Undaunted: Knights in Black Leather

Written by Melissa Marr and Ronnie Douglas

Narrated by Tavia Gilbert

Following in the tradition of Kristen Ashley, Joanna Wilde, and Jay Crownover, this first novel in a sexy, dark New Adult series tells the thrilling story of a young woman who finds herself drawn to a Southern motorcycle club’s inner circle—and a dangerously hot biker.

Aubrey Evans needs to get her life back on track after her father is indicted for embezzlement. She’ll save college tuition money, hightail it out of small-town Tennessee, and steer clear of hard-muscled boys on motorcycles. Yet there’s no ignoring someone like Zion. A knight in black leather, Zion looks like every bad idea she’s been told to avoid, but she can’t resist him. Whenever she’s in trouble, he’s there. Appealing as his rough exterior may be, it’s the protective, principled man beneath that tempts her like crazy.  

Zion knows Aubrey doesn’t intend to stick around. She claims to want only friendship, but he senses there’s a naughty girl hiding on the inside—one whose intense desires match his own. For now, he’ll be patient and play by her rules. Though he knows it’s just a matter of time before he weakens her resolve.

As they join forces to figure out who’s behind a local crime spree, it’s clear that the danger goes deeper than Aubrey guessed. And when she needs someone tall, dark, and undaunted to keep her safe, Zion intends to be there—now and always.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperAudio
• Release date: Sep 15, 2015
• ISBN: 9780062417121

Melissa Marr

Melissa Marr was voted in high school the “most likely to end up in jail”. Instead, she went to graduate school, worked in a bar, became a teacher and did a lot of writing. Her novels Wicked Lovely, Ink Exchange and Fragile Eternity are published by HarperCollins.

Reviews for Undaunted

[ftbooklover · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Aubrey has come to Tennessee to live with her Grandma Maureen while her father faces embezzlement charges and her parents create more drama by getting a divorce. Zion, the enforcer for the Southern Wolves MC, comes to Aubrey's rescue when, feeling sorry for herself, she gets drunk at a carnival and gets in trouble with some of the locals. Aubrey can't stop thinking about Zion, but she knows that the MC is his life and she can't accept falling for a criminal.
Undaunted is pretty simplistic for an MC story. The issues that Aubrey and Zion face are more complicated than the story indicates, and events in the story create quick, unrealistic solutions. This book is considered "New Adult," which might account for some of its simplicity. Overall, a decent, quick and light summer read.

[rosetyper9 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I both enjoyed and disliked this book. The romance was eh...alright but I wanted to kick Aubrey every other page. Girl dropped mixed signals the whole time jerked two guys around. Was ridiculous and the end was sort slapped together. The sensual scenes were hot I'll say that. I also hate that every day NA book I've read recently features rape or unconsensual something. In this case it was kissing and then the hero "saves the day"...anyway. I read it, and I liked some of the characters so I'll read more.

[darkfaerietales_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Review courtesy of Dark Faerie TalesQuick & Dirty: Sexy romance with very likeable characters, great tension and tons of drama. I would highly recommend this book to all new adult romance fans!Opening Sentence: The scream of a house alarm woke me.The Review:Aubrey Evans’ life has been turned upside down in the last few months. She grew up in Oregon and was an only child from a well off family. She spent the first two years of college at a very prestigious and expensive school in Oregon. But she father was recently indicted for embezzlement, which has caused her college fund to disappear. She doesn’t qualify for any kind of financial aid because her parents made too much money on the previous years tax return and to top that, her parents are now going through a messy divorce. Aubrey needs to get away so she goes to live with her grandmother in Tennessee.Aubrey has a plan and moving to Tennessee is just temporary until she can get her finances back in order so she can go back to school in Oregon. But her plan didn’t include meeting Zion, the irresistible man that is a member of the local motorcycle club. They have an instant connection and Aubrey can’t seem to stay away no matter how wrong Zion is for her. If they have any chance of making a relationship work they will both have to change and that’s easier said than done!Aubrey was a compelling character. At first I didn’t know if I was going to like her because she is kind of snotty and she has a pretty rigid personality, but as the story progressed she started to grow on me. Eventually, I ended up loving her and found all of her weird quirks endearing. In many ways she actually reminds me of myself when I was younger. She hasn’t ever really had much attention from guys, or at least she doesn’t think she has. When she moves to Tennessee she gets tons of attention and she doesn’t quite know how to handle it and at times she comes across as rude when in reality she is just ignorant when it comes to boys. She is actually a really sweet girl and I appreciate how logical she is. I didn’t connect with her right away but in the end I really loved her.Zion is ridiculously hot and I fell for him right away. He has bad boy written all over him with his broody personality and ties to the motorcycle club. He is also quite a ladies man and has never been interested in commitment before, but that all changed when he meets Aubrey. He is extremely charming and knows how to get exactly what he wants especially from the opposite sex. But he is also very loyal and respectful. He has quite a temper at times and there is no doubt that he isn’t someone you want to cross. He is the club enforcer and he didn’t get the nickname killer for no reason. His relationship with Aubrey is HOT and they have amazing chemistry. In so many ways they are polar opposites, but they also have a lot in common. There is tons of great tension between them and I adored them together. Zion is the perfect bad boy and I loved him.Undaunted is a sexy story filled with great drama, hot romance, and loveable characters. I am a sucker for books that feature motorcycle clubs so of course when I saw this book floating around the web I knew I wanted to read it and it did not disappoint. I was instantly drawn into the story and found that it was pretty difficult to put down. The pacing was spot on and the story overall was very entertaining. The only complaint I have was the ending. There was such a great build up filled with lots of tension and drama, but when everything comes to a peak it was very anti-climatic. Everything that happened felt a little too convenient and I found it disappointing. Did I still enjoy the story? Absolutely! Will I be reading the next book? Definitely! I thought that Douglas’s writing was wonderful and she really knows how to write an entertaining story! I would highly recommend this all new adult contemporary romance fans!Notable Scene:“They knew I read, but most of them never bothered to question what I read, so that was handy. Racy romances or King’s horror or classics. It was all the same to them.”I laughed. The image was simply too much. “Racy romances?”“Hell, yeah! No better way to figure out what women want when you’re fourteen and trying to get a little sympathy.” He offered me one of his panty-dropping smiles. “want a demonstration of what I learned?”FTC Advisory: William Morrow/HarperCollins provided me with a copy of Undaunted. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.

[lrhubble · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Williamsville, TennesseeAfter her father is indicted for embezzlement Aubrey Evans needs to get her life back on track. She has a Plan and all she needs to do is follow it by hightailing it out of small-town Tennessee, save up money for college tuition and stay away from hard-muscled boys on motorcycles. Though with someone like Zion there is no ignoring anything. Zion is a knight in black leather and she can’t resist him even if he looks like every bad idea she has been told to avoid. He is always there whenever she is in trouble. The principled, protective man beneath the appealing rough exterior is what tempts her like crazy. Zion knows Aubrey plans to leave as soon as she can. He senses the naughty girl that is hiding inside, one whose intense desires match his own even if she is claiming all she wants is friendship. He knows it will only be a matter of time before he can weaken her resolve but until then he will be patient and play by her rules. With a local crime spree going on they join forces to figure out just what is going on but soon it is clear that the danger goes deeper than Aubrey first thought. Zion intends to be there for Aubrey now and always especially when she needs someone dark, tall and undaunted to keep her safe. This is the start of a series that will have readers wanting the next book right now. The characters, suspense and action prove to be addictive and make for a book that readers will read in one sitting. They won’t want to put it down for any reason and will stay up late to finish it. It is a very satisfying read. It also has some wonderful secondary characters that readers will want to see have their own stories. This is definitely a must read.