Enslaved (Eternal Guardians Book 5)

I have read every one of the Eternal Guardians series available for my Kindle Fire. Find myself impatiently waiting for the next one to be available.... but I bought another Naughton book to pass the time. Elisabeth Naughton is a great writer for those often needed "escapes" from the real world.

Just like the other books, it has action and love and characters from the other books make an appearance.
Overall, these are a good, quick read. I have enjoyed them so far and will finish the series.

This is the fifth book in the Eternal Guardians series. I loved it!

My sister originally recommended this series; she thought I would enjoy it and she was right! I downloaded this as an audiobook, as I had previously enjoyed listening to the first four books in the series in audiobook too.

Enslaved is again narrated by Elizabeth Wiley. She does another fantastic job in telling the story. Her narration is crystal clear and her interpretation of the characters brought them to life, she has given each character their own tone and inflection of voice, which I liked.

Gryphon is an enigma, so I was excited to get to know this character more. As I read the story, I fell a little in love with him. He is an incredibly proud man and warrior, but to see him shamed by what he had to do in order to survive whilst his soul was trapped in Hell made me want to cry. He had no real choice or say, being a slave to Atalanta (or Dulas as she calls him). He is as traumatized by it as any victim of abuse. His self-esteem is extremely low, whilst his self-disgust is extremely high. I'm not a touch-y-feel-y person myself, but I really wanted to give him a huge hug!

Malea was introduced to us in Enraptured. She appears as a timid and almost teen-like (angst-y) woman although she is 3,000 years old in it, but as I read the story, I had a feeling there was more to this woman than first meets the eye. I was right. She is the daughter of Zeus and Persephone and is forced to live on Earth, unable to live in either the Underworld or Olympus. She has kept herself hidden from Hades, who has an intense dislike of her. But when a mysterious Eternal Guardian kidnaps her, she realises that running is not always the answer. Can she face her future fearlessly?

This series seems to be getting better as it goes along; I am completely hooked! The story continues from the end of the fourth book.
Gryphon has literally been to hell and back. The experience has left him emotionally, if not physically, wounded. Rescued by his brother, Orpheus, Gryphon finds himself fighting not only for his sanity, but against the dark pull of Atalanta's power. Meeting Malea may be a blessing in disguise. Can he break the curse placed upon him? What follows is a fast paced, action packed story that had me sitting on the edge of my seat! The story is told through various points of view, which I really liked. Not only do we meet all of the Guardians, including Titus, as well as Callia and Acacia (Casey) and Isadora again, we get introduced to a mysterious woman called Natasa. What does she want with Malea? Is she really a friend? Or is she something more sinister? I can't wait to read the next book to find out! Meanwhile, there is lots of danger and excitement, and the story arc is beginning to open up more. There is even a few shocks and surprises that completely caught me off guard. I loved the scene between Malea and her mother, Persephone. There's got to be something weird about your mother visiting you whilst being handcuffed to a bed; isn't there?
The heat between Gryphon and Malea is hot enough to melt the page! I love their chemistry. They make a wonderful couple and compliment each other's strengths and weaknesses.

As I have previously said in my reviews about this series, I love the world building. It has a wonderful mixture of fantasy combined with myth and reality. The characters' are extremely lifelike and they feel like my friends (apart from Hades - he's still a pompous ass in my opinion). The story ends on another cliffhanger and I can't wait to read/listen to Bound as soon as possible.

Elisabeth Naughton has written an exciting paranormal romance series. I love her fast paced writing style and the flow is wonderful. She has definitely found a fan in me!

Due to scenes of a sexual nature that are on the explicit side, I do not recommend this book for younger readers. However, I highly recommend this book if you love erotic paranormal romances with sexy heroes and strong female characters. - Lynn Worton

Enslaved-
Gryphon has been rescued from the underworld but he still feels the darkness closing in and hears Atalanta’s voice calling him in his head. He fears he will go insane. The other Argonauts fear for everyone’s safety, since Gryphon is unpredictable. They have kept him confined to his room for two months.
After he was allowed to go on a scouting mission that went bad, it is time for him to take back his life. He needs to kill Atalanta. In order to do that he needs to escape the misos colony. He has watched the female from his window every night and knows she may be his ticket out.
Maelea needs to leave. She knows Hades is searching for her and she is putting everyone at risk as a result. She has found a way to the tunnels underneath the colony and is sneaking out. She is no longer the timid girl she was. She has changed since Orpheus found her.
However when she makes her move she ends up with an unexpected guest. Gryphon practically kidnaps Maelea and forces her to help him escape. It becomes a battle of wills between the two and a battle for their lives when they are chased and confronted by beings from the underworld. Hades wants the orb and Maelea dead. He won’t stop until he has accomplished both.
This is the fifth book in the series and in it the fight continues between the gods and the Argonauts. The Guardians continue to battle the darkness and Gryphon battles himself as the darkness tries to overcome him.
The guardians are dropping like flies when it comes to their soul mates. I’m a sucker for a happy ending and alpha males finding their female counterparts. This series is definitely high on the list for fulfilling that need.
Gryphon is a character you instantly like knowing what he is struggling with. The reader understands his motivations. Even though revenge is utmost in his mind and he continues to threaten Maelea, he never actually thinks of hurting her. Even when he believes she is betraying him, he doesn’t do anything to her which proves his honor is present, no matter how he fears it is not. So far this series is awesome and I am having fun reading it. This book gets a 4 out of 5.

Rating: 3.75
Gryphon snatches Malea in the underground tunnels because he believes she knows the way out as they both seek to escape the Colony where they have been given reluctant refuge. He is startled to discover that her presence quiets the voice of Atalanta within his head. Although he originally planned to let her go as soon as they were out of the tunnels he decides to keep her with him for her calming effects. Malea objects...at first. But soon she is pulled in by the attraction and honor she finds in Gryphon. Can the two of them find strength together to change their dreams-- assuming they can outrace the daemons, hellhounds, half-breeds, not to mention Atalanta and Hades, who are chasing them?

I have wanted to read this author and series for some time. I was a little concerned that the writing might be a bit bolder and grittier than I like and I was right. It took a third of the book for me to begin to feel engaged. That may have been due to the language, as I did like the characters. Both Gryphon and Malea are lonely and tortured. I was glad that they found each other for support. There is fighting action and the writing flows reasonably well. There is also a good amount of sexual activity that takes up the middle of the story before they return to the battle between the forces of good and evil. I noted a repetitive amount of dialogue that consists of Gryphon gasping "Malea" and nothing else. Though mostly well written, this didn't really pull me in. If you are a reader who like stories of gods, super guardians and battles of good versus evil, and you like steamy passion, then this would be a good paranormal romance choice. This story seemed fine as a stand alone although I always think it is best to start at the beginning of a series.
I received this book from Sourcebooks for an honest review. (Full review at blog.)

Title: Enslaved

Series: Eternal Guardians bk 5

Author: Elisabeth Naughton

Genre: Paranormal

After being rescued from the Underworld, Gryphon is plauged by strange voices and an evil foreboding. He believes that his only hope for salvation is to track down the goddess who cursed him...until he meets Maelea.
A prisoner with no bars, Maelea encounters Gryphon on her quest to find Olympus. He's about to test her loyalty to the gods, and she's ready to find out if he still has a heart worth saving...

I have two words for this book TESTOSTERONE ANGST!!

Of all the heroes in this series I have to say that Gryphon has become my favorite, course this will probably change once I get Nick's book :)

Elisabeth has the unique ability to make write these extremely tortured heroes and do it in a way that we can't imagine them any other way. Of all the tortured pnr heroes I have read she is the top five.

Gryphon is one tortured and angry Argonaut. First he was betrayed into the Underworld, and then the only person who went after him is his brother, who isn't even an Argonaut. Now that he is back he is trapped in a room and its like he traded one prison for another. When the opportunity presents itself for him to escape he takes it.

Maelea has a goal and no one is going to stop her from reaching that goal. Especially not the Argonaut who has decided that he needs her and isn't letting her go.

One of the things I enjoyed about these two is that there was more going on then we knew until Gryphon decides to tell us, especially in regards to Maelea. And how they come to know each other and see the other person for who they really are.

There is also a couple of side stories, one regarding Titus which sets up for the next book in the series, and one regarding Max the son of Zander and Callia from book 2. The story of Max I have a feeling will be a story arc through out the series, what makes for more drama than a 12 year old boy.

Between Gryphon, Titus and Max there is sooo much Testosterone Angst that you have to keep reading and you feel bad for any woman they come into contact with.

This is definitely one of those books I will be re-reading.

Grade A
Review by: Heather
[...]

BLASTED OUT FROM THE STARTING LINE!

How else does one explain Naughton's Guardian series? From the first page to the last is a race to find out what happens. Although I have found others hero/heroine combinations that I liked better than these two, and no, I am not completely sure exactly why, I actually liked their stories (where they came from) better.

I only started with Naughton with this series, but this is my 4th book in with her and I am finding it fantastic. I cant imagine her writing anything that is not readable to me! I especially love her story with the whole Guardian line. She effectively created a world, in a world, in a world. I can hardly wait to open up the next!!