Bea Reviews Real Men Knit by Kwana Jackson

Publisher: Berkley
Source: the library via Overdrive
Release Date: May 19th 2020
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Blurb from goodreads:

When their foster-turned-adoptive mother suddenly dies, four brothers struggle to keep open the doors of her beloved Harlem knitting shop.

Jesse Strong is known for two things: his devotion to his adoptive mom, Mama Joy, and his reputation for breaking hearts. When Mama Joy unexpectedly passes away, he and his brothers have different plans for what to do with Strong Knits, their neighborhood knitting store. Jesse wants to keep the store open. His brothers want to tie off loose ends and close shop....

Part-time shop employee Kerry Fuller has kept her crush on Jesse a secret. When she overhears his impassioned plea to his brothers to keep the knitting shop open, she volunteers to help. Unlike Jesse, Kerry knows the “knitty-gritty” of the business, and together they make plans to reinvent Strong Knits for a new generation.

But the more time they spend together, the stronger the chemistry builds between them. Kerry, knowing Jesse’s history, doesn’t believe their relationship can last longer than she can knit one, purl two. But Jesse is determined to prove to her that he can be the man for her forever and always. After all, real men knit. (

My Thoughts:

I HATE the ending, hate it, hate it, hate it. But then I hate big, flowery, public, gestures and the timing and location were completely inappropriate. Sooooo very inappropriate. I think the author was aiming for cute but she utterly failed. To top it off, I didn't actually care if the couple, Jesse and Kerry, had an HEA. They both needed to put more work and care into their relationship. They needed to grow the eff up. Kerry was more mature than Jesse, but they both needed to grow up. Jesse and Kerry both sucked at communication and the pacing of their romance was uneven, going from glacial to warp speed 10, and events at the end of the story moved way too fast.

Jesse had a lot of self-doubt and self-loathing. He grew some during the story but he could have grown more, and his brothers were useless. They ragged on him, fed his self-doubt, and didn't try to help him. They constantly put him down. The communication between the brothers, all of them, was poor and I wonder how well they'll stick now their mother is dead. To be fair, at the veeeeeeery end, two of his brothers got off their asses and provided moral support. Which, actually, was out of character, and came out of left field.

The story is a mix of romance and women's fiction, heavier on the latter. My favorite parts, despite the fact I don't knit, were the parts where Jesse, Kerry, and/or various customers knit or talk about knitting, and when Jesse and Kerry were remodeling the store. Kerry had some good promo ideas. I also loved the found family, even though the brothers are not close and treat each other like crap.

Finally, the book took me almost 4 days to read. It was just too easy to put down and too easy to not pick it up again. In that same time frame, I read one and a half other books.

I almost forgot! I LOVE THAT COVER!! The colors, the design, the male figure knitting...it's just gorgeous. <3

I had requested this from the publisher and was rejected. I then added my name to my library's wait list and was excited when it was my turn. It wasn't worth the effort. I won't bother requesting the second book for review and I won't be in a rush to request it at the library.