I was really excited to read this book when it first came out and there have been so many times where I have picked it up and tried to read it and found myself just not enjoying it. The characters and the storyline simply just don't interest me and I found myself forcing my way through the book to get to the end and I am a little sad that I did not enjoy this book as much as I hoped I would.

I'm not sure whether this is the case or not, but the way in which this book is written made me feel so strongly that it can't have been the first in the series - the way in which you are thrust into the story with no real introduction to the characters made it very hard for me to care about them.

Unlikely to read - had for a while but now removed from my tbr. Thank you for the opportunity to read

This was a sweet, uplifting romance set in a Harlem knitting shop. As a fellow knitter, it was lovely reading about men knitting!

Unfortunately I went on a requesting spree during lockdown and my tastes have since changed.

As the book has been on my shelf since 2020 or 2021 I believe I need a cull as I am highly unlikely to ever read it.

To be fair to the author I have star reviewed based on the average.

A slow burn of a read that's ultimately charming if you stick with it!
It didn't live up to the hype for me

This has the bare bones of being a heart warming and feel good story but it was so painfully slow that I found myself skin reading just to get to the end. It was neither purely a romance nor a “community coming together” type book and it just felt like it was lacking direction.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

A few months ago I lost my love of reading and I found it hard to connect with any form of book. So, i recharged my e-reader and took some reading time back and honestly, this book has made to regain my love for reading. Way back when I first requested this book I was drawn in by the title. My first thoughts were, yes, this book will show that stereotypes are rubbish! I enjoyed so much about this book; the fact that from the first chapter you are dropped straight into the action and the main focus of the novel. The way that the author tackles difficult subject matters (loss, grief, bullying etc.) throughout the narrative with such grace and dignity makes it a heart warming and heart wrenching read in places.

I connected personally with the narrative which I was greatly surprised about. From the small business worries to the loss of loved ones, the way that the author writes such a believable but interesting storyline for all the characters, and creating such community spirit within the novel made it such a beautiful and refreshing read.

Lastly, I loved the characters of the OKG and Errol ( amongst others but they were my favourites). Thank you for writing such a wonderful story and I really hope this is just the beginning of the stories from these characters. I would love to see more from each of the brothers points of view. I am absolutely invested in Strong Knits. Thank you for giving me my love of reading back.

This was an easy-enough to read family fiction/romance, with a lot of back and forth plotline about saving the family yarn shop.

Unfortunately, the romance aspect really didn’t work for me. There are four brothers here and the main character, Kerry, is like an adopted kid sister according to three of the four, which makes the romantic bits of the novel feel slightly incestuous – even though they technically aren’t. In fact, I spent a large chunk of the read assuming that it was developing into a ‘reverse harem’ novel, until three of the four men made it very clear that Kerry was already considered close family. As it goes, most of the eventual sex happens ‘off-screen’ anyway, with the main focus of the story on the lovers’ issues with self-doubt and the other problematic internal thoughts keeping them apart… and the issue of saving the yarn shop, of course.

The pacing is slow-build all the way through, and I actually did begin to feel won over to the relationship development – along with beginning to fantasise about a series of books, each focused on a different brother, as the others felt more interesting than the constantly self-flagellating Jesse – but then the book suddenly, unexpectedly and abruptly ended. It felt like the simmer suddenly imploded, as the author rushed to mash her lovers together like dollies, without resolving the issues that were keeping them apart in the first place.

This left me with no certainty that the main characters are actually on the path to their happily-ever-after ending, instead of just more of the same vacillating.

I really think this had some promising characters, but the romance got lost amongst all the yarn.

Review by Steph Warren of Bookshine and Readbows blog

I enjoyed reading this and I featured it on my blog. I liked both the story and characters. Knitting and reading are two of my favourite things so this was a win-win for me.

When four brothers have to keep their late mother's knitting shop running, they all have different ideas of what to do. Jesse asks his friend Kerry for help and through this process, feelings develop.

I struggled with this, I must admit. I love a romance normally but struggled to connect with the characters and get invested in the love story. I would be open to reading more this author publishes.

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy.

It was a sweet book but not quite as what I expected.

Kerry works part time at the the knit shop which was run by Joy Strong who has just died. Joy has four sons who have inherited the shop and Jesse the youngest son wants to run the shop he is not the most reliable person never holding a job down. Kerry agrees to help him until she gets a job she wants, she has always liked Jesse. Jesse has always dumped woman as quickly as he could.

I enjoyed the pretext of this book but didn’t quite find it exciting.

i wasnt too keen on this one. I felt likei it wasnt what I was expecting from reading the description and it really didnt deliver. I tried so hard to get into it and I just couldnt find it enjoyable,

Real Men Knit is more of a family drama than a romance, but it has fun moments and ends on an uplifting note.

I've got to be honest, this wasn't my favourite read of the year thus far. The pacing was a little off and I didn't feel much of a connection between the two main characters. It took a long time before the two main characters developed even a hint of a romantic connection which was unfortunate given it's been marketed as a romance.

It focused on some hard-hitting topics such as living life after the death of a loved one, which everyone will suffer through at some point in their lives. It was lovely to see the brothers eventually come together and put some faith in Jesse. Sure he was initially put forward as your typical 'bad-boy' but he wasn't really. He'd been through a lot in life that he was looking for ways to deal with which is understandable. His love for Mama Joy was clear as, in many ways, she'd saved him in his youth when she took him in as her adoptive son. The other men, Damien, Lucas, and Noah had very different personalities which I enjoyed reading about. Even though the four of them were brothers by adoption, they clearly stopped seeing it that way many years before and were simply brothers.

There is an issue that I need to highlight as it became impossible to ignore. The writing style just didn't do it for me. I felt the plot was a little haywire at times as well. It made the story more difficult for me to read and connect with.

However, in saying this, I did enjoy finding out more about the character's backgrounds and thought there were several humorous moments in it. I rate Real Men Knit 3/5 stars.

I thought this was a very cute book, I liked the lead female character and the relationship that developed between her and Jesse. I actually found myself wanting more from the other members of the strong family too so hoping there will be future books about the other brothers. Overall a quick enjoyable heartwarming romance

Provided by NetGalley for an honest review. This started off well for me but then just got very trope-y.

It’s all a little too pat.

Easy read, but not one I would remember a few days later.

I was keen to read Real Men Knit after reading some recommendations by bloggers that I trust so I was delighted to get a copy from NetGalley. I finally picked it up recently and really enjoyed it. It’s set in a wool shop in the aftermath of the owner’s death. Her four adopted sons are deciding what to do and one of them wants a chance to run the shop and make it a success along with the help of Kerry, who worked there alongside his Mama. I enjoyed the family dynamics in this novel, and I really liked Kerry. I wasn’t so keen on all the will they won’t they romance plot, it felt very over the top at times, but on the whole this was a really cosy, lovely read and I’m glad I picked it up.

Unfortunately, this book didn’t live up to my expectations. I loved the premise and I enjoy a dual perspective more than single so I thought it sounded like my cup of tea. However, something didn’t click for me.
I can’t quite put my finger on it but while there’s a lot of emotional and difficult things going on for the characters (loss of an adoptive mother and past trauma), it still felt very ‘surface level’ for me.
I usually get swept away in books, especially those with a romance storyline but I didn’t feel it. First kiss at around 70% is a bit slow for me but I didn’t mind so I can’t attribute my distance from the storyline/characters to that. I’m confused because this book has the elements that should have been a strong 4/5 or more and I’m disappointed I didn’t connect with it.

As a keen sewer and handcrafter the title got me. I have to admit I know many women who knit but, apart from art students, I have never known any men who do so I was intrigued.
This turned out to be a delightful read that not only clarified the title but was a warming story of life with a generous dose of romance threaded in.
My only niggle was that, if the main characters really were in such a desperate rush to get things up and going in order to save their livelihoods, why weren’t they working every possible minute available to achieve that end?
A perfect book to curl up with when enjoying a refreshing cup of tea on a gloomy wet day.
Thank you to Harper Collins and NetGalley for this free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Real men knit? Of course they do! I have happy memories of being one of a group of knitting parents who helped teach this enjoyable and wonderful skill to various classes at my children’s school, rather a lot of years ago now! Boys and girls alike had a go, everyone achieved something and we all had a great time. I don’t know how many of those children, now adults, are still knitting, but I hope some of both sexes are. It’s lovely that it’s more usual for men to knit these days, thanks to knitter-designers like Arne and Carlos and possibly even more so to celebrities, such as Ewan McGregor and David Arquette, fessing up to their secret knitting habits!
The bonding element of knitting – a skill usually passed from one generation to the next or by one friend to another – comes through very strongly in this unusual novel. And it truly is a strong bond. Mama Joy Strong’s knitting shop brings immense richness to Kerry’s life, although not initially to Joy’s adopted sons. Her character is what influenced them both.
Without giving too much away, knitting eventually begins to matter to the young men too, especially one of them, and two of our characters cast on a new future together.
The pace, appropriately, is steady: reading, like knitting, is to be savoured and we need action and character development to build gradually, just like a garment or accessory gradually takes shape on a pair of needles. But it’s not all plain sailing with either pastime. Stitches get dropped or miscounted and even the most experience knitter makes a mistake in a pattern now and again. Similarly in our novel there are unexpected hitches and unforeseen consequences to surprise the reader and make them rethink a few things.
If you enjoy knitting, and even if – horrors! – you don’t, you’ll find this knitting-inspired novel very satisfying.