Thank you NetGalley and Head of Zeus for the ARC of The Husband Diet.

I was turned off by the stream of consciousness writing style. I felt frustrated by Erica’s constant complaining that I didn’t make it very far into the book.

I think I’m just not in the right season of my life for this book.

This is the first book of The Amazing Erica series and also the first book for me by this author. The characters were well-developed and were realistically portrayed which made them quite relatable. Erica was a strong and determined character who had insecurity issues with her weight. She is in an unhappy marriage and had put her own dreams aside to support her husband and the business he was trying to get off the ground. All these years later, she is still putting her wishes on hold, and his business is still struggling. On top of that, she has to deal with her husband's displeasure and jokes about her weight. Erica knows she can't go on like this and that something has to change. She needs to start thinking about her happiness now and what she wants. The handsome headmaster at her kids' school might just be the one to help her to do that.
This was humorous and fun, second chance at love story with well-crafted characters and an interesting plot. The only thing I will say that kind of turned me off from the book was the message that seem to came across that you have to lose weight or change yourself in order to please someone else or be acceptable. But other than that it was an entertaining story and I enjoyed Ms. Barone's storytelling. I would like to try more books by her in the future.
I received a complimentary copy from Netgalley and am voluntarily leaving my review.

What a truly stunning read this book is and Nancy never fails to disappoint. Heart warming and beautifully written.

I really wanted to like this book but it was so poorly written that I couldn't had to force myself to finish it. Give it a pass!

#netgalley #thehusbanddiet Sadly this book just wasn't for me I really wanted to enjoy it but I couldn't work out what the storyline was really about apart from a woman shaming her body. I didn't like any of the characters unfortunately. I hate giving bad reviews but even though I didn't like it, I'm sure there are many more people out there who would love it.

This book bombed for me. I didn’t like any of the characters. Ira was a beast and I thought Erica was just a mess. It wasn’t for me.

A big thank you to NetGalley and Head of Zeus Publishing/Aria for the eARC. I am voluntarily reviewing this book.
I understand that this is a reissue. This for me started out slow, but wow did it heat up. I found it interesting, and absolutely loved the dynamics between Erica and Julian. Her ex Ira turned out to be a sad horrible person. I was jealous that Erica was able to move on and find an amazing guy!! This doesn't happen for all of us. But I will keep hoping. 4 stars.

This book seems to be two books in one -- the before book which focuses on a miserable wife of a horrible husband who is focused on her weight and feels like she has to change herself to keep her husband. This section of the book was interesting but disturbing, especially as I never want anyone to get the message that they must change their body to be acceptable in anyway. Thankfully in the second section we do get a different message however, this is not until she does lose some of her weight, so lower weights are still glorified in the book. That is one reason I would not recommend this novel to anyone I know who struggles with weight related issues. This message is way too loud in our society to begin with. It does not need to be hammered further in someone's downtime. I understand why the author added this, but I would have preferred it if reduction of weight was not part of the story line.
The second book is a love story about a woman who has been badly harmed in her past and her eyes being opened to possibilities she did not see before. This part of the book, which still carried threads from the initial book, was a much more fun read. I felt like the book could have been written better, the language was pretty basic did not help me to visualize the environments and some situations very well. However. I did feel like I knew the main character well, as she was developed throughout the book in a strong and clear way. The rest of the characters less so, but still enough that you felt like you knew them.
This book may be a good beach read or something to read when you are sick and do not want to think a whole lot. For me, it was an okay book, but I am not likely to come back to read the sequel.
thank you to Atria books, Netgalley , and the author for the opportunity to read this e-galley.

⚜My Summary
📚I enjoyed this book from beggining to end. I laughed, smiled and was angry and wanted to knock out Erica's husband Ira at times. This book gave me all the feels. Nancy took us on the journey of Erica's life; fighting for her marriage, divorce, family secrets, her kids, building up her self esteem, and my favorite finding love. This book is a spicy must read! Very hard to our down!

⚜ Favorite/ Least Favorite Part
📚My favorite part was definitley her meeting Julian. Everything changed.
📚My Least Favorite part was Ira and his crazy selfish antics.

⚜Would I recommend?
📚Absolutely!

this was fun and adorable book. it had it upsetting moments but they were needed for the whole story to unfold.
great characters, even the crappy ones that you hate bc if not for them then the story would not be as good.
Some characters will even shock you with what they do
Oh wow the love and feelings of Julian unbelievable, he is def a book boyfriend that you would want.
this book was about love, loss, family drama and finding a new future and happiness.
Such a great feel good book
loved it def a 5 star book

I would like to thank NetGalley for giving me an advance copy of this book to read and my opinions are my own, honest and voluntarily given.

Absolutely loved this book with its emotional highs, lows, laughs and tears.

Have you ever felt that a diet just isn't enough? That the dead weight your carrying runs deeper than the extra few pounds you gained over the years? If so then you need the Husband Diet. You'll shed the pounds and gain a confidence that you haven't seen in years. Of course finding your own personal Julian is one thing every woman needs

The Husband Diet was sadly a DNF for me. I assumed I would feel some connection with a plus-size protagonist shedding the weight of a shitty husband and finding herself, but I just stopped read 26% of the way through because I felt like I was still reading the set-up for the book and couldn't suss out what the actual plot was going to be. If you haven't shown me at least a little insight as to the thrust of the book by the time I'm a quarter of the way through, I assume the rest of the book will be just as meandering. Does she want to lose weight? Is it for the right reasons or to please a man? Does she just have a healthy appetite or is there a binge eating disorder at play. It was a so casual and disinteresing that I'm not sticking around to find out.

Oh Erica! She's been sublimating her own desires to those of her husband Ira for years. Ira who is dismissive of her and who points out her weight. Her mom is no help but her BFF Paul is always a ray of sunshine. And then she begins to fixate on Julian, the headmaster of her kids' school.- and he reciprocates. But how far will they go? It's a light read with, let's face it, some plot holes but I felt for Erica. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

DNF

God gracious… this character is the most annoying person ever … she spends half the time complaining and talking about weight

I thought it was gonna be a book about a women who drops her husband and finds herself … I didn’t sign up to read her just talking and shaming her body

Thank you netgalley for letting me read this

A fun vacation read, I really enjoyed this book. It has snarky humor which makes it hilarious

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for this ARC

A fun read of a woman coping with a useless and degrading husband and finally finding herself and her happiness.

Thank you Netgalley and the Publisher for my ARC in exchange for my honest review. This was an enjoyable book.

Thank you NetGalley and Head of Zeus for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I really liked the concept of the book but at times I found scenes a little too far fetched. Overall, I'm glad I read the book but I don't think it would be one I would recommend to others. I feel with a few tweaks (making occurrences like the spider incident more realistic. Maybe a spilt drink instead), It has the promise of a fantastic book.

𝗧𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝘀: friends to lovers

Thank you NetGalley, Head of Zeus and Nancy Barone for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

It is well written, and the characters are very realistic, but I couldn't connect with Erica.

As the story progresses the plot becomes more and more weird for no reason. Everything happens very quickly, and for me it was quite tiring to keep up with what was happening.

I really liked the premise of this book. However, it seemed a bit disjointed in terms of pacing. I didn't get enough of a feel for the characters. It felt like the book careened from one chapter to the next.