Due to illness I was unable to give full feedback due to hospital stay during time of arc reading. Sorry for no review.

Light read that was interesting and fun. Have recommended many times to friends and fellow readers. Emily is a gem of a writer.

This is such a down-to-earth, lighthearted and enjoyable read!

First of all, the cover and the title are all wrong for this book. It definitely gives the impression that Charlotte is a) a shopaholic and b) Brian is just there to do her bidding and c) that this is an over-the-top sort of romantic comedy. That couldn’t be further from the truth and to be honest, I feel as though the title and cover are meant for a completely different book.

Rather, Charlotte’s fascination with data and numbers are reminiscent of Stella from The Kiss Quotient. She’s far from the type of character the cover appears to try and make her out to be. Instead, she’s been hiding from her past for several years. You see, most of the people in her current life have no idea that she’s a widower ... and has been for five years. She’s always felt lost on how to explain it, when many people her age aren’t even married ... so she simply stopped mentioning it.

Her past comes roaring back though when a natural disaster ends up with her late husband’s ashes in her possession again. Once again, she’s faced with the loss of her husband, the reality of her past and has no idea what to do with his ashes. Especially when her husband’s mother wants the ashes for herself.

Through all of this, she reconnects with her late husband’s best friend Brian. He isn’t willing to let her disappear from his life again and as they grow closer she begins to question how much she truly knew of about her husband.

This story certainly has a fluffy, sweet romance, but that is somewhat sidelined by Charlotte’s journey to connect with who she is – rather than the shell she’s built around herself. If you’re going into this expecting a steamy romantic comedy, you’ll probably be disappointed. That said, there is absolutely nothing to fault this book for, except perhaps wishing it were a little longer!

I really enjoyed this book. Some of it was predictable, and other parts I didn't see coming at all. It's a well written rom=com style novel; grief and loss is a heavy topic for this type of book, but I thought the author did a great job illustrating the ups and downs and the ways in which grief changes people.

This was weird. The first half is semi-humorous slice of life for a young widow trying to find love via an app but halfway through the story makes an abrupt tone & plot change. Finished out of curiosity but no real attachment after that.

I loved this book. There was a lot of telling vs showing but it still managed to suck me in right from the beginning.
I really loved how analytical and numbers driven the main character was. So when her dead husband's ashes show up at her door there is no way to factor that into an algorithm. I expected to like the book, I did not expect to LOVE the book.

I really enjoyed this one, it was cute and a much needed lighter read to mix in among some heavier ones. Charlotte Rosen is successful, has a great job analyzing data at a social media analytics company, gets along with her roommate, is single, and has an adorable dog. One problem? She has a secret that no one knows, well not her roommate or her coworkers - she is a widow. She is doing well to keep this part of her life perfectly compartmentalized, until his ashes show up at her door out of the blue. She is forced to confront strained relationships from her past, as well as some potentially unresolved grief, and in doing so her life starts to get a bit unraveled as her past collides with present. As Charlotte is trying to process all of this, another piece of information surfaces that adds even more to her plate to deal with.

This one was a lot of fun to read, Charlotte is a fantastic protagonist, she made me chuckle a few times throughout. We are given enough to understand why she is the way she is, and she learns that her assumptions cannot always be based on data and therefore may not have always been accurate. Plus she is a hot mess and got herself in some funny situations! I was not expecting to like this one as much as I did, and am very glad I moved it up my list!

Thank you to NetGalley and Graydon House for the e-galley to review.

Such a cute and fun read! Perfect distraction in life right now. Really enjoyable characters and story and hard to put down!

DNF @ 30%. This just wasn't working for me. The characters all felt over-the-top and I found myself not wanting to pick it up.

This book is great! Would definitely recommend. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I absolutely loved this book. I loved the way that Charlotte carried herself throughout this novel. I think that grief is such a hard topic to write on and Emily nailed it. The characters are laugh out loud funny while also charming and heartwarming. I have recommended this book to any of my friends who love Women's Fiction/Book Club Fiction/Rom Coms. There are so many nice things I could say about this book and I just loved it!

This was a cute story, but I couldn't understand lot of the reasons the protagonist was doing what she was doing. There were several instances that felt forced to be able to move the story where the author wanted it go. Overall, it was a fast read, and mostly enjoyable if you are looking for a fluff read.

This one was cute. I really loved all of the background pieces at play and the day-to-day for the MC. I also appreciated how real the grief felt and how it wasn’t the perfect “moving on/forward” story. 3.5 stars for me!

this was a good read, the characters were great and I enjoyed reading it. It wasn't the typical book that I would read but I enjoyed it.

Don't let the title Husband Material fool you into thinking this is a mushy love book. Although Charlotte is 29 and is on all the dating apps meeting new guys, she is harboring a secret. She's already found the guy of her dreams, but he's no longer with her. Because she used the universe to help her find the love of her life already, she decides that the next time she will not let fate take over. She wants full control of her life. Using algorithms of her own design, she makes her biggest decisions based off of what the numbers tell her - in life and love.

Although this book didn't take me exactly where I thought it would, I had to appreciate Charlotte's journey through grief and understanding herself.

The Review
This book has the perfect balance of rom/com style dialogue with heartfelt, emotional themes that deal with the reality of loss, in particular losing a spouse at an early age. The novel answers the question of how we find the motivation and will to move on and if finding love again is possible, while also delving into the complex feelings that come with respecting the past and meeting the future head-on.

The protagonist perfectly showcases a strong lead that directs the story forward in a natural progression while also showing off how the protagonist’s pain and way of dealing with grief have closed themselves off from the rest of the world, including the people closest to her. The author does a great job of not following the formula exactly for a rom/com stylebook, instead of writing real characters with complex emotions that leave the future for the characters open to interpretation, just as life truly is.

The Verdict
A masterful romance, comedy yet dramatic story with rich characters and an evenly paced tone, the novel Husband Material by Emily Belden is a must-read for any fans of the romance genre. A great hit with lots of hearts, fans will not be able to put down their copies anytime soon. Be sure to grab your copy today!

I appreciate most all authors who have the initiative to write and complete a book. This one was not one I would typically read and so it's difficult to review. Thank you Net Galley for offering it as a read to try.

What a fun book. Snarky dialogue, secrets uncovered and a love story. Such a cute story of second chance love after loss.

I really enjoyed this sweet novel. I was looking for a light read after a heavy novel and this was perfect. Even though I would classify it as a romance there was no steamy scenes, which I think is hard to come by in this genre. I would recommend!

This story is filled with loss, sadness, confrontation, confusion, forgiveness, growing, and strength. The characters were very well written, and the story was just so good. The things Charlotte have gone through are hard to imagine going through and it was so good to read how she overcame and how she attempted to navigate the not-so-great relationships she had with others. A great story and I gave it 4 stars!