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Apr 27, 2011

Romancing the rated it:

Review by Jenni

Spinning is the first book I’ve read by Michael Baron, and I assure you it will not be the last. A compelling work of contemporary fiction, this book shares equal parts humor, romance and drama creating a poignant story that is sure to stir your emotions.

A public relations executive by day and a playboy by night, Dylan Hunter balances work, martinis and women like a juggler trying to keep his plates continuously spinning and under control. But when Diane, a for More...

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Apr 09, 2011

Samantha rated it:

I usually veer to the chick lit/woman’s fiction genre, but every once in awhile I will take a chance and step outside the box. A few months back, I was asked to read The Journey Home by Michael Baron. I read it, and fell in love. When I was recently asked to read Baron’s latest novel, Spinning, I knew I had to accept. And again, I am glad I did.

The story follows Dylan Hunter, a playboy public relations executive that specializes in “spinning” or bending the truth to suit his or his cl More...

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Apr 05, 2011

Judy & Marianne from rated it:

Spinning has some poignant scenes that take one’s breath away, humor that sparkles, and characters that stir up a wealth of emotions.

Driven, unfulfilled, and clueless about why he is restless, Dylan Hunter is convinced he is right on track with his ‘life plan’. He is materially successful, but seemingly has not matured past the hormone-driven adolescent stage in life, even though he is twenty-nine years old.

When three-and-a-half year-old Spring and her mother Diane come More...

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Jul 22, 2011

Elaine rated it:

If ever there was a book that brought you into the characters' lives, Spinning is that book. Baron's descriptions had me feeling as though I was right there with "D" and his friends, Jim, Hank, Billie, and his boss, Mason.

****SPOILER ALERT*** DON'T READ UNLESS YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT THE BOOK IS ABOUT ***

Dylan is a regular young playboy, picking up chicks at bars, never staying with one for any length of time. He drinks with his buddies and plans to wow the bu More...

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Jul 31, 2011

Kdooley rated it:

I'm in shock that this book is so well-reviewed. I thought it was horrible. The Kindle version had about 3 millions typos and grammatical errors. I would normally look beyond that, but the story itself was so terrible. It felt like by the time the author got to the last 30 pages or so, even he was sick of the book - it ended abruptly and poorly.

The characters themselves were all one note - the only one with any spark at all was little Spring, though she should have been written a ye More...

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Mar 29, 2011

Julie rated it:

Dylan Hunter was living it up in New York City, with a great job in a public relations firm and a new, sexy woman in his bed just about every weekend. His only responsibility was making his clients and his boss happy. He was doing great keeping all his proverbial plates spinning around and around. Until Diane walked back into his life with her three-year-old daughter, Spring. Soon Dylan finds himself skipping the late nights at the bar to spend quiet time at home. His priorities begin to change More...

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Jul 25, 2011

Liviu rated it:

Spinning fell by chance in my hands and the first person narrative engaged me enough to keep reading. The book is perfectly described by the blurb so there are no real surprises, but it is very charming and a great spirit lifter especially if you like the "kid that grows on you" story.

Short, fast, kept me turning the pages when i just planned to take a look at it and I found myself finishing it and having a cheerful time. Sure it is a little bit of a wish fulfillment novel More...

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Aug 02, 2011

Janet rated it:

Spinning is a quickly ready, aptly titled book about a free-minded, successful twenty-something male who thinks he's got it all figured out. That is, of course, until he meets a few special women who make him reevaluate where his life is and where it's headed.

While I enjoyed reading this book, there were a few plot devices that left me, for lack of a better term, spinning when all was said and done. For instance, I feel like the writer opened a door with the character of Diane's myste More...

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Mar 15, 2011

Cathy rated it:

Dylan Hunter had attained a measure of success at twenty-nine by exploiting those around him. A public relations executive, Dylan knew how to ensnare and satisfy clients, finesse women, and masterfully achieve his every goal. Spinning his life for his desired outcomes was his life and he was good at it.

An unexpected return of a former girlfriend attended by her three-year old daughter irreversibly changes Dylan's idyllic life. Dylan can not successfully spin or foresee t More...

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Dec 14, 2011

Donna rated it:

I really liked "Spinning" --- the characters are winning, the conflict is believable, there are some surprise turns in it, and it sports a strong theme. It's very universal, and deals in what makes a family, and a family man. In this day and age, the theme is worthy because if you look around, our society suffers from greed and self indulgence, and this books questions that way of thinking. The writer doles out dialogue with aplomb, so that I whipped through this book in two days -- More...

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Sep 17, 2011

Nikole rated it:

Despite lukewarm reviews, I was a pretty big fan of Michael Baron's novel, When You Went Away. Despite not so great writing-Baron did have an uncanny knack for story telling and once I started Spinning, I could not wait to be spun quickly into Dylan's life. Sadly though, that never happened. I found Spinning to be poorly written, dull, and frankly, cliched. A few times it seemed like something was going to turn around and that kept me reading...only to be disappointed again and again.

I More...

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Apr 18, 2011

Laurie rated it:

This is an absolutely charming and remarkable book; mainstream fiction at its very best. At times, I would laugh out loud as I rapidly read the entire book at breakneck speed because with every page flip the story kept me engaged and wondering “what next?” Dylan is a likable single man; handsome and somewhat promiscuous, with a terrific job and a few staunch friends. He is foot-free and fancy-free with an aversion to, what he and his friends refer to as pre-fabs, a rather insulting and comica More...

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Apr 27, 2011

Jody rated it:

29-year-old Dylan Hunter is at the top of his game. His life is going exactly the way he planned, and he couldn’t be happier. He’s got a great job, great friends, a great social life and the future looks bright! Until one day when he’s woken by a knock on his door in the middle of the night. Standing there is Diane, an old flame from out of town who has decided to give up everything and relocate to New York with her 3-year-old daughter Spring. Despite the fact that a woman and child will serious More...

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Apr 02, 2011

Cheryl rated it:

SPINNING by Michael Baron
Published by The Story Plant
The Aronica-Miller Publishing Project, LLC
ISBN-13: 978-1-61188-005-2
At the request of The Story Plant, an ARC TPB was sent, at no cost to me, for my honest opinion.
Synopsis (borrowed from author's website): Dylan Hunter has it made. At 29, he has great friends, a huge job, all the women he can handle, and no commitments. A public relations executive, Dylan has dashed up the ladder of success by mastering the More...

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Jan 04, 2012

Gigi Ann rated it:

This was an interesting tale about a 29 year old, Dylan Hunter. He was a man about town, no commitments...until early one morning an old girlfriend, Diane shows up on his doorstep, with her 3 year old daughter, Spring in tow. (No she is not Dylan's daughter) They stay with him for a few weeks, until Diane finds a job. They renew their friendship, and suddenly Diane is killed in a car accident, and in a blink of the eye, Dylan's life has changed completely.

There was alternately humor More...

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Sep 11, 2011

Pamelabyoung rated it:

A sweet story from a male perspective, this book would make a great movie on LMN. New York, singles scene, sudden life change and understanding of what it means to love makes for a gentle read. If you read the Kindle version, be prepared for multiple editing issues. No, seriously. The story appears to have been written on an iPhone. I hope the print version is better because Michael Baron "spins" a good story.

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Feb 18, 2012

liirogue rated it:

I really enjoyed this. The Kindle edition has a ton of punctuation and grammatical errors, but I found myself enjoying the characters and plot so much that I was willing to keep going (normally, I stop - if an author/publisher is unwilling to take the time to proofread the book, I'm unwilling to spend the time to read it). But I just couldn't put this one down. Very memorable characters!

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Jul 20, 2011

Jaime rated it:

LOVED THIS BOOK. There were massive issues with the formatting in Kindle. It was SUPER annoying when the “ went missing from the end of the conversation.
Moving on.
This was a fantastic book. I laughed, I cried…I CRIED! I don’t think I’ve ever cried reading a book.
My emotions were caught in my throat, this was awesome.
I refuse spoilers, I will stick to THIS WAS A GREAT BOOK.

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Aug 10, 2011

Kristin rated it:

I really enjoyed this book, but I do have one complaint. It did seem like there were several grammatical errors throughout the book. I am not sure if this was just on the kindle edition, though, because I didn't notice any complaints from the other reviewers. The story line was excellent, I felt very invested in the characters, And it was a quick and interesting read. I definitely felt myself looking forward to coming back to this book. I would definitely recommend it to others!

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Jul 20, 2011

Meridyth rated it:

Very emotional book. Has more bad language than i prefer, but wasn't distracting to the storyline. This was a story of successful guy that lived the life of a shallow bachelor (i.e. clubs and one-night-stands) until a little girl changed his world. His journey of finding out that he desired more depth in his life was very touching.

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Aug 04, 2011

Christine rated it:

Baron's style of chick lit places a male protagonist at the center of the action. In this novel, the main character, Daniel, learns how to "grow into" family life, all the while thinking that family life was for wimps as he rode his rising ad exec star.(Another Kindle Freebie.)

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Sep 05, 2011

Ashley rated it:

This a cute story of how a thirty-year-old, playboy of a New York PR exec named Dylan, came to be the sole care provider for a four-year-old daughter of a fling from years past. I know, the premise of the story sounds a bit far-fetched! But, I think the author made it work. The author did a believable job in exploring Dylan's growth from an ego-centric bachelor to a caring father figure. And he did great job of relaying the little girl's innocence, humor, and helplessness that left Dylan wit More...

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Jul 20, 2011

Keri (kerip) rated it:

A Kindle freebie that I read in a day (hooray for Amtrak and time to read). Cute story. A few punctuation issues bugged me a little - it's like it needed one more good read through by the editor. I could see any twists and turns pretty early on but they were enjoyable.

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Aug 29, 2011

Sara rated it:

This was a free kindle download. I still want a refund. Very cheesy, very unrealistic, written so some Cathy cartoon somewhere can sigh and hope for a guy as amaaaaazing as the main character. Sort of like a John Mayer song, except it's a book.

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Aug 09, 2011

Amy rated it:

Terrible book - I gave up at about 60% on my Kindle. Terrible, predictable, undeveloped writing and really poor editing made this nearly impossible to read. It may have gotten better in the last half but I doubt it.

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Nov 20, 2011

Becca rated it:

It was pretty good. I liked the idea and the storyline, but some of the characters could have been better developed. The ending was rather abrupt. A nice short, pleasant read though.

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Jul 16, 2011

Brooke rated it:

Really sweet story!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE that the importance of the family is so abundant throughout this book! Funny, sweet, sad, and hopeful story. I will look for more from this author!

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Aug 13, 2011

Rachel rated it:

All in all a good book. Captures you from the first chapter and even throws a curve ball. The ending was somewhat predictable, but I would still recommend. Good quick read.

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Jul 29, 2011

Shari rated it:

Very much enjoyed this book. Triumph from tragedy. I love my free Kindle books, I have found so many authors that I might not of otherwise picked up their books.

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Aug 10, 2011

Cheryl rated it:

This was a free book on amazon kindle. It's a very sweet story of a man who finds love in the last place he expected to.

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