Real Men Knit

Real Men Knit (2020) Kwana Jackson

I absolutely love the idea of this story.

Four young men take over their mother’s knitting store after she dies unexpectedly.

That is a fantastic premise and I adore it to death. Sadly, I didn’t love it’s execution.

First thing I didn’t enjoy was on me: Jesse is a player and all about casual sex. That kind of character never works for me in a romance, so that has nothing to do with the story per se and everything to do with my quirks.

However, he’d been in love with Kerry since the two were teenagers. And since Kerry hung out in Mama Joy’s yarn shop and then worked there, she also had feelings for Jesse.

But Jesse never ever commits to anyone or anything, so he’s a no go. But she wants to help keep the store open, so she says she’ll keep working and help the brothers come up with ways to make the store a success.

The second issue I had was that they characters spent too much time in their own heads. So many thoughts, all of them unhelpful and many of them unhealthy. I wanted to see the two interacting rather than thinking about their feelings for the other but never saying anything. I feel like 75% of the story was in the characters heads, which I just didn’t much enjoy. I hate being in my own head, so I do not love hanging out in someone else’s head with their unhealthy thoughts.

I did a LOT of skimming to get through all the dwelling the two of them did.

Thirdly, I just didn’t quite believe why Kerry changed her mind about taking action. She had (and had always had) feelings for Jesse, so I don’t get why she would initiate something that she knew would end up hurting her.

I also didn’t love the resolution of the issue with the boy who liked knitting. What I wanted was for one of the brothers to become a mentor to him, but it instead got pulled into The Big Scene at the end. I just felt like the kid deserved more than that.

So, sadly the story just all around didn’t work for me. It’s possible I loved the idea of the story so much I built my expectations too high, but mostly I’m sad I found it a disappointment.

Oh, I’m calling it now: the oldest brother is gay.

Publisher : Berkley
Rating: 5/10

• Browse the archives:
  
• Valor: Swords » »
• « « Glass Tidings