Circle Of Lies - Sara Dailey & Staci Weber

Circle Of Lies (Red Ridge Pack #2) - Sara Dailey & Staci Weber
ISBN - n/a
Publisher - Boroughs Publishing Group
Release date - December 20th 2012
Find - Goodreads

'Aiden Wright is trying to figure out who he really is, but the truth could cost him his true mate—or his life.

Life has always been easy for Aiden Wright. He’s smart, athletic, funny, and the ladies adore him. But when tragedy strikes, Aiden discovers the truth about who he really is and his whole world comes crashing down around him. Aiden thought that being a teenage werewolf was going to be awesome, but it might just cost him the one girl who could make him whole.

Since her mother’s disappearance, Teagan Rhodes’s life has been littered with her father’s empty beer cans and his hollow promises to change. Convinced that others would only let her down, she keeps everyone at arm’s length—but resisting Aiden’s charm is proving to be more difficult than she thought. Throw in a psychotic werewolf hunter out to terminate the species and one wrong move, one wrong decision could destroy everything.' - Goodreads

This review may contain spoilers!

Circle Of Lies picks up right where Pack Of Lies finishes and, as I was hoping, is all about Aiden. Seriously injured in the rescue of his sister, his quick healing does prove that he is a werewolf and not defective as he likes to call himself. Whilst recovering he discovers something about himself and his parents which rocks his whole life. His father Paul is not his biological father, that man is Marcus, the alpha of the pack who is now desperate for Aiden to acknowledge him as his father and, rather shockingly, take over as alpha even though Cade has been groomed for that his whole life.

Like Pack Of Lies, Circle Of Lies is narrated by three different characters. Peter, a drifter who comes to town, Teagan (Alli's friend from the first book) and Aiden himself. Aiden finds himself strangely drawn to Teagan whilst going through a huge personal upheaval, Teagan though wants nothing to with him or any of the so-called beautiful people because she's been hurt before. Not even the fact that Aiden is Alli's brother makes her feel better about him wanting to date her and her home life certainly isn't helping. She came to Red Ridge with her father in the hopes that they would both move on from losing her mother, things never really go as you plan though. 

Aiden is dealing with finding out his dad is not his father, his father wants him to be the next Alpha, his sister's boyfriend is his brother and original choice for Alpha and learning how to be a werewolf. The only thing keeping him sane is his pursuit of Teagan, it's obvious from the start that there is something between them and eventually Teagan gives in, discovering that Aiden maybe isn't like the others and allows herself to fall in love with him. Things don't always run smoothly in the path of true love though and soon enough, Peter, the stranger in town, is whispering in her dad's ear, convincing him (and others) that the pack are actually a cult and Teagan is in danger! Peter knows that werewolves exist, he watched one kill his uncle but was put into an institution after trying to persuade people that's what happened. He's out now, and looking for revenge. Uncle Raymond is his imaginary mentor, guiding his every move and telling him what to look for in a werewolf!

I think I preferred Circle Of Lies to the first book, I certainly liked Teagan better as a character than I did Alli and found her to be a stronger, more independent girl who knew her own mind, more than likely down to her upbringing and her relationship with her father. Aiden though turned out to be nothing like the arrogant, cocky boy we're introduced to in the first book and genuinely cares for Teagan before he knows that they too have the 'true mate' bond, even though she is human and he's a wolf. 

The action in this one seemed more believable, I loved how Peter recruited for his 'kill the werewolf' campaign by using the cover story of a cult, completely possible given the isolated way the pack live and Teagan's father would have quite possibly believed anything if it meant finding out what really happened to his wife. By the end of the book we're introduced to a couple of new issues which I'm hoping are hints and clues about book three, one being the conflict between Cade and Aiden over who is the next Alpha and, because of this situation, the news that there may be trouble ahead for the whole pack. I was also glad to see that Teagan is no longer in the dark about who or what Aiden and his family are, given that he promised to always be honest with her, seeing your boyfriend morph into a giant wolf would be quite stupendous - and not in a good way! The only bit that jarred for me was that in the first book (also in the beginning of this one) we're led to believe that Cade doesn't really care about being Alpha so I'm confused as to why it's suddenly a huge issue between the two brothers by the end, especially as we really only see one conversation between them about the subject.

A hugely enjoyable second instalment, even with a plausible form of insta-love, I'm looking forward to reading what happens next in Red Ridge and getting to know more of the members of the pack.

*My copy of Pack Of Lies was very kindly sent to me by the publishers, thank you!