Another Home run for Beatriz Williams. This dual timeline novel has it all, love, loss, regrets, and secrets.

I enjoyed Mallory’ and Monk ‘s story. It’s sweet, sad and kept me up well past my bedtime. Hannah’s story broke my heart, The more you learn, the more you realize what a resilient woman she is. They are both strong female characters who struggle through, making some very hard choices. Their stories come together at the end beautifully.

Thank you to NetGalley, Ballantine Books, and Beatriz Williams for the opportunity to read this arc.

Oh my god, where to even begin? I’ve been a fan of Beatriz Williams for a while so I was very excited to read Husbands and Lovers and it did NOT disappoint. I felt like I was reading two different stories but in the best way. I love the call back to characters from previous books and loved the dual narrative and honestly couldn’t wait to see what happened in both past and present. While this has the historical fiction element, there was also the feel good summer read element (which makes the release time of this novel perfect). I loved that part of it takes place in Egypt, as I feel like the post WW2 era never really focuses on this part of the world, and was interested to learn more about the political climate between the Arabs, Jews, and Brits/other Europeans. I also loved Mallory and Monk - yes, they are both flawed but in ways that feel forgivable. This book made me laugh and cry - I highly recommend this one!

This book is about different generations of one family. Hannah is alive during and after World War II. Chapters document her life with her husband and her affair with an spy while living in Egypt. Other chapters follow Mallory, a single mom, and her son, Sam. Several years earlier, Sam ate poisonous mushrooms while at camp. Monk Adams, a famous rockstar, is Sam's father was never in his life. They had a relationship the summer Mallory got pregnant with Sam, but Mallory disappears for an unknown reason from Monk's life.

The two sisters, Mallory and Paige, have found out that their mother, Hannah, was adopted after she passed away. Paige convinces Mallory to seek out Monk in order to find a kidney donor for her son. In the midst of this visit to her past, she finds out Monk is still in love with her. The sisters also find out more about their mother's past by visiting the mother's home where her grandmother gave birth.

In the end, Monk is able to donate a kidney to Sam, but does it secretively. It also comes out that Mallory was sexually assaulted by Monk's father the last night she was nannying for his kids. Mallory and Monk end up rekindling their relationship from college and become engaged to be married. Paige finds an brother of their mothers from Hungary.

Don’t you just hate when you have a certain authors books sitting on your TBR pile and you discover just how amazing her books really are?? That’s exactly what happened with Beatriz Williams. Thankfully Netgalley and the publishers of her newest book allowed me to read an advanced copy and I got to discover just how amazing this author truly is.

Williams’ newest book focuses on two women separated by many decades but each facing their fair amount of challenges. Hannah is in a loveless marriage after the love of her life is killed and ends up in Egypt
With her husband during WW2. Mallory is a single mom who is trying to keep her son healthy after he goes into
Kidney failure from eating a poisonous mushroom. As both women’s story unfolded I found myself not wanting to put the book down. I became invested in both women and found myself loving this book by the end. The actually history woven into this book as well was part of history I wasn’t very aware of, which only made the story even better.

Thank you to the publishers and to Netgalley for allowing me to read this advanced copy.

Williams keeps true to her NE perspective, but feels fresh with a new time period and unique dual timeline. For readers of romance, women's fiction, beach reads and period novels.

I loved this novel set in dual time periods. Mallory’s son Sam ate a bad mushroom and needs a kidney transplant so he doesn’t have to have dialysis the rest of his life. She has very few relatives and finding the perfect match proves to be a huge obstacle. Hannah is in Egypt in a loveless marriage but becomes pregnant with another man’s child. Both women have to overcome huge obstacles to overcome their situations.
I really enjoyed this book and the dual story-
Thanks to NetGalley for the early review.

Mallory has a ten year old son, Sam. Sam needs a kidney due to a medical emergency. They don’t have a lot of family left and so far haven’t been lucky finding a donor. Mallory’s sister, Paige, isn’t a match either, but she encourages Mallory to find Sam’s father, Monk Adams, and ask if he would be willing to help.

Monk is a famous musician now and doesn’t know he has a son with his on and off again childhood friend, Mallory. Mallory and Monk go way back and had a few sexually charged interludes while she helped his family during school intercessions.

Interestingly, there is a dual timeline in which Mallory and Paige realize their mom was adopted and they aren’t from the bloodline they think they are from. Paige isn’t spoken of in the synopsis or some other reviews that I have seen. I am not sure why because she is a cute character. She is tenacious, a great support to her sister and a fairly large part of the story.

The dual timeline takes place in 1950’s Cairo. We are swept away into the complicated story of Mallory and Paige’s biological grandmother, Hannah.
Hannah’s life in Cairo was that of great despair but also exhilaration. We see how difficult life could be back then and how Mallory and Paige’s mom came to be. I loved how Hannah’s character just kept getting more enthralling page by page; what a woman she was.

Everything ties together throughout the story and comes to a nice, clean conclusion. Great story with a gripping plot line. This book would make a great movie or TV series. Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for the ARC of this book.

I highly recommend adding to your beach bag this summer!

Mallory Dunne has received the worst phone call of her life - her 10 year old son, Sam, ate a poisonous mushroom at summer camp and his organs are failing. Flash forward three years, and they’re going to dialysis multiple times a week while he awaits a kidney transplant. As it that isn’t enough stress, Mallory and her sister Paige learn their mother was adopted from an Irish orphanage and that her prized emerald Cobra bracelet was from her birth mother. Now throw in Monk Adams, Mallory’s swoon worthy now-rock star all-consuming first love and you’ve got a classic Beatriz Williams story.

As we jump from Winthrop Island (so glad to be back!) to Cairo to Ireland and back, we share in the immense love, loss, and tragedy of Mallory in contemporary times and Hannah in 1950s Egypt. They are both flawed, deeply wounded women who are just trying to make the best choices with the hand they have been dealt.

No one writes intricate, emotional family drama better than Beatriz Williams. I finished this a few weeks ago and I’m still thinking about Hannah and Mallory!

Beatriz’ Williams has another blockbuster with Husbands & Lovers. I throughly enjoyed this dual timelines novel. The story will take you on a nice journey filled with many surprises. The book also has a DNA component.

Thank you #NetGalley, #BallantineBooks, #RandomHouse, #PenguinRandomHouseLLC, #BeatrizWilliams and #Husbands&Lovers for the advance copy for my honest review.

Getting an ARC of Beatriz Williams’ newest book, Husbands & Lovers, was such an exciting moment. Williams will always be an automatic read for me, as I’ve become a huge fan of her work. Even with great expectations, Husbands & Lovers blew me away. Dare I say, it is Williams’ best book yet? True to her previous style, this novel is written in two timelines. Present day is set on the idyllic New England coast, where Mallory is juggling being a single parent of a delightful teenage son who is waiting for a kidney donation. Much to her dismay, she’s thrust back into the orbit of her childhood friend and love, Monk Adams, a now famous musician. In Ciaro, in 1951, we meet Hannah. She’s married to a much older man and finds herself living at a fancy hotel while he fills his role as a British Diplomat. Layers of her complicated Hungarian history are revealed as Hannah finds herself making complicated decisions involving both her husband and her lover. While I found myself drawn to Mallory’s story, Hannah’s was equally endearing and I enjoyed Williams’ ability to weave their stories together. Friends & Lovers will be in my top books for 2024, without a doubt. Another smashing success for Beatriz Williams!

A sincere thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Page turner alert! These beautiful love stories are told from three different time periods across a family generation. A simple mistake leaves a single mom and her sister down an incredible journey that not only reveals some well kept family secrets but heals a few hearts along the way. Williams knows how to write a cliff hanger chapter and I could not put this novel down. My favorite theme is her ability to build out incredibly strong female characters: Hannah, Mallory, Paige, Aunt Barbara, even the nun.

It takes courage to survive, to love, to heal. Thank you Net Galley and Random House Publishing - Ballantine Books for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.
#NetGalley #HusbandsLovers

"Husbands and Lovers" by Beatriz Williams is a historical fiction novel with two timelines following Mallory and Hannah. The story weaves their lives together, but I found the dual timelines a bit confusing at times. The timelines didn't blend seamlessly, making it challenging to follow the plot. While the characters are engaging, the narrative's structure could have been clearer.

Thank you to NetGalley, Ballantine Books, and Beatriz Williams for the opportunity to read this arc.

Spoiler alert: I am probably Beatriz Williams' biggest fan. I have read every book of hers and even met her a couple of times at the Book luncheon. I feel that Husbands & Lovers is the biggest jewel in BW's crown. I loved the two timelines and the characters of Mallory and Hannah. BW has a way of making her characters jump off the page. And Monk - what a heartthrob. They need to make a movie of this fabulous book. I predict that Husbands & Lovers will be the hit of the Summer.

Another outstanding book by Beatriz Williams, I daresay this one might be my favorite. It switches between modern day and Egypt following WWII. I just couldn't stop reading this book, so I finished it quickly.

Well, another fantastic book by Beatriz Williams. Definitely one of my favorites of the year!
The way she can incorporate two different timelines and sets of characters and tie them all together will never cease to amaze me.
I can not recommend this enough!!

In "Husbands And Lovers" by Beatriz Williams, Mallory Dunne faces a challenging search for a kidney donor for her son, uncovering family secrets in the process. The narrative seamlessly shifts between contemporary New England and 1951 Cairo, telling the story of Hannah Ainsworth, a Hungarian refugee.

Hannah's life in glamorous Cairo takes an unexpected turn with a passionate affair amid revolutionary unrest. The novel explores themes of heartbreak, redemption, privilege, and the female experience across generations. With evocative storytelling, Williams crafts a captivating journey through time and emotion. I love a dual timelines storyline and this one was expertly crafted and woven together perfectly. Highly recommend!

Classic Beatriz Williams with layered female characters and richly detailed scenes. Husbands and Lovers is part historical fiction presented in a dual timeline of 1950's Cairo during the Egyptian Revolution and modern-day New England.
In the 1950's timeline, Hannah, who is married to an English Diplomat located in Cairo is bored of her marriage and falls for Lucien who is their driver and guide. Most of Hannah's story is told from the perspective of their flight from Egypt to safety and her growing relationship with Lucien.
In the modern-day timeline, Mallory is a single mom whose son makes a poor decision while away at camp and puts her on a journey to find a kidney donor for him. She reluctantly reconnects with a now famous pop star who she had previously dated and thus her journey is revealed.
I found the connection to the two timelines a bit too fanciful and Mallory extremely frustrating. Having said that, I enjoyed Beatriz Williams writing and look forward to her next book.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for the opportunity to read Husbands and Lovers by Beatriz Williams. Ms. Williams is an outstanding historical fiction author and this is her best effort so far.

This was an interesting read and a great way to start off 2024—my goal is to try and read more this year (as you may have noticed, my guest reviewer Becki penned most of our reviews in 2023), and I received this one from NetGalley.

Official synopsis:
Book Review: Husbands & Lovers, by Beatriz Williams
Two women—separated by decades and continents, and united by a mysterious family heirloom—reclaim family secrets and lost loves in this sweeping novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Summer Wives.

New England, 2022. Three years ago, single mother Mallory Dunne received the telephone call every parent dreads—her ten-year-old son Sam had been airlifted from summer camp with acute poisoning from a toxic death cap mushroom, leaving him fighting for his life. Now, in a search for the donor kidney that will give her son a chance for a normal life, Mallory’s forced to confront two harrowing secrets from her past: her mother’s adoption from an infamous Irish orphanage in 1952, and her own all-consuming summer romance fourteen years earlier with her childhood best friend Monk Adams—now one of the world’s most beloved singer-songwriters—a fairytale cut short by an agonizing betrayal.

Cairo, 1951. After suffering tragedy beyond comprehension in the war, Hungarian refugee Hannah Ainsworth has forged a respectable new life for herself—marriage to a wealthy British diplomat, a coveted posting in glamorous Cairo. But a fateful encounter with the enigmatic manager of a hotel bristling with spies leads to a passionate affair that will reawaken Hannah's longing for everything she once lost. As revolution simmers in the Egyptian streets, a pregnant Hannah finds herself snared into a game of intrigue between two men…and an act of sacrifice that will echo down the generations.

Timeless and bittersweet, Husbands And Lovers draws readers on an unforgettable journey of heartbreak and redemption, from the revolutionary fires of midcentury Egypt to the moneyed beaches of contemporary New England. Acclaimed author Beatriz Williams has written a poignant and beautifully voiced novel of deeply human characters entangled by morally complex issues—of privilege, class, and the female experience—inside worlds brought shimmeringly to life.

This novel jumps between 1951, Cairo; 2008; and 2022. In 1951 Cairo, Hannah Ainsworth, who has a few secrets, is married to a British diplomat, but has an affair with the manager of a hotel. In 2008, Mallory Dunne has agreed to nanny for the siblings of Monk Adams, a college friend and someone who she secretly has a crush on. And in 2022, Mallory and her son are vacationing on the East Coast and run into Monk Adams, now a superstar musician, who is engaged and about to get married that week.

It's hard to navigate multiple storylines/timelines, and I thought the author did this well, although I did think the book ended on a cliffhanger/resolution of sorts that could have been expanded. At first I didn't see why the Cairo part was relevant, but it soon reveals itself, and I didn't know much about wartime in Cairo anyways so it was interesting. My favorite parts were actually the ones set in 2008, when Mallory and Monk (who I pictured as John Mayer in my head, for some reason) were falling in love.

Overall, I'd recommend this book to anyone interested in historical and/or romance books, or anyone who enjoys a good mystery, too, actually—it covered a few genres.

Husbands & Lovers will be available on June 25, 2024—click here to pre-order on Amazon (affiliate link).

Beatriz Williams at her finest ... honestly probably my new favorite of hers! Loved all of the different timelines and characters. I just need a flowchart/family tree of how her characters from all of her books are all related since I can't keep track 😅