Neanderthal Seeks Human: A Smart Romance (Knitting in the City, #1)

by Penny Reid

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 to make her an offer she can't refuse.

Neanderthal Seeks Human is book #1 in the Knitting in the City series. Each book is a standalone, full length, contemporary romantic comedy novel, and follows the misadventures and exploits of seven friends in Chicago, all members of the same knitting group.

• ISBN10: 0989281000
• ISBN13: 9780989281003
• Publish Date: 13 March 2013
• Publish Status: Active
• Imprint: Cipher-Naught
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 296
• Language: English

Reviews

[The Romantic Comedy Book Club]

Spoilers removed. Full review on the site.

 

As the first book I have read by Penny Reid, I really wanted to love it! While I did enjoy the humor (she had me laughing before I finished the first page), I just couldn’t go all in with this book. The the storyline of Janie and Quinn was solid; however, it was the subplots that consistently pulled my attention away, causing my interest to dip until we were finally able to get back to the heart of the story. Understanding Neanderthal Seeks Human was Penny’s debut novel, I believe her writing was still finding its footing and the rest of the series may be more formulated and awe-inspiring.

 

To say Janie has had a bad day would be a gross understatement. First, she finds out her boyfriend has been cheating on her. Next, she spectacularly destroys her work outfit and has to borrow a variety of items to resemble a partially functioning/half decent human being. But it doesn’t stop there! Of course she is also fired once she gets to work, conveniently being part of a downsizing of one. You would think mercy would be taken on her at some point but the icing on the cake, the extremely hot security guard – Sir McHotPants, the man she can’t even look in the face, has been assigned to escort her off the premises. What has she possibly done to deserve all of this?! Out of the three sisters, she was the good one, the calm one, the one who always did the right thing. Taking a deep breath (after hiding in the bathroom post firing and pre McHotPants), Quinn leaves with her head held high and resolves to get her life back on track. After sulking around the apartment and embracing her new reclusive way of life, her roommate and best friend Elizabeth suggests a girls night out. Not knowing what she signed up for, she definitely wasn’t expecting to run into McHotPants – i.e. Quinn! She also didn’t expect to wake up hungover, in her underwear, and in a strange bed the next morning! Quickly to reassure her nothing happened, Quinn offers to help Janie snag a job where he works. Going full circle and back where it all started, Janie finally feels like things are working out. Now if she can just figure out her love life. Lucky for her, Quinn has an answer for that too!

 

Janie was unlike any character I have read in book! Her trivia knowledge alone below me away. She was gorgeous but didn’t see it. Deserved the world and yet felt so undeserving of the love and attention from anyone. Everything that made her special was viewed as a hindrance or made her a “freak”. I did love her scathing sense of humor and moments where she showed that she could hold her own.

 

As mentioned initially, I had waxing and waning attention with this book. There were times where it was so good that I couldn’t put it down but other times that anything but reading it was appealing. When the story stuck with Janie and Quinn, it had my full attention. When it started to focus on the family dynamics, dark history, and a sub story, it pulled focus. It made a lighthearted story a little too dark.

 

The book walked the line of a heated closed door romance. The lead ups were sizzling and the post recaps where clean but didn’t leave the reader in the dark of what happened “off camera”. If you prefer spice, it is slight frustrating. If you prefer steam but keeping it clean, it does an excellent job!

 

I would say more in an indirect way, the book focuses on stereotyping, perspective, and the ways of viewing the world. Just because one person is one way doesn’t mean that everyone else who exhibits the same characteristics should be labeled and treated the same way. We are all uniquely different and each situation should be taken into consideration for what it is. Should past experiences influence our perspective? Sure, but we should still be open minded about the elements that are different and impactful.

 

While I don’t see myself reading any more books in this series, I do highly recommend it for those who love a steamy romance with humor, suspense, drama, and a quirky group of characters that keep you smiling, guessing, laughing, and loving from beginning to end.

[mrs_mander_reads]

Penny Reid is amazing. I loved this book. I actually read it all in one sitting, which I haven't done with a book in a long time. I did want a little more character info on Quinn, especially his background, and more of Janie's sisters, but that's okay. It was still wonderful, and I'm ready to devour the rest of the series.

[bookperson]

I give up. DNF @ 52%
I love Penny Reid with all my heart, my favorite series id Winston Brothers by her. But this... is not my cup of tea. Maybe it's the fact that there is only one POV, maybe that heroine is too naive or that story could've been cut in half... IDK
I don't hate it, I just don't love it. But thank god it exists because Reid written so many amazing stories since then!

[kimbacaffeinate]

Awkward, funny, friendship, original and unique are the words that come to mind when I think of this audiobook romance.

Jennifer Grace does a fantastic job of capturing both Janie Morris and Quinn Sullivan’s unique, quirky, socially awkward characters.

This romance is a mix of women’s fiction, friendships and firsts. We witness character self-doubt, flaws and growth. There is even a suspenseful thread and a wee bit of drama that is surprisingly short-lived.

It was fun, sweet, adorkable, and I loved it but it could have been 6 hours. The story meanders a bit, but still I laughed, identified with characters and situations and even becoming involved by shaking my head and shouting

[Hillary]

It is no secret that this is the year that I was really able to understand audio. I received two cochlear implants about three years ago. I was born Deaf, so I had to learn to hear. I practiced for hours a day watching youtube, reading a book while listening to the audio version among other things. All that hard work paid off as now I am an implant superstar! No really. Back in May of 2018 when I got a 95 speech recognition test score vers my big fat 0 I got before my implants everyone was shocked including me. Now I blow through audiobooks, and I think I single handily raised the stock of Audible. Then I discovered the Audible Romance package! All the romance books I can read for a flat fee. Sign me up. There I was scrolling through the romance package when this cover caught my eye. Yes. I judge books by their cover. I thought it sounded like a good, fun, read. So I downloaded it and listened.

 

I know that some people on Goodreads hated the book and that is why I hate reading comments on Goodreads. I had already made up my mind that I really liked this book and wanted to read all the Penny Reid books. I did not go into it expecting a life-shattering piece of work, but instead, I wanted a light reading experience.

I think that the reason I like this book as much as I did as I could relate to most of the characters. I do not need to connect to the characters to enjoy a book, but it helps. For example, I can relate to Janie in which we are both awkward and nerdy, and both of us have a problem keeping our mouths shut.  Seeeee...We are practically twins!

I liked this book and was thrilled to see that all eight books in the series are included in the romance package. Good thing it is the start of the holiday season so while I am doing stuff for THAT, I  will have hour and hours of listening time. And I have found that a good audiobook can make the most dreaded of tasks way more bearable.

There were times that I wanted to slap some sense into Janie, but I also saw a lot of myself in her, and the same things that annoyed me in the books are the same things that annoy the hell out of me in myself. Because I was able to connect so much with Janie, I was able to really enjoy the story. I don't HAVE to connect with the characters in a book to like it or to think the book is excellent. I mean when I read Zombie by Joyce Carol Otes I was HORRIFIED, but still, I have to admit that was damn good writing. Same with Tampa. I still like a bit of "brain candy" so Books Such as Netherdral Seeks Human really was me able to enjoy the book a bit more without dreaming that I am being chased like I was when I read the first Book in the MurderBot series "All Systems Red." Instead, I was able to sit back enjpy the sappy sweet romance. I plan to continue the series and can wait to read the other books.This review was originally posted on Adventures in Never Never Land

[Rowena]

It felt like I was reading this book for two years. It was strange, the romance felt like it was slow going but then really fast at the same time. I don’t even know. I need to think on this some more. It wasn’t bad. It was just okay and the heroine? She was too smart to be that dumb. Full review to come when I’m through sorting out my thoughts. The knitting club was awesome though.

[Amanda]

Love a smart but clueless heroine. #insixwords

[stacey_is_sassy]

Not being perfect is a good thing...

This is the kind of story that I can re-read over and over and over again; it just never gets old. The characters are original, quirky and so very interesting, they make me want to stop and think about life and all the weird and wonderful stuff in it. Janie is the kind of character that I would love to meet and spend time with. I'm a bit of an over-thinker, but Janie takes it to another level. I'm envious of her ability to remember all the little titbits that she shares. I absolutely loved that Quinn appreciated her knowledge and never wanted her to hold back what she's thinking.

There are so many parts of Neanderthal Seeks Human where I tell myself *remember this, it's a cracker* but of course, by the end, I've forgotten them all. I do remember the feelings of delight and satisfaction, though, so that's just as good. If I could name one section that left me the most satisfied, it would have to be when they're discussing how not being perfect is a good thing. To be honest, I completely agree. I think my hubby is perfect for me but I know he's far from perfect and I'm sure he thinks the same about me. Life would be pretty damn boring if we were all perfect.

Anyways...if you haven't tried a wee bit of Penny Reid magic yet, I highly recommend starting with this one. You can't go wrong with reading or listening as the narrator does an awesome job.

I can't help myself, I'm going to listen to Neanderthal Marries Human next.

**********

First time listening to the audio of Neanderthal Seeks Human

Two things -

1. If you loved reading a story but loved the audio MORE, where do I go from here? 5 stars are the limit. Maybe we need an *To Infinity and Beyond* rating. Neanderthal Seeks Human deserves all the stars.

2. After reading my old review, I feel extremely guilty that I distracted Penny from her very important work saving the world as a researcher. Did my review push her to split her time between her family, science AND writing? Maybe, all Penny Reid fans should be thanking me. Obviously, my little review made her stop and consider my needs. Yes, I am extremely grateful that she takes the time out of her busy schedule to write. Maybe, Penny, you could do me a favour and drop me a quick line to absolve me from my guilt. It's weighing heavily on my conscience, after all. (Wink, wink...oh, the naivety of a book reviewer in 2013).

I LOVED THE AUDIO!! It was such a fun experience seeing everyone back in the beginning. It was almost like I could see Penny's notes for future books. Little sayings and character quirks that we now know more about. Everybody seems so sweet and innocent, hiding their strong personalities. I loved knowing where they were heading.

I'm keeping on with the audios for the series and I can't wait to see Nicoletta again.

****Old Review****

I started reading this book from a recommendation on Kristen Ashley addicts group. The first 10% of this book I was a little unsure if it was my style or not. Considering this is Ms Reid's first full-length novel, it was written really well. My only complaint is that there was too much internal dialogue at first. The paragraphs were really long and I started to lose interest. My husband walked in while I was reading this book and I said to him I would give it till 15% to decide.

I'm glad I did. Once I got past the too long internal dialogue at the beginning and the characters were all introduced, I really like it.

Ms Reid I know you said you like your current job and all...but maybe you could work part-time and write some more. I would definitely read more of your books and would like to hear about more of the characters in the knitting group.

[leelu92]

4 it took me long enough to read it stars.

I've read several other books in this series and I've been meaning to work back around to books 1, 1.5, 2 and 3. Here I am catching up. What I notice most is the difference in the author's voice from this book to her later books. There is definitely a tightening up and sharpening of the voice and writing style.

I truly enjoy Ms. Reid's unique style and it's a welcome break in the midst of what I've been reading lately.

Quinn is my kind of male character, he's alpha without being a complete asshole and allows his vulnerability to creep in where Janie is concerned.

Janie is quite entertaining liberally sprinkled with being quite unsure of herself. Did I want to shake her a couple of times? Yes. Yes. Yes.

I also enjoyed the introduction to the knitting group and their shenanigans.

[littleread1]

Eh. It was fine.