This is a wonderfully written novel about a young widow. Lauren fell in love with Rory in high school. Despite time apart because of college and because Rory made it to the NHL, his death after enlisting in Afghanistan caused Lauren to essentially forget about her own goals and dreams and hide out in the family beach house year round. She’s been hiding from the media for four years.
She’s had a strained relationship with her older sister, Stephanie, since falling for Rory all those years ago. Their mother, Beth, keeps trying to bring them together, and thinks that by bringing Stephanie and her six-year-old son Ethan to the beach house, they can work through whatever has kept them apart. Beth is facing her own marital and financial crisis.

Documentary film maker Matt Brio has been working on the story of Rory Kincaid since his death, but Matt is running out of money. Nobody wants to fund him if he can’t get the widow to talk on camera. That’s a challenge, since he can’t even find her. When he does, the family secrets that pour out prove ultimately to provide good therapy for the family members who talk.

This story has echoes of pro-football player Pat Tillman turned Army Ranger who was killed by friendly fire. It’s also about the dangers of professional sports and head injuries. Brenner makes writing a novel seem effortless. I really enjoyed this book.

Thanks to NetGalley and Little, Brown and Company for the opportunity to review this book, which RELEASES APRIL 24, 2018.

At first this book was very difficult to begin but I am glad I did. A very dysfunctional seem to have it all yet suffer from various incidences in their life. The main love story has its trials and tribulations but the search for answers kept me captivated.

My second book by Jamie Brenner, fast becoming a favorite for her ability to transport the reader to the beach towns of the northeast and to craft a story filled with relationships, family drama, and with subtle romance. A very satisfying combination. In The Husband Hour we are transported to the Jersey Shore where Lauren is living as a widow, hiding away from life and family, after the death of her Army husband Rory. Lauren and Rory were high school sweethearts. Rory, a gifted athlete who went on to the NHL. Lauren followed him, putting aside her own dreams of becoming a journalist for a national newspaper. Matt is a documentary film maker who has been working on Rory's story. After much research, he begins to suspect that Rory was suffering from traumatic brain injury from repeated head injuries as an athlete. On the verge of losing the funding for his film, Matt must seek out Rory's widow to get the interview to provide his film with complete story. After a lucky break points him to the NJ town where Lauren hides Matt reaches out, but Lauren refuses to speak to him. Tenaciously he continues to try and we find that there may be more to the story. Thank you to the author and publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2214397124?book_show_action=false

Enjoyable and fast-paced but emotional read. Well researched. I love reading books written about places I know, I live not too far from the HS written about.

Ms. Brenner definitely did her research about the area, the shore and especially concussions. As the mom of 2 soccer players, she really hit the nail on the head about the seriousness of this condition. She made me cry reading Rory’s letter to Lauren. How heartbreaking, but yet what beautiful closure. Wanted to smack her sister, and Rory. I will definitely read this author again.

Love the cover.

I received an advance review copy of this book from the Great Thought's Ninja Review Team. All opinions are my own.

I’m a huge fan of Jamie’s books and this one didn’t disappoint! Bring the tissues and cuddle up with this wonderful book! Highly recommend this gem!

I could not put this book down. I started it yesterday, but I kept thinking about it all evening and this morning. So I spent the rest of the day finishing it!

Almost five years after the death of her former NHL star turned Army Ranger husband (Rory), Lauren has basically gone into hiding from friends and family. Staying at her family's old beach house on the Jersey shore, Lauren is slowly getting through each day. But her quiet life is coming to a crashing halt. First her parents, sister and nephew are invading the beach house. Second, a documentarian has found her and wants to talk about making a film of her husband. This summer has turned her life upside down. Can Lauren finally confront her feelings of her husband's death? Or will the summer tear her family apart?

This was a griping story about young love, family and moving on from the past. I enjoyed the story, getting to know Rory's story playing in the NHL and dealing with head trauma. This story is so relevant today and really makes you think. It also makes you think about family and what is truly important.

Thank you to Jamie Brenner and NetGalley for the advanced copy. I previously enjoyed Jamie's book and was excited to read this one. It did not disappoint!

I received an ARC of The Husband Hour in exchange for my honest review.

This is by Far, Jamie Brenner's best work to date. (and I have thoroughly enjoyed each of her earlier novels).

The Husband Hour is a riveting story about family, and the secrets which come out while a documentary is being made about "Hero" Rory Kincaid. The story follows Rory's widow, Lauren, during a five year period after Rory's death. Simultaneously we get to read how Lauren and Rory met, fell in love, and later married.

I won't spoil anything other than saying there are twists I didn't see coming, which I fully loved. The family dynamics are written so well that you feel everything Lauren is feeling.

A young widow living her life in a east coast beach town & struggling with the years that have gone by without her husband, she is going through the motions.

A series of events within her family & with herself make several things come to light, about her husband ( a young, attractive hockey player who goes into the military), about her family & mostly about herself.

I loved the summer beach atmosphere, this would be a perfect summer beach read. But there is a deeper side to this book, the effects of CTE on athletes & their families & the rest of their lives & also the struggle a family has when the spouse comes home after being deployed.

I really liked Lauren & I felt her struggles & her unfounded guilt. A couple of characters were tough to take at times, but each came around in their own way.

I look forward to reading more books in the future by Jamie Brenner.

I appreciate this advance copy from Net Galley,
My honest review of this book is my own.

unfortunately this one did not work for me, i couldn't get into it even though i tried several times. rather than force myself and end up hating something that just isn't clicking for me,. it's a DNF from me

Interesting look at sports being played on a competitive level. Concussions are such a serious topic. Glad to see Brenner taking on this topic. Interesting tale.

The Husband Hour is the story of a widow, Lauren, not only coming to terms with the death of her husband; she must also reconcile who he really was to his public persona of hockey star and American hero. Everything comes to a head one summer when a documentary is being made about Lauren’s husband Rory, as the truth slowly unwinds, shocking even the people who knew him best. The characters in this book are complex, their relationships rocky, but they are brought to life with compassion and love. This is a wonderfully heartfelt story and a compelling read.

I really loved the story of Lauren, a young widow who is having a hard time facing up to the reality of her hero husband's loss. Lauren spends four years at her parents' summer home on the Jersey shore, until a documentary maker comes to town to make a film on her husband. Add in secrets between her parents, Beth and Howard, secrets between Lauren and her sister that slowly seep out, and you will have a hard time putting the book down. This story includes loss, family, traumatic brain injury, domestic violence and so much more, done in a tasteful way. I really liked the development of the characters and their stories.

I hate when I have to say this, but I honestly don't know how to review this book. I didn't love it and I didn't hate it. I stand in the neutral position on this one.
Great plot line, the characters didn't do a lot for me, even Matt. Her sister's behavior throughout the book was deplorable, her Mother was a fixer and enabler and the whole family dynamic was just one more added drama that maybe wasn't necessary to the plot. You can read the blurb and get the gist of the story. I totally understand Lauren's need to isolate and I would have too. The book revolved around Rory, I felt even couched in this story Lauren was just another p.s. to the life of Riley. No pun intended. Matt's need to tell the story was valid. He sought her out and that one hour (or two) spent with her when she finally caved in to his request after camping out in her little town which I really did love. I loved Henriette and Lauren's job at the cafe kept her present. She had friends there. She didn't want to have to leave. Afraid for her security, due to her father's announcement about the family home where's she been living... another distraction among many in this book.
I would have enjoyed it more had this been solidly about Lauren, Rory and Matt. And the end. Yeah. No.

*arc from NetGalley and Publisher in exchange for a fair review**

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for my review. Rory Kincaid was the boy who had it all; a hockey player with professional prospects, a good student and popular. So no one was more surprised than shy, runner Lauren Adelman when Rory asked her out. Even though they were young, they married quickly in order to be together during Rory's NHL career. When repeated concussions sidelined Rory, he decided to enlist in the military and was killed.

Lauren now spends her days alone in her parent's home on the Jersey Shore. She runs alone, works in a diner and has basically decided to just try to survive each day without Rory. However, her parents and sister have now moved in with Lauren for the summer and a documentary film maker wants to make a movie about Rory.
Lauren will be forced to face some hard truths about Rory, their marriage and what kind of life she wants to have.

I thought this was very well written! There are timely plot twists and well-developed characters which made this a great story!

This book is so good it opens up a time warp.
See what happened was I finished reading a book early in the evening. My husband was out of town so I thought, I'll start this book and finish it another day. Well, I did finish it the next day -- at 4.30 in the morning, on a work day after I read *all*night*long*!!

Great book. Very touching. I think the author does a great job showing the grief and guilt that a young widow carries with her.



I received an advanced review copy of this book from The Great Thoughts Ninja Review Team. All opinions are my own.

Wow. I was already a fan of Jamie Brenner's writing, but this book has solidified her as one of my must-read favorite authors. The Husband Hour had so much depth, while still qualifying as a beach read. The characters and the situations were so complex and often uncomfortable to read. It would have been easy to wrap things up in an unrealistic cliched way, but I think the author really nailed it. I absolutely cannot wait to read what Jamie Brenner brings to us next.

An intriguing sexy read, with enough twists and rich characters to keep the pages turning.

I didn't really like this book much, never really got into it or the characters. I thought about not finishing it the whole time I was reading it, but was curious about the ending. I guess I am in the minority here, but it just wasn't for me.

I received an advance review copy of The Husband Hour from the Great Thought's Ninja Review Team. All opinions are my own.

This was my third Jamie Brenner book after reading The Wedding Sisters and The Forever Summer (both of which I LOVED), and it definitely didn't disappoint. I always like reading books set in New England, and the family dynamic of this book was one of the best I have read in a while. I was anxious to find out how the story would end between Lauren and her sister, Lauren and the lovable filmmaker Matt, and between her parents. There were a couple plot twists and turns that kept the book moving, and I enjoyed many of the side characters as well.

I am a Jamie Brenner addict--cant wait for the next one!

I am having a hard time getting into any other book after finishing this. I found myself so wrapped up in the lives of all the characters that I would go for hours at a time not even realizing where I was.

Having never been to Jersey, I had absolutely no trouble imagining the beach or the house, or Nora’s restaurant.

I felt for Lauren through most of the book. Jamie Brenner has a way of making you care about each character. I could feel the heartbreak Lauren was facing after losing her husband after such a short marriage. The pain in this book is very intense, but it is real. At times I felt like I was reading a biography.

Wrapped within this story is a deeper story about the injuries that professional athletes endure for the love of their sport, or for their position on the team. Jamie uses a beautiful story about family, love, and loss to bring the battle of athletes and soldiers dealing with CTE to the surface. So often we take for granted the entertainment we get watching these athletes, but don’t stop to think about the way they’re putting their bodies on the line. We also don’t think about how their spouses have to live because of their career.

I was very fortunate to receive a copy of this book via the Great Thoughts’ Ninja Review team. These thoughts are my own.