's brimming over with interesting secondary characters - including the other Brothers and a very gifted little girl who will be the life (or death) of all they know. Emma is a strong Heroine whose feisty, stubborn and yet emotionally vulnerable and she has to find a cure before it kills her Sister Cara (from book 1) together with her unborn baby and Dage is an Alpha Hero who has to be a strong and powerful King but he is a man too and the man cares deeply for his family and would die for the woman he loves. A push-pull romance which has good banter, is funny, tense, frustrating, tender, passionate and sexy because Emma is no push-over.... but now she's met her match. Meanwhile the Kurjans kidnap, infiltrate, cause havoc, create deadly Werewolves and make their devious and hate-filled plans.

Worth a credit? Apart from being exciting, very addictive and fast-paced this new Vampire story also has an ongoing plot that moves the main storyline along, has many sub plots about the other Kayrs Brothers as well as magic, attempted murder and War. It also brings in new characters, new paranormals, takes out others and there is one character whose origin is unknown and we only hear about him when he visits the dreams of the gifted little girl. There are a lot of characters and a few POV's and Karen White narrated them well so YES it all adds up to a very creditworthy and enjoyable paranormal listen. But you must first start with book 1 Fated.

Couldn't stop until I finished it!

I really enjoyed this book in the series. I wasn't crazy about the narrator but she did ok. I would definitely recommend this series.

Even better than book one.

I listened to the first book in this series, Fated, a little over a month ago. While I enjoyed it, I felt that the series had much more potential that first book gave us. Claimed really brought that potential out and was much more what I would’ve expected from Rebecca Zanetti. There is much less world-building, so she was able to focus much more on the characters, which is my favorite part of any story. Claimed continued to build on many of the plot points that Fated originally built.

Here, we have Emma, the sister of the heroine of the first book, she has been taken by the evil Kurjans. Dage, the king of the Realm and the vampires knows that Emma is his fated mate and is going after her to get her back from the Kurjans. These two have dreamed about each other for many years, Dage for many more, since he is centuries old. Emma is also a psychic and sees the future in her dreams. She has seen her death and doesn’t want to tie herself to Dage for this exact reason.

Dage is a king and has been since he was very young and the Kurjans killed his parents. He isn’t used to other people not following his orders. Emma has no intentions of following his orders. She has been caring for Cara and then Janie for several years, she isn’t used to taking orders. You can see where this will go in this story.

As per usual for me, it is the side character that really make a story for me. Not only do we continue to the story of the main characters of the first book, but we also have characters like the shifter Katie, the prophet Lily, the witch Moira, all the Kayrs brothers and best of all little Janie and her mysterious friend Zane.

While this is a paranormal romance series, it has the larger overall story arc that means you really need to read the series from the beginning to understand everything that is going on in the story. I tend to enjoy these types of PNR series more. I love that that larger story arc that keeps the reader interested outside of just the romance of the two main characters. This is one of those types of PNR series.

Narration
Once again, Karen White knocks this out of the park. I’ve come to always expect an exceptional narration when I see that she is the narrator. She brings great emotion and character voice to the books. Her pace and tone are always where I like to see them. For this book, I would like to call out the accent she uses for the Irish witch Moira. I really enjoyed that Irish/Gaelic accent. She also does a really good job with four-year-old Janie. I really feel her youth when she speaks.

I like to thank Audible Studios for providing me with a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

King & Queen

There were enough twists & turns to keep this really interesting. The spicy scenes were scorching hot! 🔥 🔥
And the narration was excellent. Enough so that I could envision the scenes as tho I was watching a movie in my head.

Loving this series!

While the sex scenes are over done. I just love the plot. I cannot wait to start the next book. There lots of action and a great story line.

Same formula as book 1

The formula was very much the same as book 1x except I didnt like this sister aw much. She was mostly annoying. I pre purchased the next book and I am hoping its a lot less annoying reckless female drama.

Too much

Way too much sex. It seemed every other chapter was a sex scene. Rough sex

"His Dimples Winked At Her"

What did you love best about Claimed?

Sexy hero, which author does the best!, and witty dialogue from a sassy heroine.

What did you like best about this story?

I started this author with the Sin Brothers, adventure series, and became a big fan. These stories have more brothers and is a paranormal series. Author does a great job with alpha caring males.

What does Karen White bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Ms White is a supreme pro audible reader. Her intrepretation of this author work makes it a great series. The Sin brothers, Mattie my fave, is wonderful. Her take on male voices are too die for!
See Julie James series and Jill Shalvis series, as Ms White excels in them

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Pure enjoyment. You feel part of the story.

Any additional comments?

I am going to give this author's new male reader a try, but I can tell by sample, you must use 1.25x speed. Not sure if his female voice is any good.

Note: try this and any other book on new 1.25x speed to get the action pack fill of a story or mystery