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…
The Darkest Surrender is book number 8 in paranormal romance series Lords of the Underworld from author Gena Showalter. Lords were once warriors, personal guards of Zeus, the main Greek god. When Pandora was asked by Zeus to guard a special box, men went in a fury from jealousy – seduced Pandora, stole the box and opened it. Inside of the box there were demons and now they roamed free. Zeus cursed all the warriors by giving each one of them a demon to contain. After hundred years of not being able to control the demon, the warriors finally learned how to keep it tamed. Ever since they fought a war against hunters. Each book focuses on one of the warriors and his way towards finding happiness in love.
I loved this series from the first book! All the Lords are unbelievably interesting, funny and it’s just a lot of fun to read about them. This book focuses on Strider, keeper of Defeat. He’s unable to face losing any kind of a challenge without after going through severe pain. And then there’s Kaia, a powerful harpy who finds her consort in him and it’s determined to make him see how perfect they are for each other. Oh, and she really likes to challenge him, poor thing.
I was really looking forward to reading the book about this couple – they’re both amazing characters with their own wicked sense of humor. The storyline is set around the Harpies games where Kaia has to restore her long lost pride and win an ancient artifact that is needed for the Lords to locate the Pandora’s box – they have to destroy the box since it’s the only thing that can destroy them (beside decapitation).
The story didn’t disappoint – there was a lot of action, a lot of witty dialogue and appearances from other Lords. I have a feeling I love this series more with each book. All the characters just crawl under your skin and refuse to leave. Kaia is the perfect heroine, she’s very independent and very insecure when it comes to her feelings for Strider. She’s not used to giving herself up like that and admitting that she’s vulnerable. And Strider, he’s just… Strider. At first he’s all ‘douchey’ but no once can deny that kind of chemistry for so long.
Overall, I recommend this book (and series) to all the fans of mythology themed books and those who like their fictional men with a good and a bad demoniac side.
