Carnal Secrets

The Phoenix Pack, Book 3

De: Suzanne Wright

Narrado por: 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.