Gena Showalter - The Darkest Surrender

Strider – Immortal Keeper of Defeat. Nothing comes between him and victory. Possessed by the demon of Defeat, Strider suffers unimaginable pain when he loses a challenge. For him, nothing stands in the way of winning. Until Kaia, an enchanting. Harpy, tempts him. Kaia must bring home the gold in the Harpy Games or die. Strider is a distraction she can’t afford, especially as he intends to steal first prize—an ancient magical artefact—before the true victor can be named. But as the competition heats up, only one prize will matter— the dangerous, addictive passion neither had thought possible.

Comment: I liked this book a lot, especially because we see many things happening. Not only do we have Strider and Kaia's romance developping, but we also see thingd from other's POV, namely the ones whose story is coming soon. These little tidbits are great because make us speculate and imagine things...it makes us salivate to read their stories and I, for one, can't wait.
About the story, we see Strider trying to avoid Kaia once more, but as the harpies are invited (more like summoned) to attend the fighting games, somthing the harpies do once in a while, Kaia really wants Strider to go, because he is her consort and would help her heal but he must be convinced first. But he does go because the main prize means a lot to him after all...
I think it was clever that the author included the games in the storyline because it allowed things to progress on both counts, on the personal level between kais and Strider and in the overall plotline. I'm very glad to have read this and to see that this isn't a series always at the same point. Things happen here and that's perfect.
I like this kind of books where things develop nicely and where we see characters interact. I hope she keeps going this way.