I’ve read (and reviewed) Penny Reid’s earlier Neanderthal books. These are part of the Knitting in the City series and are billed, as you can see, as smart romances. This is true from several angles. It’s very clear from her work that Penny Reid is a smart cookie herself. What was particularly impressive, however, is that this entry seemed entirely logical (of course), even though the previous book about these two characters was complete and satisfying. This is a big feat.
Ms. Reid has a nice, complex and yet not dense style. She’s not so intricate in her prose as to irritate the reader, but not so simplistic as to annoy the heck out of us. In this installment in the Knitting series, she follows her heroine, Janie, and Janie’s hero, Quinn thought oft-ignored parts of a developing relationship. She not only shows us in the first of the series how they ended up together, in this installment she convinces us that these two–through mutual understanding, respect and enjoyment of each other–might actually make the long haul. The sex isn’t half bad either, if you get my drift.
Unlike some romances, she doesn’t describe her characters as perfect-and-beautiful-in-every-way. They’re hot, alright, but Janie is very aware of her shortcomings, both physical and behavioral. She knows she’s not average in her approach, but readers don’t get the feeling that she’s snobby about her intelligence. Instead, the reader gets an interesting view of how difficult and challenging it can be to be very intelligent.
This is a fun read. It left me regretful to say goodbye to Janie and Quinn, no social butterfly himself.
I liked most about these people that they seemed real and yet were presented in a loving manner…don’t we all want that?