DISCLAIMER: This post is not sponsored. However, I received an advanced reader copy (eBook) of Husband Material by Emily Belden from Harlequin through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Husband Material is part of Harlequin’s Fall/Winter Blog Tour for Romance & Women’s Fiction.

Book Summary

Told in Emily Belden’s signature edgy voice, a novel about a young widow’s discovery of her late husband’s secret and her journey toward hope and second-chance love.

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.

*Summary is courtesy of Harlequin

Husband Material

“I had one, too. A widow stereotype. But I’ve been to enough support groups not to be shocked when I see a fellow widow in her twenties. To Casey, it feels like a widow should be an older woman. Not necessarily an old woman, just someone…older than me and old enough to have had time to earn that label. I picture someone my mom’s age who seems like she’s carrying emotional baggage, not someone who has yet to celebrate her thirtieth birthday.”

If you get married, especially in your twenties, you imagine growing old with the love of your life – not being a widow at twenty-nine. As an unmarried (but taken) women entering my late-twenties, I can’t imagine being in that position, and my heart goes out to people who are.

In Husband Material, Emily Belden did a great job marrying comedy and romance with such a morbid topic as losing a spouse at a young age (or any age). I felt horrible that our protagonist, Charlotte, had been through such a hardship, but it was laughable when her husband’s urn appeared randomly on her doorstep because the mausoleum burned down. Say, what? I knew I wanted to read this book as soon as I read its summary.

When you think of a widow stereotype, it isn’t Charlotte Rosen – a 29-year-old social media analyst. After less than a year of marriage, Charlotte’s husband, Decker, died from natural causes.

“There are a million things that bother me about Decker’s death. Starting with the fact that he died at all. We were married less than a year. Yes, I’ve been a widow for much longer than I ever was a wife.”

Charlotte Rosen

In Chapter 1, we meet Charlotte and she seems like any other woman in her twenties. She goes on dates, has a job, a roommate, and a dog. In my opinion, her life sounds pretty normal to me – not too shabby.

Although, Charlotte does a pretty good job of hiding the fact that she was once married and is now a widow. In fact, in the first two chapters, any mention of Decker or her marriage is super cryptic in Charlotte’s inner monologue. As a reader, we know that her marriage is over, but we don’t know why.

If I didn’t read the book’s plot summary, I wouldn’t have had a clue about Charlotte’s secret past. Probably, not until the end of Chapter 2, when her husband’s urn arrives on her doorstep. Purposely, the key information about Decker’s death is omitted. This not only gives the story great build-up for dramatic effect, but it tells the reader a lot about who Charlotte is as a person.

Basically, she just wants to be a “normal” single woman in her late twenties. She paints this persona because she feels too much pain and far too much guilt over her husband’s death.

Overall, I liked Charlotte’s character. She’s got a lot of baggage and inner demons, just like the rest of us, which made her very real. Also, she has a pretty kickass job. Charlotte works for a social media analytics company and is programming a dating software (her side hustle) – that’s freaking cool! I love that Belden gave her a very modern job that shows off her smarts.

Basically, Charlotte tracks down social media influencers with big followings and matches them with events that her company plans for their clients – using software and an algorithm. It’s supposed to help boost their client’s social media profiles since the influencers will post about the events they are attending.

The Perfect Match

Charlotte wants to find the perfect man for her – a man who won’t abandon her. Her true match. Which is why she created her own software to find men who are the most compatible with her.

“So how does my software work, then? Well, it’s all about compatibility. My algorithm is programmed to know what I like and what I’m looking for in the long term. So to see if a guy is a match, I comb through his online profiles, enter the facts I find out about him, and generate a report that indicates how likely he is to be my future husband or how likely we would be to get a divorce, for example.”

It’s crazy how the digital age has affected the dating culture. Many couples don’t meet organically anymore – they meet online, on social media, and on dating apps. It’s a pretty normal way of meeting people nowadays. Charlotte’s software pulls data from a couple’s social media sites to determine their compatibility, which is a unique twist to a typical dating app.

Throughout the book, Charlotte struggles with letting go of her past and being vulnerable with the people in her life in the present. Decker’s death has made Charlotte more isolated from people – in an emotional sense. She’s so afraid of getting hurt or abandoned by a man that she made a software just to find her “perfect” match – based on an algorithm. When instead, she should be looking at what’s in front of her.

Charlotte also struggles with opening up to people in her life. When Decker’s urn appears on her doorstep, Charlotte decides to open up to her roommate, Casey, about Decker’s death. That was the most vulnerable she’s ever been with someone other than her family, therapist or people from her support group.

My Kind of Material

Overall, I enjoyed Husband Material. The main premise of the book – Charlotte’s husband’s ashes randomly arriving on her doorstep – was very intriguing and a great start to the story. That event alone takes Charlotte down so many bumpy roads. First, she has to welcome her husband back into her and life, mourn his death all over again, and then move on. On top of that, she discovers Decker had some secrets of his own. Boy, what a good twist!

Also, she has to deal with her ex-mother-in-law, who has her own plans for Decker – a new home for his urn, since the mausoleum burned down. Charlotte and Decker’s mother hasn’t spoken since his death, which was 5 years ago. In addition, Charlotte reconnects with Decker’s best friend, Brian, who she also hasn’t spoken to since he died. Plus, throw in some work and roommate drama as the cherry on top.

I really didn’t dislike anything specific about the book. However, out of all of the drama with Charlotte’s job, Decker’s mom, and the urn, the romance was not the star of the story for me. It’s not that I didn’t enjoy the romance part of it, I just liked the other parts of the story better. Charlotte’s love interest is Brian, a handsome pediatric doctor, who was her husband’s best friend. From Charlotte’s description, Brian does sound pretty hot and like a good all-around guy. I get it, girl!

“Brian is a good guy who went aggressively after his dreams. He’s charismatic, handsome, and empathetic. He’s great with kids and has a quirky sense of humor. Maybe I’m not crazy for thinking if this guy showed up on Tinder, I’d swipe right in a heartbeat. But Brian isn’t a just a Tinder profile. He’s my late husband’s friend. Widow Code would say it’s a lane I should never swim in—even though I kind of cannonballed it once before. But what about now? What about five years later?”

It makes perfect sense that the widow and the best friend could fall for each other. Charlotte and Brian get each other. They both lost someone who meant a lot to them, so they already have an emotional connection and friendship. On the plus side, he knows that she was married before. Fortunately, Charlotte doesn’t have to convince Brian that she doesn’t carry around any “widow baggage.” Together they have a history and Brian would never make Charlotte hide her past or forget about Decker. After all, he lost him too.

I give Husband Material 4 out of 5 stars. I was hooked by the first chapter and by the second, I was hooked even more. Even though I couldn’t relate to all of Charlotte’s experiences, she felt like one of my gal pals and I rooted for her to find her way. But, we can relate that we all have a past and carry around our own baggage. I liked that Husband Material wasn’t just about love, but about loss, and life’s other daily struggles and challenges. Most importantly, this book reminds us that life isn’t perfect, no one is perfect, and there’s no algorithm or code that will solve all of life’s problems – and that’s okay!

Thank You

Thank you, Harlequin for inviting me to join Harlequin’s Blog Tour, and Netgalley for the digital advanced copy! Husband Material by Emily Belden is part of Harlequin’s Fall/Winter Blog Tour for Romance & Women’s Fiction. I’m doing a few more reviews for Harlequin’s Blog Tour in the upcoming months, so stay tuned, Friends! Check out Husband Material, which will be out on December 30^th.

If you’d like to see what other books I’m reading these days, follow me on Goodreads!

♥ Candis