Another light and fluffy entry into the Jenny Colgan world. While not my favorite, it does the trick.

Gertie lives on a tiny island in the north of Scotland and works in the local supermarket. Invisible since birth, she spends her time with her mother, grandmother, and their close circle of knitting friends. Everything changes when she accepts a job as a stewardess for a local flight company, and she steps out of invisibility to widen her circle of friends. Instead of daydreaming about love, she begins to act on it and finds out that what is real can be better than she ever imagined.

The reason I love Jenny Colgan novels is because of the local color/village life and endless feel-good feelings. Gertie is an unlikely heroine, but her shyness and her internal battle of inadequacy is familiar to most of us. I felt like the first few pages were a bit cluttered, writing-wise, wordy, and information seemed a bit shoved in there, but it gains traction fairly quickly and we are off on another adventure with a group of hilarious individuals in the Scottish isles. The knitting circle (or KC) is particularly fun, and I hope this novel becomes a series so we can see more stories with these folks. The entire story is about finding your voice - with your loved ones and friends, but also with those who push your boundaries, Gertie is a wallflower who becomes a hero to everyone around her. I particularly liked the adventurous/dramatic bits of the novel (no spoilers here!) and felt like sometimes a crisis helps us become our best selves, as evidenced by Gertie and the others who rise to the occasion. Cheers to Jenny Colgan - queen of Scottish comfort reads - I will always put her stories at the top of the TBR pile.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC.

Another lovely book from Jenny Colgan! I have enjoyed every book I've read of hers. This one is the sequel to Sunny Skies, but it can also be read on its own. As usual, great writing and excellent character development. Sense of place is exceptional. I know our patrons will love this one!

Overall really enjoyed this book and it made me want to knit. It did feel a little slow in the middle but the quirky characters always keep me coming back for more

Goodreads review:

Yay! A new book from Jenny Colgan! The cover is gorgeous—a little shop with colorful skeins of wool stacked in its windows, a yarn-bombed bicycle, decorated with multicolored pompoms and crocheted lace, parked in front.
This book tells the story of Gertie, a shy, dreamy girl who is raised by the women of a knitting circle. With lyrical prose, Colgan sets the scene of a beautiful yet remote seaside town in the far north of Scotland. Will Gertie overcome her penchant for daydreaming and create change in her dreary life? Or will her dreams actually come true? Her choices have the power to affect everyone she encounters. Filled with Colgan’s signature blend of humor, a cast of quirky yet appealing characters with realistic relationships, and saturated with a luxurious sense of place, this book should give Colgan fans (and knitting fans) everything they are looking for. I wish that the ending had lingered a bit on Gertie’s new life. And, if a knit or crochet pattern had been included, I would have loved it.
Thank you to Avon and Harper Voyager for providing a review copy via NetGalley.

I could not get into this one. It is a did not finish. I got 17% of the way through and gave up after a month.

I enjoyed this book. Quirky heroine thrown into a ‘wildly out of her comfort zone’ scenario is my jam!! I liked Gertie’s story, even if at times I felt personally attacked by her abrupt and all-encompassing fixation on people :)

I, a knitter, really loved all the descriptions of color and patterns in conjunction with introductions to all the characters.

I found the shifting POVs to be a bit hard to follow at points, but it definitely gave a full picture. Thankful to have received an ARC via NetGalley to be able to provide my honest review!

First I would like to thank Netgalley and Avon for the ARC for this novel.

This was a sweet romance book from Jenny Colgan. I have read a couple of her Christmas books but this was my first non-Christmas book of hers.

I think my favourite part of this book was her descriptions of Northern Scotland. She did such a good job of making it sound like the most beautiful place on earth. I just want to go book a trip there right away.

I found Gertie (the main character) a little boring but her side characters for me are always winners.

I found the first half of this book a little slow and a little difficult to get into but overall I enjoyed it.

3.75/5 stars

If you're looking for a cozy, Scotland-based story, this is a good option. Overall, I enjoyed the book, but found the different storylines a little convoluted. Set in a small town in northern Scotland, the author pulled in a lot of local color to the story, and developed the backstory of seemingly-unrelated characters. There wasn't a ton of character development outside of the protagonist, Gertie, an introverted wallflower type whose inner monologue tended to take over the otherwise third-person narration. This made parts of the story hard to follow. The last third of the book was pretty action packed, all things considered.

I was so excited to read this book! I love most of Jenny Colgans books so as soon as I got this I started on it right away.

Sadly, it was a quick disappointment. The first 50ish% of the book is basically one long rambling brain dump of Gertie’s thoughts mixed with beautiful scenery and unlikeable characters. So much time building up to the next part of the story - side note: I dislike this kind of book because people will say “oh once you get through the first half it really picks up.” So I have to waste hours to get to the good part? Shouldn’t we make the entire book the good part? I understand having to build up characters but this was just so slow and felt utterly pointless and mind melting. Much of the time I was totally confused from the disjointed chapters.

As for the second half of this much anticipated book - “Part 2” - was altogether a different experience. While it wasn’t the story I had anticipated from the description, it was enjoyable enough.

In the end, the first half of the book could have been summed up in a few chapters and then moved on. I would have absolutely given up earlier if not for other reviews saying it improves after 50%.

Many thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC copy to review. All opinions are my own.

I was so excited to get the ARC copy of Jenny Colgan’s latest book, Close Knit. I’ve read all of her books about the northern islands off Scotland, and have loved them all. Close Knit did not disappoint. It was fun to meet new characters, and a new island. Gertie is the main character, and her character development is just amazing. She is pretty introverted, but really blooms in this book. I loved the knitting scenarios, her closeness to her mother and the knitting group, and cheered her on when she finally decided to step outside her comfort zone. I can always count on a Jenny Colgan book to be a feel good, thought-provoking, and even educational read. (I learned about the northern islands, wildlife there, and also about search and rescue! Close Knit is definitely a 5-star for me!

This is my first Jenny Colgan book as I was unfamiliar with her prior to receiving this arc. After a slow start, the story really picked up and included a harrowing rescue. I was worried about liking Gertie. She initially came off a little stalkerish, but looking at the whole picture, especially once she started adulting, it was clear she didn’t really know what she was doing. I enjoyed her growth throughout the book. I just wish the pacing and tone of the first part matched the second part.

Thank you Avon and Harper Voyager for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

If you love Jenny Colgan, well you'll love this one too! It is always fun to see her expand one of her communities to include new characters, and this one will not disappoint.

Thanks you NetGalley for the ARC.

I didn’t realize until I had started that this book is part of a series. Maybe if I had read the other books I would feel differently about this book as there seemed storylines I and backstory I was not familiar with. I had a really hard time with the chapter transitions. They were hard to follow. I also disliked the very long day dreaming dialogues of Gertie…they were kind of distracting,

Another absolutely charming story by Jenny Colgan -- in the gorgeous scenery of Scotland -- and full of friendship, romance, and knitting. A complete feel good story.

I received a free copy of, Close Knit, by Jenny Colgan, from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Gertie MacIntyre lives in Scotland. Gertie loves to knit, and is quite good at it. Gertie does not realize how strong a women she is. I really enjoyed this read.

Colgan is the queen of creating warm, funny, quirky characters that you want to root for to the end! Gertie, Morag, Straun, and the KCs (otherwise known as the Knitting Circle ladies who gossip and interfere winsomely just as much as they knit) are both loveable and charmingly irksome as they navigate change and exemplify community. This coming-of-age (at any age) story will have you cheering for Gertie as she learns that maybe we do have to "practice being brave" and steps out of her comfort zone into a life filled with colorful relationships, career changes, and adventure.

Thank you to Net Galley and Avon for the ARC.

Welcome to Jenny Colgan’s new cast of Scottish characters that you will grow to love! As always, Colgan has created an interesting cast of quirky characters that keep you reading.

The circle of friends for introverted Gertie revolves around the Knitting Circle of her mom, Jean, grandmother, Elpspeth, and their friends. Gertie is overdue for change and cautiously, takes a chance on a new job. We get to go along on her journey to independence and growth.

Close Knit is a cozy read that celebrates friendship, village life and change! This is a delightful read and I wholeheartedly recommend it! I eagerly look forward to more stories with these characters. Colgan never lets me down!

Thank you to NetGalley Avon and Harper Voyager for the complimentary eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Super cute, cozy little story set in Scotland.
Getting is a 30 year old that still lives at home and has never traveled anywhere. She finally gets out on her own. A job, an apartment, and discovers who she is as we follow along. Who doesn't love small town relationships and discovery. It wasn't my typical book and I struggled finish it. However, I am grateful I did get to experience some of Scotland through Gertie.
3.5 stars 🌟

Close Knit is the story of a young woman who has let her insecurity hold her back from enjoying her life. When circumstances coincide so that she is offered a new job, she is forced to examine how she has been living and decide whether she wants to make new choices for her life. Along the way, she finds some romance and new friendships.

This book is tender and sweet and oh so easy to read. It is set in the north of Scotland and has several short vignettes about the weather and terrain there. It gives you a nice picture into what modern life is like there without feeling kitschy.

For me, this would have been the ideal read: sweet and clean coming of age story with a little bit of clean romance thrown in. But there was one glaring thing that I cannot overlook.

It is the fad in publishing right now to always include a token gender bending LGBTQ character. In this book, it is a man who thinks he can be a woman by dressing like one. This was very offensive to me, especially since it made no sense for the story was just added for activism. I find this trend especially offensive when it is women who are propagating this lie.

For this reason, I am giving the book a lower rating. It soured the whole book for me.