There was a lot I loved about Hettie Bell’s Knit, Purl, a Baby and a Girl. It deals so graciously with surprise pregnancy, abortion and choice in reproductive rights, friendship, growing up and new relationships. Bell also does something that is one of my big pet peeves, which I will discuss behind a spoiler tag. This is a “your mileage may vary” book from an author I want to see more of.

Poppy and Rhiannon meet when Poppy goes to Planned Parenthood to confirm her surprise pregnancy and Rhiannon is her clinic escort. They meet again at the knitting group Poppy joins because knitters probably know something about motherhood. The first half of the book is so great and I was completely invested in Poppy figuring out he wasn’t as much of a mess as she thought she was and Rhiannon figuring out she did want to be a part of Poppy’s baby’s life. The two of them are so lovely together, but also there were completely believable conflicts between them. The story is told entirely from Poppy’s POV.

One of the conflicts was Rhiannon’s completely understandable fear of making too big a commitment too soon. It’s a completely normal and understandable concern when you start a relationship with someone who is going through a life altering change. On top of that Poppy does not have a good emotional support network. For a good chunk of the book, Bell approaches all of that with empathy and grace for her characters.

I have some pet peeves as a reader and I fully recognize that not every reader shares my sore spots and every writer should write the story they want to write. With those caveats, here is what I didn’t like. I’m spoiler tagging it because it is a bunch of spoilers. SPOILERS: Rhiannon breaks up with Poppy “for her own good” and tells her she should move back in with her controlling mother. At this point, Rhiannon is out of the picture and since we don’t see her POV, we don’t know how her thinking is changing between the break-up and the reconciliation. It bothered me a lot in the second half of the book that Rhiannon was either perfect or awful. She manipulates Poppy, ghosts her and doesn’t apologize until Poppy blows up at her. She agrees to go to a party at Poppy’s sister’s house, yells at Poppy, and then ghosts Poppy again until she breaks up with her. At this point, I need a lot more than showing up for the baby’s birth and an apology to believe that Rhiannon and Poppy are on the same page of their relationship. By breaking them up and not having them talk for so long, I didn’t get to see them come together as partners. We get Rhiannon’s words, but not her actions and Rhiannon has said before that she would be there for Poppy and then she quite spectacularly was not. Poppy does grow and change. She does recognize that she needs a bigger support network, she does learn she needs to ask for help, she does learn to set boundaries with her mother. Maybe Rhiannon made changes in her own behavior, but we don’t know because we don’t see it happen. END SPOILERS. Epiphanies are great, but they don’t mean much unless you do the work to make the changes.

Again, there was a lot to like in Knit, Purl, a Baby and a Girl. Bell wrote some interesting people I would want to spend more time with. I didn’t love the way she handled the back half of the story, but that reflects my biases as a reader. I would definitely read more from Hettie Bell and hope I get the opportunity to do so.

I received this as an arc from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Heat Factor: There’s one fairly explicit scene around the midpoint
Character Chemistry: They really like each other, but...it’s complicated
Plot: Poppy accidentally gets pregnant, decides to keep the baby, falls in love, and finds herself
Overall: Cute

Here’s the premise of this book: Knocked Up, but instead of ending up with the stoner dude, Katherine Heigl falls in love with her Planned Parenthood escort. So for anyone who agreed with Heigl when she pointed out that Knocked Up was “a little sexist” (http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/the_highbrow/2007/12/katherine_heigls_knocked_up.html) and wanted something else, something more for the heroine, here’s your chance to explore one alternate fantasy.

Our story opens with Poppy heading to Planned Parenthood to get the abortion she feels she has no choice about. After all, the sperm donor is her loser ex, she’s working a dead-end job, she dropped out of college - and her terrible mom is not shy about reminding her about her shortcomings. While there, Poppy takes her first (of many) big steps to claiming ownership over her own life: she decides that she wants to keep the baby. Even if doing so makes no logical sense, she knows, in her gut, that this is the right decision for her. Also while there, she meets Rhiannon, who escorts her through the mob of protesters outside the clinic.

Poppy’s decision to keep her baby leads her to embark on a mini-life-revamp. See, her mom and older sister always give her shit about not finishing anything, and she needs to prove to herself that she can be a responsible adult since she’s going to be a mom, so she decides that she is finally going to learn to knit. For real this time. Enter, once again, Rhiannon, who is also a member of the local stitch n’ bitch group that Poppy joins.

Rhiannon and Poppy are definitely attracted to each other, but Poppy’s pregnant - so how do they make this relationship work if they just want to date, not immediately become a family? How can Rhiannon maintain her boundaries of taking it slow, when Poppy has no other support network?

I will say that the conflict between Rhiannon and Poppy got a little repetitive: Rhiannon would pull away, Poppy would be hurt, Rhiannon would apologize and explain that she is having difficulty negotiating the boundaries she’s setting for herself, wash/rinse/repeat. The dynamic is absolutely relatable, but because the book is narrated entirely from Poppy’s perspective, we only see Rhiannon’s evolving perspective second-hand.

My other quibble is with the found family that Poppy cultivates. We don’t spend enough time with the stitch n’ bitch crew for me to really believe that this group of people adopts Poppy so fully and wholeheartedly, but maybe that’s because I’ve never had a stitch n’ bitch crew at my back. Too bad I have no desire to learn to knit.

I voluntarily read and reviewed a complimentary copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. We disclose this in accordance with 16 CFR §255.

This review is also available at The Smut Report.

***Blog link to follow on 3-31***


Knit, Purl, a Baby and a Girl is an entertaining lesbian romance by Hettie Bell.

I found myself falling in love with this story at the start. But after that, at some point I stopped caring. I almost put it down. But luckily I kept reading and I became fully invested again. But the end, I really enjoyed this tale.

There's a lot going on in Poppy's life. She's pregnant, alone, and has some major family issues. Seriously, her mother is one hell of a pain in the ass.

Deciding to join a knitting group changes her life forever. I absolutely love and adore the way the knitting group becomes her circle of people. This group of individuals who have nothing in common but their craft, is perfectly written.

As well, Poopy meets and falls in love with Rhiannon.

The next nine months of Poppy's life is full of ups and downs, as well as a whole lot of character growth. Her relationships with everyone changes and then changes again. This is what is at the heart of this story. Poppy and the way she changes in her relationships with friends, family, and lovers.

Knit, Purl, a Baby and a Girl is a wonderful story in the end. Hettie Bell manages to capture the readers attention with a lot of charm and wit into this intriguing coming of age tale. The growth is Poppy's character has me happy to have discovered this book.

Thank you to Netgalley and Carina for access to this arc.

This is going to be mainly a "it's me not the book" DNF review. It started great and I was loving Poppy's slightly snarky first person narration. I also really liked that the book is pro choice. Obviously from the blurb we know that Poppy made the choice to continue her pregnancy and keep her baby but honestly I can't recall seeing a heroine work through this aspect of a surprise pregnancy before so major kudos for this.

The knitting part of the story basically went over my head. I'm not a knitter, don't understand the lingo, or what is going on. I did like one scene that managed to put Poppy and Rhi in an intimate position as Rhi teaches Poppy to cast on. But beyond that, it's a world I don't understand nor - I discovered - do I wish to.

Unfortunately, by the time I'd reached the 50% mark, I also realized that Poppy wasn't making too much of an impression on me, the romance had jump started way too quickly, and Poppy's mother could star in her own "Mommy Dearest" story. I wasn't enjoying reading the book any more for many reasons and so I'm marking it as DNF.

Trigger warnings: mention of abortion.
Poppy sleeps with an ex, ends up expecting, but somehow, she still finds love.
Okay, the things I liked: frank discussion about planned parenthood and the process a person goes through while making a decision like Poppy made. Poppy was quirky, a heavier main character, and bisexual. I liked being able to read about someone who looked like me.
What I didn’t like? Poppy and Rhiannon, moved so fast. I’m a fan of the slow burn and development of a relationship. This was a full on jump right into it and I didn’t see any flirtation beforehand. This was a miss for me and normally I love everything published under Carina.

This book was wonderful~

When Poppy has a drunken night with her ex boyfriend, she ends up pregnant and has to make a decision about her future. She initially meets Rhiannon as her escort into Planned Parenthood, and then again as a member of Stitch n Bitch where Poppy goes to find support, community, and learn to knit before her baby comes. Despite some awkwardness, with open communication they become friends, friends with benefits, and eventually girlfriends.

I loved this book for all the open communication and establishing boundaries, and then having those boundaries respected. Poppy’s mother is abusive and controlling, so watching Poppy have space to make her own choices, and have those choices respected was wonderful. I also loved the development of found family with the Stitch n Bitch group. This also does some very lovely on-page challenging of gender reveal parties and gender essentialism, as well as priority on autonomy and the power of choice.

I had been looking forward to this book from the time I saw the author talking about it on Twitter, and getting to finally read it was so good. I definitely recommend this book for a queer romance with pregnancy and chosen family.

Knit, Purl a Baby and a Girl by Hettie Bell was a delightful and different novel about a young woman who finds herself pregnant after a one night stand with her ex-boyfriend. After a visit to Planned Parenthood while investigating her options about the pregnancy, she decides to join a knitting group and meets a girl there who is the leader of the group and very attractive. They start a relationship, all while Poppy is trying to decide what to do about the baby. This relationship goes through the average twists and turns that all relationships do, but with the added tension of Poppy's family...who has very high expectations of her that she hasn't met as a college dropout and her bisexuality which they don't know about. That leads to denial and....well, you have to read it!

In spite of all of this, it's a light and enjoyable novel which will make great beach reading if this winter ever ends! Thank you to the author, Harlequin Carina Press and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this novel for my honest review.

This a cute romance but I didn’t click with it.

This book is written in Poppy’s first-person POV and I just don’t click with her. She is bisexual, fat and a college dropout. I have no issues with any of those things, but the way she struggles with on one hand accepting herself, which she mostly does, and on the other hand living up to her family’s expectations is infuriating. Especially because she keeps undermining herself, discrediting her accomplishments and doesn’t appreciate her friends.

Poppy meets Rhiannon at Planned Parenthood, there seems to be an instant connection, however fleeting their contact. When Poppy decides to keep the baby she joins a knitting group on a whim, to discover Rhiannon is part of the group as well. Their romance or friends with benefits situations starts pretty quickly, but the author gives them lots of conversations on page (and off) that makes it feel rather natural when things progress. Rhiannon is not really up for an instant family and Poppy accepts it she says, but her actions don’t align. The big drama you see coming and sadly happens somewhere between the 80%-90% mark. It’s redeemed by how the story picks up after the drama, it’s natural and believable.

While I didn’t click with Poppy I did feel for Rhiannon, but as this story is written from Poppy’s POV it’s pretty hard to get a good read on her. It’s also hard for me to process how their relationship progresses and how fine they are with all of it. The story is truly sweet and endearing, Poppy does a lot of growing up throughout the book as well, which is much appreciated. The knitting group is hilarious as well, I missed much of the references as I am anything but a knitter, but they are a lovely bunch.
If you are a romance fan this sure will be a book for you. Also if you are into knitting, but you would have gotten that from the title...

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review - as always, thanks so much to Netgalley for sending this to me!

Knit, A Purl, a Baby and a Girl is a soft, speedy read filled with feel-good moments that actually has a lot of depth under the surface.

Secret/surprise baby used to be a trope I avoided like the plague, but in recent months I’ve found that I actually quite enjoy it, despite it being basically my worst nightmare in real life. I think this book keeps a great balance between the baby stuff and the romance without allowing either one to overwhelm the rest of the story - the pregnancy plays an integral role in the book and is never forgotten, but this isn’t, like, a Pregnancy Book, if you know what I mean. The romance is at the forefront, and it’s awesome, but of course the soon-to-be-baby has a massive impact on Poppy’s life and that isn’t unrealistically brushed aside.

In terms of what I liked about it, I loved the frank discussion of abortion and the emphasis on whatever choice the pregnant person makes being the right one. I liked the feel-good vibes, the discussions of body confidence, the soft, cosy vibes, the friendship feels - and the relationship, of course! I was really rooting for these two, and I especially loved how they TALKED TO EACH OTHER! Whenever there was a road block, they actually sat down and talked it out, and it was honestly incredible. Communication! Boundaries! Healthy discussion! I loved it. The sex was hot and well-written, both characters were likeable, and their struggles were both understandable and in many ways relatable.

That being said, at somewhere around the 60-70% mark - the mark where any seasoned romance reader starts holding their breath and waiting for That Moment - everything went sour. Of course, in order for there to be conflict, something always goes wrong around this point in a romance, but honestly this one almost ruined the entire book for me. The two main characters both behaved so appallingly that I stopped feeling any sympathy or fondness for either of them. There was boundary stomping, rudeness, abrasion, a total communication breakdown - it was like they were totally different people, and honestly I hated them both. I know stress brings out the worst in people, but sheesh. The book almost lost me at that point, and even though everything obviously worked out in the end, it left me with a sour taste in my mouth.

The book rounded things up very nicely, it was all very heartwarming and feel-good, and I liked how the subplot with the overbearing mother was dealt with, but there was honestly no way of completely coming back from the break-up for me. It’s a very fine line to tread, and a lot depends on what level of bad behaviour a reader personally is willing to accept. Usually one character is the worse offender, but here there was such abhorrent behaviour on both sides that I really struggled to root for anyone from thereon out. It’s sad that it cast (hehe, knitting puns) such a dark shadow over the rest of the book for me, but I couldn’t get past it.

I still think this book was worth reading - it was fun, speedy, soft, heartwarming and I flew through it - but unfortunately I’m gonna have to drop half a star, because I just couldn’t summon the same enthusiasm for this couple after what happened. I’d definitely read another book by this author because there was so much I loved about it, but this one definitely dropped the ball.

(Ha. Get it? Ball… of yarn? ...Never mind.) 3.5 stars.

I love how the Carina Adores line is putting so much effort into creating low(ish) angst romances that focus on LGBTQIA+ romances. While the female main character was a bit immature at times, she was in her early 20s and dealing with a lot of changes that could throw anyone for a loop. Love the central nature of the fiber crafts, especially as a crocheter myself. The relationship seemed a bit instalove as well, but I was ok with it for the most part. I thought they had a lot of grown up discussions, which was also great to read.

22 years old Poppy Adams is pregnant. A single, college dropout with a regular desk job and one who has to constantly battle her family’s expectations of her is lost, big time, especially when she is expecting an unplanned baby,

Readers get to follow through Poppy’s struggles with her decision for her pregnancy, watch her grow as she stumbles and finds her feet and share her passion for newfound friends and a love interest in her life. .

Overall, an engaging read. I think Poppy has this strength about her, even when she seems directionless in her life. What I also enjoyed was the lack of body shaming in this book. Poppy is not portrayed as a typical tall, slender and beautiful main character, she is just regular Poppy. And a Poppy that had Rhiannon falling for her.

4 stars for me, I thought the relationship between the pair was developed too quickly for me to catch the flame between them.

I just reviewed Knit,Purl, a Baby and a Girl by Hettie Bell. Thank you NetGalley and Carina Press for the ARC.

I was lucky enough to snag an e-ARC of this book and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I found the tone refreshing yet believable for how someone Poppy's age would react to the situation they found themselves in. I also appreciated the inclusion of the internal debate she went through in deciding whether or not she was going to keep the baby and how it was portrayed in a way that it is ultimately up to the person carrying the baby what they wish to do.

I agree with the other reviews that the romance between Rhiannon and Poppy seemed a bit rushed and, in some ways, to come out of nowhere. We knew the attraction was there, at least on Poppy's side, but besides the casual flirting there was no indicator that Rhiannon felt the same way. That said, there were also multiple conflicts in the story, which I felt was more believable especially given how fast paced their romantic relationship was.

Also Poppy's internal struggle, while believable, also seemed to become a bit of a crutch to add more unnecessary drama to the story. She also had a bad habit of lashing out at all the wrong people and the pregnancy hormone excuse can only be used for so many before it's gets a bit tedious. She always apologized because she recognized that it wasn't fair but it still happened a lot. The only one she never apologized too (rightfully) was her mom who...whew that woman was a piece of work. For someone who thought she knew everything about everything, she was sure quick to add more stressors to her pregnant daughter's life which anyone who has every had a baby will tell you is a big effing no-no.

Overall, this was a sweet romance about learning to be comfortable with your own choices, realizing your family can be found and not the one you're born into, but also realizing that sometimes you can forgive family for past hurts (not her mom btw that was still unresolved at the end). I would highly recommend this book for anyone who wants a quick sweet romance read.

I really enjoyed this. Cute, with a killer first person voice, and lots of found-family goodness. I also really loved the fat leading lady aspect and the way Poppy was presented. A little angsty in places but pretty low stakes in a good way.

The relationship between Poppy and both Rhiannon and the Stitch ‘n’ Bitch crew developed awfully fast but other than that my only complaint is that for two rational people who seem to be fairly good at communicating Poppy and Rhiannon sure got in their own way sometimes, and sometimes in cringey ways.

But for anybody who crafts and has been part of a knitting group this book will feel like a hug after coming home.

Knit, Purl, a Baby and a Girl is a sweet, relatively low-angst sapphic romance between a woman who finds herself pregnant after a drunken one-night-stand with her ex and another member of the knitting group she joins. It was enjoyable enough, without really standing out for me.

This review will probably end up sounding like a list of all the negative things, so I would like to stress first that I do have positive feelings about this book overall. I did like it. Compared to some of the sapphic romances I’ve read, it was great. Compared to some of the recent contemporary romances I’ve read, it was amazing. But compared in general to everything I’ve read? It was good and that’s about it.

The book opens with Poppy arriving at a Planned Parenthood, having discovered that she’s pregnant, and unsure whether she wants to keep the baby. There, she meets, very briefly, Rhiannon, who acts as her escort through the crowds picketing the place. Skip forward a bit, and Poppy decides she’s going to keep the baby and also join a stitch n’ bitch knitting group. Which just so happens to also involve Rhiannon.

I think one of the problems I had here — and we’ll get this one out the way first of all, with the caveat that it’s entirely personal even if it did impact on my reading — is that I have zero desire to ever be pregnant. So half of what Poppy was going through just didn’t resonate with me. Okay, so I could sympathise with it, but not much more, which meant that none of what she was going through really… interested me, I guess? But like I said, this is entirely personal. I just wanted to note it because it did have an effect on my enjoyment.

Perhaps less personal was how I felt about the pacing. For all that this book spans about 8 months, there’s no feeling of the passing of time. It probably doesn’t help that Poppy and Rhiannon met about twice before deciding they were going to start something. I know u-haul lesbians is the joke (although Poppy is bi so it doesn’t really work the same), but come on. In this book, I just wanted a bit more time for them to get to know each other before getting together. Because the problem was, when the angst came up later on, it just felt a bit stupid given that, when it came down to it, they didn’t really know each other. Not that I am entirely opposed to books moving a little faster, given the boring-as-anything slowburns I have had the misfortune of reading before. But I just felt this went too far in the other direction.

Which is an odd situation to be in, given that the book spans almost the entirety of Poppy’s pregnancy. You would think that that’s plenty of time to fully develop a relationship, but somehow it wasn’t. I think there’s a balance to be struck — some authors are really good at making you believe a relationship that develops over a week and that doesn’t feel too short, while others somewhat struggle with relationships over a longer period, and that was the case here. It’s like, in an effort to get the entire pregnancy in (for a single reason alone, it seems), a lot of the relationship development itself was skipped over. And, yeah, I know that there’s time passing because of Poppy’s comments about how big her foetus is, but I didn’t feel that. So in the end it seemed like Poppy and Rhiannon’s relationship developed over something like two days.

This is one of those books that I think could have done with cutting down the timeline. Having it span less of Poppy’s pregnancy because, in all honesty, there was no real reason any of the events had to happen at those particular points in her pregnancy. The only reason it seemed to have to take 8 months was so that there could be a reunion scene where Rhiannon comes running while Poppy’s in labour. In all, it was a whistle-stop tour of 8 months of a relationship that rested solely on a few scenes to show they were in a relationship and none of the development to convince you.

Yes, this sounds harsh, which is why I started the review pointing out I did rate this as ‘I liked it’. It was well-written, and Poppy and Rhiannon were sweet (if a little frustrating at times). It’s just that these were the things that meant I couldn’t like it more than I did.

Knit, Purl, A Baby and A Girl, by Hettie Bell, is a charming queer romance novel, about a knitting club and a surprise baby.

Poppy is the family screwup, but in the cute way, where she’s got a stable if boring job and her own quirkily-decorated studio apartment. A drunken hookup with her ex led to a surprise pregnancy, and after a perfectly supportive chat with a Planned Parenthood counselor, she decides to go motherhood alone.

Well, maybe not quite alone, as she stumbles into a new romance with Rhiannon, and into an eclectic, warm friend group in a knitting club.

This follows the usual Harlequin beats slightly too well to feel much tension, but sometimes you’re in the mood for instalove, wild sex, and the reliable resolution of misunderstandings. The quirky knitting club characters and Poppy’s cheerful attitude make this quick read a fun read.

A nice read about love, an unexpected baby and knitting. Packed in a book told from Poppy's pov who's 22 years old, pregnant from her loser boyfriend and joining a knitting group after deciding to keep the baby. Here she meets Rhiannon and now it will be the question if the stable life Poppy is after for her baby will include Rhiannon or not.
The downside of first person POV is that you get a mostly one sided story when it comes to feelings and thoughts of the main character and it makes it difficult to connect with the person not telling this story. Some writers are able to show you (at least a glimpse) of those feelings through their writing but I felt this was lacking in this book.
On the plus side the internal dialogue made me chuckle at times, the interactions between people were realistic and it was a good call to not completely resolve all the issues Poppy had.

Overall a book that's a good fit for anyone who is looking for a not too drama-filled romance with an interesting storyline and main character.

*** An ARC was provided by Netgalley in exchange for a honest review. ***

𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝗯𝗮𝗯𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲.

I mistakenly prejudged this to be a frivolous book by the cover and blurb. I mean, what more can it be if this story is about a young pregnant single woman joining something as passive as a knitting class and finding her love interest there. But there are heavy themes like abortion in there.

The language is humourous and it will make you laugh. But underneath it was a bit of self-depreciating humour from Poppy stemmed from insecurities caused by two decades of toxic parenting. Poppy never failed to remind us in her own way of her failures such as being fat, under-educated, pregnant with no means of raising a child on her own and having no friends, even if its not directly. So since this book is written entirely in Poppy’s POV, it’s coloured. That is why we don’t feel that this love interest Rhiannon was as attracted to Poppy as Poppy was to Rhiannon and yet if we take a closer look at the signs, we can see that she probably was.

Poppy and Rhiannon’s story turned out to be full of uncertainty and a lot of it boiled down to Rhiannon’s reluctance to accept an instant family at the infancy stage of their relationship. This prodded Poppy to consider going ahead with certain practical options for the baby’s sake. So I guess the premise of the book is realistic rather than a feel-good though there were one or two points in the book when it became overly dramaful because of their inability to express their thoughts properly with one another.

This was a pretty decent read that wouldn’t evoke too much emotions. And if anyone is wondering whether the knitting class served any purpose at all, it did.

3.5 Stars

This was an enjoyable book for me. It was funny, quirky, with a light amount of angst.

This is told in Poppy’s first-person point of view so I felt like I got to know her really well. She’s fat, bisexual and has dropped out of college, which are all very terrible things in the eyes of her mother. She has accepted and is mostly content with these things. However, she’s always lived in her perfect, older sister’s shadow with her mother constantly nagging her about her life choices. She knows being pregnant is only going to make it worse. At 22, she’s not sure she should even have the baby and goes back and forth on what to do.

Poppy meets Rhiannon at Planned Parenthood and they hit it off at first glance. When Poppy later decides to join a knitting group, Rhiannon is part of the group. Their romance starts off pretty quickly but Bell takes time for them to have on page conversations so the pacing feels pretty natural. I liked how this wasn’t a fairy tale romance and it showed the issues of finding out your pregnant and meeting a love interest at the same time. Rhiannon has to decide if she’s ready for an instant family and Poppy has to figure out if she’s ready for motherhood and a romantic relationship, especially with a partner who isn’t sure about the baby aspect. This felt pretty realistic, as there are issues and bumps along the way.

This is a romance and the romance is pretty heavily featured. But I really enjoyed another thing about it as well. To me it really speaks on not accepting other people’s expectations of you. Poppy has struggled with herself and her confidence when she lets her mother get into her head. She second guesses herself a lot and doesn’t trust herself to make the right choice. She grows and comes to learn that her mother’s expectations aren’t hers for herself and she’s quite happy with her life. It was nice seeing her mature and grow from who meet in the beginning.

I recommend this to romance fans, especially new adult romance fans. Also, fans of knitting. From the title and the cover, you may be able to guess knitting is involved!

I received an ARC from NetGalley and Harlequin-Carina Press in exchange for an honest review.

This was really cute, with a great first-person POV voice and charming, quick banter. I felt that Poppy and Rhiannon's relationship moved incredibly quickly with not a lot of grounding in it--as much as I wanted to know why they were so into each other, I think this quickness worked with the uncertainty both of them (but especially Poppy) had about the relationship, though it could have been foregrounded more. I really like that Poppy's issues with her mother were not wrapped up in a nice bow for the sake of family unity--there are consequences for her mother's lifelong terrible behaviour towards her and she doesn't just get a pass to continue to look down on Poppy's choices and relationship and sexuality.

There were three separate threads running through the novel--Poppy's insecurity, the knitting group, and her relationship with Rhiannon--and I would have like to have seen them woven together more seamlessly. A lot of the time, they felt like they were running parallel rather than integrated together. But I'd definitely read more from Hettie Bell in the future!

Short and fast: I enjoyed this book. I told other readers about it because there are a few things it does that I liked.

In this story, told in 1st person present tense, we have Poppy, who has decided to keep her surprise baby. She got pregnant after a drunken hook-up, and in resetting her life, she falls for a butch lesbian, Rhiannon. Poppy and Rhi navigate their new relationship from supportive friends, to girlfriends, etc, while dealing with lots of changes.

One of the things that immediately impressed me was Poppy's character voice. If it had not been so interesting, it wouldn't have made the journey of the book as lively. The entire story is told from her, though, and while it's nice to get into a different character's head from time to time, the author does have on-page conversations that help give insight into Rhiannon.

Poppy is an unapologetic fat girl who has worked on self-acceptance. The book cover is as adorably cute as Poppy herself is. Kudos to Carina Press for doing that.

Another thing in here that I appreciated is showing what Planned Parenthood does and what it means to be Pro-Choice. There are too many people who seem to think Pro-Life and Pro-Choice are diametric opposites. They are not. Sometimes the choice itself is life. So though Poppy goes to Planned Parenthood and protestors make her life hard because they assume she's there for an abortion, that's not what she does.

One of the other things in the beginning of the book is that whatever Poppy's decision is, she should choose for herself, not based on "should" or others' expectations. Learning autonomy is something a lot of people struggle to do, but this book put those ideas in a clear way. It was worth thinking about and discussing with a friend.

I wasn't always convinced of the chemistry between Poppy and Rhiannon, but theirs wasn't a love affair of raging passion. It involved give and take and respect. Those are good things, IMO.

I don't know how to knit. I'm more of a crocheter. But after reading this ARC, I feel the author must be a knitter or have close friends who are. the details that lend this authenticity are lovely.

To reiterate: I enjoyed this and do recommend it. It's a quick read that would be a good fit for those open to reading an FF romance, a story with a pregnant heroine, or those who like stories with knitting.