C2’s review of The Darkest Surrender (Lords of the Underworld, Book Eight) by Gena Showalter
Paranormal Romance published by HQN Books 27 Sept 11

What do you get when you cross a Harpy nicknamed Kaia the Disappointment, who happens to be headed for her equivalent of the Olympics (though totally unlike any Olympics imaginable), with a warrior who is host to the demon of Defeat? A wild and crazy ride!

Kaia hasn’t really been on good terms with other Harpies since a youthful mistake wreaked havoc at the Harpy Games. Her sisters (including familiar faces Gwen and Bianka) are really the only Harpies that will speak to her. Imagine Kaia’s surprise when she is invited to participate in the next upcoming Harpy Games.

Kaia has been in an ongoing flirtation with Strider, keeper of the demon of Defeat. Defeat forces Strider to accept all challenges issued and rewards him with pleasure if he wins but punishes him with pain if he loses. As you might imagine, faithful reader, Strider does not like to lose.

After convincing Strider to accompany her to the Games (and pretending to be her consort), Kaia finds out all the other Harpy teams are out to get her. After all the years of ignoring her existence, they have decided to punish her for what she did as a teenager. Everyone – including her mother – is going to gang up on her during every portion of the Games until she is dead…or wishes she were. Wow, there is a lot of violence! Harpies do not pull their punches, faithful reader. But they balance out their violence with much love of all things girly and sheer joy in living.

There is so much banter between Kaia and Strider. Even when he isn’t completely onboard with the whole consort thing, he doesn’t want anything to happen to her and he and Defeat are determined to keep her safe and help her win. The Harpies have sharp tongues and love to joke (they remind me a little of the Valkyries in Kresley Cole’s IAD series, actually) and Strider keeps up with Kaia completely.

Strider isn’t the only Lord of the Underworld attending the Harpy Games. Lysander and Sabin are on-hand to support their ladies too. It was nice to see the guys all hanging out together, cheering on their Harpies and having a little bit of downtime (but just a little). They did help a bit behind the scenes. It was nice to see them doing something besides fight the Hunters. I’ll admit I get a little tired of the back-and-forth between them and the Lords. I prefer the stories like this one where they only play a small role.

The flow of this book is better than the previous one. We spend most of our time with the main couple, but some supporting storylines moved forward, as well. Paris’ story progresses a good bit, since he was left in a cliffhanger – his book is up next! We finally got a bit of William’s backstory. I’ve always been intrigued by William…for such a noticeable presence through the last several books, he has remained quite the enigma. And Kane steps into the spotlight finally. Since he is keeper of Disaster, you know his story will be entertaining.

All in all, this is a solid entry into the Lords of the Underworld series. Kaia and Strider are a fun couple and their relationship develops quite nicely. Kaia’s issues with her mom and the Harpies are resolved and she even gets a new awesome nickname.

My grade: B

Summary:

The Lords of the Underworld return in this enthralling tale of an immortal warrior determined to win and the beautiful seductress he can’t resist.
 
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 as 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…

Read an excerpt.

Other books in the series:

C2’s review of The Darkest Secret (Lords of the Underworld, Book 7) by Gena Showalter
Paranormal Romance published by HQN 29 March 11

Gena Showalter’s Lords of the Underworld series has a very interesting basis, I’ve always thought.  In her world, Pandora’s Box held demons and when the demons were released, rather than all flying free to fill the world with misery, etc., some were caught and housed inside the warriors that were supposed to keep the box safe and intact.  After thousands of years, the warriors and demons have learned to deal with each other relatively well…most of the time.  A very good thing, since it turns out the warriors cannot survive if their demon is removed.

Amun is the Keeper of Secrets.  His demon absorbs the darkest, deepest thoughts of those around him.  And once those secrets are in his head, he has no way to be rid of them.  Amun chooses not to speak aloud because, once the secrets start pouring out, he is afraid he will not be able to stop.  Instead, he uses sign language to communicate with the other Lords.

Haidee is a Hunter – a group dedicated to eliminating the Lords of the Underworld.  She is brought to the Lords’ fortress after being captured by Strider, Keeper of Defeat.  Strider thinks they will be able to get all sorts of useful information about the Hunters from her…one way or another.  What Strider doesn’t realize is that Haidee has a secret.

Amun and some others have just returned from a mission to Hell – literally (in The Darkest Lie).  This time he absorbs not only secrets but actual demon minions and they are slowly driving him insane.  Amun absorbs so much evil it seeps from him and affects those around him – they crave things they would never want and are tempted to do things they would never normally do.  He is under guard until it is clear he will not harm himself or others.  During his suffering, Amun internally calls out for help.  Haidee has been locked in the room next to his and hears his mental call…first in a nightmare and then awake.

When Haidee hears a familiar voice where she expects only enemies – the horribly injured person next door looks and sounds like her boyfriend, Micah (a man she has dreamt of all her life, even though they only met a few months before) – she is determined to get them both out of the Lords’ fortress safely.  When Amun realizes she is a Hunter and she thinks he is someone else, he plays along so he can keep her safe.  Of course, she quickly finds out the truth – that he is one of the creatures she is determined to kill…even if that option isn’t as attractive as it should be.

Only with Haidee is Amun lucid and able to keep the demons inside him subdued.  Since she is a sworn enemy, the Lords are determined to find another way to save him.  The only option they can find is that Amun must return the demons to Hell.  And the only way he can manage is if Haidee goes with him.  While they are on their quest, Amun is determined to find out exactly who and what Haidee is…why she affects him the way she does…and he may have to do it the hard way – by talking – because his demon isn’t particularly cooperative when it comes to Haidee’s secrets.

During their travels through the realms of hell (creepy, creepy realms!), they do get to know each other.  And their attraction increases – even though Haidee is fighting it.  She tells Amun she doesn’t want to start a relationship with him until she breaks up with her boyfriend…and cell reception in hell is not so good, faithful reader.  I have to say, Haidee’s insistence on the whole break-up-first issue is annoying.  She already knows she’s only attracted to Micah because she thought he’s the man she’s been dreaming of for so long.  And they had barely even dated!  The only thing they had in common is that both were Hunters.

Eventually (almost too late) all Haidee’s secrets are revealed to Amun – why her skin is so cool to touch, why she has lived many lifetimes, why demon minions flee from her.  Don’t you want to know what she is? How she can do all sorts of things a normal human Hunter shouldn’t be able to do?  Of course you do!

The structure of this book is different from earlier books in the series.  The Darkest Secret spends a lot of time with Strider and some of the other Lords in a not-very-connected subplot.  I enjoyed the subplot sections but, because the tone is so different from the main plot, the transitions are jarring.  I’m sure it is to expand the world of the series and to set up Strider’s book (coming up next), but the two plots didn’t blend as seamlessly as they could have.

Is this book for you?  If you have enjoyed the series so far, yes.  This isn’t my favorite of the series, but it held my interest.  Does it stand alone?  No.  I always recommend starting a series at the beginning, but you really need to here – if nothing else, read the previous book, since Amun’s story really starts there.

Grade: C

Summary:

Keeper of the demon of Secrets, Amun can manipulate the darkest thoughts of anyone nearby. But when the immortal warrior is chained and isolated to protect those he loves, death is his only hope of release—until he meets Haidee, a fellow prisoner whose beauty and hidden vulnerability draw him into a reckless test of his loyalty….

Haidee is a demon-assassin, raised to despise Amun’s kind. Yet how can she hate the man whose touch sets her aflame? But to save him, she must give herself body and soul…and face the wrath of a powerful adversary sworn to destroy her.

Read an excerpt.

Other books in the series:

Liviania’s review of The Darkest Passion (Lords of the Underworld, Book 5) by Gena Showalter
Paranormal romance released by HQN 25 May 2010

Gena Showalter’s Lords of the Underworld series, I’ve decided, are the literary equivalent of a summer blockbuster.  They contain exotic locales, gorgeous people, hunts for MacGuffins, and plenty of action.  They may not be as intelligent or as artistic as other things you’re currently reading, but you enjoy yourself too much to care.  Showalter is out to entertain.

Aeron contains the demon of Wrath, which causes him to strike out at wrongdoers.  When he denies his demon for too long, he becomes bloodthirsty and can’t differentiate between someone lying to their mother and someone killing their mother.  He’s tattooed himself with images of the people he’s wrongly killed in order to remind himself of his own guilt.  He’s never been my favorite of the Lords, but I have been fond of his demon companion Legion.

In The Darkest Passion, their relationship becomes a major problem.  Legion’s in love with Aeron, but he loves her like a daughter.  When Olivia, an angel, decides to fall (literally and figuratively) for Aeron, Legion gets pissed.  Caught by her own passions, she makes some foolish decisions.

Guilty Aeron doesn’t feel like he deserves Olivia’s sacrifice.  She has a short amount of time to return to heaven and he’s determined to drive her away.  I felt that Olivia adjusted to being a human rather quickly, but I admired her determination and how she found ways to be an asset despite her lack of powers.  Aeron didn’t really win me over, but I like that he let himself be caught in spite of himself.  Olivia might’ve done most of the pursuing, but he didn’t run so hard that I felt the relationship was doomed to be forever lopsided.

As usual, Showalter wove storylines about the other Lords in between scenes with Aeron and Olivia.  There a few further developments in Paris’s (Lust’s) storyline, which has been part of the series from the first book.  Showalter sets up the The Darkest Lie by introducing Gideon (Lies) to his heroine.  I am excited about that one, considering Gideon has been one of my favorite Lords.  She sets up a romance for Legion that I did not expect at all and I am very curious to see how that will turn out.  (I am happy that Legion doesn’t get completely shafted.)  (This will be a massive series if all the Lords get their own book.)

In addition, the Lords interact with the Hunters more than usual.  The way the storyline ends, it seems like there won’t be long term consequences.  There are also some new TPTB getting in on the conflict between the Titans, Greek gods, Lords, and Hunters.  It looks like Cronus just might be offed sooner rather than later.  I can’t speak about the ending without spoiling anything, but it carries interesting implications for the rest of the series.

Before reading The Darkest Passion, one might want to read The Darkest Angel, available for free on Showalter’s site or in the anthology Heart of Darkness.  Showalter’s other novellas have been side stories, but The Darkest Angel’s couple plays a part in The Darkest Passion.  Aeron and Olivia didn’t knock my favorite couple from the series off their pedestal, but still made for a fun book.  I will admit that I do have higher expectations for The Darkest Lie than I did for The Darkest Passion.

Grade: B

Read other reviews on this series by following its tag here.

Summary:
New York Times bestselling author Gena Showalter returns with another sizzling installment of the Lords of the Underworld series, as Aeron, keeper of the Demon of Wrath, dares to taste the forbidden . . .

For weeks, the immortal warrior Aeron has sensed an invisible female presence. An angel–a demon-assassin–has been sent to kill him. Or has she? Olivia claims she fell from the heavens, giving up immortality because she couldn’t bear to harm him. But trusting – and falling for – Olivia will endanger them all. So how has this ‘mortal’ with the huge blue eyes already unleashed Aeron’s darkest passion?

Now, with an enemy hot on his trail and his faithful demon companion determined to remove Olivia from his life, Aeron is trapped between duty and consuming desire. Worse still, a new executioner has been sent to do the job Olivia wouldn’t…
Read an excerpt here.

Liviania’s review of The Darkest Whisper (Lords of the Underworld, Book 4) by Gena Showalter
Paranormal romance released by HQN 25 Aug 09

This was my second Lords of the Underworld novel and third Gena Showalter overall.  Now, she’s no Kresley Cole, but I definitely enjoy her writing.  She pulls you into the story and gets things moving immediately.  Heck, The Darkest Whisper begins mid-battle.  That’s the kind of badass beginning an immortal warrior and his harpy love deserve.

And if you like your romantic leads best when they’re overcoming large obstacles, you’ll love Sabin and Gwen.  Sabin, like all the Lords of the Underworld, contains a demon.  His is Doubt, constantly needling at the psyches of those around him.  His girlfriends have a tendency to kill themselves, which puts a real damper on his love life.  It doesn’t help that he’s totally focused on the leader of the Hunters, Galen, and willing to use anybody if it means reaching his goal.

Gwen, on the other hand, grew up confused by the conflict of her violent harpy nature with her softer, angelic side.  It undermined her confidence and turned her into a meek, scared woman.  Being captured and forced to watch other women tortured didn’t do much to make her feel better about herself.  She’s exactly the sort of woman Sabin should avoid.  Yet Showalter makes it work.  Gwen’s confidence grows quickly, but naturally.  In the end you might wish she decided some things differently, but her decisions were true to her character.  She’s soft-hearted, but knows she can defeat anyone in the room if she needs to.

I find it hard to discuss The Darkest Whisper critically.  Showalter made that part of my brain click off.  She made me sit back and relax, and I let her since I needed it.  I must say I admire how she handles her massive cast.  The others aren’t enigmas waiting for their own books, but receive a decent amount of character development and have adventures unrelated to the main couple.

I particularly enjoyed the interaction between Torin and Cameo.  Theirs is an unusual relationship for a romance, including the fact they have to stick to sex acts like mutual masturbation due to Torin’s condition and don’t intend to ever love each other.  (Also, Torin was attracted to Nïx’s ears, which makes me long for an even fuller crossover between the Lords of the Underworld and the Immortals After Dark.)

I also enjoyed the development of Gideon.  He is hard to understand when outside his POV, since he can’t say what he means.  But inside he’s extremely interesting – devoted to Paris and enjoying his demon, since it comes with a nice set of benefits.  The others tend to angst about it at least a little more, so it’s a nice change of pace.

I do enjoy how the series arc is developing.  Searches for artifacts can be annoying, but Showalter downplays that aspect of it.  She focuses more on what the enemy is doing to defeat the Lords, what Cronus is up to in his position of power over the Lords, and what might happen to them once they do manage to gather the artifacts and restore Pandora’s Box.

It makes it worth coming back for the story, not just for seeing a favorite character pair off happily ever after.

Grade: B+

Read other reviews on this series by following its tag here.

Summary:

New York Times bestselling sensation Gena Showalter returns with her long-awaited next installment of the Lords of the Underworld series…

He is the keeper of Doubt and his entire world’s about to be rocked.

Bound by the demon of doubt, Sabin unintentionally destroys even the most confident of lovers. So the immortal warrior spends his time on the battlefield instead of the bedroom, victory his only concern…until he meets Gwendolyn the Timid. One taste of the beautiful redhead, and he craves more.

Gwen, an immortal herself, always thought she’d fall for a kind human who wouldn’t rouse her darker side. But when Sabin frees her from prison, battling their enemies for the claim to Pandora’s box turns out to be nothing compared to the battle Sabin and Gwen will wage against love…

Read an excerpt here.

Other books in the series:

Gwen’s review of The Darkest Pleasure (Lords of the Underworld, Book 3) by Gena Showalter
Contemporary paranormal romance released by HQN 1 Jul 08

This new paranormal series from Showalter has been a very pleasant surprise – it has managed to stand out as unique and interesting in what has become a rather crowded field of contenders. And once again, the Cover Gods have shined a happy light on Showalter – isn’t this one yummy?

This is the third book, but the second one for me. One of these days I’m sure I’ll get around to reading the first and the prequel. Just as soon as I make it that far in my TBR (stop laughing, Sybil – it’s your fault ya know ). The series is based on immortal warriors who are possessed by demons who escaped from Pandora’s Box. It has taken these warriors hundreds of years to obtain control of their demons and now several of them are ready to try for happiness.

Well. A demon’s version of happiness.

In this entry the demon Pain and his host Reyes find their mate in Danika, a human introduced in the first novel. As with the other book in the series I’ve read (book 2), Showalter does an admirable job interleaving story lines for a few other characters. They’re all related to the main relationship with the hero and heroine, so I never felt like I was taken away from the reason I’m there – to read a love story. That’s a difficult thing to do with a large cast of characters – it seems like some authors tend to swing too far one way or the other when confronted with multiple characters.

Reyes and Danika are unique and both tortured souls. They find salvation in each other and the evolution of their relationship is interesting and very tender. I was very glad to see their HEA. I found both H and H to be very sympathetic and compelling – not something I felt in the first (for me) book.

The story arcs are nicely interleaved and the plot moves along smoothly. The erotic scenes are hot, action scenes are exciting, and the villains are suitably villainy. All in all, a very fun book to read. I will be reading book 4 (Sabin’s story), The Darkest Whisper, when it comes out May 2009.

I recommend this book for any fans of paranormal series and fans of Showalter’s work. It’s sexy, fun, different, and a great summer read.

Grade: B

Summary:

He can bear any pain but the thought of losing her… Reyes is a man possessed. Bound by the demon of pain, he is forbidden to know pleasure. Yet he craves a mortal woman, Danika Ford, more than breath and will do anything to claim her—even defy the gods.

Danika is on the run. For months, she’s eluded the Lords of the Underworld, immortal warriors who won’t rest until she and her family have been destroyed. But her dreams are haunted by Reyes, the warrior whose searing touch she can’t forget. Yet a future together could mean death to all they both hold dear. . .

Read an excerpt.

Other books in the series – click on the Lords of the Underworld tag to see other reviews:

And just because I can, here’s this cover in large format. Yummy, isn’t he?

Gwen’s review of The Darkest Kiss (Lords of the Underworld, Book 2) by Gena Showalter
Contemporary paranormal romance released by HQN 1 Jun 08

The Cover Goddess has been very good to Showalter with this contemporary paranormal series. Every one of the books has a beautifully rendered photo of a gorgeous man. I think this book has the best of all of them. What’s inside of the cover isn’t half bad either.

This is a relatively new entry into the “paranormal warrior series” romance subgenre. It has similar aspects to Ward’s Brotherhood and Cole’s Immortals, but is most definitely its own animal. The immortal, demon-possessed warriors in Showalter’s books are based on the Greek mythos and they are more”normal” – feeling a considerable amount of guilt for past misdeeds done by both them and their on-board demons.

In this second entry into the series (if you don’t count the prequel), we find the warrior Lucien, with his demon Death, falling for a (minor) goddess Anarchy, a.k.a. Anya. Anya is a hoot and I totally wanted her to get her HEA. She’s a heroine who is smart, sharp, and on the run. TSTL is not part of the vocabulary when you’re talking about her. Her taste in men is a little questionable, but whose isn’t. Showalter has given us a kick-ass heroine who is fun and very approachable.

For me, Lucien is a less sympathetic character. I liked him well enough, but felt he was a little self-indulgent with his “no woman could possibly be attracted to me” and “oh poor scarred me” attitudes. But, once you get past that, the development of the relationship between Anya and Lucien is really very good. And the sensual scenes are very, very hot.

There are a few scenes with the secondary characters in this book – it’s mostly Lucien and Anya – and I loved that. The setting and environment of the book are a lot of fun – you hop all over the world with the h/h looking for artifacts that will help them find Pandora’s Box (there’s a complicated mythos behind this you’ll have to read).

This book read fine on its own – I haven’t read the previous two entries and I was able to pick up the story easily. And, thankfully, I didn’t feel like there was a ton of info dumping. You learn as you go, organically. I did skim paragraphs here and there that seemed to be a bit repetitive, but I was reading an ARC, so hopefully some of that got edited out.

I really enjoyed this sexy, fun, action-filled book. It’s an interesting entry on the contemp paranormal scene and I’m looking forward to reading the next, The Darkest Pleasure (HQN, 1 July 2008).

You can find Showalter’s Lords of the Underworld site here.

Grade: B-

Summary:

She has tempted many men… but never found her equal. Until now.

Though she has lived for centuries, Anya, goddess of anarchy, has never known pleasure. Until Lucien, the incarnation of death-a warrior eternally doomed to take souls to the hereafter. He draws her like no other. And Anya will risk anything to have him.

But when the merciless Lord of the Underworld is ordered by the gods to claim Anya herself, their uncontrollable attraction becomes an anguished pursuit. Now they must defeat the unconquerable forces that control them, before their thirst for one another demands a sacrifice of love beyond imagining….

Read an excerpt here (click the links below the book covers).

Other books in the series: