Thursday, January 17, 2013

Book Review: Circle of Lies by Sara Dailey and Staci Weber

Circle of Lies (Red Ridge Pack)
Author: Sara Dailey and Staci Weber
Publication: Boroughs Publishing Group (December 20, 2012)

Description: 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.


My Thoughts: This sequel to PACK OF LIES focuses on Aiden but also includes the viewpoints of Teagan and Peter. 

Aiden and his family have moved to Red Ridge, New Mexico where he learns that he, his sister, and his mother are werewolves. Even more than that, he learns that his father Paul who is human is not his biological father. Marcus, who is the alpha of the werewolf pack, is his biological father. This rocks Aiden's world by changing everything he had ever believed about himself. This cocky, beautiful, woman-killing young man has to deal with things when life isn't easy anymore.

Teagan has never had life easy. She lives with her alcoholic father who constantly promises to attend AA and change his life but who also constantly breaks his promises. Along the way he verbally abuses Teagan and helps destroy her self-confidence which already took a hit when her mother left the family. She had had run-ins with the pack kids and been used and betrayed by a young man who seduced her and dropped her. She certainly isn't looking for another relationship with a beautiful member of the pack. 

The third viewpoint belongs to Peter. Peter watched his uncle be killed by a werewolf but no one would believe that was what happened. He spent years institutionalized, medicated, and abused while still being determined to avenge his uncle and murder werewolves. Now released from the institution he finds his way to Red Ridge to track down possible werewolf sightings and recruit a team to kill werewolves. 

The story is woven between these very different people. The situation heats up when Aiden really notices Teagan who is his sister Alli's friend. In fact, he notices her in such a way that he believes that they are true mates. This is another case of insta-love which I usually hate in books but works because it has been established as a werewolf thing. Aiden has his work cut out for him though. He has to learn to control his being a werewolf, has to appease Marcus who wants him to be the next alpha and who really doesn't want him to spend time with human girls, and he has to convice Teagan to take a chance on having a relationship with him. 

I will have to admit that I really didn't like Aiden at the beginning of this story. I thought that he was too cocky and too sure of his attraction for "the ladies" — which struck me as a demeaning and dehumanizing way to label girls. However, as he struggled with both Marcus and Teagan, and as his real mating bond manifested, I got to like him a lot better. 

Teagan was my favorite character because I found her to be a survivor. She was smart and had goals for her life. She loved her father but didn't like him most of the time. She needed to be resilient and she was. I liked her caution around Teagan and I admired her for not letting him overwhelm her. My one complaint was the number of times that she was reduced to tears though they did make sense in this emotion-packed story.

Fans of romance and fans of werewolf stories will enjoy this book. 

Favorite Quote:
Shopping had always been my thing. It calmed me down and helped me think. The guys back home used to make fun of me for it. They said I was a metrosexual, but my response was always the same. "I've got to look good for the ladies." And they couldn't argue because, well...I had done pretty well with the ladies because of it. 
I received this ebook in exchange for an honest review. You can buy your copy here.

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