Real Men Knit by Kwana Jackson

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.

My thoughts:
First of all, let me admire this beautiful cover for a moment. Absolutely gorgeous...

Real Men Knit has a very interesting premise. We meet our protagonists on the day after Mama Joy's funeral who passed away following an unexpected heart attack. Mama Joy adopted and raised four boys of different backgrounds and personalities who grew into four handsome men, four 'princes of Harlem': Damian, Lucas, Noah and Jesse. The community is grief stricken and you can feel how loved and admired Mama Joy Strong was and how much her family and her neighbours are going to miss her. Her yarn shop was a special place full of kindness, peace and calm, so rare nowadays. The four brothers now have to decide whether to keep the shop running or sell it. Damian is a corporate financial analyst, Lucas is a firefighter and Noah is a professional dancer. They are all busy with their careers and do not have much time to dedicate to their mother's business. Only Jesse, who still hasn't found his place and passion in life, feels they should keep the shop open as this is Mama Joy's legacy and plays an important role in their community.

Kerry Fuller practically grew up in Strong Knits shop and Mama Joy gave her as much love and attention as she did to her sons. Kerry has worked there part-time for almost ten years.  This quiet bookish girl knows everything there is to know about running a yarn shop. Kerry volunteers to help the brothers as she feels she owes it to Mama Joy's memory. This means working closely with Jesse, who she's been crushing on for years, but who doesn't see her as anything but a childhood friend. An explosion in a neighbouring building makes her home uninhabitable for up to six weeks. Jesse and her brothers are happy to offer her a temporary home in their flat above the shop, which means spending even more time in close proximity to Jesse. Kerry is a grown-up woman, capable of taking care of herself and deciding what she wants, but what does Jesse, who has a reputation for being a bit of a player, want and is he ready for it?
Kerry is strong and independent and very easy to like and care about, but there was also a bit of 'not like the other girls' vibe, when she is compared with Erika, Jesse's casual bedmate, and also at work with Allison. She is tired of other people deciding what is the best for her, and I totally understand and respect it, although I still have a few niggles about her going for a relationship with Jesse at that particular moment.
Jesse...He is immature and insecure and has to do a lot of growing up, but I loved the way he dedicated himself to his family business, and the way he interacted with Errol, a little boy who was bullied at school.
Whether you classify it as women's fiction or romance, Real Men Knit is about family and community. I loved the location and the diversity aspect of this book. My favourite supporting characters are the OKG, the Old Knitting Gang, Mama Joy's old friends who used to come to her shop for their knitting and gossiping sessions and who have hearts of gold.
This book isn't perfect. The beginning was info-heavy and generally there was a lot of inner monologue. Yet, I found it difficult to put down- I wanted to know more about the brothers and whether they would be able to save their family business. I hope this was the beginning of a new series, as each of the brothers deserves their own book.

 'In knitting there's never a problem that can't be fixed'

'When you make something by hand, whatever you make takes time, patience, concentration and your energy. You should value that. So, when you give a gift you should do it with a clear intention and your pure heart'.

'With his love, their love, he'd never give up. He'd just keep on knitting'.


Thank you to Edelweiss and Berkley for the ARC provided in exchange for an honest opinion.