Savage Urges (The Phoenix Pack Book 5)

Ryan Connor’s life is set to change, not only is Makenna about to walk into his life, but she’s bringing Zac – Ryan’s young, homeless cousin – with her. Zac has been living the lone shifter lifestyle for a few months, after running away from his pack for reasons he isn’t ready to explain. Luckily he crosses paths with Makenna who helps out at a loner shelter and who sets him on a path to finding a new home with the Phoenix Pack. She might just find herself a pack too, if Ryan can convince her to stay in his life.What’s to love about this story? Everything, as always. I tend to appreciate the little things when I’m reading, so for me, I really loved the way that Makenna was able to understand Ryan’s grunts. I also loved how the bond developed differently for this pair. Every couple has their issues, but Makenna and Ryan’s kind of sweet, in a weird sort of way. I love the way the pack always support one another and in this particular story, they even try to hold an intervention on Ryan. I’ll let you read to find out the who, what and why of it. Makenna is your typical, dominant female in some ways. She’s also loyal, confident, self-sufficient and caring. The more we learn about her, the more we see why her work at the shelter is so important to her. Ryan, like most of the Phoenix enforcers has a sad past. The story of why he is, the way he is, however is a little more involved than just a crappy childhood. The only up side of his past, is that it might just help him bond with Zac.Suzanne’s books are full of quirky characters with strong personalities. I love it. And if you’re considering reading book five in the series, I’m sure you know what I’m talking about and love them too. I have to say, she’s still got it; the Phoenix Pack series is still going strong.Quote:Dominic cocked his head. “You understand his grunts?”“You don’t?”“You got ‘Mind your own business’… from that one sound?”She lifted her chin. “I thought it was crystal clear.”Dominic turned to Ryan. “Marry her.”Suggested Audience: Adult readers of Paranormal RomancePerspective: Third person, with a focus on Makenna and RyanProfanity: FrequentSexual content: Frequent and explicitViolence: Frequent and severeCautionary element(s): Sexual abuse/ paedophilia (NOT described in any detail)

This is the 5th book in the Phoenix Pack series and it didn’t disappoint. In this book we explore the romance between mean and broody Ryan Connor the head enforcer of the Phoenix Pack and Makenna Wray, a lone wolf who is his mate…. Not that she believes him when he tells her!Makenna works at a gas station but her main focus in life is her work with a shelter for lone shifters. She grew up in the shelter after her mum died and she is fiercely loyal to Dawn, the owner of the shelter who took her in. As well as helping with the general running of the shelter, Makenna’s main role is to rehome as many of the shifters that come through the doors as possible. To that end, when she returns home one night to find a drunk and unconscious lone teenager wolf collapse on her doorstep, she persuades him to go to the shelter with her. A couple of months in, the most they know about Zac is that his parents are dead and he ran away from his pack for reasons he won’t share. Armed with only his name, Makenna researches his family tree in an attempt to find a suitable guardian for him. Her research leads her to Ryan, Zac’s cousin, whose pack is local to the shelter. As head enforcer, it’s easy to find out information about him but she decides to follow him one day to look for an opportunity to talk to him. On learning about Zac, Ryan agrees to take him immediately but Makenna refuses, saying that Zac needs time to get to know him. They decide to take it one day at a time with Makenna acting as chaperone in order for Zac to feel safe.Ryan, for his part, is a man of few words in any and EVERY situation he finds himself in. He is blunt, impatient, communicates with everyone via grunts and is totally confused by the eccentricity of Makenna who he also believes is completely and utterly insane. He also knows that she’s his mate! As Zac gets to know Ryan and his pack mates, Ryan becomes more and more irritated by Makenna’s refusal to acknowledge him as her mate. She’s of the view that lone wolves don’t mate and that somehow as a lone wolf, she’s not good enough for Ryan. It doesn’t stop her going out of her way to totally enrage him with her sassy attitude and perplexing behaviour. Although Makenna is determined to keep Ryan at a distance, her plans are shot when Remy, a local Alpha who wants to incorporate the shelter and the land it sits on into his territory. He is determined to have the shelter for reasons only known to him and is prepared to use whatever means are necessary in order to achieve his aims. His campaign starts with occasional visits and offers of protection but ultimately his actions become more intimidating. Because everyone but Makenna knows she’s Ryan’s mate and by extension is a member of the Phoenix Pack, they in turn place the shelter under their protection much to the anger of Remy. Things hot up when the anti-shifter extremists turn up at her home address and attempt to kill her. After sorting out that little problem, she is evicted from her apartment and sacked from her job at the gas station when the extremists turn up there as well. This leaves her with no choice but to live with the Phoenix pack full time. Albeit on a temporary basis… as least Makenna thinks it’s temporary. Ryan, on the other hand, has other ideas…..As is usual for the Phoenix Pack, they don’t do problems by halves. Not only do they have to contend with Remy and his underhand tactics which results in a mediation meeting with The Council, Ryan finds himself vowing vengeance against Zac’s old pack, Makenna learns of her forgotten past and we also learn why Remy is so determined to have the shelter. All the characters from previous Phoenix Pack and Mercury Pack books play a role in this book and we get to meet new characters like Madisyn – Makenna’s best friend, shifter and fellow shelter worker, Riley who is a resident at the shelter, Colton who is another worker at the shelter and some of the child residents of the shelter. Greta is her usual warm, welcoming and compassionate self, she takes an instant dislike to Makenna as can be expected and she decides that as Zac is Ryan’s cousin, he is also ‘one of my boys’…It’s an absolute joy to read about how Makenna drags Ryan out of his self-imposed isolation although there’s not a chance in hell he is ever going to become the joker of the pack. I have no idea who the next book is going to be about but I hope it’s going to be between Tao or Dominic. I can’t imagine who could possibly handle Dominic so that would be very interesting reading. My only complaint is having to wait while the author writes the next book....

Well Ryan's story was the one I was looking forward to I absolutely love mackenna and that everyone winds greta up ( shes hilarious) however I feel its the same old same old every story is the same they don't realise the mate bond there is a disaster or threat then all of a sudden poof and the sex scenes .... I'm all for it but it's all the same jeez do they all learn at the same place or something I've found myself skipping those parts because I know exactly what's happening , and where did ally come from

Make a and Ryan are a great couple, his grumpy personality and her superstitions is quite funny. There are a LOT of action. However all the main female characters in the series are very similar, rereading the stories back to back it became clear the Suzanne has a formula she applied to all the books in the series.

I have read all the books this author has written. I just love the style. Although she follows the same formula in each, to me, it doesn't get boring as the characters and storylines are different enough to create interest. Suzanne also writes very stirring and graphic steamy scenes! I have to say that in my opinion her original book in this series, Feral Sins has never been equaled. So I especially love the inclusion of the original and expanding 'cast'. Wouldn't highly recommend to anyone who's been a fan of her work or enjoys this genre in general.

So far they’ve all been enjoyable books, but they are all very much the same. I’ll read the final book of this and the Mercury pack series, but in no rush.

This was another well written and brilliant story following makenna and Ryan. Love these books, always a fantastic book 5*