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.
Source: advance e-galley provided in exchange for an honest review
Mama Joy's death is a sudden and unexpected loss to her four sons and the tight-knit Harlem community they live in. Her store, Strong Knits, has been an institution providing not only beautiful ware for knitters to buy but also a haven for like-minded folk and anyone looking for a place to belong. Nobody knows that more than Jesse and Kerry.
Jesse was one of Mama Joy's four adopted sons and this has been his only family. Even though he's recently been adrift with regards to his personal life, Mama Joy never made him feel unloved. While his brothers may view the future of the shop differently, Jesse firmly believes that he can carry on Mama Joy's legacy and make the store successful. All he needs is a little help and for someone who believes in him. Enter Kerry, who's known the Mama Joy and the boys for years. She feels the loss as much as they do and wants very much to keep Strong Knits going. She offers to help Jesse whip the store into shape and show him what she learned from working with his mother.
I liked the setting of a knitting store and come on, four men who inherit it as part of their family's legacy? That's an intriguing concept. It obviously challenges the concept of gender roles with these four guys who grew up learning how to knit. They're self-assured young men with different careers, except for Jesse. But it's okay that he hasn't quite figured himself out yet because that's what he's doing now. He's filled his time with distractions, like the endless women that he's hooked up with. Now he has to prove that he can handle responsibility and make good choices. This is about keeping the store in business as it is about his own direction. Kerry has seen the parade of women and can only eyeroll at him though it never stopped her from falling for his charm. She offers to stay on to help while putting a pause on her own career ambitions.
I have to say that I was excited about how Jesse and Kerry would save the store but there didn't seem to be much time spent on that aside from vague references and ideas scattered throughout the story. I really wanted to see more of their business ideas to get a tangible picture in my mind. That was the book's major pull for me, initially. Instead, a lot of time was spent on Jesse's missteps with the women in his past and facing down his brothers when they became skeptical of his plans. Between those two subplots I was more interested in him strengthening his bond with his brothers. There was plenty of longing going on between Kerry and Jesse that took its time to come to fruition.
While I would've preferred a more streamlined plot that focused more on the store and the artistry of knitting as Jesse and Kerry gradually fell in love, Real Men Knit is still an interesting read and I'm glad I've finally read my first Kwana Jackson book!
~ Bel
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