Book Review: Husband Material

Husband Material by Emily Belden ~ 304 pages ~ to be published 12/30/19 by Graydon House

Goodreads Synopsis:

Sometimes love is unpredictable…

Twenty-nine-year-old Charlotte Rosen has a secret: she’s a widow. Ever since the fateful day that leveled her world, Charlotte has worked hard to move forward. Great job at a hot social media analytics company? Check. Roommate with no knowledge of her past? Check. Adorable dog? Check. All the while, she’s faithfully data-crunched her way through life, calculating the probability of risk—so she can avoid it.

Yet Charlotte’s algorithms could never have predicted that her late husband’s ashes would land squarely on her doorstep five years later. Stunned but determined, Charlotte sets out to find meaning in this sudden twist of fate, even if that includes facing her perfectly coiffed, and perfectly difficult, ex-mother-in-law—and her husband’s best friend, who seems to become a fixture at her side whether she likes it or not.

But soon a shocking secret surfaces, forcing Charlotte to answer questions she never knew to ask and to consider the possibility of forgiveness. And when a chance at new love arises, she’ll have to decide once and for all whether to follow the numbers or trust her heart.

What I Thought:

Husband Material was a fun read. The main character was slightly quirky (pretty much a staple in Chick Lit these days), but she also struggled with trust issues and opening up to others. She was a bit self-absorbed. On top of all of that, she was obsessed with the numbers and metrics of love, relying on her algorithm to try to find love. All of these attributes combined to create a character that was far more nuanced than I was expecting from this book.

I enjoyed Charlotte’s character arc. She grew a lot as the novel progressed. Her relationships with other characters also grew, which is always gratifying to see in a book in this genre. I really liked the speed with which the romance grew. It was a slow burn, and it was done well. There was enough conflict that the pacing felt right. While I enjoyed Charlotte’s slow burn with Brian, I was not quite as happy with her relationship with her roommate, Casey. I felt like there could have been a lot more done with their friendship. It was present, but the depth wasn’t. At the beginning of the book, it almost seemed like Charlotte barely even noticed Casey was there…which meant the reader barely did either.

I liked the book overall, but there was also a certain clunkiness to some of the references and dialogue. It felt like the character should have been about 10 years older than she was supposed to be in the book because of all of the 80s and 90s references that she kept making. This bothered me throughout the book, but I understand that is a very nit-picky thing to be bothered by.

I would recommend this to someone looking for a clean romance. If you are a fan of chick lit with a little bit of extra depth, you will enjoy this book.