Synopsis
When their foster-turned-adoptive mother suddenly dies, four brothers struggle to keep open the doors of her beloved Harlem knitting shop, while dealing with life and love in Harlem.
Jesse Strong is known for two things: his devotion to his adoptive mom, Mama Joy, and his reputation for breaking hearts in Harlem. When Mama Joy unexpectedly passes away, he and his brothers have different plans on what to do with Strong Knits, their neighborhood knitting store: Jesse wants to keep the store open; his brothers want to shut it down.
Jesse makes an impassioned plea to Kerry Fuller, his childhood friend who has had a crush on him her entire life, to help him figure out how to run the business. Kerry agrees to help him reinvent the store and show him the knitty-gritty of the business, but the more time they spend together, the more the chemistry builds. Kerry, knowing Jesse’s history, doesn’t believe this relationship will exist longer than one can knit one, purl one. But Jesse is determined to prove to her that he can be the man for her—after all, real men knit.
Goodreads
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Review
Real Men Knit is a friends to lovers rom-com with a lot of heart. One of my favorite things about friends to lovers is seeing the characters realize that they love each other. Usually, like in this book, it has to do with some sort of jealousy, and then the light bulb goes off and you know the rest. What I liked about this one was the slow build.
The characters in this were great. I liked that Kerry was gaining confidence and you could see that throughout the book, and so was Jesse. The side characters were wonderful and I truly hope that each brother gets his own book because I would like to see more of them along with Val. I also really enjoyed the premise that Jesse was trying to honor his adoptive mother’s memory by continuing the store.
This book is told in the third person, but I do wonder if I would have liked it more if it has been told in alternating first-person POVs. I think It would have helped me get a sense of the characters a little more. I also felt like the ending was a bit abrupt, but overall this is a cute fun read that I enjoyed a lot.
