Into the Dark: The Darkest Fire\The Amazon's Curse\The Darkest Prison

By Gena Showalter

Three otherworldly tales from the master of paranormal romance and a Lords of the Underworld bonus guide!

THE DARKEST FIREA Lords of the Underworld prequel

Geryon is the guardian of hell, more monster than man. Kadence is the goddess of Oppression, more angel than woman. Together they will enter the flames to battle a dangerous horde of demon lordsand discover a passion unlike any other.

THE AMAZON'S CURSEA tale of Atlantis

Zane, a fierce vampire warrior, has been enslaved by the Amazons. Nola, a lovely Amazon soldier, has been cursed with invisibility. Now, these two stubborn enemies must overcome the pasts that haunt them and embrace a love that can set them free .

THE DARKEST PRISONA Lords of the Underworld tale

Once, Atlas, the Titan god of Strength, was the Greek goddess Nike's slave. Now, he is her master. And soon these sworn rivals destined to destroy each other will be forced to risk everything for love .

• Language: English
• Publisher: Harlequin HQN
• Release date: Jun 15, 2012
• ISBN: 9781459247048

Gena Showalter

Gena Showalter is the New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of over seventy books, including the acclaimed Lords of the Underworld series, the Gods of War series, the White Rabbit Chronicles, and the Forest of Good and Evil series. She writes sizzling paranormal romance, heartwarming contemporary romance, and unputdownable young adult novels, and lives in Oklahoma City with her family and menagerie of dogs. Visit her at GenaShowalter.com.

Reviews for Into the Dark

[angellocke · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I LOVE THE LORDS!!

[sunnysd_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A three-story anthology and a guide to the men (and women) of Showalter's Lords of the Underworld series.In the Darkest Fire Geryon and Kadence reveal their roles in the origins of Pandora's Box. Not so happy an ending, but a happily ever after, nonetheless.Cursed by the gods with invisibility, the Amazon warrior Nola suffers in silence as she watches the one male she's ever wanted tortured and abused by her fellow Amazons. For vampire Zane, death holds more appeal than a forced mating with the Amazon who's won him. Can the star-crossed lovers ever find happiness?Roles reversed, once guard now prisoner, Nike's love for the the Titan god of Strength, Atlas, seems doomed. But what's this? Is it possible the god actually returns the Greek goddess's regard?And finally, the guide. Written (shades of J. R. Ward) as an interview by the author of Chronos, Titan king of the gods, it's chatty and vaguely annoying. I couldn't get into it, and ended up putting the book down only a page or so in. Too much breaking of the fourth wall for me, I guess.

[laphenix · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Not my niche, but the interviews at the end were fun.

[akaria-2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Loved this! The interviews William did with the Lords were hilarious. I loved seeing another side of the Lords and their women. Made me love them even more.

[rosetyper9 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Darkest Fire:
This was a nice little story, even with the death and knowing the ending from the beginning. The two characters in this book are actually very good for each other. I think there is good chemistry and an excellent story. This story reminded me somewhat of P.C. Cast's 'Goddess of the Rose' as well. Just a thought, it's a Beauty and the Beast tale with hell, demons, and lots of fire.

The Amazon's Curse:
I haven't read many of Ms. Showalter's Atlantis series book as of yet. So I didn't know these characters like I knew of the characters in the previous story. This one was pretty short and to the point. The characters were already in love they just were having uh...issues. It was quickly resolved and there was a seriously sensual scene and everyone was happy. It was a very nice little story. I did have problems trying to figure out why Nola could be touched all of a sudden but I didn't want to over analyze it.


The Darkest Fire:
This is a short story about the Greek goddess Nike and the titan God Atlas. It offers a good glimpse at life in Tartarus, the location of the jailed Greek pantheon. Atlas and Nike have a weird and twisted relationship, you will see what I mean when you read the story. All in all this was a short, hot, explosive story. I liked it.


Book Extras:
There are a ton of awesome extras at the end of this book. A great interview at the end of the book, Kresley Cole does the interview with Gena Showalter. I heart them both, so it was awesome! The rest of the extras are like a LOTU companion guide. LOVE IT!

[bookwormygirl · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Into the Dark is an anthology containing short stories (formerly e-books) that Gena Showalter has written mostly related to her Lords of the Underworld series. I would consider this more of a companion book as the stories are not precisely of any of the Lords.The Darkest Fire - I would say is a prequel to the first story in the series - since it takes place long before the demons are living within the Lords. This the story of Geryon, guardian of the gates of hell and, Kadence, the Goddess of Oppression. Geryon is in charge of making sure that no soul tries to escape hell. While Kadence is somehow connected to the wall that keeps these souls in. When trouble strikes in the form of our pesky demons (i.e. Pain, Lies, Doubt, Violence, etc.) cracking the wall, it is up to Kadence and Geryon to travel into the depths of hell and put a stop to it. If they are not successful, not only will those same evil, foul demons escape, but Kadence, who is bonded to the wall will perish. ~ This story had a Beauty and the Beast feeling to it. Geryon was cursed by Lucifer and is a hideous beast, but Kadence's feelings for him are genuine and she sees him as a beautiful being. Their love story was very touching.The Amazon's Curse - is the sequel to The Vampire's Bride. I never read The Vampire's Bride (TVB) so I had never heard of any of these characters before. From what I can tell, the story picks up right after TVB finishes and you find yourself in the humid jungle amongst an amazonian, female camp. There you encounter Zane - a vampire who is being held against his will as a slave. The females are fighting over who will be the one to obtain him as a mate. You also meet Nola, who has been cursed by the Gods and is invisible. She knows Zane (I'm assuming from TVB) and tries to help him, but she's completely invisible. That is until she begins to accept her feelings for him and therefore regaining her true self little by litte. ~ This was a very short story and one I got the feeling that there might be more to this story.The Darkest Prison - (takes place in between The Darkest Pleasure and The Darkest Whisper) is the story of two Gods, Atlas the God of Strength and, Nike, the Goddess of Strength. They are fated to be enemies. Atlas was held in Tartarus during the ruling of the Greek Gods and while there he tried to seduce Nike (one of the prison's guards) in order to obtain freedom. His plan almost worked had it not been for Nike running into another female guard who also spoke of Atlas' attentions. As any woman scorned would, she not only made sure he did not escape, but she tattooed her name on his chest so he never forgot "who owned him" (love that). Now that the Titans have overthrown the Greeks, it is Nike who is being held prisoner and finds herself imprisoned by none other than Atlas. But he soon realizes that his feelings for Nike were more genuine then he originally expected. ~ This was by far my favorite story in the book. I loved the love/hate relationship between these star-crossed lovers.Awakening Pandora - are the first three chapters of what would have eventually been the plot to the series, but eventually got scrapped for what we now know as the storyline for the Lords. I'm thankful really, because although it was interesting, I really like what Gena has done in this series.After these first four stories, there are two interview type areas. One is titled At Home with the Lords of the Underworld. There William (Anya's hottie friend) is asking the Lords questions. I found myself laughing out loud throughout most of it. Not only are William's questions hysterical, but he is just an all around funny guy. It was great to hear the answers from the Lords as well as some cameo's from some of their significant others. The second section is titled Women of the Underworld Speak. Here we find the women all gathered with Gilly (Danika's friend) who is holding court over the women and it's just girl gossip and discussing what they like and don't like about the powerful men in the house. These two sections were hilarious and loads of fun and I think my favorite parts in the whole book. And finally, we get a sneak peak into the upcoming The Darkest Passion.For fans of the series, this is definitely one you will want to acquire for your collection. Like I said, it is more of a companion book, but definitely needed to have your series complete. The stories were short but they were riddled with tidbits of information that you will find useful and will give you the "fix" you need until the next installment in the series releases.This book was provided for review by Harlequin through NetGalley.

[dasuzuki · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I love, love, love the Lords of the Underworld books so I was excited to find out the origins of Pandora's box and an additional LofTU story. I was disappointed in The Darkest Fire. The story never grabbed me and the ending was a total let down. Maybe it's because I'm used to the characters triumphing against the odds but this ending just seemed like the characters giving up. The Amazon's Curse was better although I am not familiar with her Atlantis books. I liked getting a glimpse into vampire society and it was actually touching to see Zane's softer side and the mention of how he felt about children and family. I would definitely like to read more about the Amazonian warriors and may have to check out the Atlantis series. My favorite was probably The Darkest Prison. We got to see Sienna again and I am dying to read Paris and Sienna's story. It's like a tease that we get these short glimpses of what is to come but I just want that story in my hands! I enjoyed both Atlas and Nike and the chemistry between the two was hot. It gives you a hint of what is to come in the war between the Greeks and the Titans and it made a nice addition to the LofTU series.