I absolutely loved this book. As a young Black British woman, it was so heartwarming to see my culture presented in a romance novel. I found myself relating to Yinka on so many levels. As a Nigerian, her cultural experiences resonated with me, especially the imposter syndrome and desire to connect more with her culture as a second generation Black Brit. As a dark-skinned woman, her journey of self-love and acceptance was so beautiful, my eyes were watering at the end. I loved her character so much and was rooting for her throughout.

Although I felt her struggles due to our shared social and cultural experiences, Yinka’s feelings of insecurity, self doubt and fear are universal and I really liked how Blackburn was able to construct a story of learning to your love yourself that perfectly fit into the social and cultural context of being Black British, while also translating across different backgrounds. No matter who you are, you can connect with Yinka’s anxieties and desire to be loved, and I found her insecurities and fears particularly hit close to home.

I adored all of the background characters and how they were well and truly developed separately to their relationship to Yinka. Nana is the best friend that everyone deserves and was definitely my favourite character in the book.

I loved the ending so much (I was actually cheering when a certain wedding dance song was mentioned because it took me back to my family weddings). The vibes for this book were so good, it was an emotional, funny and ultimately inspiring read that I highly recommend.

Huzband (pronounced auz-band) noun
1. A male partner in a marriage
E.g. Yinka's younger sister, Kemi, is married to Uche
2. A non-existent man in a non-existent marriage whose whereabouts is often asked of, usually by Nigerian mums and aunties to single British Nigerian women
E.g. So, Yinka. Tell me. Where is your huzband? Ah, ah. You're thirty-one now!
Yinka has her own house, her own car, a degree from Oxford and a successful career... but she doesn't have a husband. Much to the chagrin of her mother, who's sure she could pick one out, and the rest of her family who can't understand the idea of being single at 31.

But for Yinka, being a single Londoner in her thirties who doesn't believe in sex before marriage isn't exactly making things easy for her. But when another cousin gets engaged, she's determined to at least have a date for the wedding and maybe be able to finally answer that question. But Yinka is going to find much more than just a few phone numbers on her quest for a date ...

Okay, first of all this cover - how could I not pick this one up? YWIYH is a hilariously feel-good story with a beautiful glow shining through every single page. This was so much more than a love story - it was about finding yourself, finding your roots and finding love all wrapped up in a bow, and also raised thought-provoking points about colourism, racism and peer pressure.

I adored Yinka, she was an absolute delight to read about - she didn't always make the best decisions, she got herself into awkward situations and made countless mistakes, but she perfectly captured a sort-of adult who's just trying their best to keep up with the pressures they're feeling from family, friends and society. She broke my heart, infuriated me and made me laugh within just lines of each other. The supporting cast all stood out on their own - all beautiful and relatable and so distinct.

A stunning, fun story about self love and self worth, with a brilliant cast brimming with personality - this has been called the most hotly anticipated debut of 2022 by a lot of other reviewers and I cannot disagree there.

Now, Lizzie, Where is your next book?

Content warnings: This book contains sensitive content including racism, colourism, peer pressure and death.

Lizzie Damilola Blackburn draws you into the life of Yinka from page 1. Though the plot was somewhat predictable, it was an enjoyable read and I loved the focus on female friendships.

Oh, how I loved it! It feels like lazy shorthand to call Yinka a Nigerian-origin Bridget Jones but I felt the same way, like I was reading my best friend's diary and finding out that she was more like me than I could have guessed. Funny, relatable, occasionally cringeworthy and ultimately moving and uplifting. I want everyone I know to read it.

Really funny, raw and honest look at Yinka and her life. The pressure of her mum and aunties pushing her to find a husband, have babies and a great job just gets too much. Yinka loses herself and her friends and things start to spiral when her ex appears too. We explore the cause for what seems the perfect life that others have only to find that there is so much to sacrifice on the way. A good look at culture clashes and the pressures to find a partner for a Nigerian woman.

Started it. Steamed through it. Loved it!
Lizzie Damilola Blackburn has written a true book of the times for those women, still single, and needing to learn how to embrace themselves before trying to please others by conforming to the stereotypes set for them.
Well, at least the stereotypes set by the aunties in the London Nigerian community, anyway.
I warmed to Yinka, the 31-year-old woman who had pretty much everything a girl could want: her own home, a great job, good friends. Well, everything except a boyfriend or 'huzband', much to the chagrin of her mother and aunties.
It's not dissimilar to the thinking of many of the older generations in our Indian communities; that if you aren't married, or spoken for, at least, by a certain age, that you will be left on the shelf.
My heart broke for her, as he tried to conform in a way that was not natural to her, leaving herself open to being hurt.
With a younger sister already married and expecting a baby, a cousin who was already settled with her huzband and three kids, and another getting ready for her big day, Yinka has big expectation shoes to fill, and she needs to do it fast.
She meets a range of characters along the way, and it just goes to show that sometimes, you aren't looking hard enough in the right places.
Yinka's Ghanian best friend Nana is awesome! A strong woman who has her own thoughts firmly in place. Her other two good friends from work bring about the perspective of people from outside the Nigerian or African community.
All in all, I loved it. Love story? Nah, more of a 'self' love story!
Many thanks to NetGalley and Penguin General UK - Fig Tree, Hamish Hamilton, Viking, Penguin Life, Penguin Business, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is very funny and a wonderful tale of friendship, lost love and rebuilding your confidence against the backdrop of Nigerian culture.
Yinka is fed up with being compared to her younger sister Kemi who is married and expecting a baby. So fed up that her Mum and Aunties embarrass her at every gathering and she feels compelled to either avoid them or lie.
When her career takes a turn Yinka did not expect, she seems to lose her identity, and when her ex boyfriend turns up at a friend's engagement party with a stunning fiance himself, Yinka is driven to extreme dating measures.
She sets herself a task to find her Plus One for Rachel's wedding but along the way there are various mishaps which made me laugh and groan. I cannot 'kiss my teeth' but I could imagine the mounting pressure Yinka feels under when her Mum and Aunties insist on matchmaking and asking for a huzband for Yinka during every prayer at the All Welcome church, thanks to the colourful and vibrant way the story is told. I loved the dialogue, the language, the faith and the food, all dazzlingly different from what I have experienced but so enjoyable to read about.
Surrounded by friends, Rachel, cousin Ola and bestie (and fashion designer) Nana, Yinka travels beyond the false attempts at being someone she isn't to a place where she is happy with who she is.
Pick up this book as the writing is as bold as the eye catching cover, it will make you smile and it might just add some colour to the grey of your day.
Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this super novel. I might know exactly where my huzband is but it is much more fun journeying with Yinka to find hers!

In my opinion this book has been accurately described as if Bridget Jones and Queenie had a baby.

This story grabbed me from the start and Yinka was just the best character to get to know. Facing topics of faith, family, friendship, colourism, and the big question of ‘Where is Your Husband?’ - the pressures of finding love and what that means in a Nigerian family.



I loved all the Aunties and Yinka’s Mum even with all their faults. I loved the complex family relationships/friendships and lost myself in a totally encouraging, interfering, and close knit support system.



I flew through this book not only because it was simply fabulous, but because it was so well structured. I’m going to be recommending this to everyone as soon as it is out, especially lovers of contemporary romance.

This was an interesting story, it was certainly entertaining, witty, thought-provoking and original. I enjoyed the insight into Nigerian culture, especially the way the Aunties and Mothers behaved; sometimes funny and at others quite mortifying, I did feel for Yinka. This book started slowly but towards the end was really insightful.

Yinka is a thirty-year-old, well-educated woman with a good career and good prospects, though not according to her Mum and Aunties. When everything starts to go wrong with her love life, career and relationships, she starts to go off the rails. There were some awesome characters in this book who are well written and full of life.

There is a lot going on in this story and definitely. more than at first meets the eye. For me, the story dragged a bit but the ending was worth the wait. It was wonderful to see Yinka blossom and become her own person, I could really relate to her situation, despite being from a different culture.

Although I did feel the story was slow to start and lost its way in the middle with a little too much prevarication at times, I did enjoy it and would recommend reading it.

I think this was a book I needed to read when I read it.

It follows Yinka, a Nigerian woman living in London, she is 31 with a little sister who is married and pregnant and now all her aunties are looking for her to be next. This with the added pressure of her cousin's wedding causes her to make a plan to have a date by then but is this really what she needs.

I think this book follows the pressures of families and singledom well. You get pulled into her family and although dramatic in a way I found them very realistic.

I also found the characters very realistic, they all had their struggles their ways of being and even as friends they were all flawed and j think that brings you into the story a lot better.

The truth is I thought it was going to be a very light read but as I read Yinka's journey I got to bits where I related a little too much and I appreciate that Blackburn was able to write her in such a way that even without an overbearing Nigerian family I was able to relate.

Overall, I would recommend it, it's fun but it also says a lot and I'm really glad I read it when I did.

A great relatable story for any girl from Africa or the East. Yinka is in a muddle, job prospects are reducing, she's 30 and there's still no husband on the horizon. The pressures are real and desperate is something she does not want to seem.

I really loved Yinka, she's vulnerable yet confident, sticking to her morals even when she gets herself into a muddle. Her heart is attached to her Christian values even though she's not as religious as her mother wants to be. She has people who really care for her but is always a little misunderstood so this makes her feel lonely.

I give this a strong 9 out of 10. This book was funny, endearing, and just wow.


Thank you to #Netgalley for this ARC I will definitely be looking out for books from Lizzie Damilola Blackburn.

This is a very funny and unique book. I enjoyed the glimpses of Ghanaian culture - the food, religion, dress and family. Yinka is being pressured to find a husband by her family, so she goes to some lengths to find a boyfriend to take to her cousin's wedding. She conceals the truth about her job and her true feelings from her mother and sister. She has to grapple with issues of race and colour, feminism and self-esteem. I did find it difficult to believe that Yinka has an Oxford degree because does not always act in a very intelligent way, but that is only a mild criticism as the story is so entertaining.

I picked this as I thought it would be a light, frothy read and I wasn't looking for anything too taxing. Yinka is immediately likable, although it quickly becomes clear she is striving for what she thinks she should be doing - not what she actually wants herself in her heart of hearts.
We follow Yinka on her journey of self discovery, learning as we go that how she has perceived things is not always how they appear - and this is the case with her romantic endeavours as much as it is with her relationships with family and friends. She is feeling the pressure to find a man to have the marriage-and-babies life her Mum wants for her and her little sister already has.
I found the story very relatable, there have definitely been times when I have been so far inside my own head that I haven't seen clearly what is right in front of me, and Yinka struggles at times with this too. As a character she is realistically flawed, and we get to see her trying to ignore and make excuses initially but over time she starts to acknowledge and address the things she has been trying to hide from and bury.
Overall, this book is not as light and frothy as I'd anticipated, but it is all the better for it - Yinka struggles and makes mistakes, but she also learns more about what really matters to her and is not afraid to speak out or apologise if she needs to. By the end of the book she is about to embark on her next chapter - I would love to read more about her journey!

Yinka is 31. She has a degree from Oxford and a good job in an investment bank (at the beginning of her story anyway). But this doesn't matter to her large extended British Nigerian family. Instead they keep asking why she doesn't have a husband and even praying for her in church. Increasingly desperate, she decides she has to find a date for her cousin's wedding in six months time. In doing so, she begins to change, much to the horror of her close friends.

Yinka's voice is very appealing. She's smart and funny and very believable as a character. Other characters are very well drawn too especially her mother and some of the older 'aunties'. At the beginning I thought it was going to be another romcom and was a little disappointed. But as the book went on it delved very skilfully into issues of self esteem and mental health and this was by far the best part of the book. I really enjoyed learning about a different culture as well.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

As a single 31 year old this was very very relatable.
Full of funny moments and loved the tick list, browser history lists etc.
A really great read.

Wow, this is hot, funny and brilliant. Yep loved Yinka and her family, how annoyingly close everyone can be and how utterly amazing that they can do all these things and help each other. Just reading about all the yummy food, makes my stomach growl and even though life seems chaotic and awful, there are still moments of fun and happiness that make the bad stuff not go away but feel lighter. There’s also a feeling of certain racism within the job sector which makes me so postivily angry and yet Yinka is strong enough and realised that really the job she was in, wasn’t for her and finds her happiness in something that fits her skills and passions. In essence I LOVE this book it’s going to be huge.

I love reading about different types of London families and this, set in Peckham, didn't disappoint. Yinka is thirty-one - short-haired, dark-skinned and unhappily employed by an investment bank. Her little sister Kemi and cousin Ola have settled down and had children. When her other cousin Rachel announces her engagement and Yinka's ex appears out of the blue at the engagement party, she sets herself the task of finding a date for the wedding - whether he's at church, on Tinder or in her imagination...

What initially appears to be a light tale of huzband-hunting has many layers, with Yinka wondering what she will give up for love (she'd rather it wasn't her virginity or the chance to eat burger sauce on her chips). The book turns into an unforgettable exploration of the impact of colourism, grief and mental health problems on Black British people ('counselling isn't just for the white man, you know,' says one wise character, who ends up being more to Yinka than she bargained for). A really entertaining, insightful read and a great portrait of the Nigerian community in London.

You know there are those books where you creep back to read just one more chapter because the characters are so engaging and the plot is so involving you can’t bear to be parted ? ‘Yinka, Where is your Huzband’ is one of those. Essentially a story of family, friendship, self-knowledge and love, it follows the titular Yinka, who at 31 is single, much to the disappointment of her mother and family. As she embarks on a quest to secure a date for her cousin’s wedding and thereby shut everyone up, she learns how important it is for her to accept herself and live life her own way. Damilola Blackburn handles issues such as colourism and faith with a light hand, infusing the book with so much humour that I found myself guffawing with laughter, much to the alarm of the people around me! A thoroughly entertaining and engaging read and one of my favourites this year. Highly recommended.

Every now and then I know I’m going to love a book just from its title and ‘Yinka, where’s your huzband?’ was definitely one of those. There is so much to love about this book. Yinka, is a flawed, funny, bright and complicated woman, as are the men and women around her, which takes this funny, heartwarming book to another level and I found myself thinking about it, and what it says about attractiveness, race, and family, a lot. And while there is romance at its heart, this is as much a book about family and female friendship which I also loved. Just a wonderful read!

This book is funny, heart warming and is the ultimate lesson for everyone. Essentially learning to love yourself and open lines of communication with everyone around you. The depth of the relationships and dynamics between the characters is really powerful. I absolutely love the modern and contemporary mix of writing using emails, prose, text messages and post it’s.

I loved the authentic journey Yinka takes you on, her inner battle with her culture and her appreciation of modern living and of course chicken cottage. It was also so inspiring for a book to focus on faith and beliefs and not being ashamed of them. Although this book will be loved by everyone that reads it I really hope as many teenagers and young adults read it so they can learn from Yinka and her experience and finding your place in the world without adding the pressures from society. This book will definitely stay with me for a very long time.