Review of Smokescreen

Synopsis

Stella Sullivan

Bright. Dedicated. Loyal.

The day I walked into his boardroom, I had no idea my life was about to change forever. It was supposed to be a simple proposal that would catapult my career. The chance to help Hurst & McCoy save one of their flailing business lines seemed simple enough. However, I never expected that one look at Maxwell McCoy would have me grasping for control. He’s demanding, charming, powerful; most of all he’s beautiful, inside and out. As hard as I fought against the attraction, he broke down my defenses. But he’s hiding things. Even when secrets, lies, and greed threaten everything I have worked so hard for, I couldn’t walk away. There’s no denying, the moment my eyes landed on Maxwell McCoy was the moment I became his.

Maxwell McCoy

Rich. Brilliant. Powerful.

People only see me as CEO of Hurst & McCoy. The ruthless businessman whose mere presence demands respect. People don’t know I chose to leave a life I loved in order to protect my father’s legacy and reputation. When my company’s future was threatened, I had no choice but to seek assistance. The day Stella Sullivan walked into my boardroom was the day my heart started beating again. One business proposal, from the topaz-eyed beauty, changed my life. She tried to deny our unyielding chemistry, but I wouldn’t. I should let her go, but I didn’t.

The smokescreen I created soon comes crashing down, forcing me to fight for everything I love.

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Review

I dove into the book not sure what to expect. I've read the author's previous works and other than a few common elements, they were drastically different. This one is the same in that manner. It has high stakes suspense and quite a bit of steam as well as some loyal friends and family in the intelligent heroine's pocket. But the main plot and the various twists and turns are not comparable to a single book I have read. This is a challenge for any book due to the volume out there but for an author to transition so seamlessly from book to book within a genre and still manage to pull together something unique is even more impressive to me. I suppose it is all of those companion series' that are making me cynical. But there are a lot of books out there that end up being rather formulaic, with appropriate substitutions here and there.

The heroine is intelligent and hard working; she is practical yet has a huge heart. The hero is just alpha enough to pull you in but never behaves in a cold manner or goes too far. In fact, he is probably the only alpha male character that I could probably tolerate in real life. I was concerned that there was going to be major drama down the road due to the hero's complicated life and his choice not to unload the details on the heroine all at once but, fortunately, there wasn't a whole lot of resulting drama. I prefer the majority of conflict to be from external forces rather than the character's own ignorance and mistakes so I was pleased the author took that route.

The writing itself was smooth with logical transitions throughout. There were no continuity errors or excessive grammatical or spelling errors (my review copy was pre-final editing but it had still clearly gone through spell check). If you want a break from the monotony of contemporary billionaire romances, you will enjoy this book.

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ARC copy provided by author in exchange for an honest review.