#Review & #Giveaway: Undaunted by Ronnie Douglas (Melissa Marr) - 4.5 Wine Glasses

Title: Undaunted
Series: Knights in Black Leather #1
Author: Ronnie Douglas (Melissa Marr)
Format: Paperback, 352 pages
Published: September 15th 2015 by William Morrow Paperbacks
ISBN: 0062389602
Links: Goodreads | Amazon | B&N
Reviewer: Crystal
Source: Publisher and Edelweiss
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Wine Glasses

Being fearless has never looked so good . . .

Aubrey Evans needs to get her life back on track after her father is indicted for embezzlement. All she has to do to hightail it out of small-town Tennessee is save up money for college tuition 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 who 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. But 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. 

Crystal's Thoughts:
Undaunted is a new adult romance from all-star author, Melissa Marr, writing under the pen name of Ronnie Douglas - and I could not put it down!

Aubrey Evans is all about having a plan. A college plan. A career plan. A life plan. Her father getting caught embezzling money from his company and being forced to quit college to move to her grandma's home in small-town Williamsville, Tennessee, was not part of the plan. Neither was falling for the local motorcycle club's bad-boy enforcer. It doesn't help that every time Aubrey is in trouble, Zion rides to the rescue like a knight in beat-up leather, a Harley his trusty steed. Aubrey doesn't plan to stick around this town for long though and doesn't have time for a relationship. Not to mention that her new job at the Southern Wolves local watering hole has a strict three-date rule with their members. But as Aubrey and Zion work together to uncover the source of vandalism on her grandmother's and neighbor's home, it becomes harder and harder to hold onto the facade of "just friends."

Undaunted was a fresh take on the normally abrasive MC genre; with a sweet couple that was easy to fall in love with, mild suspense between characters, and a light mystery running in the peripheral of the story. The motorcycle club aspect is not the prominent story line, as you might find with other more hard-core MC romances, which I found to be a nice change of pace. That's not to say that there aren't some bad-ass bikers and club rules, because there are, however I would think of this as MC-lite. What grabbed my attention in this story was the connection between Aubrey and Zion, and how their relationship built throughout the story from friends to lovers. It was a progressive shift and I was hanging on to the pages the entire ride. Their relationship was full of energy with a chemistry that was palpable. It was also all about the give-and-take, and compromises. Though that may not have seemed balanced at times, with Aubrey tilting the scales a bit in her favor, but Zion was more then willing to give that little bit more so it worked. Through a good majority of the book, there was a lot of building tension between Aubrey and Zion, along with a few steamy encounters, until it reached a sizzling peak. It was all beautifully written.

The plot was well timed, nary a lull, which led to a quick, satisfying read. Both the characters and story were well crafted, and I enjoyed the club in the background as well as all of the side characters. The Southern Wolves seem like a good group and I actually hope we get to delve more into the club's dynamics with the next installment. The next story, Unruly, will follow Ellen, Aubrey's best friend, and a Wolf that we didn't see too much of in this story, Alamo. I'm really looking forward to Dash's book though, Zion's cousin and unofficial Wolf. Hopefully we don't have too long to wait for that one. The only thing that bothered me about the story, and what kept it from reaching that 5 Wine Glass rating, was the ending. Though Aubrey loved Zion the way he was, she was uncomfortable being with someone in a club who might have to do illegal things, especially after the mess with her parents. So Zion took steps to put her at ease, and without getting too spoilery, what he decided to do instead baffled me. Because while it might be on the right side of the law, it is still very dangerous and can take Zion away from Aubrey for long periods of times....and when a new couple is talking about forever I just couldn't get on board with the logistics of this conclusion. The long-term wasn't well thought out in my opinion but I'm interested to see how it works out in the future and hope that we still get glimpses into their relationship in coming books.

All in all though, Undaunted, was an addictive ride where two unlikely hearts collide making a compelling read from beginning to end!

GIVEAWAY:
I have one copy of Undaunted to give away to one lucky reader today. Winner can chose between a paperback copy (US only) or a kindle copy. To enter, just fill out the rafflecopter below. Good luck!
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