Spiral Path
Written by Mary Jo Putney
Narrated by Barbara Rosenblat
3.5/5
()
About this audiobook
Mary Jo Putney
Mary Jo Putney was born in upstate New York with a reading addiction, a condition for which there is no known cure. After earning degrees in English Literature and Industrial Design at Syracuse University, she became a ten-time finalist for the Romance Writers of America RITA, has published over forty books, and was the recipient of the 2013 RWA Nora Roberts Lifetime Achievement Award. She lives in Baltimore, Maryland.
More audiobooks from Mary Jo Putney
Silver Lady Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Last Chance Christmas Ball Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dearly Beloved Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lady of Fortune Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Yuletide Kiss Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related to Spiral Path
Titles in the series (3)
The Burning Point Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Spiral Path Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related audiobooks
The Burning Point Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Once a Soldier Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Once a Scoundrel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Once a Spy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nowhere Near Respectable Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Once a Laird Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Silk and Shadows: The Silk Trilogy, Book 1 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5One Perfect Rose: Fallen Angels Book 7 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Once a Rebel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Once Dishonored Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Not Always a Saint Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Veils of Silk: The Silk Trilogy, Book 3 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Angel Rogue: Fallen Angels Book 4 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Not Quite a Wife Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Silk and Secrets: The Silk Trilogy, Book 2 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Sometimes a Rogue Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5River of Fire: Fallen Angels Book 6 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Petals in the Storm: Fallen Angels Book 3 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5No Longer a Gentleman Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The China Bride Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Marriage Spell Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Wild Child Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Never Less Than a Lady Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Distant Magic Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Bartered Bride Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Devil Takes a Bride Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Seduce Me with Sapphires Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Kiss of Fate Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Stolen Magic Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Seduction on a Snowy Night Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Romance For You
Outlander Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5It Starts with Us: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Idea of You Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Court of Silver Flames Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5When He Was Wicked Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5When We Believed in Mermaids: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ugly Love Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Water for Elephants Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Slammed: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ministry of Time: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Twisted Love Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pirate Latitudes: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Maybe Someday Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Touch of Darkness Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5On the Way to the Wedding Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5November 9: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Never King Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Point of Retreat: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lights Out: An Into Darkness Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5It's in His Kiss Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Twisted Games Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Milk and Honey Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Until I Get You Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pride and Prejudice: Classic Tales Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Confess Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5All Your Perfects: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Witches of New Orleans Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5One Last Stop Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Finding Cinderella: A Novella Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Pumpkin Spice Café Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Spiral Path
48 ratings3 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Mary Jo Putney proves that she does not need to writing a period romance to have a powerful story with compelling characters. I was surprised at how moving this book was, especially the last few chapters.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Well, that was a shot in the dark! I don't normally read 'romances' - and now the reasons are many, and all too painfully clear - but I couldn't resist the references to The Scarlet Pimpernel in this hokey novel, and so decided to cast taste to the wind. I was not rewarded for my bravery.Is the whole genre this unrealistic and corny? All the characters look great, have stacks of money, are the best in the field at whatever they do, overcome cliched obstacles - I noted child abuse, rape, paedophilia, emotionally withdrawn parents and absent fathers, and that was just the H and h - before living Happily Ever After in Romancelandia. And the reader is simply told all of this, and forced to accept the author's word - no insightful interactions or subtle dialogue. The H, Kenzie Scott - and I forgot to add unbelievable names to the list - is an award-winning, naturally talented actor, who is stunningly good-looking but not vain, loaded but generous (he gives to charities and patronises disabled children - 'There are jobs that can be done from a wheelchair'), and - of course - a Tortured Soul (TM). Yes, Kenzie has issues, more issues in fact than IMDb credits or zeroes in his bank account, and they are big, life-stunting SERIOUS issues. So basically, Kenzie is overly sensitive, selfish, and spends most of the novel whining. He doesn't need a wife, he needs a mother figure or a counsellor, which is handy because Rainey (Rainbow!), his almost ex, is quite happy to be just that. Does he want comfort sex? OK, no strings. He doesn't want sex, he can't handle the intimacy? That's cool, Rainey will settle for spooning and soothing his fevered brow.Raine Marlowe, in case you were wondering, is an equally famous actress, who now wants to direct her first movie (a Lawrence of Arabia period piece about a traumatised soldier), and turns out to be a first-rate, ball-busting director too. Only all the descriptions of Raine artificially supplied by the author - strong, tough, determined, independent, etc. - don't actually apply. At one point, Raine in all honesty ponders why the 'self-sacrificing nature' of Sarah, the Victorian heroine in her film project that only Raine can possibly play, should irritate her so much. And I was thinking, because your own behaviour towards Kenzie is not self-sacrificing - or irritating? Who is kidding who?The plot is also overflowing with happy coincidences - the New Mexico retreat Kenzie falls in love with is miraculously for sale, the lead actress of Raine's film drops out at the last minute - and trite solutions to devastating issues. (I hate when real-life traumas become fashionable angst in novels.) Kenzie finds peace by plotting out his own labyrinth, to follow the 'spiral path' to closure, then 'journalling' his inner feelings, and Raine even randomly recites a psalm at one point! When everything turned out right at the end, complete with the mother of all Oscar acceptance speeches, I felt I had been force-fed so much sugar that my teeth were rotting.Oh, yes, The Scarlet Pimpernel. I appreciated the nod to the 1982 film version with Anthony Andrews ('Why another remake?'), and the fact that Raine has 'apricot' hair like Marguerite ("This red-gold is your natural colour?"), but Kenzie and Raine are far, far from Sir Percy and Marguerite - and most especially Benedick and Beatrice, whom they also play on stage - and Mary-Jo Putney is not a patch on Baroness Orczy when it comes to romance and troubled heroes.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Kenzie Scott is a famous actor and currently divorcing Raine Marlowe. They loved each other a lot but now they're both pulling away. She wants to direct an adaptation of a book and wants him as the lead. He agrees before he reads it and when he realises that some of the story will rip open old wounds he tries to back out, she refuses to let him.Working together also makes them look again at their relationship.It's pretty predictable but it's a fun read.