Carnal Secrets

The Phoenix Pack, Book 3

By: Suzanne Wright

Narrated by: Jill Redfield

Half-shifter Shaya Critchley may hold a submissive role in her wolf pack, but the petite redhead refuses to let an Alpha male interfere in her life. Furious and humiliated after her mate refused to claim her, she runs off to hide among the humans. Why wait around for an Alpha male to love her when he’d obviously prefer to ignore her?

Nick Axton can barely control his urges for Shaya, but the Alpha can never claim her — not if he truly cares for her. His degenerative brain condition will eventually destroy him, and he’s afraid of turning his mate into his caretaker. Yet when Shaya runs away, Nick can’t let her go. He pursues her, vowing to finally claim his rightful mate. And despite Shaya’s spirited and passionate resistance, Nick’s fiery determination just might be the ultimate aphrodisiac.

©2014 Suzanne Wright (P)2013 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

Really good addition to the series. :D

4-4.5 stars

This was a really good story. I liked both Shaya and Nick in past book but couldn't see why Nick wouldn't claim her. I've been looking forward to this story and Wright did a good job with it.

Shaya is a half-shifter and a good woman. She's kind and easy to talk to but has a strength on many levels that most people don't see. Shaya is best friends with her pack's Alpha female, Taryn (the heroine from book #1 in the series Feral Sins) and has been since they were kids. Shaya's mother has never treated her well and her relationships with men have just reinforced her mis-trust and abandonment issues. When she finally finds her true-mate, the one person that should place her above all else, he ignores her and their connection, acting like she doesn't exist.

Nick is the Alpha of a pack and a born Alpha wolf and leader. He never wanted to become the Alpha of a pack but does what needs to be done. Nick hasn't had a nice path through his life and has suffered much. Some of what he suffered caused a sickness that causes problems with his brain functions and threatens his long-term welfare. When Nick meets Shaya he treats her badly and denies her as a mate and then can't seem to stay out of her life. He seems like a total jerk but being the Alpha that he is, he can't stand the thought that he might burden his mate if his sickness got bad.

Shaya gets pissed at Nick because he wont stop sticking his nose in her life even though he denies her as a mate. She decides to escape somewhere that he wont find her. She finds a likely place with an old friend but lives as a human and not in another pack. Because she does pretty good at hiding (and some of the Phoenix pack helped out) it takes Nick 6 months to find Shaya. She hasn't been happy while away but has been getting by. When Nick shows up her initial reaction is violent. Nick manages to get her to calm long enough to talk a bit and he tells her he's stepped down as the pack Alpha and when lone-wolf so they can be together (since Shaya isn't dominant there was some worry about her being able to function as a pack alpha female). He doesn't mention his sickness though as he doesn't want her to come to him out of pity. He went through healing sessions that has him thinking he'll be ok so he doesn't want to tell Shaya about it. This causes more problems though because without knowing the full reasoning for him denying her in the first place, Shaya had trouble understanding the validity in his actions. Nick promises Shaya he'll take tings slow and convince her that he's serious. I do have to admit that Shaya made him work for it. As well she should with the way he treated her (although she didn't have the full story) but she does push the line before realizing that Nick has earned a second chance.

While Nick is trying to get back in to Shaya's good graces, there is some trouble taking place in the local area that has ties to Nick's past. He had been in juvie as a teen and one of the evil guards (Logan) is now part of an extremist hate group that's targeting shifters in the town Shaya's staying in. These extremists start causing problems for shifters trying to get a violent reaction from the shifters in order to shift public support away from the shifters due to a court case about shifter rights coming up soon. When Logan sees Nick he starts targeting Nick and those with him. Once Shaya agrees to give Nick a second chance he does everything he can to make her secure in his commitment to her and want to proceed with the mating (something he promised to hold off on until she was ready). To be honest, it takes a while because Shaya has some deep issues and insecurities that take some work to get past. This isn't helped by a jealous wanna-be girlfriend that tries everything she can to plant doubts and cause problems in order to get Nick for herself. It takes time but Nick is pretty steadfast in his commitment to Shay. He does let himself freak once but fortunately Shaya was on top of it and didn't let his fear mess things up for them again. As Shaya and Nick work towards bonding fully the drama with the extremists comes to a head and there's much drama before things get settled. A traitor is uncovered and the bad guys get taken out so it all works out in the end. As things get settled, Nick and Shay find themselves the alpha's of a small pack (a "dispersed" pack which seems to be one without territory) and starting their HEA together.

I really enjoyed this story. I love Shaya and Nick and was so happy they got things worked out. I also loved that Shaya's a submissive wolf but she still had the strength not to just roll over and forgive Nick as soon as he came to find her. I also really liked how their pack (the Mercury pack) got started..I wonder if Wright will do an off-shot series for the members of that pack...it would be cool. I can't wait for the next book in this series. I'd recommend this story. Thumbs up. :D

Thank You

For continuing this series. I love all the characters so far I really don't think I'd mind being a shifter myself. Keep them coming and I'll keep spending money to read them.

what a series!

I enjoyed this series. I was so deep into the books I felt I was there with the shifters. Great writing and storyline.

Loved it!

Jill Redfield did a great job narrating and of course Suzanne Wright did a wonderful job with her on going series . Always a very entertaining read .

Lust and laughter a perfect combination

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes I recommend them to all my friends with a god sense of humor and open mind. They are always entertaining and make me laugh out loud.

What about Jill Redfield’s performance did you like?

She handles the often racy bordering on raunchy material with flare and humor.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Resistance is futile

Any additional comments?

I love this series as a whole. Lust and laughter together with the supernatural is a sinfully delightful combination.

Absoulty stimulating

I so enjoy the Author's story telling ability. She has a way that pulls you into the book. The way she has you moving from emotion to emotion in this book was unreal. I just loved it. I also enjoy how she includes the past pack members in the current story line helps you stay up to date with what is going on in their lives.
simply? You need to read it.

When is a submissive wolf, not submissive?

I enjoyed listening to Shaya and Nick's story. Shaya has left the Phoenix Pack and traveled to Arizona to get away from her mate, Nick Axten. Nick did not claim her even though he knew they were mates. Shaya is a half-shifter and a submissive, and Nick is a powerful Alpha with his own pack. There is no way a submissive wolf could be the Alpha female of a pack, and Shaya is sure this is why Nick did not claim her. She had to leave in order to have her own life, and maybe find someone to share it with. If she stayed near Nick he would run off or kill any human or wolf that tried to date her. The Phoenix Pack has laid a false trail over her whereabouts and refuses to tell Nick where she is living.

Nick's wolf is very angry with him. Their mate is out there alone and it is all Nick's fault. Shaya's submissive status is not the only reason that Nick did not claim her. His wolf emerged early, when he was five, to protect him and this has caused him problems all his life. He gets really bad headaches and though a healer has worked with him, his cognitive functions could go again at any time. This would leave Shaya with a wolf that didn't know her and he didn't want to do that to her. Now that she is gone he knows that he must find her, so he has to make some changes. He gives up his pack, which he didn't really want to lead anyway but felt he had to since he killed the previous alpha, and gets into his motorhome and starts looking for her using his alpha contacts.

Find out what happens when an Alpha wolf tracks down his mate, only to discover that she is not quite as submissive as he thought and she has her own baseball bat! There is, of course, a lot of other things going on in the shifter world that will play a big part in the story. Old enemies, new friends, family, and close-knit pack members will all play a part in this story. Enjoy.

As enjoyable as the first time reading it!

I had read this book about 3 years ago and really enjoyed it. I just recently listened to the audiobook and it was as good as I remembered. I felt the narrator, Jill Redfield did such a wonderful job with all the characters in this book.

Nick and Shaya’s story is so heartbreaking all around. Nick’s rejection was too hard for Shaya to take anymore so with the help of her pack she left and has been attempting to live a life without her mate. Nick had his reasons for not claiming Shaya and it was not for reasons Shaya thinks. But when Nick realizes that he will never have his glimpses of his mate, he is determined to find her and keep her. I loved Nick’s determination to finally claim Shaya, his reasons are still unresolved but he can not live without her, he even gave up his alpha position to be with her! But Shaya still does not make it easy for Nick but he is able to break through her walls.

Besides the drama between Nick and Shaya, there are also human extremists that are out to end them all. Like most of this author’s books, the battle scenes are nail biters. But the way everyone was able to pull together and was fantastic to see. I absolutely loved how Nick tried so hard to not be the alpha of any pack, but they all gravitated to him anyway.

It was so awesome to delve back into the earlier pack stories! I may need to re-listen to the rest of the books!

Loved It

I adored this one too! Shayla was awesome, even though I wasn't sure that I'd like her as a submissive. That said, it'd be nice to see a true submissive in this series get a book!

I was surprised the author made me like Nick in this one. He wasn't a favorite after the previous books, but in this one? Awesome!

Another great book!

Why?

Far too much gratuitous vulgarities. Good story, lots of American articulate which overwhelmed certain scene to the point of destruction.