UNDEFEATED

A vampire, his human lover, and
their friends and families try to stop a powerful enemy’s devilish scheme in this
final installment of an erotic supernatural series.

For 10 years, Dante Gabriel was the
captive of a fellow vampire who called herself the queen. Since his escape,
he’s been plagued by the queen’s voice in his head and a growing inner darkness
that’s ultimately led him back to his captor. But he’s also formed a blood bond
with Erin Hamilton, a human who’s determined to rescue her lover from the
queen’s supernatural hold. Erin has help from cop partners Jay (her brother)
and River (Dante’s cousin) as well as the ghost of Dante’s father, Julian. But
the group doesn’t brave the queen’s subterranean compound merely for Dante. The
band is also searching for women the queen and her vampiric cronies have
kidnapped, including Erin’s best friend, Lucy Cyrus, a wolf-shifter, and Dante’s
pregnant sister, Emilia. The women and Dante are unwilling participants in the
queen’s “research,” which is part of a devastating plan she’s concocting.
Finding specifics on that scheme involves perusing a prophecy detailed in the
ancient Vampyre Texts. Fortunately, the untranslatable book slowly
reveals deciphered messages to Erin, but only in increments. While tracking
down abductees in the compound, the group faces off against evil vampires, but
the queen is the most formidable one and seemingly undefeatable. As her
fiendish objective steadily comes to light, via gradual Texts
translations, the band soon learns there may actually be a way to vanquish the
queen before it’s too late.

Hardt’s (Unmasked, 2019,
etc.) preceding series entries have amassed a plethora of unanswered questions,
from the queen’s fascination with Dante to secrets in the Texts. This
fifth volume will certainly satisfy returning readers, as the mysteries unravel
at a breakneck pace. The tale focuses on the queen’s plan, which involves a
member of the Gabriel family who’s been missing nearly the entire series. As
always, the author writes lavish and tantalizing sexual encounters between
Dante and Erin. Though the story is set primarily in the underground facility,
these scenes are viable: Dante’s feedings from an accommodating Erin typically
entail their mutual sexual gratification. But the trysts diminish the urgency of
saving their loved ones, which in turn lessens the overall suspense. On the
plus side, romantic love remains a prominent theme, particularly as the
couple’s blood bond may be Dante’s defense against the darkness overtaking him.
The story’s supernatural elements are in full force: Dante continues to discover
new powers, such as healing, and Julian, often a covert internal voice, is a
stellar ally. But it’s Erin who truly shines this time. The emergency room
nurse comes to captives’ aid; makes sense of the Texts’ cryptic
passages; and displays empathy toward a villain whom the queen has likely been
controlling. But despite this novel’s wrapping up the queen-centric plot, some
things are still unresolved, leaving Hardt room to pick up a subplot or two for
a new series.