"Mills' brilliant debut book sizzles!"

I used to read Harlequin/Silhouette romances regularly. There were some powerhouse authors coming from these series line, then they moved on to full size books. I like to read before I fall asleep and they are the perfect size and distraction. However, I stopped for a period because of the pedestrian merchandising of the publishers: there are only so many babies and cowboys you can take each month! I drew the line when they had seven titles bearing baby or cowboy in eight of the releases for one series that month (one line had both!). The writers were uninspired, so the readers were being shortchanged.

Then a few fresh voices started to turn that around, Julie Leto and Tori Carrington for Blaze are two names that shine in these lines, and without doubt, Jenna Mills is for Silhouette Intimate Moments. Her talent blew me away with her first book I grabbed on a dash through the airport. It was so polished, so full of strong emotions. She does more in 100 pages than most writers do in 300! Each time I start a new novel by her, I tell myself not to expect too much, that surely one of these days they will not live up to her previous works. And EVERY TIME, I find not only does she ﷯match﷯ the quality, she pushes the limit. So provokes, conjures and mesmerizes me as few writers do.

SMOKE AND MIRRORS is another of her amazing tales - amazing to believe this is her first book. It's hard to rank her books because each one is top drawer, but I think this one is likely a favourite.

This is a dark, ﷯sex﷯y, steamy tale of people living behind masks. Cassidy Blake is a top Chicago cop working undercover trying to bring down Derek Mansfield. Suspicions are that Derek uses his ultra-rich hotel to distribute drugs to Chicago's elite. She has been on the case for six months and so far turned up nothing. Time is running out.

Everything changes when Derek returns from Scotland. Cass is not prepared for the man, not prepared how he quickly pulls her into a situation over her head. Derek is playing games, too, but not with Cass. He knows it's dangerous to let her near, but he cannot seem to stay away from the sexy, sassy lass. Each faces the other from behind a mask, but neither are able to hide the real person that feels more than they should. They are playing with fire and both are bound to get burned.

It's a cat and mouse games that builds to a pulse-pounding climax showing Jenna Mills is a talent above the rest. The romance between these two sizzles and pops with the crackle of lightning before a summer storm. It's just as good as it gets.

Reviewed by DeborahAnne MacGillivray
Posted September 29, 2004

Summary

Undercover cop Cassidy Blake's top priority is to infiltrate mercenary millionaire Derek Mansfield's life—and take him down. Cass expects to find a ruthless criminal; instead she finds a darkly handsome man whose bone-melting intensity blurs the line between duty . . . and desire.

Derek Mansfield has returned to Chicago to settle a score, not become entangled in a seductive game of cat and mouse with the intriguing Cass. But the secrets in her eyes and her searing kisses make him hungry for more than revenge. Can either of them risk their hearts in this perilous game of smoke and mirrors?