Series Overview:

The Knitting in the City series follows a group of women in Chicago who are connected by their participation in a knitting circle. Every Tuesday, the six women meet at one of their houses (they rotate) to knit or crochet, eat, drink, chat, etc. Each book follows the romance of one of the friends.

Book 1: Neanderthal Seeks Human: A Smart Romance

As advertised, Neanderthal Seeks Human: A Smart Romance is just that, smart.

It introduces the knitting group through the only non-knitter, Janie. She crochets. She’s just broken up with her long-term boyfriend with whom she had been living because she caught him cheating. So, in one fell swoop, she loses her boyfriend and her place to live. Coincidentally, or not, she also loses her job on the same day. As she is having the worst day of her life, she is escorted from the office building by an extremely hot “security guard” who she’s basically been stalking for a while, whom she and her best friend, Elizabeth, call “Handsome McHotpants.” A series of events unfurls, and it turns out that McHotpants is more that what he seemed. Romance ensues.

The interesting thing about the book is Janie. She’s not your typical romance novel heroine. She’s quirky, like seriously quirky. Of course she’s hot, smart, etc., but she’s also borderline autistic.She is obsessed with trivia and blurts out random pieces of tangentially relevant information almost constantly. At first, it seems like a gimmick, but, throughout the book and the series, it becomes apparent that there is a depth to Janie’s character and a consistency that makes her more real than other “quirky” characters.

Although it is a romance novel, complete with sex scenes, the focus is not on the consummation acts but rather on the feelings and emotional or plot developments that occur during those time. I once read that there are no “good” sex scenes because no matter how you describe it, it sounds trashy, and I agree; however, the scenes in Neanderthal feel different because of their focus.

As for the “smart” aspect, I found out, throughout the series and by reading the author’s bio, that before becoming an author Penny Reid worked in a scientific field. I can’t remember what it was at the moment, but it is relevant. Her books, including Neanderthal contain multiple references to science, medicine, technology, politics, psychology, and a number of other “smart” topics that are all completely up-to-date and accurate. I was pleasantly surprised to see how intelligent and informed the characters and the author come across.

Needless to say, as I continued to read the rest of the series, I enjoyed it and wanted more.

In the novella Neanderthal Marries Human: A Smarter Romance, we are reunited with Janie and McHotpants (Quinn) as their relationship hits the next level. There are no spoilers here, since it’s in the title, but they get married. The book starts with Quinn’s proposal, which is only accepted on certain conditions. Janie has the ridiculous idea that since they’ve only known each other for a short period of time, they need to test the strength of their relationship with a sort of trial by fire. She decides they need to experience stress together, and she creates said stress by deciding to plan a huge wedding in a short period of time.

There is a lot of character development on Quinn’s behalf in this book, as he deals with his family and his history. I like that about this book, and this series. The male characters are both round and dynamic, they’re fully fleshed out and experience growth and change.

Also, there is overlap with the second book in the series and its events, which brings me to what I really love about the series. The books really intertwine well. A lot of series heavily reference the other books in order to pressure you into reading them, but they always explain what happened. Knitting in the City incorporates all of the books seamlessly into one story. Though there is overlap, the scenes are never just re-worded or re-explained. They explore different aspects of the scenes or just never mention the scenes at all. For example, you experience the marriage of the characters from Book 2 in this book, but the actual wedding isn’t retold in Book 2. It is merely referenced. So, the series doesn’t get repetitive.

The second book of the series follows Janie’s best friend, Elizabeth, who is a doctor working in the hospital’s pediatrics. She is called in to a consultation for a patient who needs to join a clinical trial and finds herself confronted by the person she lost her virginity to, the patient’s uncle and famous comedian, Nico. Without giving everything away, allow me to say they have a difficult history. He has always loved her, but she had been completely unaware of the fact. They have to overcome their history and their insecurities in order to make their relationship work.

The complexity of the feelings in this book are what make it most interesting. It delves much deeper into the psychological hang-ups of the characters than most romance novels do, and, while it feels cheesy at times, it was compelling.

I came for the continued wit of the author, but I was rewarded with steamier love scenes. The best part of it, however, is that I was given the option in this book. The major love scene in the book is given twice, once in the same style as Neanderthal, and once in traditional (describe what they’re doing) romance style. I read and enjoyed both. I like that even when describing the act of sex, Reid doesn’t quite fall into the cheezy euphemism trap of velvet-wrapped steel.

Okay, now this is the book that hooked me officially into the series. I love this book.

It follows Sandra, another member of the knitting circle and a successful child psychologist. Sandra has a nasty habit of analyzing her dates, which always end with her date in tears, hugging her as she recommends a good psychologist for them. She’s into horoscopes, and hers has revealed that she is about to meet someone who will change her life, so she gets excited and buys a sexy new dress. She asks a guy out and takes him to her usual date spot, a restaurant near her apartment that serves delicious Butter Chicken, her consolation prize from her failed dates. She is extremely disappointed that this date turns out the same as all of the others, or so she thinks. As she gets ready to go, she turns to see that her usual waiter, a hot and much younger man, is sitting at her table, waiting to talk to her. He all but demands to know why she is making all of the men cry. Over many glasses of wine, Sandra explains to the seemingly angry younger man all of her relationship woes, including that she hasn’t been kissed in a very long time. He offers to fix that for her, and craziness ensues as she begins to fall in love with him only to discover he has a dark and mysterious secret.

This book marks a shift in the series. Books 1 and 2 both focus on the characters falling in love, but Book 3 adds a level. The mystery of the waiter’s, Alex’s, past and ex-con status is fascinating. It is exactly what I had no idea I wanted.

Again, the other books tie into the story, and this time, they are necessary aspects. Although you can read each as a stand-alone, they enhance each other by giving backgrounds for integral characters.

This book made me realize that each of the characters has a nerdy interest (Star Wars, Star Trek, Harry Potter, etc.), and introduced Reid’s habit of beginning each chapter with a book-specific blurb. Each chapter of this book begins with a horoscope.

Beauty and the Mustache is not only book 4 of the Knitting in the City series but also serves as the introduction to the Winston Brothers series.

It follows Ashley, a nurse who works at the hospital with Elizabeth and is also, of course, a member of the knitting circle. Ashley, who grew up in Tennessee, hasn’t been home since she left and estranged from her family, with the exception of her mother. Her brothers tormented her growing up, and she has no desire to deal with their foolish nonsense. However, when her mother abruptly stops contacting her, she has to reach out to them in order to find out what is going on with her mother. She finds that her mother has been admitted to the hospital and will not allow anyone but Ashley to visit. As Ashley returns home to Tennessee and her brothers, she meets the newest “member” of the family, Drew, her eldest brother’s boss.  Despite a rough start to their acquaintance, Ashley finds comfort and more in Drew as she remains by her ailing mother’s side and reintegrates into the family.

After being hooked by Sandra’s book, I was excited to keep reading to see what new surprises Penny Reid had in store for me. While Beauty and the Mustache is certainly no mystery novel, it still had deeper story to tell than romance. It is about family, love, and loss, and it is extremely touching. I definitely cried while reading it, which, although not uncommon in general, is not something I do often when reading a romance novel.

Since Ashley is the bookworm of the knitting circle, Reid starts each chapter with a quote from literature, and, since I am a former English major, I love it. Drew also is a bookworm who even writes poetry, which is included in the book. So, there is also original poetry to read, which is rather impressive.

While I enjoy the change of scenery and the description of Ashley’s home in Tennessee, the best thing about the book, in my opinion, is the introduction to the Winston brothers. After reading their series as well, I have to admit that I may love them even more than the ladies of the knitting circle.