EyebrarianPrize winnersGet the app

Books › Smoke Screen

Cover of Smoke Screen

Smoke Screen

Sandra Brown

First published 2008 · 560 pages

A steamy, twist-filled race against time where buried secrets ignite and reluctant allies must trust each other to survive.

Where to buyBooks like this

What it feels like

Reading this book feels like stepping into the sultry, shadow-drenched heat of a Southern summer, where every conversation is laced with suspicion and undeniable chemistry. It is a propulsive, edge-of-your-seat experience that masterfully balances the adrenaline of a high-stakes murder investigation with the slow-burn tension of a steamy romance. The narrative pulls you through a labyrinth of corruption and betrayal, keeping the atmosphere thick with danger and moral ambiguity. The prose is sharp and urgent, designed to keep the pages turning late into the night. It will thoroughly delight readers who crave gritty romantic suspense, where flawed, fiercely determined characters must navigate a web of lies to find both justice and each other.

Mood
  • tense
  • shadowy
  • high-stakes
  • sultry
Tone
  • urgent
  • gritty
  • suspenseful
  • steamy
Pace
propulsive
Themes
uncovering buried truths · betrayal and vindication · corrupting nature of power · reluctant trust · romantic tension
The writing
Punchy, accessible, and dialogue-driven, engineered to maximize suspense and build palpable romantic chemistry.
The arc
Moves from disorienting shock and bitter resentment through a tense, high-stakes pursuit of truth, culminating in hard-won justice and passionate connection.
Who it's for
Fans of twisty, fast-paced thrillers who love a heavy dose of steamy romance and protagonists fighting against corrupt systems.
Content notes
  • murder
  • arson
  • sexual content
  • police corruption
  • alcohol abuse

About the book

When newswoman Britt Shelley wakes up to find herself in bed with Jay Burgess, a rising star detective in the Charleston PD, she remembers nothing of how she got there...or of how Jay wound up dead.

Handsome and hard-partying, Jay was a hero of the disastrous fire that five years earlier had destroyed Charleston's police headquarters. The blaze left seven people dead, but the death toll would have been much higher if not for the bravery of Jay and three other city officials who risked their lives to lead others to safety.

Firefighter Raley Gannon, Jay's lifelong friend, was off-duty that day. Though he might not have been a front-line hero, he was assigned to lead the investigation into the cause of the fire. It was an investigation he never got to complete. Because on one calamitous night, Raley's world was shattered.

Scandalized, wronged by the people he trusted most, Raley was forced to surrender the woman he loved and the work to which he'd dedicated his life. For five years his resentment against the men who exploited their hero status to further their careers -- and ruin his -- had festered, but he was helpless to set things right.

That changes when he learns of Jay Burgess's shocking death and Britt Shelley's claim that she has no memory of her night with him. As the investigation into Jay's death intensifies, and suspicion against Britt Shelley mounts, Raley realizes that the newswoman, Jay's last sexual conquest, might be his only chance to get personal vindication -- and justice for the seven victims of the police station fire.

But there are powerful men who don't want to address unanswered questions about the fire and who will go to any lengths to protect their reputations. As Raley and Britt discover more about what happened that fateful day, the more perilous their situation becomes, until they're not only chasing after the truth but running for their lives.

Description from Open Library.

Books like Smoke Screen

See why they match