Generally predictable tale of women's friendships, with one interesting twist near the end. Knitters will enjoy the background dealing with the art of Shetland Lace knitting. ( )

Let me begin this review with thanks to LibraryThing and Avon Publishers for providing me with the opportunity to read this book. Knit in Comfort: A Novel by Isabel Sharpe is one of many books published recently which are centered on a group of women who share knitting as a common hobby. I wanted to love this book, and while I found it engaging enough, I only liked it.

The story revolves around two women. Megan Morgan lives a settled life in Comfort, North Carolina with her husband, children, and mother-in-law. She belongs to the knitting club, Purls before Wine which meets weekly. Even though this is the life Megan wanted, she never really seems content. Needing to supplement the family income, Megan rents out the small garage apartment behind the house to Elizabeth Detlaff. Elizabeth lived in New York City with her boyfriend. In a dream, Elizabeth heard her grandmother tell her to go find “comfort” and she believes that is what she has done! She views Megan’s life as blissfully happy until she sees beneath the surface and realized things may not be the way they seem. And isn’t that true of everyone’s life?

The part that made this story a little more interesting was the introduction of Megan’s stories about her ancestors from the Shetland Islands in Scotland. Fiona, Megan’s great-grandmother, knitted beautiful lace that seemed to tell her story. In the beginning, I was more focused on this story until I could figure out who was who. The two stories, Megan’s and Fiona’s, seem to flow together over the course of the book just as Megan and Elizabeth’s stories do. ( )

From the blurb on the back cover:

"Megan has always longed form the comforts of home. But if her dreasm of a perfect life with her husband and children in Comfort, North Carolina, have sometimes come up short, she finds solace every time she -- along with other women of the town --takes up her knitting needles. From her hands comes beautiful creations, made out of the emotions she feels in her heart, and Megan feels like she really belongs. But then change comes to closeknit Comfort when Megan takes on a new tenant, Elizabeth. She's brash, she's bold, and she's about to unravel everything."

As a knitter, I was excited to read this book, especially because I had just started knitting lace, which the character, Megan is proficient.

While the story was good and her family's secret was a complete surprise, I thought the book could have been better. I liked how each chapter started with the story of Megan's great-grandmother, which seemed to parallel with what was going on in Megan's life. I kept wishing that the author had fleshed out the secondary characters a bit more. There were two characters mentioned in the beginning of the book that we, as the reader, never even met. ( )

Knit in Comfort starts slow and never really picks up. It is a cozy read of little substance. The main character, Megan, is irritating. Elizabeth is one of the few likable characters in the book. I wouldn't want to be friends with these people. The flashbacks to Shetland were the best parts of the book. If you love chick lit and read fast this book might be for you. ( )

Although I don't knit (I wish I knew how!), I felt that Knit in Comfort is a great book that has mass appeal.

I quickly blazed through the book and felt a connection to the young woman I would say is the main character,Elizabeth.

Elizabeth is orginally from New York, but has this driving force to go to Comfort, NC - a force which she believd came from a dream in which she saw her grandmother.

While in Comfort, Elizabeth learns things are not as they always seem, especially with her "landlady", Megan.

The only I did not like about the book is the back story of Megan's family. It confused me (as it was spread thoughout the book and not in one section). ( )