Highballer

4 Planting Magic Stars
OMG, this book is everything that the World of Series is supposed to be. A very non-traditional setting in a place that hardly ever gets seen in books – check. Crazy out there life experiences that wouldn’t happen “everyday” in books – double check. And finally, an awesome story, plot and characters – check, check, check!

Highballer follows the journey of Remy while he spends his summer before his senior year in college, planting seeds in Canada in order to rake in as much money as he could before school starts up again. As the story unfolds, we learn why Remy is so focused on earning income, and why he ultimately had to take this job (the best-worst job ever). Before his job even starts, he spies Levi and has an insta-crush, but is DONE with boyfriends… turns out, so is Levi. Together, over the course of the planting season, they become friends, then more, then friends, then…?

This was truly the BEST World of Love book I’ve read to date. The writing was great, the story was fun and the setting made everything interesting. And somehow, amongst all of that, the characters are so fun, unique and original. Remy is shy but strong and determined – not willing to be stepped on or passed over, holding strong to his beliefs. Levi is hurt… but his hurt manifests it very differently than you’d expect. He wants, then doesn’t – the friction here is fantastic. Overall, it’s a match that works very well!

This is a great read for anyone – for reals. It was just so good – lighthearted but deep, fun with substance and I learned a LOT about planting season (I’m going to research that more now). Definitely don’t skip out on this one! And I can’t wait for Ava’s next one.

Review Copy of Highballer provided by Dreamspinner Press for an honest review. Reviewed by Mel at Alpha Book Club.

Eden Pax is a very small town in Canada that Remy hails from. It kind of gave me the impression of a hippie town from the 1960s with all of its homeopathic stores, acupuncturists, homemade food stores, and everything holistic in between. In fact, it began as a commune and everyone homeschools. No wonder Remy’s parents hit the roof when his a**hole of a boyfriend emailed their business account with details about Remy being in the nursing department at school. I could sure empathize with Remy’s attitude about making it through the tree planting season, no matter what. He really doesn’t have a choice. Neither does Levi, who made a stupid choice to follow a boyfriend far away from home, and now he’s stuck with not enough money to pay his tuition. I truly felt for both of these guys, right from the start, and I was rooting for them on the whole read.

“Unless that slender frame had some muscles underneath those clothes, he was going to crash and burn. Even if he did manage to stick around, if they had to spend any time in a logging camp, what were the odds he wouldn’t get jumped at least once? Look up “fey,” “nellie,” or “twink” in the dictionary—this guy’s picture would be there.”

Remy might be small and this might be his first season tree planting, but his parents own an outfitting business so being out in the wilderness, in a tent, is something he’s very familiar with. He also has a close friend who was a tree planter for years with this same company and gave Remy every piece of insider information he possibly could, right down to the lingo, and hands-on training. Not only that, he put in a word for Remy, so that’s just an additional reason not to fail and make Will look bad. You know the saying “it’s not what you know, but who you know.”

“It’s not the physical part of the job that will make you quit,” Will had told him. “It’s how your head frames the experience. It’s like anything hard. You have to game it out.”

It was really sweet to watch Levi and Remy sort of tiptoeing around one another as they became friends but both, obviously, wanted more. Even nicer was seeing Remy interacting with his planting crew and learning to socialize, while watching them grow to appreciate Remy for everything he brought to the table. I really enjoyed the author’s descriptions of this very tough job, along with the different terms and language used in Canada versus my native United States.

This was a great story and I thoroughly enjoyed every moment. The relationship drama was well done and didn’t overtake the general storyline. The characters, all of them, were strong, and a lot of fun to get to know. The ending was a wee bit sappy, in that everything worked out so perfectly for Remy and Levi not only in their relationship, but also with a few of their other struggles with life and family. I can easily recommend this read, I don’t think you’ll regret it.

NOTE: This book was provided by Dreamspinner Press for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews