The Husband Habit: A Novel

by Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez

From the bestselling author of The Dirty Girls Social Club comes a novel about a young woman in Albuquerque who seeks her perfect mate—but it seems like all of them are taken.

Why does Vanessa keep falling for married men?

Not that she knows she does. At least not at first. But every man who seems like he might be the one turns out to be someone else's. So maybe the right thing to do is take a vow to stay single, to keep away from all men, until she can figure things out.

At least work is a bright It's an anchor to be so good at something, to lose yourself in your job, and Vanessa is a whiz of a chef, so good she makes her grandstanding boss, Hawk—of Albuquerque's chic Nuevo American restaurant hawk —look good. After all, it's his name on the awning above the door. If only her friends and family would get on board with Vanessa's plan and stop trying to fix her up. If she can't fix her life, nobody else is going to get the chance to try—not her parents, not her friends, and certainly not her ultra-well-meaning but just-not-getting-it sister, Larissa.

And nothing could be more with the plan than helping out at her parents' house—gardening, keeping them fed, getting them organized with her loyal pet Red Dog by her side. Red Dog is all the companionship she needs. Until Vanessa meets Paul, her parents' neighbor—he's all wrong on paper, but he's got great manners and certainly seems safe. Not bad in the kissing department, either. But just when Vanessa's guard goes down, the red flag goes Could Paul be yet another married man?

Bursting with Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez's trademark wit and originality, The Husband Habit introduces a rich and complex heroine in chef Vanessa. You're not going to want to leave her world when the novel comes to an end.

Genres: Chick Lit, Fiction, Romance, Audiobook, Contemporary Romance, Contemporary, Food

383 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 1, 2009

About the author

Hello! I'm Alisa. I'm a writer and musician from New Mexico. I got my start writing in newspapers for nearly a decade, and then made the move to novels. I write in a variety of genres, though all of my work tends to have something to do with the things that interest me. Whether I'm writing young adult novels or historical fiction for adults, my stories are alike in that they seek to un-erase erased people, cultures and events, and there's usually something supernatural involved, as well as a general awe and reverence for the natural world. Fairness is important to me. Kindness is important to me. Holding monsters accountable is important to me. I try to write about all of that but also to keep things funny. Lots of labels have been placed on me over the years by a staggering variety of sleepwalking souls, but I don't tend to consider myself within such confines. I had a Near Death Experience in 2015 that changed everything for me. Now I know I'm a spirit living temporarily in a body, like everyone else. So I'm sort of existing, listening to the stories that exist all around us, allowing them to come through me to you. That's all. Sometimes my books sell. Mostly, they don't. Writing's a crap way to make a living, especially in this new era of fascism and billionaires. Ah, well. Keep loving those closest to you.

Reviews

[April Corbett (Dorris) · Rating 1 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book in the beginning. The character was likable and I sympathized with her dating woes. But then she goes to her mother’s house and her internal dialogue becomes downright mean and bitchy. I am not a fan of the insults that get lobbed at people you don’t know. A pick-up truck with a yellow magnetic ribbon does not mean the driver is a country, gun-totting hick. That’s the kind of crap that starts to come from the main character when, in the previous chapter, she left the mean talk to her sidekick.

And while I am not a fan of war, I don’t appreciate the author trying to make anyone that willingly enrolls in the military out to be war-mongering idiots. The love interest becomes a truly good man only after denouncing the tenants of military. This is irritating and just gave me another reason not to like the main character as she constantly made disparaging jokes towards the soldiers who are doing their jobs. I really wanted to stop listening to this book, but I finished it because the love interest was likable. Its just too bad he couldn’t be given a better woman.

I’m also getting a little sick of the trope that perpetuates the notion that the man that is for us will be secretly rich and will step forward to make our dreams come true.

The story was good and not completely predictable, but the characters are not likable and the political ideologies wrapped into the story line are infuriating. I can half heartedly recommend this title.

[Danielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had a really hard time rating this book. I gave it three stars instead of two because I really enjoyed the premise of the book and the main characters. I also really enjoyed the writing style. The thing that got to me about this book is some of the opinions about Paul and some of his views that are revealed in the book.

Spoiler:
The character of Paul is a retired Air Force pilot who flew F-16's during the first part of the Iraq War. I like how the author paints him as not the stereotype of the military guru because those guys are definitely not all alike. It would be like saying all accountants are boring or all marketing people sleep around. What bugged me was that for Vanessa to like him he had to be apologetic about serving in the Iraq War. I'm not saying that anyone should be proud of killing or taking part in war, but it doesn't mean they have to be ashamed. Another aspect of this that the author included was Vanessa's character making the statement, "I would have never gone to that war. Anyone with half a brain would have known it was a lie." This statement shows the author's inability to realize that people in the military make a multiple year commitment and take an oath to support the commander in chief though their military service. They do this no matter what his political views or decisions. They can't just walk away from their job when they don't like it. They don't get the luxury of getting to resign from their job because they don't agree with their boss' politics.

Overall, I really enjoyed the book except for the author's negative views of the military reflected through the main character and how she relates to Paul.

[Vikkie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have heard so many good things about Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez, and I haven't given up on her just yet - but this book was definitely not a favorite.

The story line was mediocre and such, it was cute.

I know an author uses their writing to express their interests, but I felt like more often than necessary, I was getting the religious/political views of the author thrown in my face.

Regardless of how I feel about the topics discussed, it was a tad bit uncomfortable reading the phrase "right-wing nutjob" "anti-war" "born-again wacko" or whatever, over and over.

I totally understand writing is an outlet, I just seemed that her personal views were shouted from the pages way too much - didn't seem like it really helped the story so much.

But that's just me.

[Regina · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was not one of my favorite books. It was very well written but the plot was just so so. There wasn't much of a plot except that there is a woman who has a bad habit of dating men who are married. I guess she did not know how to look for the signs. Everyone knows there are repeated patterns in that kind of bahavior. She decides to take a break from men but that doesn't last very long. As a back story she is a really good chef who does not get credit for her work and she has a naggy sister and rude mother. Not a lot of depth with those. I was expecting more from them. I found the main character to be very passive. For a plot to be good the character has to grow by the end of the book which this one didn't seem to. Any bits that she did grow were not by her own doing but other people doing it on her behalf. SPOILER: I did not believe she could date a new man and not grill him on his past relationships. I think if she would have asked him if he was married and he lied to her it would have raised the stakes for a better ending. And it bothered me that she couldn't call out her boss or stand up to her sister on her own. I felt like she let everyone walk all over her all through the book. This character did not inspire me at all in fact I found her long winded and arrogant and sometimes annoying. I hated the ending it made me feel like she was still settling. 30 months? I wanted to knock her up side the head!

[Rachel Kramer Bussel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spoiler alert – don’t keep reading if you don’t want a hint of what happens in the book. Vanessa is a masterful chef, save for the fact that her boss, Hawk, steals her ideas and takes credit for them. But while she’s on top of her recipes, her love life is a mess; every time she meets a guy, whether a fellow chef or an internet dater, he winds up married, and she winds up brokenhearted. Until she vows to go on a dating hiatus, and meets Paul, her parents’ new next door neighbor.

This is not necessarily a chica lit book, or even a chick lit book. It’s more a straight-up romance, in the best possible sense. Once we meet Paul, we know that he and Vanessa are destined to be together. But watching them spar, seeing how much charm, as well as depth, intelligence, and sadness he has, makes this book work. The final storyline I found a little bit unrealistic, given the rest of the plot, but still moving.

This is a love story, one that tackles sisterly rivalry, the Iraq war, stereotypes, bad parenting, and sexist bosses. The political angle doesn’t hit you over the head, but it’s definitely there, and for a book that’s probably classified as “women’s fiction,” Valdes-Rodriguez, in many ways, has made Paul, the former Air Force interrogator, the most compelling character here. His motivations for joining the Force and his disillusionment with the military come across as totally realistic, not to mention disturbing in their implications. They are used to further the story, but they certainly linger after the last page is turned.

I’d have liked to read a little bit more about Vanessa’s history with married men, about her dreams for her dating life; in some ways, as cryptic and secretive as he is, I think we almost get to know Paul better, or perhaps it’s that Vanessa’s life is, in many ways, very simple, focused on food, family, her home, her job and her love life. The most moving scene in my opinion happens in the air, via music, which Paul uses to express himself, where Vanessa, ever the chef, uses food. These characters come to life, even the minor ones, such as Paul’s mom, and even though you may see the ending (or most of it, anyway) coming, you don’t mind because Paul is such an insightful man, who manages to see into Vanessa even when she fails to comprehend what makes him tick. A perfect beach read.

Also, I see this book is classified as a bestseller on Amazon’s “Single Women” list, but Vanessa is more than just some woman looking for a husband over her own. She is cautious, wary of men, and rightfully so; in some ways, this makes her harder to get to know. But this isn’t just a book for or about “single women,” and even the “husband habit” angle, I chalk up more to bad luck than a true “habit.” This is a book women, single or not, can and will enjoy (and, dare I say, men as well).

[Nolan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Initially, the female character, Vanessa Duran is likable enough. She's an Albuquerque-based chef whose recipes are making her boss famous while she gets no credit. But at least it's a job, and it will work for her until she can open her own place. Although her folks aren't much to be proud of, Vanessa has a slightly older married sister who is in her corner, so to speak.
There's just one problem with Vanessa; she has a nasty nack of falling for married men. Of course, she doesn't know they're married at the time. She's not a home wrecker by desire; she doesn't set out to callously destroy families, and she's horrified every time a relationship breaks up when she learns of a wife somewhere else.

After a particularly humiliating experience in Philadelphia, Vanessa is determined that from that day forward, her heart is sealed, and the only living things that would garner her love would be those things that grew in her her garden and her dog. She admirably keeps that promise for a while, but her sister needs help caring for their aging mom, and Vanessa reluctantly agrees.

While helping her mom, Vanessa meets Paul, the neighbor who has recently moved in. Despite her determination to avoid any future entanglements, Paul moves her in all kinds of good ways. There's no ring on his finger, but Vanessa, of all people, realizes how irrelevant that fact can be. Paul flew bombing raids in Iraq, and he has come home ashamed of his service and embittered by what he saw. He is smitten with Vanessa from their first conversation,and despite her best efforts, she, too, is quite taken by him. While rummaging about in his house one day, Vanessa unwittingly stumbles onto the box, and I suspect you'll be as intrigued by what it contains as I was.

The book gets a low rating because of the manner in which Valdes-Rodriguez deals with Paul's military service. At one point, Vanessa rather self-righteously insists she would never have gone to Iraq, and Paul seems somehow ashamed of his part. I also found the whole concept of returning veteran who is a wealthy guy and can help get her set up as a chef in her own place rather offputting.

Interestingly enough, since Vanessa is a chef, the brief sexual scenes here are "tastefully" described. The two boil, drizzle, stir, and mix and so forth. The descriptions were pretty creative as opposed to the tiresome stuff that usually gets written, and the author gives her readers credit for having the intelligence to fill in the blanks.

[Christine · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed the premise of the book: two seemingly opposite characters falling in love, but I found the author's depiction of conservatives as war-mongering Christian fanatics to be very heavy-handed. In fact, I found it to be enough of a turn-off to not read anything else by her. I didn't find the writing to be particularly sharp, and I still can't picture the protagonist in my mind.

[Christina Green · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book.

[L V · Rating 1 out of 5]

Reviewed by Celia

The story starts off with Vanessa meeting a man for the first time ever after months of correspondence via online dating. After making a quick remark about the stick-figured woman on the bathroom door being sexually biased because of the triangle-shaped skirt (chill out, girl, it’s just a sign,) Vanessa goes into a frenzy trying to make herself look “good” for a stranger; and, when she does meet him, she gets a little too “friendly” and becomes naïve at the assurance that “he is her soul mate.” (pg. 8) Oh, please.

It was only after a horrific scene with an angry ex-wife that Vanessa realizes that she’s developed “quite the husband habit.” (pg. 17) Part of me actually thought that she deserved what she got for being so fast with men; on the other hand, I couldn’t help but wonder if her intentions were truly genuine.

One thing that bothered me about Vanessa was how adamant she’d be about taking things slow—gardening, cooking, biking, walking, and generally living—but, for some reason, she refused to do the same with men. The character also spent too much talking about her New Mexico house and her food. We get it, she loves them. Can we move on now?

Overall, the writing reads as if you were being preached to. I didn’t feel like I was a part of the story, or even a spectator of it. At times, the author went off on a tangent to insert a personal commentary or opinion that had virtually nothing to do with the story. Also, there were a lot of fragments—too many words and phrases that were segregated from each other and stationed in their own sentence that made for some pretty tedious reading. Additionally, the POV was constantly changing. One minute, the story is being told in the third person, and the next, the first person takes over in the voice of Vanessa. I really wish the author would’ve kept this consistent.

If you ask me, I think this book required more effort. I would’ve liked to have seen Vanessa in her dating journey and how she came to develop this “husband habit” just so I could’ve known her better. Maybe if I’d gotten to know her better, I would’ve cared more for Vanessa and the rest of the cast instead of thinking that they all could’ve used more renditions of clearly drawn attributes. The best part about this book was chapter one, where the reader becomes introduced to Vanessa’s “husband habit,” even though the history of it was never specified.

In conclusion, this was just a boring and disappointing book that I had higher hopes for.

[drowningmermaid · Rating 1 out of 5]

Over-the-top, next-level terrible. Amazingly, fantastically, genre-souringly, mind-bogglingly bad.

The hero here is a PTSD Iraq vet who was an interrogator during the war. (But not one of THOSE interrogators.) Read: This is based on a real person and he was totally one of THOSE interrogators but he never mentioned it to the seriously, fantastically naive self-insertion heroine.

MC flips out when he says he lied to her at first, pretending not to know much about cooking. A pretty benign lie. He then continues to lie to her throughout the book, deliver a series of booty calls that she takes for twu wuv, and isolates her from her sister, her job, even her dog. (But nicely! And MANfully.) Read: The author did this and did not realize at the time of writing how horribly this was going to blow up in her face.

What really tells me this is a self-insertion is that the hero-character continues to use interrogation techniques on her throughout the book. And she utterly fails to recognize them as such. And the MC does not read any of these warning signals and lashes out at anyone who tells her what a mistake she's making. But, because it's a novel, she was totally right the whole time and every. other. person. in this book was wrong wrong wrong.

Hey girl, it's your fantasy, but it ain't mine.

It's so wrong in such a vast number of ways.

There's the 'liberal chick falls for redneck' theme. Oi. So, she's obviously deeply prejudiced-- deeply flagrantly classist/ anti-Army/ anti- poor white. The whole series of 'revelations' she has about rednecks not really being all that bad makes her thinks she likes him. But she doesn't. If she hadn't been such a narrow-minded asshole to begin with, she wouldn't be having these epiphanies that she's mistaking for soulmate stuff.

The book makes it clear that she's slumming on a rebound, but somehow this is supposed to be her one-and-only.

And here, oh liberal publishing industry, I must critique you. I cannot even begin to imagine a book where the ideologies were reversed being published. If a redneck character changed their views to slightly-less-one-dimensional stereotypes about their libtard significant other, but still maintained all the views about "those people" it wouldn't even be considered publishable, right?

Then there's the 'this MC is clearly EXACTLY like the mother she hates' only I'm supposed to be rooting for her and hating the mother. All the same prejudices. The same sharp tongue. The same bitterness toward men and her lot in life. The same tendency to reach for the bottle. But MC is great and perfect and the mother got what she deserved when a drunk driver broke her back. (?)

She treats her sister like absolute crap throughout the book-- and makes it clear that the MC herself is the problem. (Seriously, her sister is "good" if she makes the MC feel clever and pretty and empowered and "bad" if the MC feels like she is less than said sister. There is an actual passage that actually says this.) And she even congratulates herself whenever she's able to hold a civilized conversation for 20 minutes together.

There is a "best friend" character who shows up in TWO scenes. One to agree with everything that the MC says, like one of the mean girl's sidekicks. The other is to sacrifice HER BACHELORETTE PARTY and SPEND HER LIFE'S SAVINGS on a fancy dress party to launch the MC's solo career. She literally has no other role or place in this book. This is the fantasy friend? Someone who will give up everything of their own, erasing themselves from their OWN WEDDING CELEBRATION in order to prop up the whim of a narcissistic MC? Who forgets about the whole thing two chapters later and takes it as her due? HOLY FUCKING CHRIST.

The parts where she's talking to her sister honestly sound like she has borderline personality disorder. Insulting, snappish, racist, viciously judgemental, wildly insecure. Sounds weirdly like it was taken from a real conversation that the writer didn't know made her sound seriously unsympathetic and possibly mentally ill.

MC breaks the promises she makes at the beginning of the book, rails against anyone who might have lied to her or taken advantage of her, throws a fit when she gets called out for breaking her promise, and refuses to be called out for any of her bullshit.

The more time we spend with the 'hero' the more horrible he obviously is. Late in the book, when the story has clearly run out of steam he takes her on a fighter-jet ride that is described in weirdly BDSM terms and while she's puking she realizes she's totally in love. Because he played anti-war songs while laughing at her distress. And, because of the title, I knew he was going to turn out to be married but... oh this was nasty. Of all the men who lied to her and begged to get her back, our hero's was the most obvious lie, the most pathetic, and the least necessary to conceal. Good god.

--

I remember liking The Dirty Girls Social Club and being vaguely aware of some of this author's life drama. She does not speak very highly of this book, and I think it was her launch away from writing chick lit.

Part of this is probably because chick lit struggled as a field. I guess people don't go for a steady diet of humorous-30s-singleness-desperation in the same way as they can go for a steady diet of escapist romance?

I've had fun with the handful of books I've read in the genre. But I admit, I can see why Valdes doesn't consider this her best.

The premise is our desperate-30s-single keeps hooking up with guys who turn out to be married. So her dating experiences consist of a series of truly spectacular confrontations-- getting repeatedly rear-ended by the wife, the wife trying to very publicly commit suicide after finding out about her. I have no idea how one would make a premise like this not sound like man-hating. Not sound deeply embittered, and far more horrifying than funny. Not sound like a publisher told her to keep cranking out Hallmark-quality chick lit when it's clear that's not where her headspace is right now.

I still love her writing style. MC is a chef and the foodie descriptions are rich and well done, except for the end where I feel like she stopped bothering. Really, the best part so far for me is how sure she is of herself as she breaks it off with all the various guys who have neglected to mention that they were currently "it's complicated" rather than "single."

If that was the intent, it failed. And not just in the romantic scenes. There's the 'self-insertion.' And here's where it's full-stop for me. Goes from mild, stupid fantasy to 'holy hell this is one bad idea.'

I really get the feeling that the author is writing about one of her own love interests. And-- girl, no. Just no.

Odds of staying together if they were a real, not romance-novel, characters: -50/10

[Elaine · Rating 1 out of 5]

BLUF: don't waste your time.
I wanted entertainig reading, I enjoy a light fun romance story and the developing relationship between characters. I was sadly disappointed. This book was hard to keep reading. I have never had a "romance" so full of political rhetoric. This was a military bashing, anti-republican, anti-gun, anti-war, feminist propaganda disguised as a love story. The author spends more time bashing the USA military and the "war over oil" than developing the main characters. The story is told in third person and is sometime hard to remember which sister is the main character, had it been told in first person, it would have read better. The male lead "Paul" would never be able to take anyone out for a joy ride in a jet. That is so far fetched its ridiculous. The amount the author knows about the military world is minuscule compared to the judgement she gives. I was irked by the author's blatant left wing politics I wanted to stop reading, but I was hopeful, I wanted this to get better. I wanted to see a storyline develop in the conflict between Vanessa and Hawk (where did that story line go? What did Hawk say / do / think after Vanessa leaves?) Then all of a sudden Paul is married? That was a worthless & late story line= desperate attempt at a plot twist = that lasted all of 5 minutes. uh, added nothing to the value of the story or the characters. (oh but wait- it added to the author's political opinion about the war) What ever happened to the sister in the bathroom, how did they get over that conflict? Where and how did Vanessa pick a restaurant site? How did she tell Hawk? What did her mother say to the relationship between the two? Why was she so rude and mean to her mother? That was unnecessary. These were the most two-dimensional characters. I would NOT recommend this book.

[Monica · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am big fan of Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez so I bought the book the day it came out. Unfortunately, I did not love it. I loved parts of the story and writing (descriptions of the food; the main character is a chef), but I usually really really like Alisa's books.

Basically, it's about a woman (Vanessa) who is successful, smart, pretty, insecure, kind of stupid about love, loves nature, is judgemental, and single. She somehow dates cheating husbands and is never aware of it until something happens. She then meets a meathead and is all wrong about him.

I liked Paul, the meathead, but his character was kind of...I dunno.. exaggerated. He would say her name, Vanessa, at the end of every statement/question. How are you Vanessa? Wrong again Vanessa. So what would you like to do Vanessa? I can speak 4 languages Vanessa. I was like calm-ma-la! Who says a name that much?

I did envy Vanessa for having such passion over food and cooking it. I enjoyed Alisa's descriptions about recipes popping into Vanessa's head; how she would just think of combinations because of what life/the world was presenting to her. A small, seeing an animal, colors in the sky, nature, etc.

Paul is a veteran from the Air Force and went to Iraq (Bush era). Alisa's description on what he did, his emotions, his explanation of it all... was amazing to me. It did sound like too much at times but that's probably because I know nothing and it was just a lot to take in like I, too, am mad about our troops fighting a war on lies.

If I wasn't a fan or hadn't read all her other books I might have given rated it better. I didn't want to put the book down because I liked Vanessa and wanted to read what happened.

Oh, and I saw a lot of myself in Vanessa.

[Tory Hunz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Completely predictable, chapter titles were childish, topics could have gotten deeper but remained superficial and shallow throughout. Also disappointing was the reader who did the audio book. She was monotone and what little intonation she used was misplaced and took away from the meaning of what she was saying.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was pretty turned off by the overt liberal overtones in this book and the male main character is just too perfect- not very believable. But, I did enjoy the writing and the ending was pretty sweet, if not somewhat predictable. A bit too many food analogies along the way. The main female character was kind of bitchy, in my opinion.

[Jennifer Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good modern romance. Not overly lovey or full of graphic sex but real people with real world problems. I liked seeing Vanessa evolve and how her relationship with Paul and her sister Inesa changed as she went through changes.

[Alysia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oh man. I don’t really read romance novels. It’s a huge market that oversaturated with very popular but often very bad books. Whether they have bad plots or bad characters they’re just too many bad ones to plow through. I picked this up at random and the plot on the book jacket sounded pretty hilarious. However, it was too good to be true.

It always is, isn’t it?

Vanessa’s POV wasn’t fun to read through. At the start of the book, I was firmly on her side because no one deserved to be stuck with down dirty men one after the other. But damn, reading through Vanessa’ s bitch worldview had me aching for her to fail.

Because everything I read was through Vanessa’s lens I couldn’t like or enjoy anything. Even when she talked about things she liked, it always had bitter, petty tone. I especially couldn’t like Paul. I still don’t like Paul. From the get-go, she was as critical and mean about him. Everything he did was offensive and sneaky and wrong. I assume this was done so I could follow the evolution of her realizing that she was wrong about him, but there was no evolution of Vanessa viewing him any differently as they “fell in love”. In fact, Vanessa described him so negatively so frequently that when she mentioned any sort of affection for him, it left me confused. Besides his looks, she never had anything positive to say about Paul ever.

My eyes were rolling out of my head when at one point, after knowing Paul for 2 days Vanessa said “Well, Paul said…” at least 3 or 4 times in 1 conversation. This was a woman in her mid-30’s not a 12 year old.

Speaking of Paul, he was kind of a terrible love interest? He was so aggressive romantically that it made me borderline uncomfortable sometimes. Perhaps I was supposed to read him as friendly and tactile but I found him overbearing and boundary stepping. The way he spoke of Vanessa’s sister and mother so early on was rude to me. The way he spoke to Vanessa’s sister was unbelievable to me. It was a cop-out to me to brush this off with “oh he was an interrogator in the war”, like so? He lost his manners in the war too?

And to be honest, while I’m as left-wing as they come (ugh, politics), but boy was this book preachy! I don’t think a shitty little romance novel is the place to scrawl out over 200 pages of your political agenda. Hearing about Paul’s strife with the war didn’t make me any more sympathetic towards him, it was just an annoying way to try to flesh out his personality. The whole almost twist with him having a wife from Iraq was not good? There were 30 pages left and I guess the book needed some idea of tension so the author threw that in, but I didn’t like it.

I think I hated everyone in this book except for Vanessa’s dog. It was a combo of the rude and mean point of view of Vanessa and that they all sucked in their own special way. I would not recommend this book to anyone. The writing wasn’t bad, but literally, everything else was.

[Johanna R · Rating 2 out of 5]

Like Valdes-Rodriguez's previous books, The Husband Habit is focused around a strong, searching female character in her early thirties. This book varies from previous slick locations like Los Angeles, and portrays an earthier group of characters in Valdes' hometown of Albuquerque New Mexico.
Vanessa's connection with an Iraqi war veteran and her search for career independence are somewhat captivating, though the most interesting character in the novel is Vanessa's garden.
Stylistically, the prose is somewhat irritating, with groupings of staccato one word sentences used too liberally, almost on every page.
The happily ever after ending is predictable, as are most of the character developments along the way.

[Milagro Salamanca]

In this story, the main character keeps falling for married man. She is a chef that does Tex-Mex in Texas. She meets a soldier that teacher her about love and relationships. Like all of her books, this book is about a Latinx and it shows the way she ventures through relationships in trying to find Mr. Right. Alyssa Valdes-Rodriguez is a Latinx writer that usually writes about the lives of Latina Women in the United States. Her books are at times funny and resemble those of a romantic comedy. I think of her books should be shown in the big screen.

[Kim Schellin-Rog · Rating 1 out of 5]

I’m not gonna lie, this was my first book by this author and I don’t think I will read any more. The writing was so juvenile and amateurish, the author gave the perception that she was anti military by how she wrote the characters and come on Paul also being married at the end? Really! The only thing I did like about this book was the setting as I haven’t come across many books set in New Mexico.

[Ninadiva · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 out of 5 stars. It was an all right read until the end when it went very off track, imo. Up until then it would have probably scores close to a 3. The only way I can recommend this as a read is for you to read up to the point where they spend the day out on her boyfriends terms. Then, please, stop! It will be a pleasant end to a fair read.

[Melissa Martinez · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book just as I have liked all of her other books but it was just way too predictable from the start. Girl meets boy blah blah blah. It felt a bit rushed also, which had me putting down the book and then picking it up again three days later. Then I finished it just cuz I wanted to get rid of it. I really like this author so it was a big disappointment.

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was enjoyable to a point, but it had some huge plot gaps. It was almost as if full chapters were edited out. Plus, the author treated the veteran's PTSD cavalierly. All in all, there were too many storylines. She couldn't use all of them, so we only got bits and pieces of each one. To do all the storylines justice, it would have been a 700 page book.

[maria g · Rating 5 out of 5]

From page 1 I related to Vanessa. Single, always meeting the wrong guys, and making a self pact to stop dating for a while. She is so likeable and so natural. I really enjoyed her journey through her job, her stresses, and the development of her relationship with Paul. I loved this book!!

[Heidi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not nearly as good as her other book, Playing with Girls, but an ok read to pass the time on an airplane

[Claudia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Despite the overt liberal good/conservative bad tone, I found the food references very well written and enjoyable.

[Tracy Seppla · Rating 3 out of 5]

It wasn't bad, the politics didn't bother me, hoped for a different ending to tell a bit more.

[Jackier · Rating 3 out of 5]

fun, predictable, something to read while waiting at the airport or to kill time. The Air Force Academy piece was not well explained-for folks who know about service academies, hard to digest.

[Carolyn Burke · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book surprised me. It's funny and original. Worth a read

[Anika · Rating 3 out of 5]

predictable

[Christina Dawson · Rating 4 out of 5]

good book.