Read this if you have nothing else to do.
This book is so predictable. Boring. I don't know why I bothered to finish the book. Characters were uninspiring and undeveloped. What's up with the Scottish granny that knows everything? And don't even get me started on the deadbeat dad that redeems himself. I definitely do not recommend this book unless you are an avid reader of chic lit.

Well, I really liked this book . . .
I'm shocked at how many people didn't like this book and that some of them felt the characters were cliched. I will confess that it took me awhile to get into the story. But once I did, I really loved it. It's true that in terms of craft the book could have been better written -- it annoyed me when Jacobs skipped important scenes and told us about them after they'd taken place -- something I caution my writing students against. No one likes missing out on the action. It's also true that some parts of the story were hard to believe -- I mean, how many generous landlords are left in the big, bad city? Despite those things, it's truly a wonderful story, filled with warmth and heart -- a true celebration of female friendship and the belief that people can learn from their mistakes. It also made me wish I had the time to knit. Or bake, like Dakota does. No matter what some readers have said, I highly recommend this book. The only reason I gave it four stars instead of five is because of the writing flaws, not because the story is flawed. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

A bit too much...
Overall, this was a sweet story of friendship and of women working together to support one another, with knitting but also with life issues.

Here are the problems... (spoilers!)

I really think the author tried to cram in too much here. Georgia is a single mother with business sense and ambition. That's great. But the absentee father of her daughter happens to be black, making her daughter bi-racial. When he comes back into their lives (too easily to be convincing) she tells him that she's read up on issues of biracial children and how to help Dakota deal with whatever she might encounter because of it. James is skeptical. But then that's over... Dakota never has to deal with any race-related issues at all, so we don't know how that issue is resolved.

Lucie gets herself pregnant by a guy she met on the Internet, but she evidently never tells him or her family that she's having a baby. She even mentions at one point that she's not going to tell her parents about the baby, but don't you think they're going to find out eventually? And she goes to Georgia for advice about being a single mom, but Georgia never once asks who the father is or how he feels about fatherhood? One would think that as a single parent, Georgia would encourage her to get the father involved, since she knows how hard it is to do it completely alone. But no, that's never mentioned.

Darwin cheats on her long-distance husband with a friend of a friend. She finally confesses this to him on the phone, and he hangs up on her. But the next time they mention him, it's when he shows up on Darwin's doorstep, ready to forgive her. Hello? What transpired in between?

KC goes to law school, but what was the point of her character? She just seemed like filler to me. She didn't really add anything for me.

I do appreciate trying to make the story complex with so many storylines, but there are so many things left unresolved or skimmed over. I'll give Jacobs's next novel a try, but I'm curious about how she would respond to this.

blech! why can't I give zero stars?
I *never* write reviews. This book is so bad, I just can't help myself. I really really really wanted to like it. My MIL gave me this book because she thought it was fun and I frequent a knitting club myself. I just have to ask myself though...why did the author bother with the cover and calling it a "novel"? Just cast the chick-flick already! It reads like every other chick movie out there. The cast is predictable and so very boring. Clearly Georgia is written with Ashley Judd in mind, Cat can be Helen Hunt maybe? Taye Diggs could easily play James Foster. It could be a golden opportunity for some up and coming young tween star to make her name as Dakota. I hate to give a bad review as my first but zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.......

Good airplane reading.
I enjoyed the book for what it was, (fun reading on a plane). It was a little more realistic than many of the books of this genre. Even though the book touched on race and religion a little, that could have been developed more. The main character is built up by her friends as being their rock, however, I don't really see why. She avoids conflict and avoids checking up on her health and her spiritual self when she really could have done better. I don't really see why she was so mad with her parents. Even though they weren't excited about the baby, her Dad did make a crib for goodness sake! Isn't that huge effort worth something?She really should have read James' letters when he sent them. A lot of heartache could have been avoided! Also, why did she take her daughter to Scotland when the daughter really wanted to go to Baltimore? Nevertheless - Many of the issues brought up in the story were very close to home and caused me to think a little (which I usually don't end up doing when I read this sort of book). Good effort for a first book.