Neanderthal Seeks Human by Penny Reid was recommended to me recently (when it was free on Kindle), and I picked it up on a whim. Show me a woman who can resist free books, and I’ll probably not talk to her–she’s obviously insane.
I loved Neanderthal Seeks Human from the very first page. We meet the main character Janie on the worst day ever. She’s stuck in the ladies room after she’s been fired, which is terrible on its own, and our girl Janie had only discovered her boyfriend cheated on her and moved out that morning. Pretty bad. I love reading disastrous openings like this–and wrote one myself–because I feel like we’re coming to the story at just the right moment. Everything is happening and we’re in it with the main character together.
Janie finds a soft landing place at her best friend Elizabeth’s apartment and begins to put the pieces back together with the support of her knitting group (lots of yarn chit chat to be had by a colorful cast of ladies). Janie’s life takes an unexpected and exciting turn when she encounters the gorgeous security guard from her office building, Quinn, on a night out.
One of the things that drew me to Janie was the way her mind worked. She’s obviously intelligent and full of trivial facts that monopolize her attention 99% of the time–unless Quinn is with her. Her hyper analytical and intellectual perspective added an interesting layer to her narration. Her view of things, especially herself, seemed so skewed at times that I would almost label her as an unintentionally unreliable narrator (though I’m sure she’d disagree with me).
I raced through this book like I stole it, and would recommend it to anyone looking for a delicious contemporary romance that’s light on sap. I’ll definitely be picking up it’s companion novels next!
ps- look like it’s still free on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Neanderthal-Seeks-Human-Knitting-City-ebook/dp/B00BUWA58E#productDescription_secondary_view_div_1490912027603
Katherine Laurin 