REVIEW: Dark Instincts (The Phoenix Pack #4)

Dark Instincts (The Phoenix Pack #4), by Suzanne Wright
Published April 7, 2015
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Format: ARC, provided by the publisher
Genre:  adult paranormal romance
To Buy: Amazon * Barnes & Noble
 
Rating: 4 STARS

(From Goodreads) It happens whenever wolf shifter Roni Axton is near Marcus Fuller: a crackle of sexual awareness that’s intoxicating…and deeply annoying. Marcus is a pack enforcer who oozes power, but Roni is lethal in her own right—nothing like the flirty females who flock around him. Even still, his possessive gaze makes one thing clear. Marcus has singled her out for seduction, and he wants to make her sit up and beg.

No matter how aloof and unfazed Roni acts, Marcus can tell she wants him. When a brutal attack by a jackal pack forces them to work together, it’s the perfect opportunity for Marcus to chip away at her defenses—until he falls into his own trap, completely unprepared for the intensity of their connection. Roni is the only one who’s ever seen past his shifter charm and discovered the man hiding beneath it. And for Marcus, claiming Roni once will mean needing her forever.

I love a good paranormal romance. I don't read enough of them anymore. It's a sad thing that I really should rectify. You know, my go-to PNR used to be anything with vampires, but over the past year, I've tended to lean more toward the alpha male shifter variety. And, one of my favorite shifter series is Suzanne Wright's Phoenix Pack series. Ever since the beginning, I've loved Marcus. He seemed so strong and capable, yet fun-loving. I was excited when I learned that Dark Instincts was going to be all about him. 

Nick's sister Roni has been a bit of a loner since she was captured and tortured several years earlier. She's alpha and tough and the furthest thing from a girlie girl. And yet Marcus wants her all the same. Convincing her of that, however, is another story. When the people who took her show up again, all the men in Roni's life want to protect her and shield her from harm. And, all Roni wants to do is run into danger headfirst to take care of  herself. 

Marcus was AWESOME. He's dominant and possessive and protective when it comes to Roni. But, he can be sweet and tender with her too. He seems to know exactly what she needs when she needs it, and he will stop at nothing to give it to her. It's like, once he decided that Roni was it for him, he didn't care whether they were supposed to be true mates or not - he would be with her no matter what. And, since Marcus pretty much always gets what he wants, he adopted this never-give-up attitude when it came to winning her over.

Good thing too, since Roni was a tough nut to crack. She's the epitome of a tomboy. Never one to wear dresses and get mani-pedis, Roni is happiest when she's kicking ass as one of Nick's pack enforcers. She doesn't see herself as good mate material, especially since she's more dominant than most males she knows, so she doesn't take orders very well. So, no one was more surprised than her when Marcus set his sights on her. 

Reading about their push and pull and give and take was fun. Marcus was willing to push her buttons if he thought it would advance his cause, but he also knew that Roni needed some time to get used to the idea of having him around. And, when things escalated with the shifter group responsible for Roni's kidnapping, Marcus and Roni had to come to a place where he wasn't smothering her to death out of fear for her safety and she understood that his fierce need to protect her was going to cause him to go a little overboard when it came to her safety. 

Told in third person, we get a lot of both Marcus' and Roni's POVs. The parts I loved most were when Marcus dealt with Roni when she was in her wolf form. She was in a precarious and emotional place, and his way of handling her was so perfect. 

As in the other Phoenix Pack books, there was action and drama and plenty of Trey's grumpy grandma. There was also no shortage of hunky male shifters as we saw both Trey's and Nick's enforcers in action. Thankfully, it seems that there's plenty of fodder for future books in this series for a long time to come. Perhaps a book about broody Ryan next? Please?