I was curious to read a different take on romance. How To Keep a Husband for Ten Days is kind of a twist on the fake dating trope. Brown and Linda have filed for divorce, but haven’t told their friends. So, they embark on a journey of pretend as they try to save their old building and neighborhood from gentrification. I enjoyed the first half more than the second, at some point the story loses momentum and becomes a bit repetitive. There are interesting side stories and characters, but it was not enough to keep me interested. Still, I was able to read it all the way through and enjoy the culmination of the stories.

My thoughts




Narrative and Plot




How To Keep Your Husband For Ten Days was a fun romantic comedy that dwells deep into the nitty gritty of a second-chance romance. It wasn't exactly a "laugh out loud " comedy as advertised. You expect some kind of situational comedy when there is a husband and wife fake dating in front of their friends.
While the plot was along those lines, it did not focus on the comedy but the romance. The narrative is a little bit non-linear about how Brown and Leena's story blossomed before and during the pandemic and how it all went downhill from there.




Characters and Conflicts





Let's begin with Brown because he is an adorable main character. He isn't the perfect fictional husband. He is just as flawed as any clueless husband who doesn't have a clue about what is being communicated. Beyond that, however, he is charming and loyal and the kind of hero you root for in this kind of story. You would root for the relationship immediately.


Leena is a bit wound up with herself and is equally bad at communicating things. Thankfully, the story takes its time and acknowledges this fatal flaw. It explores how this couple faces their relationship once their honeymoon period is over and they actually need to work on their relationship. Whether they stand the test of time or run away at the sign of conflict forms the story. This strong conflict contributes to a strong character arc, especially when supported by a vivacious ensemble cast.

Now that being said, the foundation of the whole fake relationship scenario was quite weak. Not that they didn't have a valid reason. They need to fake-date to support a cause which only comes up after 40% of the book. It makes the majority of the first half of the story look like it was lagging and truly unnecessary. However, once it gets going, the story picks up the pace and gets your attention.






Conclusion




I enjoyed the book. It was fun and entertaining, and I finished it one sitting during a 7-hour train ride. I would say, don't expect it to be a laugh-out-loud comedy, but if you like a second-chance contemporary romance that explores some aspects of it with a light tone, this is a quick, entertaining read.

A really fun read. I loved the characters and hiw they were just brought to life.
The author has done a dab job and I loved this story.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an arc in exchange for an honest review!

loooooove me a marriage in crisis book and the whole concept of having to pretend to be married was soooo chef's kiss, but sadly, the execution fell a little bit flat for me. i felt like at times the saving the building plot was taking precedence over the redevelopment of lina and brown's marriage. also, lina's views on her marriage kind of switched out of nowhere ?? it didn't feel like there was a steady build up to her change of heart and in general, i think i would've just liked to see more of lina and brown's chemistry and falling back in love with each other. i did however like the new girl vibes of the friend group and their connection to the building. i also enjoyed the back-and-forth between the past and present chapters; it made the unveiling of the story more fun !!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this copy of How to Keep a Husband for Ten Days.

I’ll start by saying that How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days is in my top 3 favorite romcoms, so I was very excited to receive a copy of this as the titles are so similar.
Things I Liked: the characters were diverse and imperfect which felt realistic to life! I also loved the idea of an apartment building full of friends.
Things I Didn’t Like: The reason for fake “staying together” was really unrealistic to me and almost felt immature. Adults would simply tell their friends that it’s not working out. I was hoping for a deeper reason than keeping the apartment building from corporate greed.
All in all, I think this is a sweet read for those that enjoy second chance romance and a nonlinear timeline!

the premise is interesting but the execution is just not it. it’s slow paced and i did not like the writing style. there’s no fun-romcom vibes to me it came off as dry.

The synopsis of the book drew me in. It gave me thoughts of the romcom The Breakup, a movie which I loved. However, it just did not live up to that. The book was not as interesting as I'd hoped and the characters a little flat and frustrating, especially Lina. And I was never rooting for the main characters to be together.This book wasn’t for me, but maybe it will be for someone else.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

This has been an interesting read.. slightly different to what I had expected. This is one which has flowed well but is based around a marriage in crisis.

I devoured this book in one sitting, I found this an easy read and was attracted by the name and the gorgeous cover.

Hatch has created wonderful characters. I particularly love Brown.

I have adored the love story that fills the pages of this one.

🌟🌟🌟🌟

This book was absolutely adorable and I literally laughed out loud too many times to even count. Brilliant!

I really enjoyed some of the humour in this story and all of the romantic moments but I was also left feeling really confused and at times it did feel a little under developed, for example with the main characters. I think learning some more about them and getting to know them more as a couple would have been really beneficial to taking to the characters more. But overall this was a fab quick read!

What is about these simplistic, warm colour paletted book covers that makes them absolute catnip for me? I can’t seem to resist at least having a look at rom-coms dressed in covers of this cute style. Unfortunately, I really need to break the connection that my brain has made with these adorable covers with good reads because this really didn’t deliver even a little bit!

Lina and Brown’s friends are coming to stay unexpectedly but to admit that the pair are actually going through a divorce and living separately is unthinkable. So, Lina convinces Brown to pretend that everything is fine just for ten days. What could possibly go wrong?

I knew that this book and I weren’t going to get along within the first couple of chapters, when Lina appears to believe that telling those closest to her that she’s getting divorced is the worst possible thing in the world. I couldn’t understand this at all. Just does not compute with me as a person or indeed, I believe with 95% of people I’ve ever met. I should clarify that Lina isn’t devoutly Catholic or of any other faith that explicitly teaches that divorce is inherently bad. So, considering that hiding her divorce is Lina’s primary goal throughout the narrative, I knew that I was never going to be on board with the book as a whole.

Lina and Brown have a friend called Sophie, who appears to think that she’s given them a ‘couple name’ by calling them ‘Bellini’. Their names are BRown and LinA. Therefore, an actual couple name would be Brolina or something. Bellini doesn’t work as a couple name for them. What’s even crazier is that the author has chosen to call the guy Brown. She could have chosen any real name in the world but instead she named him Brown. If she wanted them to have the couple name of Bellini, it would have been much more sensible to name him Ben or something. You know, like an actual, real life name.

Of course, this is a romance, so we know that during this pretence that they’re still together, they’re probably going to rediscover each other. However, Lina behaved in a completely erratic manner, considering she was the one that initiated the break up. I genuinely have no clue why she decided that divorce from a man that she never stopped loving at all was a sensible thing to do at all and I really don’t believe it’s a decision that any actual, sane woman would ever do.

Lina was without a doubt the most unlikeable, frustrating character I’ve read. She constantly gave Brown mixed signals and treated him appallingly. She then had the arrogance to question whether he ‘still felt the same way about her’ after he’d read some pretty horrific things that she’d written about him. I just really wanted her to leave the poor guy alone and let him find someone who deserved him because it certainly wasn’t her.

How To Keep A Husband For 10 Days is a very dull, infuriating romance that features a completely-unrelated-to-anything plot about affordable housing that seems to go on and on. I couldn’t help but wonder where everyone’s family members were. Not one of these people in their late 20s/early 30s seemed to have parents or siblings or anyone related to them that they had any regular contact with -literally no one was even mentioned! They also had a non-binary friend called Freddie who was obviously more masculine-presenting because they used he/they pronouns and there were references to when they were a ‘he’. I wasn’t sure what the author was trying to do with Freddie’s gender identity other than shoehorn it in to add ‘diversity’ because if they’re non-binary, I shouldn’t KNOW that a character is biologically male unless it’s very relevant to the plot. It was just a very unfunny romance with absolutely no substance and an abhorrent heroine.

This is a take on the Fake Dating trope, faking that you are married to the man that you are married to. This is a new take on this and was interesting to read from. It is full of situations which is the traditional mis-communication aspect of the story. This is a complex and funny story about people who are portraying one this while starting divorce proceedings. The biggest aspects of the miscommunication trope is one of the main characters divorce diary which is full of her inner most feelings. This is a written in first person dual timeline narrative which helps to make this and addictive story which you do not want to put down.

I was totally unimpressed by this thinking it would make me laugh and be entertaining but, unfortunately no of this was to be and I found the writing mixed. Not my cup of tea. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

The book seemed to drag having too many subplots. The whole petition to save the building was not something I had signed up for and took about as much screen time as the main plot. There were far too many characters for my comfort speaking of which, I have got used to Freddie's sexuality and the pronouns them/their which really confused me.

The cover and blurb are very misleading, making the reader expect something but providing something completely different. So just putting it out there, this is not a light rom-com which is oh so bright and colorful.

I am glad this book had a HEA ending and I loved the storyline of Brown & Lina rediscovering each other. I didn't feel like putting down the book at any point in the story and the journey was captivating. I loved the chemistry and banter between Brown and Lina, and rooted for more of it. As much as I want to have more good things to say, this is all I can think of.

I received an e-ARC of this book from NetGalley and Bookouture in exchange of my honest opinion.

I absolutely loved this book. It hooked me and kept me turning pages until I was done. Finished it in two days! The character development was strong, and the premise was unique enough that it didn't feel like anything else I've read.

I ended up not finishing this book. The blurb doesn't match the actual story. It definitely lacks the promised humour. The main characters aren't particularly likeable and we seem to know more about the side characters. The dialogue is awkward and the pacing is off. Unfortunately not for me

I only read 20% of this book. In my opinion, the promess of an "absolutely hilarious and totally addictive romcom" was not fulfilled. I gave it some time but when I got to 20% of the book and it still felt like an emotion-less reading, I gave up.
I didn't find it funny, instead the humour was quite heavy, and I did not feel any of the feelings that were meant to be felt. It was mostly boring to me.
Please be aware that this is a very subjective feedback. This book might pleases someone else.

Was not for me. I'm VERY picky when it comes to romance. This one was just not for me. Very slow paced, with not much going for the main character. The blurb was compelling but the book itself was boring.

⭐️Rating: 3/5
✍🏼Author: Jessica Hatch
📖Genre: Drama/Romance

My Thoughts::

I was expecting this to be a rom-com, but it wasn't. This book is a slow-burn drama that involves tropes like forced proximity and fake marriage. I did enjoy the characters , the misfit group of friends and the way the author told the story. It showed the consequences between a couple that doesn't have the best communication and had a good message overall. It wasn't the most exciting to get through, but it wasn't bad at all.

Thank you, NetGalley for the ARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Lina and Brown on are on their way to getting divorced, when she convinces him to pretend they are still together in front of their mutual friends. Will it lead to a second chance for them. This shows that communication is key to relationships. I would have liked to have read something from Brown's point of view too.