Book Review | Piercehaven by Robin Merrill

Friday Night Lights meets Girl’s Basketball

Emily Morse has come to the remote Maine island of Piercehaven as the high school’s new English teacher. It’s her first proper job out of college, although she’s had a few adult ed and relief teaching roles. Now she has a job, her own classroom, even a house. Everything seems to be gong well, especially when the handsome fisherman she meeets at church asks her out.

But the students are a different story.

They live for basketball and aren’t inclined to read or write or learn. Her fellow teachers are jaded. The Phys Ed teacher thinks he rules the school by virtue of being the basketball coach. After all, the girl’s team has a state championship title to defend. And she finds high school politics are a lot more complicated in a small community than she’d anticipated:

Book Quote from Piercehaven by Robin Merrill

As the story went on to show, Emily Morse had a good idea of how high school should work. But it doesn’t work that way in Piercehaven. It’s a small school where everyone knows everyone else (and they’re probably related), and no one pays any attention to a newbie English teacher who will probably be gone at the end of the year.

The proofreading was excellent, but writing was solid at best. There were times when my writer/editor brain wanted to take a red pen to my Kindle. But the story was compelling—more than compelling, especially towards the end. Piercehaven ends up being a gripping tale of what happens when too many people would rather look the other way than confront the status quo. The majority is not always right.

A good read for those looking for Christian fiction that’s a little out of the ordinary.

Thanks to the author for providing a free ebook for review.

About Robin Merrill

Robin MerrillRobin Merrill is an award-winning writer from rural Maine where she lives with her husband, their two children, and several furry friends. She is the author of the #1 Amazon Bestselling Shelter; the Gertrude, Gumshoe series; and the popular Jesus Diet devotionals. Her individual poems, essays, and short stories have appeared in hundreds of publications, and three of her poems have been featured on The Writer’s Almanac with Garrison Keillor. She has performed her poetry and fiction in venues all over the country and has represented Maine at three national poetry slams.

You can find Robin Merrill online at:

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Tumblr

About Piercehaven

Emily is so excited to start her new teaching job on a remote Maine island. It seems God is really dropping all the puzzle pieces of her life into place. There’s even a handsome lobsterman in play. But the island also harbors a long-kept dark secret, and it’s up to Emily to figure out what it is and what she’s going to do about it.

You can find Piercehaven online at:

Amazon US | Amazon AU | Amazon UK | Goodreads

Read the introduction to Piercehaven below:

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