Jenny Colgan does such a great job at building out her characters and utilizing the place as one of the main characters. This cast is lovely & easy to fall in love with.

Not necessarily a sequel, but based in the same town and with many of the same characters, this is related to The Summer Skies. As always, Ms. Colgan's characters are endearing, even the ones we don't like. This one stars a meek supermarket worker Gertie, who's life revolves around a knitting group filled with the older women in the town. Slowly, through a variety of events, she starts coming out of her shell and being comfortable with herself and her own ideas. I love Ms. Colgan's writing! Even when scary things are happening in the story, she keeps her readers safe and optimistic!

🌊🏔Gentle dreamer scores her HEA🛩🌫

Gertie, this story's Scottish female lead, was a terrifically appealing character in a novel I fell in love with. She's a quiet dreamer with romantic fantasies but no game, surrounded by a supportive and protective community of women knitters. She's a small town girl who's never ventured far from her remote home or done anything too dramatic until she turns out to be heroic, generous and brave in the most testing of circumstances. Her knitted creations may not always be appreciated by her highly opinionated fellow knitters or the men she likes, but I really wanted her to get the right man.

Struan, a musician and grade school teacher crush from her teenage years, and Calum, the millionaire who owns the local island-hopping air service where she takes a temporary job, inspire her fantasy and affection in different ways. Jenny Colgan weaves a delightful story and doesn't skimp on some nail-biting, life-or-death drama. Gertie definitely has her ups and downs, but shows her mettle and I loved how she wins the love of a deserving man. Enchanting stuff with winsome secondary characters like the Knitting Circle members and there's some lol humor as well, like a particularly unforgettable scene with Gertie checking in a trio of passengers and their animals for their flight.

Thanks to Avon and Harper Voyager and NetGalley for sharing a complimentary advance copy of the book; this is my voluntary and honest opinion.

Jenny Colgan is becoming a favorite of mine. Her stories are just so warm and charming!
Close Knit packs all of the best; small island full of quirky characters. Gertie and her group of knitters were just so. much. fun. The fact that she loves to knit with her mom and grandmother was just... I loved it!

There were some great humorous moments in this story that made me laugh--Gertie's proclivity for daydreaming amongst them.
I loved the bit of romance thrown in. It's always a good sign for me when a book isn't overtly romantic but still holds my interest.

Jenny Colgan writes terrific stories that warm the heart and entertain!

I decided to read this book because it was advertised as a book fans of Debbie Macomber would enjoy. As she is one of my favorite authors I thought I would give this book a try.

I'm not quite sure where the comparison comes in because the only thing similar between this book and those by Debbie Macomber is characters who knit. I found this book to be too full of descriptions and a story that was not interesting until the last 25%.

It was easy to figure out the plot of this book. It was just a matter of it getting there. I was borderline bored while reading this book.

I may or may not give this author another chance. This was the first book of hers I had read and maybe my expecting were a bit too high because of the author comparison.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest opinion which I have given.

Gertie is the main character in this book and for me the main character of every story I am reading should be one I like and this time that just did not happen for me until I was most of the way through the book. The author did a good job of making the other characters much more likeable for me.
I did enjoy reading most of this book but found that the first part was long and a bit hard to get into, but the rest of the book saved it for me.
Thank you NetGalley and Harper Voyager for the book Close Knit. This is my personal review.

The second in the MacIntyre Air series (The Summer Skies #1) where we meet Gertie and her knitting circle. Pilot Morag, grandfather Randald, are both in the story background when Gertie is hired as the desk clerk for the airline.

This one was a slow start for me but I enjoyed the knitting circle and Gertie’s sweet family. It’s another Jenny Colgan classic story with romance and a bit of nail biting adventure. No spoilers but she always gives us our happy romantic endings. Looking forward to seeing where this series goes as I truly enjoyed Summer Skies.

3.5 rounded up

Thank you to Avon, Voyager, and NetGalley for the ARC for an honest review.

I love Jenny Colgan's books, and CLOSE KNIT is a perfect example of why. A cozy read set in Scotland with relatable characters and a heartwarming story. Perfect for a rainy day or a wintry day with hot cocoa before a fire.

As always, I very much enjoyed my jaunt with Jenny Colgan. While it did take me a little bit more time than usual to get into the story, (not fully sure why, everything was lovely), once I did, I had as much fun as ever. I think maybe the main character Gertie made me feel sad at first because I was worried whether I'd like the direction her development went but all was well. Anyway! Lots of lovely Scottish island sites, an even more remote setting than in her previous books, fun and quirky characters, romance, doubt, and personal growth abound! Hope everyone enjoys it as much as I did!

I love a Jenny Colgan book..you know what you are getting, a sweet love story, a theme (baking, knitting, books) and a few giggles along the way. Trusty books are important and I think Gertie is one of my favorite characters to date. Also Struhan is super dreamy!
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC..

Any time I read a Jenny Colgan book, I know I'm going to get something sweet and cozy that will make me want to move to Scotland. This book was all of that. It's the second book in a series, which I didn't know when I started reading, but I don't think reading the first book is necessary to enjoy this one. Close Knit focuses on Gertie, a shy, dreamy 20 something who lives in a small town at the northern tip of Scotland. She meets Morag, one of the pilots for the local small airline, and begins working for her. As she does, her small, quiet world opens up and Gertie is able to come into herself. This was just such a cute book, with quirky characters and breathtaking descriptions of Scotland and the northern islands in the archipelago. I am looking forward to going back and reading Morag's story in the first book in the series.

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

A contemporary women's fiction in a lovely Scottish setting. Gertie Mooney is a knitter and a shop girl, living in rural Scotland and in a knitting circle. She gets an opportunity to work temporarily in the tiny airport for a puddle jumper airline, despite the fact that she has never been on a plane. A gentleman she is intrigued with is a part of the operation. Can you think of a cuter title than "Close Knit"? And what a lovely cover.

Three deep dives here--
-Rural Contemporary Scottish Culture
-Knitting and Knitting Culture
-Aviation

If you romanticize the above, you will absolutely love this book. The romance aspect of the book is almost nil, the male love interest is boring at best, just not a very big part of the story. This is definitely more of Gertie's story, and I loved the moment where her Knitting skills intersected to help her airline accomodation skills in the climax, but I won't give that away. I picked up knitting during Covid and while I was never great at it, I love the beauty and meditation that comes with the repetitive movement that creates over time, the same movement my ancestors did years ago.

"Gertie's tolerance for men being gruff with her was quite low." <-- girl same.
Thanks to NetGalley and Avon and HarperVoyager for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. Book to be released August 6, 2024.

I really enjoy several of Jenny Colgan's books. There are always in characters you get invested in as well as a sweet storyline and plot I enjoyed Close knit, for its coziness, nostalgic elements and strong character development through the story. Very good book that kept me interested. I highly recommend

I always look forward to a new Jenny Colgan book but gave up on Close Knit after 15 chapters. While Colgan’s style of separating the main characters into individual chapters is usually seamless it does not work in this book. And the daydream reveries of Gertie make it even more disjointed. What could be conveyed in a short paragraph drags on far too long

This book was cute, fun, and very sweet. I liked the characters a lot and I thought it was a quick and light read

Gertie gets hired to work at the local airport, while the other is on maternity leave. When a storm strands a group of young children and their teachers on an island north of Scotland, she steps in to help. Good story, and other than skimming when Gertie gets day-dreaming, I enjoyed this one and would highly recommend it. Fun read.

I am a big Jenny Colgan fan and was very pleased to see there is a follow up to The Summer Skies. Gertie Mooney is a dreamer and a knitter. She lives with her mother & grandmother in Northern Scotland and feels like she's in a bit of a rut, working at the local grocery and spending most of her free time with her mother, grandmother and their Knitting Circle(the KCs). Gertie is always making up romantic dreams about men and crushes hard on Calum Frost, the Norwegian owner of the local airline run by pilot Morag MacIntyre, from the Summer Skies. When Morag's right hand/best friend needs to go on maternity leave, she runs in to Gertie, who she knew from school, and tries to convince her to take leave from her shop job and fill in during the pregnancy leave. Gertie takes her up on it, and they end up sharing a flat rented by musician Struan McGhie, who happened to be Gertie's crush in school. MacIntyre Air flies people to and from the islands north of the Scottish Highlands and Gertie now assists in the hangar with check in and boarding of the small plane. Will Gertie change her life with her new job, and will Calum Frost notice her if she knits him a beautiful scarf? What I like about all Jenny Colgan novels is that she makes you want to visit the Highlands, if not move there for the slower pace and simpler life, it's described as beautiful, but also realistically as cold, rainy, long summer days & short winter days. I highly recommend all her books and this one is no exception. Thank you so much to NetGalley and Avon Books for an ebook advance reader copy to review.

Once again, the lovely Jenny Colgan has given us a snippet of small town Scottish life. Quiet Gertie MacIntyre, whose life is defined as much by her daydreaming as it is by her knitting, dreams of a bigger life. When she’s offered a new job AND a new living arrangement away from her childhood home, Gertie’s life begins to expand until she finds herself facing a number of “firsts,” including an unexpected mountain rescue.

What works (or not) for me:
This is a slow-paced, comfort read. While a bit jumbled at the beginning, alternating viewpoints between three different villagers, it did all come together before too long into a cohesive storyline. Had I known this book is the follow-up to last year’s The Summer Skies, I think it would have made sense sooner.

Loved, as always with Jenny Colgan, the quaintness of Scottish village life!

Didn’t love the daydreaming aspect, or maybe the in-depthness of the daydreams? It made me pity Gertie a little bit and made her seem a little immature. She’s nearly 30, I think?

Loved seeing Gertie grow in her confidence and capability and achieve her “bigger life.”

Thank you to Avon Books, Harper Collins Publishing, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC.

What an enchanting story. The book jacket is a little misleading as I felt like the story was more of an ensemble than specifically about Gertie. Did I mention I love ensemble stories. Having so many perspectives made the story so much bigger. I loved the character development, not only Gertie and Struan, who had the largest ones, but also her mother Jean, and others. The story remained engaging, and when the ending came I was disappointed because I wanted to hear more from this lovely place and fascinating people. This was just such a lovely book, which I highly recommend. Disclaimer: I received an advanced book copy from NetGalley for an honest review.

I found this novel really challenging to get into and I have to admit, I stopped about 1/3 of the way through. The main character didn't grab me, and the Scottish brogue/phrases kept bringing me out of the story. I will continue to read Jenny Colgan's books however as I have enjoyed her stories in the past.

Thanks to Netgalley, the author and publisher, for an advanced reading copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.