Ecstasy Claimed

The Guardians of the Realms, Book 2

By: Setta Jay

Narrated by: Troy Duran, Angelina Rocca

As a powerful Guardian, Gregoire has spent centuries fighting for the safety and security of all the Realms. His existence was one long bloody battle until his mate was born. For over two decades since her birth, he’s watched over her, protecting his innocent mate from the dangers of his world. Ensuring she has time to grow before he claims her.

Alyssa has done everything her family has expected of her, until the day she learns she has a mate. A mate who kept their bond a secret. Having always been treated as weak and inferior by her own kind, she feels the full brunt of his rejection. Angry and hurt at being left in the dark, innocent and unclaimed, she decides it’s time to assert her independence.

Can Alyssa maintain her sense of self while surrendering to Gregoire's savage passion? Or will his enemies intervene and destroy their chance at an eternal bond?"

©2014, 2017, 2023 Setta Jay, LLC (P)2023 Setta Jay, LLC

Seductive and captivating shifter/fated mates.

Thanks to Home Cooked Books and the author for the ALC of this fabulous and steamy fantasy romance story.

Ecstasy Claimed
by Setta Jay
Narrated by Troy Duran & Angelina Rocca

Story Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (0-5)
Narration: 🎧🎧🎧🎧🎧 (0-5)
Overall Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 (0-5)
Steam: 🔥🔥🔥🔥 (0-5)

What I’m Starry-Eyed Over:
🤩 Troy Duran and Angelina Rocca are two of the most beautifully seductive voices in the romance audiobook world—spectacular voice entertainment of a captivating story.
🤩 Troy Duran does a stellar job of switching to Cyril (the bad guy) from being the hottie MMC Gregoire.
🤩 This is the 2nd brother’s fated mates story—they used to have shared experiences. I recommend reading/listening to Ecstasy Unbound first to get the full experience.
🤩 Beautiful descriptions of all the goodness—people, bodies, creatures, beasts, places, and experiences.
🤩 Fantasy romance smut at its best, but then so much more.
🤩 Amazing and interesting suspense plot.
🤩 Take me to Paradeisos Island (Tetartos Realm) for the Art of Pleasure class. Group activities before the fated mating happens.
🤩 The possessiveness that comes from fated mates. 🥵
🤩 The hot desire of the coupling, being claimed. 😮‍💨
🤩 Gregoire’s “Mine” in Troy’s voice! Okay, Gregoire’s everything in Troy’s voice.
🤩 I love how Alyssa would give in to the physical frenzy but controls her mind until trust and love develop.
🤩 Gentle binding—probably the sweetest, most loving I’ve ever read.
🤩 The use of voyeurism is beautiful in their emotional boding.
🤩 Family, friends, and so much fun!

What I’m Wishing/Dizzy About:
💫 You might not understand the Sam & Erik part of the plot if you don’t read/listen to Ecstasy Unbound first, so it’s not really a standalone. I highly recommend both books though!!

Loving this series!

Ecstasy Claimed is book #2 in the Guardians of the Realms series. Gregoire has been watching his brother Uri find love and can no longer hide his secret, that he has been secretly mated for decades. He has been waiting for his mate, Alyssa, to mature and have a normal-ish life until she was ready. When Alyssa finds out she has been mated for years and he has never come for her, she bolts to Paradise Island. That's basically how this book opens and we immediately get her first "lesson" in sexuality with some m/f, f/f and menage action. Holy hotness! Gregoire is a super protective alpha and when he finds out his mate is there...BAM! It's time to collect. This book also included some ongoing side stories...Eric and his mate, the Cyril debacle, which I enjoyed as well. Lots of suspense, intrigue, and incredible fantasy. This series is just getting better for me.

The narration was fantastic. Troy Duran and Angelina Rocca were just the best choice for these characters. Two of my favorite narrators as well. 5 dirty talking stars!

Amazing story! Love this series!

Ecstasy Claimed is part of a multi-book series that I originally started in 2015, and I highly recommend enjoying them in order even though the earlier books could be enjoyed individually..

This book mainly starts with Gregoire who feels changed by recent events and suddenly wants to pursue his mate who he met at birth, but has not interacted with since he felt she was not ready to be his. At the same time his mate, Alyssa, is tired of being protected by her parents and feeling rejected by her mate so she takes a vacation with her best friend to get some “education” so when her mate finally comes she will not be completely inexperienced.

As in the first book, there is more than one story happening at the same time, and the second main story line in this book is the connection between Sam and Erik, which started in Book 1. There is more of the story of Cyril and Elizabeth and his evil plan to take over the realms.

Without spoiling the story, I can’t reveal too much, but I can say I could not put it down. The three main stories going on are all intriguing. Will the Guardian’s be able to find Cyril before his evil plot works? Will Gregoire win Alyssa? It is amazing, and I can’t wait to see what happens in the series!

Update Oct 2023 for audio release. As I said earlier it has been a few years since I read these stories, and I was so happy to see that it is being released in audio. It was duet narration, which is my favorite. I loved visiting this paranormal world again, and Tony and Angelina did an amazing job bringing the story to life. I can't wait for more from this series!

#MSBB

All the tingles

I thought the first book was juicy....wow! Troy Duran's voice does things to me 😏 PLEASE tell me the other books are coming out soon!!

Fantastic duet narration of a pretty good story

This was another enjoyable outing, with Jay picking up the threads of worldbuilding she ably laid down in book 1. Book 2 is another foray into fated mates trope with a new character pairing. This time around, I still found the the mechanics of the world and various types of characters as cool and compelling. The cast of characters as a whole is just really interesting to me and they fit the world Jay has established for them. That may seem an odd observation, but I have encountered stories where the characters and setting don’t fit and it detracts from the reading experience. That is not the case with this series so far. I’m just really enjoying this world and there are times when things have surprised me. For instance, there was a turn with the antagonist established from book 1 that I did not expect, so I wonder what the world conflict will be moving forward.

As with the previous book, I was more compelled when characters were interacting outside the erotic moments. This is a perhaps odd reaction to an erotic romance, but regardless of any genre label, I prefer when the main characters connect on more than a physical level. In book 1, I felt that the non-sexual aspects of Uri and Alex’s relationship were glossed over, and it was more of the same with Alyssa and Gregoire’s relationship in book 2. Rather than showing the two becoming a couple outside the bedroom there was a lot of telling, which made the relationship feel rather surface. The physical scenes between A and G were compelling and well-written; I just wished for the same quality from other scenes between them. There was almost a secondary central couple in this book, with Sam and Erik’s story playing out, too. Their dynamic was more interesting to me than A and G; so, there were times I almost wished the A plot of the story had been theirs instead. Still, A and G were good characters and I did like them well enough, even if my favorite scenes usually involved multiple characters instead of just the MCs. I especially loved the scenes when all the characters were together; ensemble casts are my catnip, and the guardians group has a lot of cool characters.

As for the audiobook, this was yet another fantastic production; casting on this series has just been aces so far! I loved every minute of the performances, especially Troy Duran, who was his usual badass, sexy best. I would listen to him read just about anything. Angelina Rocca was fairly new to me, but she more than held her own here. This well-matched pair definitely made this ear-buds-in production a real scorcher! IThe duet format works really well with this series, and if the future castings of the upcoming books are as well-chosen as the first two books, the production values will continue to impress listeners.

Absolutely worth a listen and I am once again looking forward to future audio productions in this series.

I received an ALC copy of the audiobook via Home Cooked Books and read the ebook via KU. All opinions are my own.

Great Listen!

I listened to the audio of this through BookFunnel from a copy I received by Home Cooked Books. Loved listening to the narrators tell the story. Kept me entertained, especially the male and his deep voice. Not only do you get the hot steamy mating of the two characters but you also get the battle of the war. A deranged psycho who wants all the power and found A way to get it. I look forward to listening to more of this series.

Fated Mates, Paranormal, High Level Plot, Spice!

Book 2 in the series and best enjoyed in sequence. While there is a main couple that the story focuses on, the broader plot and secondary character focus is continued from unresolved threads in the first book. This one doesn't end on a "cliffhanger" (though there is a hook for the next couple) and you are satisfied with the primary couple's story, there are still threads that are unresolved in the over arching universe of story that make you want to continue the saga to completion.

Gregoire recognized his mate 25 years ago and needed to wait to claim her... why? because she was a newborn and her dad was his best friend. Can we say *singsong voice* complicated?!?! He's waited 5 years longer than necessary since "maturity" is age 20 and now that his brother guardian has found his mate, it's time to claim Alyssa and complete the bond. Only problem is, she's left and gone on "vacation".

Alyssa found out that she has a mate who know about her and didn't claim her. She's upset and needs to rebel like the mid twenties female she is. She want to experience more than her life surrounded by her father's warriors has let her. No male will touch her, she's lonely and wants to feel wanted so she and her bestie travel to a pleasure island for her to experience physical pleasure and lose her pesky v-card.

Mixed in through the story of these two coming to terms with each other's feelings and actions around their mating, we also get the continuation of Eric and Sam's story from book 1. Will these two finally be able to complete their mating? How will the trauma of Sam's treatment in captivity from book 1 factor in? What about the scumbag who is still trying to capture and experiment on females from around the realms to gain his own power.

The over arching plot threads in this book really grabbed me and linked well with the previous installment. I'm invested in seeing what happens next in this world that Setta has created.

The audiobook is performed in duet by Angelina Rocca and Troy Duran. Since the book is in 3rd person and focused on multiple people, both narrators were pulling extra duty. There was the primary couple of Gregoire (possessive, strong and willing to worship his mate) and Alyssa (sassy and strong even when others always saw her as fragile), the secondary couple Eric (demi-god lion shifter) and Sam (traumatized but brave and wanting to find new strength) and the villain Cyril. There was a lot of range in both couplings emotion wise since they were both coming at their mating frenzies from a different starting point and had different complications in the way of their happiness.

If I had to stop mid chapter, it was occasionally hard to remember exactly where I was in the story, which shoulder was I looking over, until a name was given or a location referenced. Expect Cyril. I was always able to tell Cyril from the other male POVs because Troy did a great job of making my skin crawl with his voice.

I requested and was provided with an advanced copy of the audiobook. These are my honest opinions.

Entertaining!

This is the first book in the Guardians of the Realms Series, a Paranormal Romance. This is a series of interconnected stories. Gregoire and Alyssa's story is entertaining, passionate, and steamy. Gregoire is alpha, possessive, dominant, and protective. He is Urian's brother (from Ecstasy Unbound, the first book in the series). Alyssa is strong, and independent. The world building is interesting, and complex. This is a great age-gap romance. Troy Duran and Angelina Rocca did an excellent job bringing this story to life. I liked the duet narration. I enjoyed it. Looking forward to listening to Denying Ecstasy, the next book in the series. #HomeCookedBooks

The narrators were spot on!

I read this book and series when it first came out years ago. Now that the author is taking them to audible, oh wow, you better believe I jumped on that. The narration is wonderful. Troy Duran and Angelina Rocca did a fantastic job. Troy really brought Gregoire to life!!!

3.5 stars

my first book for this author and I loved the narrators (4 stars), the story for the most part for me was great but it did feel like the story was dragged out just a bit and at times confusing. Since this is the first book I listened to I may need to relisten and read the print version.