I was looking forward to this book, and was excited I got an arc. This novel had a lot of potential, overall it was ok. Some of the characters were meh for me. I also felt like there was too much going on.

This was a great story that brings together the present and the past in an interesting way. When Mallory's son has a medical crisis and needs a new kidney, she can't face his father after a devastating breakup. He is also about to get married. Her sister goes on a mission to find out if there are any relatives that could donate. While looking, she discovers a long ago story.

Great plot and great characters. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC in return for my honest review.

To be honest I went into this book blindly and wasn’t sure how Williams was going to tie these two storylines together but I let the storyteller do her job 🐍 and she did it like she always has!

Returning to Winthrop Island and meeting family from previous characters found in other of her novels, I was hooked immediately…

In #husbandsandlovers we meet Mallory, a single mom looking for a kidney donor for her teenage son. Looking for a donor match leads her into looking deeper into her past and her family roots.

We then travel back to post war Cairo, where we meet Hannah, who is stuck in a loveless marriage with her British diplomat husband. While in Cairo with her husband she begins a dangerous affair with a hotel manager. Two women decades apart will be connected by a family heirloom 🐍 in a way only Williams can tell. I’ll let you meet Monk on your own 👩🏼‍🍳 💋 ….⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️/5 🏖️

"Husbands and Lovers" by Beatriz Williams is a captivating novel that weaves together romance, secrets, and multiple crises across generations. The story is set against the backdrop of the revolutionary fires of mid-century Egypt and the moneyed beaches of contemporary New England.

In 2022, single mother Mallory Dunne must confront her past when Monk Adams, a best friend turned boyfriend from the summer of 2008, reappears in her life. The novel expertly balances historical details, contemporary romance, and a stunning beach setting, making it a true page-turner.

The prologue of "Husbands and Lovers" is particularly gripping, with a 10/10 hook that drew me in from the start. The story is filled with both expected and unexpected twists and turns, but for me lost a bit of momentum until the very end. While some plots may feel underdeveloped and in need of further depth, the characters are generally wonderful, even if slightly exaggerated. The ending is particularly memorable, leaving me with a sense of heartbreak and redemption.

"Husbands and Lovers" is a timeless and bittersweet journey that I won't soon forget. Despite some minor flaws in pacing due to the two timelines, I would highly recommended this book for fans of historical fiction and romance.

Husbands and Lovers" by Beatrice Williams is a captivating exploration of love, loyalty, and the complexities of relationships set against a richly detailed backdrop. Williams masterfully weaves together the lives of her characters, each grappling with their desires and the expectations placed upon them. The prose is lush and evocative, drawing readers into the emotional turmoil and triumphs of the protagonists. While the pacing occasionally dips, the intricate character development and compelling themes of fidelity and self-discovery make it a rewarding read. Overall, this novel is a poignant reflection on the choices we make in love, earning a solid four stars for its engaging narrative and depth.

4.5 stars rounded up. I've read a couple of other books by Beatriz Williams and this one took the cake by far! Husbands & Lovers is a creative blend of my favorite genres: historical fiction, family dramas, and romance.

The book alternates between two women in two different decades. One FMC (Mallory) is a single mother living in present time who was impregnated by her college boyfriend (Monk). He went on to become a famous singer-songwriter and is not aware that he fathered a son. The other is a European woman who survived WWII and is now living in Cairo as the wife of a diplomat in 1951.

Mallory and her now adolescent son spend the summer on a New England island, the same place she met Monk. Of course, their paths happen cross again while on the island. Without giving too much away, I loved the story of their second chance romance. My only criticism of the book is that while love historical fiction, the 1951 timeline was not as compelling for me. I found myself hurrying through some of those chapters to return to the present day ones. never clicked for me. On the other hand, I loved the modern day events and characters and was very satisfied by the ending.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group/Ballantine Books for an advanced copy of this novel to read in exchange for my honest review.

I’ve been a fan of Beatriz Williams for many years, so I was excited to read this book. I’m happy to say it didn’t disappoint. Recommended for fiction readers.

This book was so good. It was my first by Williams, but won't be my last. I lived the split timelines and the thread of Mallory tracking down family to save her son's life. Overall it was a great story that absolutely kept me hooked.

This book was such an enjoyable read! I loved the back of forth of the time frames. The ending was a bit predictable but I will enjoyed it from beginning to end!

thank you netgalley for the e-arc in exchange for my honest review. i did not care for the main character, she was an immature, emotional mess. i liked the dual timelines and the scenery/setting.

Husbands & Lovers by Beatriz Williams hooked me from the very first page. I could not put this book down. I have read over 140 books so far this year and this one is easily in my top 10. This is the first book I've read by Williams and I plan to go back and read all of her others now. The writing was spectacular: perfect pacing; clear shifts in a complicated web of timelines and POVs; compelling historical references; complex, flawed, characters that will break your heart; and a beautiful ending to tie it all together and temper the heartbreak of the earlier storylines. I cannot recommend this book highly enough! History, suspense, love, heartbreak, and realism: there's something here for everyone!

I reallyyyy wish the whole book have been about 1950s Cairo. I found the historical parts so much more engaging and relatable than the 2022 parts. I really didn’t care about the lady and her son and Munk Adams. Not my favorite historical fiction novel because I was expecting too much historical; I think I would’ve liked it more if I knew going into it that it’d be mostly modern day drama.

Husbands & Lovers
By Beatriz Williams

This is a typical Williams novel, mixing history and romance. Mallory and Monk have loved each other from afar since they were teenagers. But, as often happens, that love was unrequited because each failed to speak or make a move toward the other.

As they moved on to college, they reconnected. Monk got Mallory a job as a nanny for the summer with his father's second family. From there, things picked up and they fell head over heels during one romantic summer.

But something happens that drives them apart just as they were taking their relationship to the next level. Without Monk's knowledge, Mallory bears him a son, Sam, who is, at the beginning of this book, 13 years old. Sam has been at camp, where, on a dare, he has eaten a poisonous mushroom which nearly kills him. He doesn't die but is left with severe kidney damage which leaves him on dialysis waiting for a donor match. Thus the stage is set.

The story flips back and forth between Mallory's discoveries about her family's background – and secrets – and Mallory's reaching out to Monk in desperation.

This is a very interesting story. Mallory and Monk, Hannah and Lucien, love and intrigue in post-World War II Egypt. And how well the ending wraps it all up. What's not to like?

I enjoyed both the timelines: Mallory was cool and Hannah was intriguing. I feel like Hannah's story was a little cut off and wrapped up too quickly but it was still interesting. My real complaint is the cover: the image has absolutely nothing to do with the story. based on the swimsuit, it implies that she is Hannah in the 1950s. Except Hannah's story takes place in Cairo and in Europe during WWII - nowhere near a pool. A lot of Mallory's story does take place on/near a beach, so it is not even fitting for her (and she was always in a bikini). I mean, who chose this cover?? Small potatoes . . . but why wasn't the bracelet on the cover????

Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my gifted eARC.

I'm not sure why I waited so long to read this book, but I absolutely loved it. This is my first book by this author and will not be my last. I definitely recommend.

I am a huge Beatriz Williams fan and this #bookcover sold me immediately. That being said, I will admit - I struggled to get into this one for the majority of the first half of the #book. It was just not grabbing me in the way that her stories usually do. Overall, I did enjoy this one, but it was just okay for me - not life changing, and not as incredible as some of her other works. Still a good #read, and I loved the Egyptian setting (I wish there was more of this backstory), but the rest of it just didn’t have me sold. I also had some MAJOR issues with one of the main characters (see rant below - warning: said rant does include spoiler alerts).

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Three separate summers, covering the lives of two women: Hannah, scarred from the brutalities of WWII, finding herself trapped in a battle of wills in post-war Egypt, as she grapples with her abysmal British diplomat husband, the crippling loss of her past, and her desires, and Mallory, a single mother back on the New England coast with her young son, who is desperately in need of a kidney transplant after a tragic accident several years prior, and forced to confront both her life’s greatest secret and love for the first time in years, as she navigates the choices she has made in life and what she truly wants in life. One piece of jewelry and an unexpected cobra appears to be the link that unites them both in the trajectory and history of their lives.

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****SPOILER ALERT**** Mallory absolutely INFURIATED me as a character. Infuriated. Your child needs a kidney to save his life and she could not put aside her past trauma and fears to contact his FATHER, who, despite his father’s transgressions, was nothing but kind and decent to her. I was mindblown by her pride dominating any other aspect of her personality, and I could not believe she deprived her son of the finances and love of a father that could have given him far better healthcare and endless opportunities in life. I could not stand her 🙈

I loved this book! Perfect beach read that has depth and action. Just like all of her books, I couldn’t put down Beatriz’s newest novel!

Possibly the best book I've read this year. A perfect blend of historical fiction + family drama + romance, told across two main timelines: Hannah in Hungary and Egypt in the 40s/50s, and Mallory in New England in the 2000s/2022 (technically you might call it three timelines). This was a really compelling story with interesting and flawed characters. Highly recommend.

Oh man, the amount of stress and anxiety this book gave me… but ultimately, it was so worth it.

I gotta say that I wasn’t expecting to love this as much as I did. The dual timelines made me so angry because once a conflict was about to be discovered/solved in one timeline, it would jump back or forward in time. But let me just say that that is what kept me so engaged with the book. I was literally at the edge of my seat.

BUT THAT ENDING?!

I was sobbing. I was screaming. I was venting to my friends in the group chat, literally YELLING in a voice memo and unable to form words. It’s not often that a book has such a grip on my heartstrings like that.

So, even though this book was such a rollercoaster of emotions, and I was so angry at times I was literally about to whip my phone across the room, it deserves every star. The story itself is beautiful and I will be thinking about this book for a very long time.

Like most historical fiction, this story alternates between two timelines. One part of the story was set in Cairo, which I found to be a unique setting, but I don’t feel like I learned anything about it like I normally would in historical fiction. It was also hard to keep track of the many characters and different timelines in Hannah’s story.

I liked the modern day timeline fine, probably because I always like a famous person/nonfamous person storyline. Duke was great, however Mallory was a dud of a main character IMO. I never really felt their connection, even from the beginning. Towards the end of the story so many things happen, many of which I don’t feel had a purpose. It also took me entirely too long to read/listen to this book.

Also this cover has got to be an accident- what does it have to do at all with this story? Never once was anyone even in a body of water, let alone swimming or hanging near a diving board.