"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 when her quest reveals a shocking secret, Charlotte is forced to answer questions she never knew to ask and to consider the possibility of forgiveness. And when a chance at a new life arises, she’ll have to decide once and for all whether to follow the numbers or trust her heart."

I really wanted to like this one, especially since I'm the blog tour for it, but I just could not connect to Charlotte. Also, I understand, based on having read advice columns in the newspaper growing up, that being at odds with one's in-laws is a cliche based on reality, but still. If I had connected to Charlotte, if I'd been able to make myself care about her, I might have enjoyed the enmity between her and her mother-in-law, but, instead, it just made her even more boring.

There were a couple of things I liked about it though;
-Charlotte sassing off to Chad at the wedding
-Casey's reaction to Charlotte's past; it was realistic and actually kind of endearing.

Overall, I didn't hate it, but I was very disappointed.

This was my first book by this author, It was pretty enjoyable. I would give this book a 3.5 star rating! It was a pretty Quick and easy read!

I must say that I was expecting a true rom-com from this novel, but instead what I got was so much more. The cover alone is gorgeous but does not really depict this beautiful, inspiring story of how Charlotte learns to love herself again.

Charlotte Rosen has been hiding that she is a widow for the last five years. When her late husband's ashes arrive unexpectedly on her doorstep, they send her on a journey of healing and forgiveness. I thought that this book dealt with the process of grief with candor and honesty.

This was a very charming read with relatable characters.

I found this book to be charming and I loved the cover so much! I think it definitely has potential to be more.

I felt that Charlotte was a tad bit plain for me and was wanting a bit more spice with her. I think there was some charming moments with some romance and Charlotte discovering herself through the grief but I found it hard to connect to this one. I found myself getting more annoyed then enjoying the story.

I think at times it felt there was a bit too much effort being thrown in this one with mentions of Apple Watch, Alexa, and Tinder. I think many would enjoy this one but it just felt a little flat and was wanting more from this one.

Overall, 3 stars.

Thank you to Netgalley Harlequin/Graydon for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

Publication date: 12/30/19
Published to GR: 11/23/19

Charlotte Rosen has a secret: she's a widow. Her husband Decker died five years ago in a freak accident. Since then, she's has completely compartmentalized her previous husband and her grief from her new numbers-centric outlook at work (she's a programmer) and in love (she's created an app that runs algorithms to help determine compatibility). But then, her husband's ashes show up on her doorstep (literally), and her she has a meltdown. And then she learns a Big Secret. And further melts down. Will she ever pull herself together? Will she be able to reconcile the two disparate compartments of her life to be a stronger woman?

I mean, the answer to these questions is yes, but it's a very whiny protagonist whom readers must endure before Charlotte gets to her happily ever after. And while I think I could have enjoyed the premise a bit more, I was under the impression that Husband Material was a romance. I mean, there is romance in it, but it is certainly NOT a romance. If you thought Holden Caulfield was whiny, you wont' like Charlotte Rosen. If you though Holden was insightful for his age, you might enjoy Husband Material. I bet you can guess which camp I was in when I read The Catcher in the Rye.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I was quite disappointed in this book. I couldn't identify or empathise at all with any of the characters, and I couldn't understand any of their motivation. It felt quite forced.

I tried with this book, I really did, and even though it was sold to me as "romance" and there is an HEA, it really doesn't feel like a romance book at all. It feel more like a women's fiction book that slapped a HEA at the end and forced a relationship into the book that didn't need it. It just felt like it wanted to be sold as a romance, but it really wasn't at all. It was actually kind of sad.

Charlotte's job was interesting to me, since I work in marketing, but also sounded super boring. It was fun to see her enjoy her work so much. I just didn't like this character at all, and I found her to be super selfish. The plot of her getting the urn of her dead husband was interesting, but all the drama with her ex-in-laws felt so unnecessary.

I was really excited to see her connect with his best friend, but then we find out things about him and it just made the HEA really unbelievable. There are a lot of secrets that come out too that just felt super convenient and a lot convoluted. I just feel strongly that this book should have been more a women's fiction book, and not sold as a romance book. It doesn't give me the same happy feelings when I read romance. AT ALL.

This book just did not work for me at all. I really tried to get into it, but I just didn't love the plot or the characters at all.

*I received a review copy of this book and voluntarily read and reviewed this book.

When I received a copy of this book, I got the impression this was going to be a cute rom-com story. That is the exact opposite of what this story is. The cover of this book, just does not do any justice to this beautiful story about a young widow finally coming to grips with the loss of her husband. I won’t say there are not moments you will laugh, because you will, but there is just so much more to this story.

Our main star is Charlotte, she writes code for a start-up, lives with her roommate Casey. She appears to be on top of the world. However, Charlotte is keeping one huge secret at 29, she has been a widow for 5 years. This is something she has never really had to come to terms with, until an unexpected box shows up which contains her husband’s ashes.

What happens next, is a journey that Charlotte will have to take. After a big whoops moment at work, they give her two weeks to get her life back together. She must re-open the door to her mother-in-law who tries to take control of everything. She is then thrust back into talking with Decker’s (the husband), best friend, Brian. During this time, she has to come to terms with a huge secret she finds out about her husband.

The title of this book, comes from a dating app that she is working on in her spare time. While for most of the book, I thought this was so insignificant, however it does propel this story to a perfect ending.

The author created a very strong female character, who while going through this process that was thrust upon her, was not afraid to ask for help when needed. This was such a great book, and I highly recommend.

Thank you NetGalley and Graydon House for an Advanced Reader’s Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed the raw nature Belden wrote about Charlotte grieving for her husband and the support group she attended for mourning widows. There were lots of sweet moments in this book and side stories that I thought really helped support the main story.

I liked Emily Belden's book Hot Mess better than this one. This was just ok for me. There was also a glaring error - when Brian talks about his Tesla, he mentions how many miles it gets tot he gallon. Teslas don't take gas at all!

I was provided with an ARC of this title from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Charlotte is a young widow. But she keeps her widowhood a secret even from those closest to her. And then she received an unexpected package that opens up all of her wounds.

She has buried herself in an obscure search for the perfect formula for happiness. She is the algorithm for a dating app designed to deliver a marriage that won't become a divorce statistic.

This is a lovely story about re-discovering who you are, the ways that grief can shape and mold our behavior and why it's so crucial to experience our sorrow rather than compartmentalizing it.

Thanks to NetGalley for sending me a free ARC of this book. I have not read this author before. This book was not one for me. Started with a good premise but did not finish strong for me.

Husband Material is a contemporary fiction novel that had a great balance of humor and relatability. I really appreciated how the author Emily Belden built detailed characters that have a level of depth that doesn't always happen in this genre of writing. Because of this, I was really able to connect with the storyline and follow these characters on their path of grief and the process of moving forward. We met Charlotte who is a young widow that is trying to rebuild her life.

I appreciated the discussion of death and loss, especially for younger characters who are still on the path of finding themselves while at the same time dealing with this huge loss. I am so glad I didn't judge this one by the cover alone because while the cutesy cover might let you think this is just another "rom-com" I really found this to be so much more.

*My full review will be up on genthebookworm.com when I am a part of the Husband Material blog tour this winter.

Thank you to NetGalley and Graydon House Books for an advanced copy.

This is the first book that I have by this author. I thought that it was hilarious in some parts of the book.
Charlotte is a loveable female lead she works at a social media influencer firm. She thinks that she has it all figured out until one day. She is a widow that has dived into her work and has no desire to get into another relationship. That is until her husband’s ashes arrive on her doorstep, five years after his death.
I had a little bit of an issue with this book. I had a hard time connecting to Charlotte even though I did find her lovable and annoying at some points. The romance was a little bland for me. There were some moments that I did enjoy but there were others where I just wanted to skip.

*I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. *

**Review will be posted on my blog http://pastmignight.home.blog on December 16, 2019, closer to it's publication date.**

Thank you to Graydon House and NetGalley for giving me a chance to read this eARC.

I will say off the bat that if you are looking for a light-hearted rom-com story, this is not it. The cover of this book is misleading, you think it’s going to be cute and fun. Well…stop right there, because this story about a widow, Charlotte, is at times heavy with grief themes. Oh she comes off as so put together, working in L.A. for a social media company and she’s smart too. She made a career being a coder and is developing her own dating app. Charlotte is driven, analytical and doesn’t come off as very nice but she’s hiding a secret. She’s a widow and barely anyone in Los Angeles knows this except her ex in-laws. So what happens when one day the urn of her late husband makes it to her apartment and the past comes back to haunt her? Will Charlotte stay in her controlled, put together life, or will she shatter?

What I Liked:

*The reason I love this book is purely personal. I felt like I was reading about my life. I was Charlotte but just shy of my 30th birthday when I lost my first husband. So the more I was reading this book, it kind of scared me…I had red flags in me waving “TRIGGER!” But you know what, the author wrote about Charlotte and her grief so well and respectfully. I saw in the Author’s note section in the back that she thanked a few women she interviewed about grief and losing their spouse. 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 I love that she did research because I felt it-way deep inside me. For me this book was a like a friend who knew me.

*Though Charlotte doesn’t come off likable, I understood her. And I liked her strong voice. Her trying to control things in her life, I got it! She’s developing a dating app but she’s only used herself to test the app. She takes all these elements of dating and put them into an algorithm so she can predict the outcome. It’s scary to want normalcy again knowing at any moment you can get a phone call and have to be making a serious decision, especially when you marry someone thinking it’s forever and finding the ugly truth that it’s not. But Charlotte has lots of dreams about the future and she has focus, sometimes obsessively so. Charlotte is strong, sometimes too strong but I get it. I get Charlotte.

*I loved Charlotte’s roommate Casey who is so different from her with her artistic style, and tell it to your face attitude because Charlotte was spiraling and needed a reality check. Thank you Casey for stepping up and being unique and snarky. ☺️

*This is a mild romance story, the romance isn’t a focus, it’s about Charlotte and the past haunting her. She needs to come to terms with some secrets that are revealed to move forward again and I will say there is a happy ending and I was relieved for her and everyone involved. But this story is deeper than a romance novel so keep that in mind if you are looking for something that is all romance. This is not.

*Speaking of romance, I liked her relationship with Brian, it felt non-threatening and easy going, from like a friendship than anything else. It’s a slow burn, for sure.

*Grief therapy scene was really good. I never did go to one but I wish many times I did but I also wanted to be alone too…so…it’s a great scene and glad it was in the book.

Things That Made Me Go Hmm:

~This story is more of Charlotte’s self journey to letting go and moving on than a romance novel. Did I want more romance? Yes…totally because the title said Husband Material, I wish they would change the title to something else, it’s misleading.

~Brian Jackson is her late husband’s best friend. Now…I’m not usually into that trope, but I know that happens, so I rolled with it.

~Charlotte isn’t super likable. I liked her because I understood her but I can see how she’s not the most pleasant person, defense and coping mechanisms maybe? We don’t get to know how she used to be before she became a young widow.

~Triggers: grief, losing a spouse, memories of the day of death — this book took me to a lot of closed places in my mind. But thank God I can say…I was okay, it’s why I kept reading.

Final Thoughts:

Was I expecting more romance in this? YES. Obviously there was an attraction to Brian and I wanted more of that but it’s a slow burn because Charlotte has a lot going on in her head. I was misled by the cutesy cover and the title of the book. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Overall the writing was great, I got a sense for Charlotte right away and her journey was emotional. This is more of a heartfelt and heart-breaking story through a widow’s grief than just a regular rom-com.

So cute! Emily Belden's writing is fantastic! Right up my alley as a millenial romcom. Would definitely read Belden's work in the future!

I found this book difficult to enjoy. The main character, a widow, who basically, five years after the death of her husband, comes to terms with her decisions. I found her singularly selfish and a little pathetic. This story is her running around making a mess of things. Not a top read for me.

Such a cute love story, little slow at times but I still liked it. Charlotte, a widow is faced with what to do with her husbands ashes when they unexpectedly delivered to her 5 years after his death.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.

I really enjoyed this book. It’s a very modern story that is relevant and interesting. The story is about a girl (Charlotte) who is an excellent computer coder and has created her own dating app where she can scour a guy’s social media, enter all the data into her program and find out if they are a good match. But, Charlotte has a past that she tries to pretend isn’t hers and one day the past comes back to haunt her- literally! Charlotte then has to figure her life out. The book is well thought out, has excellent characters and is full of fun, funny, romance, friendship, mystery and growth! I highly recommend this lighthearted book if you’re looking for something modern and sweet!

After finding her late husbands ashes in a package she thought was a new hard drive, Charlotte Rosen is taken back five years. She comes to find out the mausoleum he was in was evaluated because of the wildfires. Her roommate has no idea her had a husband, and neither does her work or her friends. She fought hard to move on and put Decker in the past. However she is forced to tell her mother-in-law about the ashes who insists she should take them. Charlotte fights hard on that one. Her mother-in-law send in her sons best friend Brian and he is more than she can handle. This book is filled with romance, secrets and the past coming back.