Twist of Fate

I was fascinated by this book due to the great value for me personally, in the way MIP discussed and analysed the purpose of life and the directions one may choose at certain time of one's life using her characters. As it's major heroes, I feel at the crossroads, trying to find and recapture the values of my youth and to find out what I am to do with the rest of my life. No matter how little (as other reviewers who are probably much younger than I am claim) "romance" there is, this is a deep, helpful, and wonderful book. You cannot evaluate the book on the descriptions of lovemaking only: you have to learn from it as well, and this is one that can gives you both. I wish the author would consider the continuation, something in the way Suzanne Brockmann does to hook up her readers. *** If there a chance to contact MJP personally, I'd love to.

Val Covington, is a corporate lawyer in one of the more prestigious law firms in the city of Baltimore, Maryland. Working the fast track and establishing herself as one of the hottest lawyers in the firm she'd finally been offered a partnership but disenchantment with the corporate type of law she was practicing was leading her to explore other options. Val wants to step back from the boardrooms and do more pro bono work. When a close friend points her in the direction of available office space in a restored church, the seeds that had been planted for some time of going into private practice blossom. Not only is the space ideal but there is a bonus of a handsome, rugged looking landlord who looks like just the type of guy she's attracted to. Rob Smith, landlord, ex-marine, and many other hidden talents turns out to have investigative experience so that their paths become entwined both romantically and professionally, but the road to romance is filled with many pitfalls and a lot of baggage that make the romance quite secondary. Offering her paralegal assistant the opportunity to come and work with, and for her Kendra Brooks agrees on the condition that Val would represent her former lover and the father of her child, sitting on death row. This being a last ditch effort to save him from execution, Kendra swears that Daniel Monroe was unjustly tried and convicted for a murder that he didn't commit. She should know, because at the time it was committed, he was with her.While Ms. Putney's previous novels held me enthralled with adventure and romance, I felt that her purpose with this was more towards taking a stand against capital punishment than providing a romantic novel. While there was a romance going on, based primarily in Rob's mind - it took longer for it to click in Val's. I found there to be more emotional feeling in some of the secondary characterizations than in the lead couple. It is definitely a compelling read that gives the reader something to think about as to where they would stand on capital punishment, but as far as putting you in the mood for romance, it falls short for the love and passion that I've generally attributed to Ms. Putney's former books. Would I recommend it? Yes, it is a very good, compelling, and thought provoking read, but if you are looking for truly romantic love story, go and find any of her `Fallen Angel series'.

I'm giving this book four stars, but it isn't because of the plot. I found it completely unbelievable that the two main characters could have fought a complex death penalty case with everything else that was going on in this book, including the heroine working full time at her old law firm for the first part. I did love the characters, however. There was tremendous chemistry between the two, and made up for the unbelievability of the plot. I liked learning more about Val, who I liked from earlier books.

Val Covington gets tired of the fast paced corporate life, so she turns her back on her law firm to open her own office. Idealistically, she dreams of helping the downtrodden, taking on hopeless cases, and having a slower paced life. Two out of three is better than nothing. Her life becomes even more fast paced after openig her office in a newly renovated church. It is not long before she has taken on a case at the behast of her assistant, one that may be her first case and first defeat in private practice. She has the challenge to get her assistant's former lover off of death row where he was sent after a false conviction. Helping her untangle the legal snares that trapped an innocent man is her new lover, Rob Smith, a man haunted with his own secrets. As they fight the legal system and the clock, Val and Rob find something wonderful in their own hearts. ***** This is Ms Putney's best contemporary book in a while. The story is complex and touching with detailed characterization. Reviewed by Amanda Killgore

In Baltimore, a close friend offers attorney Val Covington an opportunity to open her own practice that would include office space in a former church owned by Rob Smith. Val leaps at the chance and offers a job to her sometime paralegal assistant at her old firm. Kendra Brooks accepts on the condition that Val represents pro bono her former lover and father of her child, a death row inmate that the assistant insists is innocent.Seventeen years ago Daniel Monroe was convicted of killing a cop. His appeals are running out and soon the state will execute him unless a miracle occurs. Though believing that Kendra is seeing her beloved through the rose colored glasses of love, Val agrees to work the case. Surprisingly, Rob has investigative experience and skills and assists Val as they seek a smoking gun to prove her client's innocence while falling in love with one another.TWIST OF FATE is a powerful legal thriller that assaults the current capital punishment system that focuses on convictions not guilt or innocence in a due process in which the prosecutor is always right. The story line contains a romantic subplot, but is clearly a call for action, not against the death penalty, but to insure that the wrong person is never executed. Though Rob's skills are too convenient as the cost of an investigator is extremely high (a key prosecutor advantage), the cast is multi-dimensional especially the courageous lead couple and Kendra. Mary Jo Putney condemns a blind system that often fails to catch the guilty by expeditiously going after a convenient victim.Harriet Klausner