The sequel to Jenny Colgan’s The Summer Skies is finally here! Close Knit is the story of a 30 year old young lady, Gertie, who is concerned that life is passing her by. Gertie lives at home with her mother and grandmother and her life consists most of her job at the local market, knitting with the KCs (local knitting circle) and daydreaming about how life could be. When she gets a job offer from the local tiny air port and the chance to have her own apartment, she hopes this will be the change she needs to finally start over.

This lively quick easy read is humorous, touching and all rounds delightful. Close knit introduces us to some new fun characters while revisited some of our old favorites. I always enjoy Jenny Colgan boos and this one does nor disappoint. You won’t want to miss this one.

I didn’t know cozy suspense was something I was missing in my life, but I found it in Close Knit. It wasn’t the story I was expecting but I’m happy I stuck with it.

The book is broken up into two parts. Part one feels like a cozy slice of life view of a tiny seaside town in Scotland and it’s quirky inhabitants. Part two is a lot more action driven, with quickly mounting suspense. This makes for a very slow start with a dramatic finish, but you really have to push past the initial set up to get the full effect.

I loved how vivid the descriptions of the land and town were. It makes the setting itself feel alive, and I could easily understand what was drawing the characters to stay there. It feels isolated, but not lonely.

There’s sort of an omniscient perspective. You bounce between the inner thoughts of each character multiple times per scene in a way that was a little jarring. I never quite got used to it, but that might just be my personal taste.

The last thing I’ll note is that the blurb is a little misleading. I expected a straight forward romance when in reality the romance is more of a sub plot. The suspense was a pleasant surprise. This is my first Jenny Colgan book, so maybe this is standard, but as a first time reader I would have enjoyed it more if I had different expectations going into it.

This was delightful! Just delightful. One of Jenny Colgan's best. Loved Gertie and especially her growth in the story! The book contains a large cast of "minor" characters who really flesh out the plot. Such a cozy read. Thank you to NetGalley for an early copy - made my day!

Close Knit by Jenny Colgan is an excellent continuation of her Summer Skies story. Both books are fun reads with appealing characters. Morag and her grandfather are still running their small airline between the northern islands off of Scotland. They are in need of someone to replace their very pregnant ticket/stewardess. Gertie the female main character who lives with her mother and grandmother is tired of working in a supermarket. She is thirty and would like to get a different job and change her life. She becomes the replacement ticket/stewardess for the little airline. Things get wild and woolly from there. There are a lot of heroes and heroines in this story, including Gertie's interfering mother and her knitting group. The plot is complex with twists and unexpected turns. The descriptions of village and sea and countryside give the reader a strong sense of place. Things work out for Gertie and for a lot of other people in this closely knit community. It is lovely to see different generations working together to accomplish what is needed. I particularly liked how Gertie finally got recognition for her creative knitting talent. Many of the plot strands were neatly tied up at the end, but not all--maybe we will be lucky enough to see another book in this series. Strongly recommended.

This Jenny Colgan novel was a beautiful, cozy read filled with lovable characters and vivid descriptions of the Scottish coast. The protagonist is Gertie, a late bloomer, who has been sheltered by her mother and her knitting circle. At age 30, Gertie decides to break out of her mundane routine by moving out of her mother’s home and taking a new job. In the process, she gains new friends and experiences, and finds her place in her community. I honestly loved every single character in this book and was surprised and delighted by the action/suspense scenes that popped up in the middle. The carefully crafted ending was perfect and left me feeling warm and happy.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I really liked this cozy book about a small Scotland town all coming together.
I felt that the author did a great job blending all of the viewpoints, all of the characters, and the storylines.

I had no idea how the airline and the town were going to come together for the children.

This was just a bright spot among good cozy novels.

My only drawback was I didn't know some of the Scottish terms/names and had a hard time following what was going on in the story.
However it did not distract too much from the story itself.

This novel felt like a warm hug. It’s a character driven love letter to the Scottish highlands. The best kind of predictable story where the reader can see a love match before the characters themselves do. I enjoyed watching the FMC, Gertie MacIntyre, embrace her quirkiness and come into her own with the help of a cast of sweet, charming, and lively supporting characters. What a cozy delight! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon Books for an advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

This book was so fun to read. I loved the setting in Scotland and all of the characters! A slow romance novel at times, but I loved Gertie’s little day dreams!

This book! Jenny Colgan has fast become a favorite of mine, and I was so excited to find another Jenny Colgan book to review on NewGalley. I also just found Summer Skies in my library as well, so I was even more excited to see this was the sequel. Colgan's writings always feel like coming home, and I find her books so comforting when I'm stressed. They have just the right amount of action and twists, as well as flawed, interesting characters who I still really root for.

Picking up several months after Morag saved the day in Summer Skies, Close Knit returns us to northern Scotland, where Gertie is tired of her job at the supermarket and not quite sure how to move her life forward. She falls in with Morag and her tiny airline, and Gertie quickly falls for the charming, rich airline magnet Callum Frost. With only her knitting skills to impress him, Gertie sets out to create a romantic comedy, amid flying sheep, belligerent passengers, and the meddling of her mama and the rest of the Knitting Circle.

Gertie is absolutely precious. Colgan has a gift for relatable characters, making us see ourselves in each of her heroes. Gertie is kind and thoughtful, awkward and prone to daydreams, but also brave and steady in the face of danger. I loved getting more of the feisty Morag, as well as seeing Morag through Gertie's perspective. The male leads are equally charming and clueless, and the plot moves well, with enough twists and turns on the way to true love to keep things interesting but not stressful. The characters and dialogue were perfect, and I really hope we get another book in this series!


Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced digital copy for review. All opinions are my own.

A weaving tale of mystery and enchantment as we follow Gertie MacIntyre and her group of friends. In a small Scottish town, we learn all the gossip and island life as we listen to the women as follow them on their daily lives. If you like sweet, charming slices of life stories, you'll love to curl up with a blanket and a hot cup of tea for this cozy tale.

First, I'd like to thank NetGalley for letting me read this book! I was very excited to read another Jenny Colgan book because I loved "The Bookshop on the Corner". I also recently traveled to Scotland, so it was fun to revisit the country in this book. In addition, I love to crochet, so a story revolved around a knitter was right up my alley.

Initially this book was very hard to get into. I didn't really identify with any of the characters (except the mom and her desire to purchase all of the yarn - I also have this problem). I also found it hard to believe an almost 30-year-old woman would have her head in the clouds. In my mind, 29 is so far from high school. Maybe I'm a cynic now, but I feel like we all become cynical when we have to live in the real world. I found that after I continued to read, the book became really addictive and difficult to put down. I did sometimes find it hard to believe that a character who was so often characterized as meek would demonstrate such strength later in the book, but it doesn't mean I wasn't rooting for her. We all never know what we are made of until we are tested. Without giving too much away, I was glad to see Gertie succeed in the end and fulfill some of her dreams.

While this book was challenging to begin, I think it's worth a read.

4.5/5

I love everything Jenny Colgan writes, she has such a way of creating a community of characters that engage you and pull you in. Set in the islands in north Scotland Close Knit follows a female main character Gertie who’s trying to figure out how life got away from her, when a health scare of a loved one shocks her into action she takes bold steps that drive her to a new life.

While it’s not her strongest book, I found the characters charming and the book moved quickly

This delightfully sweet story felt like sitting down for a cup of tea with a good friend or a cozy night reading by the fire. Our FMC, Gertie, is shy and unsure of herself, struggling a little with "failure to launch" in the post-pandemic world. She lives with her elderly mom and grandmother in a small village at the northern edge of Scotland and works as a cashier at the local shop. When she's offered a job running the check-in desk for the (tiny) local airline, she starts to imagine a bigger life for herself. I loved getting to know Gertie and her family, the gaggle of women in her knitting circle who always have her back, and the town's other residents. At the heart of it, this story is about love and belonging, and how even the shyest among us can demonstrate great acts of bravery.

Normally, Jenny Colgan's books read such that I finish them in about 2 days. They are small town life, but the pace keeps moving and the dialogue is snappy. Not in Close Knit. The title and description make it sound like this is about a knitting group, but they are on the periphery of the plot. This book also takes a long time to get moving and catch your attention. I almost set it aside at about the 50% mark and then the pace started picking up. I think the characters in this series are just not as memorable as those in the Mure series. This was a decent second book in the series, but definitely did not live up to my usual reading experience with a Jenny Colgan book.

I would also add that it seemed like this book needed a bit more editing. There were places, especially early in the book where the paragraphs were just a jumble of words. On more than one occasion, I had to go back and re-read. It almost seemed like extra adjectives and adverbs were added to meet a word count.

I received an advanced reader copy from the publisher via NetGalley

Close Knit by Jenny Colgan is classic JC style with friendships, romance, and written with lots of humor and heart. I adored the Scottish Ilse rustic natural setting. The author's lovely location descriptions make you feel as if you're standing on the seashore windblown and loving it. The main protagonist, daydreaming Gertie, is a joy and I felt for her as she struck out on her own and put her heart on her sleeve. I laughed with her hilarious group of knitting friends (the KCs) along with her mother Jean and grandma Elspeth.
The Scottish colloquialisms made reading it enjoyable and gives the reader a sense of life in small town (but not a village) Scotland. Overall, the entire book and Gertie's search for individualism, finding her path, and maybe some romance is like a big cozy sweater knitted by your gran (color approved and not the scratchy kind).

A sweet story with engaging characters and a beautiful setting but the author’s style of writing just wasn’t my cup of tea. I found it to be disjointed and excessively wordy which left me stumbling over paragraphs and re-reading sections. This detracted from my overall enjoyment of the book but did not change the fact that it’s a fun and easy read that many will enjoy!

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the advance copy - will be sharing my thoughts on Goodreads as well!

Close Knit is a cozy little story set in northern Scotland. It stars Gertie, a 30-year-old knitter who lives with her mother and grandmother. She works in a supermarket and has never travelled. She makes the decision to get an apartment of her own and a new job, and slowly learns to love herself as she discovers who she really is.

The description of this book is really misleading. The “stewardess” job is at the tiniest airport and the plane doesn’t even have room for a stewardess, so she’s only really weighing bags and checking people in; which means that she’s not traveling, she’s simply working a different job with different people. In addition, the book description doesn’t mention Morag at all, despite half the book being in her point of view.

It was a little slow to start, but once I got into the book, I enjoyed it. It was cute and fluffy, and a nice palette cleanser.

Great setting, started off in a lovely, lyrical way, but ultimately not my cup of tea.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I'm a huge fan of Jenny Colgan and this latest book does not disappoint! The warmth and joyfulness of her writing style are a pleasure to read. I love the humor, the place descriptions and the relationships built through her characters.
Having a bad day? Read a book by Jenny Colgan
Planning your next vacation? Read a book by Jenny Colgan
An excellent read for those of us who enjoy a behind the scenes romance!

There is a lot to love about this book, not the least of which being the motley cast of characters that you come to know and love. The whole time I was reading this book, I was imagining the movie it should be made into, because I want to meet them all, especially Gertie. Excellent story!