Smoke Screen by Stevie Woods

Summary:

Julian has a secret. He's infatuated with his best friend, Richard, and always has been. The trouble is that Richard is married to the toast of London society, a belle of the ball that Julian knows he can't compete with.

Just about the time Julian decides it's hopeless to dream about Richard, though, he finds out that the happy couple might not be so perfect for each other. Richard and his lady wife have some secrets of their own, secrets that might just destroy all of them. Can Julian convince Richard that the web of deception, smoke and mirrors might just work in their favor?

Reviewer: BlackTulip
At first, I was very optimistic about this book but quickly I found that something wasn't working and at the end, I remained utterly unsatisfied.

There is nothing original with the storyline, two best friends that love each other but think that their being together is something that can never happen. They don't even try to address the issue. One of them marries, believing that it will solve his problem, but of course it doesn't, it becomes even worse.

There is too much thinking and not enough action. They are wasting their time having fantasies about each other and there is too much pointless angst, when it could have been resolved quickly and simply. The wife could have had a more important and interesting part in that story. What a waste.

Another thing that bothers me is that there is no precision as to the period when the story is supposed to happen. And mostly, I really can't say that I felt any connection with the two protagonists. Apart from all this, it was not badly written at all. I very much liked, Beyond The Veil, an older book by this author and I intend to read Stone by Stone. This one just didn't work for me. I give 2/5.