The Darkest Surrender by Gena Showalter

The Darkest Surrender by Gena Showalter
Title: The Darkest Surrender
Author: Gena Showalter
Series: Lords of the Underworld, #8
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Publisher: HQN (Imprint of Harlequin)
Date Published: September 27th, 2011
Edition: Paperback
Source: Purchased (Book Depository)
Rating:

Possessed by the demon of Defeat, Strider cannot lose a challenge without suffering unimaginable pain. For him, nothing stands in the way of victory. Until Kaia, an enchanting Harpy, tempts him to the razor’s edge of surrender.Known among her people as The Disappointment, Kaia must bring home the gold in the Harpy Games or die. Strider is a distraction she can’t afford because he has an agenda of his own-steal first prize, an ancient godly artifact, before the winner can be named. But as the competition heats up, only one prize will matter-the love neither had thought possible…

My Review:

I honestly don’t know why it took me so long to get around to reading this. I had it the day it came out and it’s one of my favorite series! But I’m glad I was finally able to read it, and once I did pick it up I seriously couldn’t put it down until I turned the last page.

Strider has, quite honestly, never been my favorite Lord. Although I’ve never disliked him any way, I just wasn’t drawn to him like some of the others. But in this one I could definitely see his appeal. He is schmexSAY!

Kaia I’ve kind of had mixed feelings about along the way. I always liked her personality because her fun-going and snarky ways remind me of Anya — whom I love to pieces. But, after she slept with Paris I wasn’t sure I wanted her for Strider. It just didn’t feel right, ya know? Especially after Strider had a bit of a thing going on for Haidee. So the love between Strider and Kaia I just wasn’t really seeing before this book. I’m not sure if it’s just a lack of foreshadowing or if it was meant to be that way though. But, in this book you can definitely feel the heat (literally — you know what I mean if you’ve read the book) between Kaia and Strider. The two definitely have chemistry and it was fun to watch Kaia make Strider squirm under his unwanted feelings towards her.

In addition to loving both Kaia and Strider, the plot and action in this one was awesome. Basically Kaia and her sisters enter into the Harpy Games where all the Harpies get together and duke it out for a big ol’ prize. It was a lot of action and fun and lots of different locales we got to visit. So whereas I thought The Darkest Secret lacked a bit on the action, this one definitely made up for that.

I was a bit disappointed in how the whole Lazarus issue turned out. I won’t get into details, but I wish something different would’ve happened there. Perhaps Gena will turn it around the way she sometimes does with impossible situations. We’ll see.

Speaking of side characters, I’m wondering what’s going on with the whole Neeka thing? It seemed like a setup of some kind but I’m not sure what, maybe a potential spinoff series? What do you guys think?

Aside from Kaia and Strider’s story, we also got a little bit of Kane, William, and Paris. Of course, I’m always excited for Paris and William. Kane was new. I don’t remember getting his POV before. We might have? I’m not sure, but I don’t think so. I can’t say that I have much of an opinion on him at all at this point though. He’s sort of been in the background for most of the books so I haven’t gotten to know him all that much. But I have a feeling his book will be after Paris’ because he definitely had some major setup-age going on. I’m excited to see what happens there though. The end! Gah, that was a bit of torture right there. lol

So overall, this was another LOTU made of awesomeness — as Kaia would put it. Or as Strider would put it — total Win! ;) I definitely couldn’t put it down and I enjoyed Kaia and Strider’s story, along with the glimpses into Kane, William, and Paris’ journeys as well. Oh yeah, and let me just say that I. CAN. NOT. WAIT for Paris’ book! Finally, right? It’s about darn time that he’s next!

5 Hearts More Reviews Goodreads | AmazonPurchase Links Amazon | Book Depository | Barnes & Noble

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You Slay Me by Katie MacAlister

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