The prospect of new windmills in Piercehaven has the small island town up in arms, with Emily, who’s still a newcomer, caught in the middle. So the prospect of a new softball team—mostly made up of Piercehaven girls who’ve never played the sport before—could be just what the town needs to foster unity now in Windmills, a novel by author Robin Merrill.

There’s a lot that’s upbeat and pretty hilarious in this story. A dry humor often accompanies Emily’s point of view, and the quirkiness and bickering among the townsfolk is almost like an entertaining mix between the small towns of Everwood and Mayberry from two television shows I’m fond of.

Nevertheless, while I wouldn’t say this book has quite the dark edge of the one before it, this story isn’t all fun and games. There are times when serious issues here get real. And I appreciate Emily’s character, who isn’t the syrupy-sweetly-insecure type, but she isn’t a total opposite either, like hyper-aggressive and excessive on snark. She can be a crier, but she’s got fire. Fire under control.

Much like the basketball games in the first book, a great deal of time is devoted to the softball games here. This novel’s several game sequences might be more or less interesting depending on how much you like softball. On a different note, concerning the dark secret revealed in the first book, it seems there should have been more than a passing mention or two of it here. The effects of something like that can be lasting, even traumatic for some, but it appears as if the town (even the teenagers closest to the crisis) pretty much forgot or got over it rather fast.

Still, Piercehaven has been growing on me, and it’d be interesting to see what may happen next.
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I received a complimentary copy of this book for an honest review. ( )