This heartwarming tale of four bothers taking over their foster turned adoptive moms knitting shop after she passes away.

This a charming "friends to lovers" story which I always love, but I felt it was missing something, I'm not sure what that something is exactly may be a detail I missed or details I wanted more of.

I know these are trying times with extenuating circumstances... but I'm blubbering now. This ending was precious. And I needed it.

Real Men Knit is just a warm, charming all-around real love story. Family love. Community love. Friend love. And, our favorite, romantic love. Duh.

I don't usually gravitate to "friends"-to-lovers stories. They're not my favorite. But this book hit the spot right now.

Thank you Netgalley and @berkleyromance for chance to read an advanced copy. It releases in May. I voluntarily read and reviewed this book and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Real Men Knit has a good premise. I love a story where gender norms are reversed and I was excited to fantasize about some hot men knitting. But while I was pleased with that aspect, the romance falls quite flat. I never found myself rooting for Jesse and Kerry. They never seemed to actually talk, which would have fixed their problems within the first hundred pages, rather than the info dump that was the first 50% of the book. I almost put this book down 15 different times, but held out in case the story drastically got better...unfortunately, it didn't.

I am hopeful that with some edits at least some of the more problematic errors and syntax issues will be smoothed out. The amount of rambling and internal dialogue bogged down the plot so completely, it was sometimes hard to figure out what was going on, and who we should be invested in. Perhaps if the story were told with first-person narration, these problems would be fixed. It's clear to see that the intention of this story is to focus future books on the rest of the Strong brothers. To be honest, I'm not very interested in reading about them after reading Real Men Knit. Hopefully, that changes with some good editing and beta reading.

My only complaint about this book is wanting more. I want more of the other brothers, and I wish there was not as many time jumps. I sometimes felt like I was missing something due to these jumps. But a great story with great characters and a whole lotta heart

I was excited to read this, and while I did enjoy it, it wasn't my favorite. It seemed to lag and the characters often ended up rambling more than doing and saying anything useful. Still, it was a fun read and a nice change.

I loved this book! A combination of my favorite interests. I was rooting for them the whole time and was so glad there weren't any really bad obstacles.

I really wanted to like this book. It has a lot of elements that I like: the knitting and the knitting store, strong characters and conflict.
But the amount of rambling and internal dialogue bogged down the plot so completely, it sometimes was hard to pick up the trail again.

In the end, this story wasn't a good fit for me.

I received a copy from the publisher via NetGalley and this is my honest opinion.

Thanks to NetGalley for making an eARC copy of this book available to me.

I really like the premise (and title) of this book. I just found the execution to be a bit lacking for my taste. Too many times multiple paragraphs were taken to explain and re-explain the feelings of the protagonists. I also felt like it was never explained how the tens of thousands of dollars were made (and in a very short time) that were necessary to get the shop out of debt. The author hinted at the protagonists having many good ideas for making viable changes, but the few that were at all fleshed out wouldn't seem to be able to make that big a dent in the debt.

I'm sure that this book will work just fine for some audiences. The author has it nicely set up to allow for books about the other three brothers, for any who would like to see the story continue. It's just not for me.

This was an interesting premise, but it fell a little flat for me. Four brothers take over their adoptive mother’s yarn shop after her death, and one of one the brothers falls in love with his childhood friend/employee of the shop.

Parts of the story were cute, but I wanted more feeling and depth from the characters. The ending was a bit of a let down too. It seems like a setup for a series, so I’ll probably give the next one a chance.

I loved the idea of reading this book but struggled with the reality of it. The characters had no depth for me and as much as I was dying to, I could not connect with any of them. This one may find it's readers, but they don't include me.

This was such a sweet surprise! I had not heard of this book but got preapproved, and thought I'd give it a try. This was an absolute delight. I feel like I fell into this world so quickly. The setting of a yarn shop made it feel so colorful and sunshine-y. Jesse and Kerry were a nice slow burn, and I loved watching them admit their feelings for each other. I loved pretty much every single Strong Brother, I'm excited to see if they get romances too!

Well dang. Loved the premise, the setting, the family, the extended cast of characters, the representation, and THAT COVER. Sadly, the writing just didn't do it for me. It was in serious danger of being a DNF. I wish it had a chance at a good developmental edit so it could meet its 5-star potential!

When Mama Joy unexpectedly dies, leaving her Harlem knitting shop and brownstone in the hands of her four adopted sons, Jesse (the youngest) is determined to prove his worth and keep it open. Lucky for him, their girl-next-door family friend, Kerry, is willing to help. But Kerry is on her own quest to prove herself, a quest that may demand she distance herself from the shop and from Jesse. How and when will they discover their mutual long-standing crush? How and when will they discover a way to save the shop?

It was definitely the how and when that let me down. The pacing seemed really off (I don't think we got to see a real man knit until like 17 chapters in!). The writing structure also seemed unrefined and repetitive, the characters underdeveloped, and even the dialogue, which had cute, snappy moments, was inconsistent and hard to follow at times. Especially in the first half, we spent far too much time moping around in our main characters' heads. Yes, they had just experienced a significant loss, so yes, it made sense for them to be sad and introspective, but it didn't make sense for readers to be that fogged for that long.

If you like diverse, slow-burn, friends-to-lovers stories that heavily feature family dynamics and include main characters (a strong female lead! a sensitive male lead!) that challenge each other, then perhaps you'll be able to overlook some of the writing issues and enjoy this one far more than I did. Plus, there are three more hot Harlem brothers to write into a series and yes, #WeNeedDiverseRomance.

Content notes: foster care system, death in family, objectifying language, off-screen drug overdose, absent parents

Real Men Knit is a story about community. The love and care those that are committed to Strong Knits have for the brothers trying to save the shop comes through loud and clear. The work done at the community center with children and the encouragement given to a young boy being bullied becasue he likes to knit was touching. The romance between Jesse and Kerry is very much in the background for most of the book. When it does come to fruition right at the end it's so fast I felt like I was missing out. But for all the other good things this story accomplishes with it's varied characters it was worth the read for me.

I really loved the premise of this book (so here for a focus on family, neighborhood dynamics, and subverting some gender norms with yarn) but the execution was very clunky. The pacing was all over the place, with so much time spent building up to reopening the store and Jesse and Kerry getting together and then no time at all to enjoy either of those things before it was over. The structure of switching between third person POVs of Kerry and Jesse in the same chapters with no distinct separation was also often confusing, since their voices were not as different as perhaps they should have been. Overall I'd still be into another book if this became a series, the author left herself three hot brothers to focus on in a sequel and I did like the world she created here.

A sweet romance that takes place in Harlem while trying to keep a beloved knitting shop open once the owner dies, leaving her four foster boys in charge.

As a former small biz owner, I wanted to love this book so hard. But I didn’t.

Mama Joy and her knitting shop were the heart of her Harlem community but she died. Can her four adopted sons and the young women she mentored keep her legacy alive? Or will they be forced to sell the store?

I loved the premise of knitting bringing a community and the brothers together. It was great to see men, especially alpha male types, doing something like knitting.

Ultimately, the writing style just didn’t capture me. It felt flat and repetitive. Because I loved the premise, if Kwana Jackson writes another Strong brother book, I’ll definitely give it a try.

This was delightful addition to the #WeNeedDiverseRomance movement! I hope we get a follow up with the other Strong Brothers.

I also liked that all the brothers knitted. And it showed a representation of men doing something "girly" that actually made them better versus detracted from their manliness.

The love story was fine, but I felt this was just as much a story about family and carrying on a legacy.

I read this one over the weekend (2/27 to 3/1) and am heartbroken that I didn't love it. I think it was a personal preference for me that made me not connect, but I found it had so little dialogue that it felt heavy and boring in a lot of places. The structure of the storytelling made me feel like I was being read at and not too and I just couldn't get that feeling to go away. I can see how it will appeal to others and I loved the diverse cast and the setting of a neighborhood in Harlem, but the rest is what I struggled with. Just another case of not every book is for everyone.

Real Men Knit started off very strong: gripping intrigue, nice chemistry between the characters, and fun and unique setting. However, the pacing became a real problem for me. So much time was spent discussing the living situation when Kerry moved in with Jesse. A little banter is fine, but it seemed to go on for pages. The actual romance didn't actualize until 75% into the story and by then it felt too late, and a little underwhelming. Overall, a strong setting and plot that ended up feeling very slow and boring at times.

I really think there are some great story ideas here but the book needs more editing. Mama Joy runs a knitting shop in Harlem. When she dies suddenly her community, her 4 adopted sons & her co-worker who is very much like a daughter to her are mourning her loss while trying to keep her shop open. There's romance, family dynamics, community support but the character development could use some work. I really hope there are some re-writes because I think there's potential there!