Review: Neanderthal Seeks Human by Penny Reid

This is the first book in the Knitting in the City series by Penny Reid.  I don't remember where I saw it, if it was a recommendation on Amazon or a review on someone else's blog. But I liked the sound of a female protagonist who sounds just a bit geeky, so I decided to give it a try.

We first meet Janie Morris while she is in the bathroom stall at work contemplating: Worst. Day. Ever.  First she finds out that her long time boyfriend is cheating on her so she dumps him. While dumping him is the smart thing to do, it also leaves her homeless since they were living in one of his parents apartments.  Then she is called into her boss's office and notified that she was being downsized.  Of course, her ex-boyfriend's father pulled some strings to make that happen, since he is a big deal client for Janie's firm.  Now to add insult to injury, she is left sitting in bathroom stall with no toilet paper.

When Janie finally gets out of the bathroom to finish packing up her desk, she finds that they have sent the super hot security guard that she has been daydreaming about for the past five weeks.  As he is escorting her to the basement to complete the necessary forms and turn in her keys, Janie begins rambling on with trivial information.  She knows she needs to stop, but she is nervous and can't help herself.  But Sir McHotpants, as Janie has dubbed him, just gives her a grin and seems amused with the flood of trivial information.

About a week later, Elizabeth, Janie's best friend, knitting group companion and new roommate takes her out to a club to help her loosen up and relax.  Thus leading them to club Outrageous.  During her time in the club, Janie once again runs into Sir McHotpants, aka Quinn.  When Elizabeth gets called in to work, Janie heads back into the club and ends up getting into trouble.  Luckily Quinn was on hand to save her.

I unashamedly admit that I am not a huge fan of books that are termed Chick Lit.  Most of the times, these books are about women who live in a big city and sit around discussing parties, fashion and the multitude of men they have notched on their lipstick cases.  Basically the Sex and the City genre books, and they do nothing for me. They leave me totally cold and unconnected from the character.  This was NOT one of those books, even though I have seen it categorized as Chick Lit.

This was a book about a woman who was socially awkward and a bit nerdy, but managed to find love not in spite of her self-perceived flaws, but because of them. I read another review that lambasted the book for having corny dialogue.  I personally like corny dialogue.  When the women holding their knitting group got together, you could tell they were close friends; comfortable with letting their true personalities out with one another.  It felt familiar and comfortable and real. I liked this book so much I gave it 4 stars on Goodreads.  I can only hope book two is as good.

This is a full-length, 110k word novel and is the first book in the Knitting in the City series.

There are three things you need to know about Janie Morris: 1) She is incapable of engaging in a conversation without volunteering TMTI (Too Much Trivial Information), especially when she is unnerved, 2) No one unnerves her more than Quinn Sullivan, and 3) She doesn't know how to knit.

After losing her boyfriend, apartment, and job in the same day, Janie Morris can't help wondering what new torment fate has in store. To her utter mortification, Quinn Sullivan- aka Sir McHotpants- witnesses it all then keeps turning up like a pair of shoes you lust after but can't afford. The last thing she expects is for Quinn- the focus of her slightly, albeit harmless, stalkerish tendencies- to make her an offer she can't refuse.

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