Customer Reviews

The Husband Habit

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

This is one slow moving, interminable book. From the overdone descriptions of food to the constant political rants it just seemed to go on and on without actually arriving anywhere remotely interesting. The protagonist, Vanessa, has a "habit" of unknowingly dating married men and decides to swear off dating. Of course, she is then introduced to the perfect man, or is he? Initially Vanessa is turned off by the fact that Paul served in the military, assuming that he would be conservative politically. At this point I thought that the plot would center around two people with opposing politics who fall in love. Unfortunately, the author chose not to follow this potentially interesting plot line. Instead Paul turns out to have to EXACT same liberal leanings as Vanessa and is therefore judged worthy of dating. In Valdes-Rodriguez's world apparently all liberals are good and all conservatives are bad. It's pretty offensive to this Obama-supporter and I can't imagine how offensive it would be to a Republican.

When I read the plot synopsis I thought this would be a fun, romantic summer read. I was wrong. Valdes-Rodriguez has an overly elaborate style of writing that completely buried the story. It sometimes felt as if the author was trying to channel Dickens, but didn't have the skill to pull it off. The constant food metaphors were especially annoying.

As to the political aspect of the book that seems to bother other reviewers- it did get a little screechy and preachy in spots. This angle probably would have been successful if it were handled with a little more finesse. Unfortunately, it just came across as a shrill political diatribe plunked down in the middle of a Chick Lit book.

I liked Alisa's style in her two Dirty Girls books--spicy, hilarious, and blunt. This one, however, was very bland. I think she spent too much time describing New Mexico and throwing in her political views (and describing food)...so much so that it seems like she forgot to develop her main characters and forgot to dig deep into their hearts and minds.

I haven't been able to do any pleasure reading for 4 months because I've been taking two classes and working. FINALLY I was going on vacation and looking forward to light fun beach reading. I've read three of her other books and liked them so I grabbed this one with anticipation. What a complete let down. Not only were the plot and the characters dull, but the political "slant" was infuriating. It just seemed like an uninformed liberal espousing knee-jerk views that she assumes everyone else agrees with. She never even articulated a real viewpoint, just a lot of gross generalizations. Particularly offensive was her suggestion that going to a US military base is entering "enemy territory." Are you kidding me? No matter what you believe about government, or past governments, these are the people who fought for her freedom to express her ridiculous views. This will be my last book of hers I read, ever.

The Husband Habit was very disappointing to me. As an Air Force wife of many years, I never heard it referred to as "the Force". Nor would a retired pilot be able to take a fake reporter on a flight. The political agenda expressed in this book was so blatant that it overshadowed the whole story. I got so angry with the inaccuracies that I couldn't finish the last chapter! Perhaps Ms Valdez-Rodriguez might get some military advisers before she attempts to write about the Air Force!
Jeanne Harvey

I did enjoy the characters for the most part, but agree that the political stuff was overwrought. Vanessa was believable but Paul was a bit too good to be true - and how many times did the author need to say he had a "bowl-cut" as a child in order to keep his handsomeness from being too intimidating? Also, the big romantic scene at the end was extremely disappointing. Sorry, but a list of foody-sounding verbs to describe lovemaking just doesn't do it for me. Just plain laziness.

The title, flap description, and marketing spin for this book position it as standard chick-lit fare: The lead character Vanessa has a habit of dating married men, and so on the advice of her sister swears off all men for awhile. Of course then she meets the completely infuriating but nevertheless perfect 'Paul', to whom she is attracted in spite of herself. Throw in sad back-stories for both, some conflict with her sister, and a foodie based sub-plot (Vanessa is a chef), and you have a classic will-they-or-won't-they-get-together type romance.

However, in this one the plot really is just a thinly veiled excuse for a political commentary about the Iraq war. Paul has just returned from deployment there, has witnessed many injustices, feels misled, etc. and shares all his doubts/views with Vanessa - much to her relief, because she didn't think she could date anyone who really believed in the war. The food descriptions and metaphors are interesting and fun, but not all that new. The New Mexico setting is wonderful, and I loved all the descriptions of it.

Bottom-line: I enjoyed reading the book because 1) It was a light read, 2) I did like the characters, and 3) I liked the food and setting. However, I think it was a big mistake on the part of the publishers to try and hide the political nature of the book with the title and description. Because even though I agreed with the political views spewed, I still found myself annoyed by it, because it wasn't what I thought I was signing up for. And it wasn't subtle at all, or even very balanced.

So I'm docking a star based on that. But as long as you know what you're getting into, you will enjoy this. Just consider yourself warned.

This is my first Alisa Valdes-Rodriquez book. I listened to this book on may way to and from work. I like the southwestern flavor to the book and the romance was OK, but I thought the ending was too much. The book was very slow moving and wordy.It seemed like half the book was about smelling and tasting food. I wondered why Ms. Valdes-Rodriquez felt she should write a Chick Lit book about her political views. Chick Lit is not the place to push your political views. Does not sell copies and turns people off on wanting to read more of her books.I would not have got through this book if I had been reading it and not listening to it while stuck in traffic.

I love Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez books (I have them all!) but this one was not really what I expected. Completely different than all her other books, if that's the style you are expecting to read. (You know ....Funny, exciting, juicy, can't put down....) It discusses serious issues about the war, religions and personal beliefs and that's great but some may be offended by her approach. Her characters have strong beliefs but keep an open mind. It's not t-h-a-t bad. Also, definitely too many food details. I guess if you were a chef, you might appreciate it. I love to cook and eat and always looking for a great recipe but seriously over done with the food details. It's slow and once she's done talking so much about food, the story gets better to read but by then, you're practically done with the book. I finished it fast but that's because I was ready to move on. :/

I love Alisa Valdess' books, but this one, I couldn't really appreciate. I loved the love story, but unlike her other books, this one just didn't seem to gel properly. There were certain elements that I just loved, like how the main character came up with recipes, and can see them visually, before creating them. But this book just wasn't like the others.