I've enjoyed all of the Shamwell series of books and I was thrilled to find a new one coming out! I adored David, he absolutely made this book for me. JL Merrow does humour so well and it really shines here. I loved Rory too. They make an unusual (unlikely?) couple--I was definitely rooting for them but they're both going to need to do some adapting for this to work in the long haul. I enjoyed seeing the other couples from earlier books, especially the sultry Patrick and a glimpse of the lovely schoolteacher Robert. Overall, this book was a lot of fun, a light and entertaining read. Perfect for summer!

3.5* Witty, trademark JLM humour and decent, guy-next-door-ish characters. A bit slow to start, but fun!

I got this book for the author's name, and tbh, until about 33% in, I was rather bored. One lead was OTT and the other didn't seem as if he'd ever consider being anything but het. But, I should have been patient, as JLM worked her British magic and turned the tale from lodgers to friends to friends-and-family-ish and then to an attraction between the leads. I think it helped that it's a British tale and we Brits tend to mind our own business and live-and-let-live.

I did like the theme of tolerance and acceptance that seems to be present not only in this tale, but in the others in the series, which was a little tongue-in-cheek and yes, a tiny bit 'not surprisingly un-PC', if I can put it that way. It ended up being a decent read, but I can't say that it was a believable one. I'd like to think that the leads are a family now, because, yes, vulnerable kids are involved, but as they hadn't even progressed beyond possible some front and handjobs, I can't be sure.

Still, it's worth a read for JLM's humour alone.

ARC courtesy of Riptide Publishing, for my reading pleasure.

Spun!, A Shamwell Tales novel, JL Merrow
Review from Jeannie Zelos book reviews

Genre:  Romance, LGBTQIA

I love this series, its got gentle romance, with everyday characters, you know, the ones that could live in your road, be at your workplace, and to top it off some Fabulous humour. 
I said in my review of the last novel how much I loved David ( and Gregory of course), and was hoping to see a bit more of Barry and the Spartans and I got my wish. Only cameo parts from the Spartans, but Barry is quite prominent. His Lady, she must be a special person, very patient! 

So David takes top place here along with Rory, who was married to Evie and has two young kids, divorced when she left him for Lewis, and was then with Jenni, Patrick's mum. Patrick from the last book who'se now with David's old colleague/new boss Mark..Confused yet? It'll all make sense I promise. Fen's here too in a smaller role than before but its good to see her and how things working out for her. 

I adore David, in one way he's a stereotype Gay and he kind of plays up to that image with his careful airs, his appearance, his eloquent use of language and manners, and of course Gregory. Yet he's also a very unique individual, isn't some Gay Queen type - David would never be a Queen, somehow I think he'd see himself as an Empress or something. Same VIP but fulfill the role differently.
Under that casual, almost shallow debonair front is actually a deep thinking, very genuine and caring man. I think he's sadly misjudged, and part of that is the way he presents himself, but we learn more about his history here and perhaps get an idea of why he does that. Whatev's as Fen would say.. I love him, he deserves to be happy.
 
Rory, Barry's best mate, is a postie, loves his job, loves his life, except he wishes he could see his kids more. They adore him, and are two great children, very different but lovely individuals. They soon take to David - well, who wouldn't? When David moves in as a lodger it sets the village gossip line alight, and there's lots of questions of what exactly their status is.
Rory has always though of himself as straight and yet...the closer he gets to David the more his feelings turn from friendly to something more. They're total opposites, have a love of films and books in common but otherwise Rory is often baffled by David's comments, unsure of exactly what he's saying.
He's been told before by his exes that he needs things to be spelled out for him, that so much just goes over his head, and its so clear to see, but he's such a great guy, very honest, genuine, easily pleased. A happy man usually. 
I loved them both, loved that they got together but wasn't really convinced of how it happened. It didn't really feel right, didn't feel like a natural progression as the other Shamwell stories did.
Still, its more than just a romance, once more there's some fabulous humour that had me sniggering again and I loved it.
The reason its down from five stars to four is just that for me the romance felt a little forced. 

Stars: four, a great read, very subtle humour that had me smiling but I felt the romance needed a little more time, a bit more work. 

ARC supplied for review purposes by Netgalley and Publishers

This was a fun read, and a nice following in the series.

David has lost his job and decides to go to a small town, after an old crush for help. There he gets a new job and starts living with Rory. Definitely, sharing a house with a straight man was not what he had in mind but it works even better than anyone could have predicted. They do a little too well with each other, in fact, to a point Rory starts wondering about himself, and questions his whole lifestyle.

I confess I thought Out! was better. But this book had some positives the former didn't. I remember Out! had long parts preaching the reader about social issues. While valid the attempt to divulge the information, and I did appreciate it a lot, the parts were still too long a too preaching. I think Spun! adjusted the tone and brought issues up again in a much easier way to read. They really mixed well with the story. Kudos, because that's so hard to do!

And the biggest win here was making David a main character. He is so not the main character I have ever found in any romantic LGBT book! He is the perfect side character, comic relief, and of course that could make him into the perfect main character but the thing is that it's a lot of work taking them seriously. Unless it's a parody, your book and go out of control. Again, kudos to Merrow because she has managed to really insert David, never make him feel out of character, and still write a serious story. You really need to check this. I fell in love with David. I mean, this guy has a teddy bear he takes everywhere! (And he likes to dress Gregory up, too).

Unfortunately, the development didn't have much shine. The middle part read more like YA book angst'ing over visible misunderstandings than two adults—and Rory was over forty, for Heaven's sake! It did get on my nerves that the main problem would be "Oh no, what if I'm not his type?" "What about our relationship!" That's not what you want grown-ups to spend so many pages thinking about. So yeah, the main conflict wound up too silly. And this is where this book lost stars.

Still, if you like this series or if you want a lighthearted book, go for this. You can read it as a standalone, although they do mention how the previous couples are now, so you'll be half spoiling yourself.

One last note, I don't remember how the sex scenes were for Out!, but this had just one I think. And it was far from heavy. I'm not a fan of those, so I'm noting this as a plus for me and a nod to those who feel the same. Of course, be warned if you prefer your books more smutty.

Anyway, I don't know how many gay couples will be too much for such a small town but I certainly hope for more books from this series!

Yes I gave only 2 stars but the style of writing gave me a headache to keep up with. I like the story line.

Thank you to NetGalley and Riptide Publishing for the advance copy.

Fun is the best word to describe this tale of David and Rory and their path to true love and romance.
If you like a lot of campy banter and not much angst then this is for you.
Mostly lighthearted and frothy with a bit of not-too-deep introspection this was an easy, undemanding read. It was not very true-to- life (although I have met a few Davids!) apart from the low-key sex .The cast of characters was reasonably interesting with a few signposts of the stories of other “ gays in the village “ which will appear in the rest of the series.
It made a homosexual romance seem a bit humdrum and “normal” and just a tiny bit boring!
I do look forward to reading others in the series and recommend this for lovers of books that make you glow rather than setting you on fire.