Sandra Brown's Smoke Screen is a romance thriller that starts out with a reporter, Britt Shelley, waking up in the bed of a dead police officer. Before she can prove her innocence, she is kidnapped by Raley Cannon who claims he was framed for a crime in a similar manner. Together, they unravel clues to solve both crimes by keeping a step ahead of several people who seem to want them both dead.

The sensory details were great. I especially liked the line about the "hot, musky smell of sex that permeated the room, or the rumpled satin sheets on the king-sized bed" when a character walked in on his wife as she dressed after a massage. The sexual scenes were titillating, BUT...

What did not feel right was how quickly the two main characters had sex. It was not it was early in the book, but it did seem early in their relationship. By this I mean, there was little build-up of sexual tension between the characters. They started by hating each other, immediately forgave and started sharing personal information, and then the next minute they were doing the deed. The story lacked foreplay.

Once they did have sex, the story continued with them working on cases and occasionally they would think about how erotic the other person was. Then they finally gave in and had sex again. The mystery of solving the murders was great. The sex seemed unnatural.

I love Sandra Brown and will read her work again, but this was probably not her best work. Still, I gave it a three and would recommend it for its good thriller story line.