When a young widow’s reclusive life in a charming beach town is interrupted by a surprise visitor, she is forced to reckon with dark secrets about her family, her late husband, and the past she tried to leave behind. Lauren Adelman and her high school sweetheart, Rory Kincaid, are a golden couple. They marry just out of college as Rory, a star hockey player, earns a spot in the NHL. Their … spot in the NHL. Their future could not look brighter when Rory shocks everyone-Lauren most of all-by enlisting in the U.S. Army. When Rory dies in combat, Lauren is left devastated, alone, and under unbearable public scrutiny.
Seeking peace and solitude, Lauren retreats to her family’s old beach house on the Jersey Shore. But this summer she’s forced to share the house with her overbearing mother and competitive sister. Worse, a stranger making a documentary about Rory tracks her down and persuades her to give him just an hour to talk about her husband.
One hour with filmmaker Matt Brio turns into a summer of revelations, surprises, and upheaval. As the days grow shorter and her grief changes shape, Lauren begins to understand the past-and to welcome the future.
revelations, surprises, and upheaval. As the days grow shorter and her grief changes shape, Lauren begins to understand the past-and to welcome the future. revelations, surprises, and upheaval. As the days grow shorter and her grief changes shape, Lauren begins to understand the past-and to welcome the future. revelations, surprises, and upheaval. As the days grow shorter and her grief changes shape, Lauren begins to understand the past-and to welcome the future.more
Be sure to have your tissues handy, because this book brought me to tears a number of times. It’s a beach book with bite, one that features a beautiful setting in a quaint seaside town as well as complicated characters dealing with serious themes. Brenner is a virtuoso of a writer and I simply couldn’t put it down.
Oh, The Husband Hour, how you have my heart. I was pulled into this from the very start. A grieving widow in hiding (for multiple years), Laura’s family comes to the Jersey shore bringing all their drama with them and disrupts her intentional hermitage. That alone is intriguing, but then a director wanting to do a documentary on Laura’s husband’s famous death tracks her down and you are instantly transported into Laura’s pain and the history of the family’s issues. All of this combined makes this novel downright powerful. Brenner tackles the fairly new, hot topic issue of brain trauma in athletes and handles it well. The last quarter of the book was especially gripping as all was revealed flawlessly. I may have sleep deprivation because I wanted- no, needed to- see how Brenner left things. I ended this book feeling satisfied, needing the shore, and craving some artisan donuts…
Excellent, page-turning novel about image versus reality and how the heroes among us are still regular people. A compelling combination of family drama, new love, and old secrets revealed, this one definitely has me wanting to read more from the author.
A fast paced read about a heartbreaking and often overlooked topic, concussions. Ms. Brenner tugs at the heart with this story about HS hockey superstar Rory and his quest to be the best and, his gf/wife Lauren. Lauren’s path is a tough one for one so young. She has to face so many obstacles in her young life. Your heart will break for Lauren, and you will face many emotions regarding Rory.
Ms Brenner certainly did her research, from concussions, to military to the area HS in PA she wrote about. I live not far too far from the HS and I love reading stories that take place in my area. She nailed the area and ‘the shore’.
Thanks to the Great Thoughts Great Readers Ninja Team for a copy of The Husband Hour in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Lauren is living all alone in a New Jersey beach town after her husband is killed. She is in a holding pattern and just can’t move on from her terrible loss. Her husband Rory was a professional hockey player, and during high school, college, and professional games suffered many concussions. He decided he wanted to serve his country and joined the military. He was killed in the Middle East. Matt tracks down Lauren and wants to do a documentary about her husband. This forces Lauren to examine her marriage thoroughly. Can Lauren move on from the pain of losing Rory once she re-examines their life? This was an amazing story of love, family, survivors guilt, and moving on with life. I loved the family relationships with Lauren and her sister and parents. They had their own ups and downs but they are always there for each other. I receive an advanced readers copy from NetGalley and Little, Brown and Company. All opinions are my own.
A hero, a widow, a filmmaker. They all had something in common and that was Rory Kincaid.
Rory is a former star hockey player and a war hero killed in the line of duty. Lauren is his widow who is hiding from the world. Matt is a filmmaker who wants a story and confirmation about Rory’s life from Lauren, and Lauren wants nothing to do with talking.
We also get to share time at the family’s beach home and see the interaction or lack of interaction between everyone.
THE HUSBAND HOUR had me reading quickly because I wanted to see if Lauren would really break down and be interviewed for the documentary on her deceased husband, but the book was slow for me and could have been shorter.
THE HUSBAND HOUR had a lot of family drama and decision making on the parts of the characters. Each family member had an issue, and Beth, the mother, tried to manage it all without success and with grumbling and resentment from the family members.
I enjoyed the present day interactions more than when we were hearing the story of Rory.
If you enjoy the beach and characters that don’t interact well with each other but do carry the story line, THE HUSBAND HOUR will be for you.
You will also find out the meaning of the book’s title as well as become educated about traumatic brain injuries that athletes incur.
THE HUSBAND HOUR will appeal to many, but I just couldn’t connect with the characters or the story line.
There is a surprise at the end. 3/5
This book was given to me free of charge and without compensation by the publisher and NetGalley in return for an honest review.
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 received an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
We meet Lauren, a grieving widow. Her husband, Rory Kincaid, a hockey star and an American hero was killed in action in Iraq. Lauren then isolates herself at her grandparent’s house in Atlantic City. Her parents and her sister come to stay at the house Memorial Day weekend. Matt Brio, a former journalist is making a documentary about Rory Kincaid. He asks his friend, Craig Mason to look at it in hopes he’ll finance the documentary in time for the 5 year anniversary of Rory’s death.
Lauren is now working as a waitress at Nora’s Cafe.
Stephanie, Lauren’s sister drops by while she’s working at Nora’s Cafe. Stephanie tells Lauren that’s she needs to stay a month at the beach house called The Green Gable, and that she’s getting divorced after being married only a year. Lauren’s parents are staying at the beach house for the summer. Her parents are going to sell the house after Lauren’s father lose their home in Philadelphia due to her father taking out a second mortgage on their home to save her father’s business, Adelman’s Apparel which leads her parents to lose their home. Lauren and her family eat dinner at home feasting on flank steak while Ethan, her nephew eats pizza bagels. Her parents suggest she work at a new seafood restaurant at the Borgata in Atlantic City instead of Nora’s Cafe. She would have job security in winter instead of where she’s at.
This was my first book by Ms. Brenner but certainly not my last. I loved all the characters especially Lauren, Stephanie and Ethan. My mind was blown at that secret though. OMG
Thanks to the Novel Neighbor Summer Reading Bingo, I will be adding Jamie Brenner to my reading list. I found The Husband Hour searching for books with beaches on the cover to fill in that bingo square on the challenge! I was pleasantly surprised when I started reading and enthralled by the time I finished the book. I loved Lauren and Rory’s story, and as a women’s fiction writer who loves to dig into sibling relationships, I also loved the drama between Lauren and Stephanie.
I can’t wait to read more of Jamie Brenner’s books!
I selected this book primarily for the beach setting after reading several other books by this author. Little did I realize it would be so thought-provoking. The excellent writing, engaging story, relationship dynamics, and awareness about a condition I had no previous knowledge about, made this a memorable read.
If you are looking for a summer read that has family drama, mystery & a touch of romance all while taking place in an old family beach house on the Jersey Shore, then this is a perfect pick! This was my first @jamiebrennerauthor book & definitely won’t be my last! I loved her writing, characters & really enjoyed having an unexpected storyline/controversial subject thrown in that wasn’t in the book description on the back! Sometimes I find the descriptions give too much away, so this was a refreshing surprise! Heading out to get another one of her books now! Enjoy!
Lauren Adelman and Rory Kincaid were high school sweethearts. Rory was an all-star hockey player who was heavily recruited by colleges while Lauren worked on the school newspaper. The two were always together and they finally married after Rory got drafted by the NHL. Unfortunately, his hockey career stalled early on and he found himself unemployed. With few options, Rory enlisted in the US Army and was later killed overseas. After his death, Lauren retreated to her family’s beach house at the Jersey Shore where she worked as a waitress.
Four years later, her parents, sister, and nephew decide to spend their summer at the beach house. Lauren is not happy with this invasion of her privacy. She also readies herself for an escalation of her stormy relationship with her sister. At the same time, a filmmaker requests an interview about her late husband. He is working on a documentary about Rory and has completed extensive research about his past. He believes that there is more information about Rory’s short career in the NHL that needs to be disclosed. Lauren is holding onto precious information but doesn’t want his image tarnished by the media. Begrudgingly, Lauren agrees to give the reporter one hour of her time.
The Husband Hour by Jamie Brenner is a book that covers many meaningful topics. Although the focus is the main character’s grief, it also embarks on the theme of adult family relationships. This is the third novel that I have read by the author and she has become one of my favorites.
Far from your average beach book, The Husband Hour is the moving account of Lauren Adelman’s journey to get her life back after losing her husband. I fell in love with the characters and the picturesque setting. Have tissues handy!
So predictable it could be writen in your sleep. Saw a recommendation for it somewhere and I wish I could remember where because I would let them know they must be tripping. For some reason, that makes me hate myself, I finished this book…I guess because I didn’t have anything else at the time.
Lauren Adelman, a young widow, has become a recluse in a small beach town, but her quite life is interrupted when a documentarian finds her and she is forced to confront secrets about her family, late husband, and marriage.
Behind the deceptive cover of The Husband Hours lies a very contemporary, moving story with surprising depth about Lauren and her high school sweetheart, Rory Kincaid. They married just after college and Rory became a stand-out player in the National Hockey League. Then, as they appear to have achieved their dreams and their future looks bright, Rory shocks everyone, including Lauren, by announcing that he is giving up hockey and enlisting in the United State Army. After being deployed, Rory died in combat.
Public scrutiny and heartbreak cause Lauren to retreat to her family’s New Jersey beach house and begin work in a local cafe. Expecting to be able to live there alone indefinitely, she is dismayed when her mother, sister, and young nephew move in, as well. It seems that her father made some unfortunate financial decisions that have left her parents struggling and her sister has left her relationship.
And then, to make matters worse, the filmmaker begins snooping around, trying to get Lauren and Rory’s family members to speak on camera. Lauren has no way of knowing that when she relents, agreeing to be interviewed, the trajectory of her life will change dramatically. Over the course of the summer, Lauren learns what really happened to Rory, why he was so determined to join the military, and the secrets that her family members have been keeping.
The Husband Hour is not really a novel about a husband at all. It’s about a young woman who makes the best decisions she can with the information available to her at the time, and the manner in which she reacts when she learns the truth about so many details of her life and the way in which it has been impacted by others’ decisions. The Husband Hour is an exploration of betrayal, deceit, the destructive power of secrets, forgiveness, and resilience. Lauren learns that “a husband is just a man. Flawed. Infinitely fallible. The only way marriage works is to forgive and move on.” And forgiveness is the first step toward peace even if the husband in question is no longer here. It’s about the power to learn from the past in order to build the future.
Jamie Brenner creates highly empathetic, believable characters, each flawed in his/her own way, that readers will care deeply about. That is especially true of Lauren who harbors so much guilt and regret as the story opens. Brenner credibly takes readers along on Lauren’s journey to the truth, and reconciliation with what she discovers, delivering a conclusion that feels natural and is deeply satisfying. She also explores the timely issue of traumatic brain injuries among professional athletes (not just football players) and the failure of team owners, doctors, and athletes themselves, to properly assess and understand the deadly impact of concussions. The Husband Hour resonates long after the last page has been read, and is an excellent selection for book clubs, as there are many themes that lend themselves to discussion.
Thanks to Net Galley for an Advance Reader’s Copy of the book.
An excellent study of how pro hockey (and other sports) head injuries affect athletes and their families.
Interesting blend of tragedy, deceit and coming of age. Far fetched yet within the realm of reality.
A simply gorgeous book!
At turns poignant and bittersweet, stirring and hopeful, THE HUSBAND HOUR looks at the complicated ties of love and loyalty that bind us all. On the surface, Lauren Adelman’s too brief marriage to her childhood sweetheart, ice hockey star turned war hero, Rory Kinkaid, seems the stuff of fairytales. Widowed, lovely Lauren retreats to her family’s beach house on the Jersey Shore, resolved to preserve her husband’s legacy by living off the grid. But secrets have a way of pushing to the surface. When intrepid documentary filmmaker Matt Brio turns up in the resort town, hellbent on uncovering the real Rory behind the legend, Lauren’s life and the lives of her troubled but close-knit family will never be the same.
Great commentary on impact of CTE in a very readable story.
Not what you think it would be!!!! Holds your attention, GREAT BOOK!!