I truly wanted to love this book. I normally enjoy stories about fake relationships or hate to love stories. Unfortunately I had a really hard time to go through this book.

I did like Luc and Oliver as our main characters. When it comes to their character building I did like to see some of their background and meet their families to sort of see where they come from and what things from the past have shaped their character.

However the book was very boring for me, I did not like how some topics were addressed in one way and then in another without consistency. The romantic partes were alright but the sex scenes for me had no chemistry and I did not enjoy them at all. They felt cold and not real.

I do like the idea for the book and like I said I do like the main characters and the different backgrounds they come from but this was just a big no for me.

I was hoping it was going to be another one I would love similar to Red, White & Royal Blue but it did not work for me.

Thank you netgalley and publisher for providing with a free copy via an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

This book surpassed my expectations. It is full of snarky British humor and will get you all in your feelings. It is funny, angsty, romantic, sweet, devastating, and so many other things.

The main character is a hot mess but grows on you as the novel progresses. I love all of the flawed characters.

I highly reccomend checking out this book!!! Looking forward to reading more from Alexis Hall.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I'd been having trouble finding something that could hold my attention, despite this being quarantine and all, and I managed to finish this book in about a day, so I suppose I found it.

This was a fun and fast read. I enjoy the enemies to lovers/fake dating trope, so right away, the plot appealed to me. It also seemed like something that would appeal to fans of Casey McQuiston's Red, White, and Royal Blue - which I also am.

I got quite a few good snorts out of some of the humor and the ongoing 'dick pic' joke - though for something that is not YA and has a fair bit of (what some would consider) ‘vulgar’ humor, it’s quite tame.

While I did enjoy the book, I ultimately found the story and its characters to be a bit less developed and much more obvious/predictable than those in RWRB. The main character, Luc, often seems to be in a repetitive storytelling loop, some of which I understand is part of his character’s issues, but also winds up making him come across as whiny and childish, and without much growth until the very end of the story. His group of friends seem to have been lifted from one of the Bridget Jones books/films and plonked right onto the page.

Gripes aside, I can’t say I wasn’t entertained. I did, after all, read it pretty much straight though in nearly a single sitting.

I really loved reading this book! I guess you'd classify it as a gay rom-com but it shouldn't be confined to that narrow interest category. Alexis Hall gives us a funny, endearing tale of some fascinating, wacky characters, led by the brilliantly written Luc and Oliver. This book is full of quirky goodness. I love how Hall developed the characters so fully and made them believable.

It took me a few pages to become absorbed in the author's word-style-- the British vs. American language is slightly different. I always find the British style a refreshing change from all the American authors I read.

Even though the story centers around the 'fake relationship' of Luc and Oliver-- and they alone would be enough-- the beautiful cast of characters Hall has employed, bring a high level of layered story development. I loved each and every character as they related to the story.

Sure the 'fake boyfriend' concept has been done before, but Hall offers it here in an effortless way that enhances but is not the only story focus. This worked for me on all levels and provided hours of enjoyment.

I received a copy from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this copy.

3.5/5

This book was exactly what I was looking for in a contemporary romcom. Fake dating is one of my favorite tropes and it worked so well with these two characters. Luc and Oliver are so different and have a hard time understanding each other, but they slowly grow to learn each other's quirks which is my favorite part of a good fake dating scenario. The banter between the two is very fun. Luc is so sarcastic and snarky and I loved that aspect of his character. The humor is pretty dry and got a little exhausting by the end of the book, but overall it was entertaining. Luc's friend group was a great addition to the story and I especially loved the interactions between him and his friend Bridget who is constantly dealing with some sort of publishing emergency. Oliver's struggle with his family broke my heart, as did Luc's fraught relationship with his father. There were some scenes that I thought could have been cut or combined to cut down on the length, but overall this is a very fun book and a great romance.

Omg. What a cute, lil, queer, enemies to lovers, romcom?! This book was a wild rollercoaster of emotions. Will they? Won't they? Do they and then it goes wrong? This was just such a pleasant reading experience, getting to witness both Luc and Oliver want to be better for each other, but also completely accepting each other, flaws and all.

My only compliant is that it felt a bit long, so it dragged in some places. However, I was so invested in these characters and their relationship that I continued forward - and didn't have any thoughts of DNFing.

We need more queer love stories. And this is that - but also a hilarious romcom with endearing characters and British humor!

This book grabbed my attention from the first page, mostly because I found Luc to be so endearing, but also because this book was funny! The fake dating trope is one of my favourites, and this book did it so well! Luc and Oliver are total opposites, so seeing their relationship evolve and becoming real was both so funny and heartwarming!

The hype was not wrong. Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall is a delightful book. I loved every minute of it. The writing is hilarious and sweet and tender and clever and wonderfully British. I laughed aloud, I swooned, and I highlighted so many lines that it seemed like whole pages were pink. The cover art is also eye-catching and gorgeous.

Luc is such a defensive hot mess that it took awhile for me to warm up to him and to the sweet heart underneath all the attitude and misbehavior. But I loved grumpy, uptight earnest perfectionist Oliver from the very first time I encountered him. And the two of them are so very very right together, despite, or perhaps because of, their respective huge personal issues. The supporting cast are mostly hilariously funny, aside from the respective parents, who are a bit more complex and given to causing angst, although sometimes also funny, especially Luc’s mom. Luc’s coworker, the blue blooded incredibly stupid but hilarious Alex, was one of my favorites. He and his girlfriend Miffy were hysterically funny. The scenes with Luc and those two read like modern P.G. Wodehouse, and I was dying laughing.

Diversity wasn’t bad in Boyfriend Material. While the main characters and their family are definitely white Britons, their immediate circle includes Black and Asian friends, people of a variety of genders, and many LGBTQ+ friends as well. While the overall economic status of all the characters is comfortably wealthy, there’s a wide range within that, from obscenely wealthy high class British old money to new money celebrities and their offspring to upwardly mobile working professionals–lawyers, artists, publishers, etc. There’s also one of the most thoughtful depictions of a vegetarian I’ve ever read. Far too often vegetarians and vegans get to be the brunt of cruel, lazy jokes and caricatures in books, but Oliver’s choices are depicted as inextricably linked to his high standards of personal ethics. Even when Luc and other real friends don’t agree with Oliver’s choices, it’s never depicted as irrational or ridiculous. Rather, those who mock it are the ones who are in the wrong. I thought that was a breath of fresh air. I loved that this story respected its characters even when they didn’t always respect themselves.

I wasn’t sure what to expect, heat-wise, in this story. My previous experience with m/m romance has mostly been books written by cis hetero white women authors that verge on fetishing gay men and gay sex and are written in scorching hot detail. In contrast, Boyfriend Material has considerably less sex, both from a teasing slow burn in the first part of the story, and from a partially closed door approach when sex scenes do finally happen. What is featured is tender and sweet and hot, with pent up passion and deep emotions. But it’s more romance than erotic romance, and while I enjoy both subgenres, I was fine with that. I especially loved how Oliver restricts sex to meaningful relationships, and how every kiss with him means something. Not only did it seem true to Oliver’s character, but it made each moment between Lucien and Oliver more special.

I thought that the ending was the weakest part of the story, a bit over the top silliness that was one of many nods to ninties rom-coms throughout the book. I would go so far as to say that this book felt like an homage to Bridget Jones’ Diary, only with deeper characters and more emotions and more clever writing, not to mention two males protagonists. But even the weakest part of this story is still leagues ahead of so many other romances I’ve read.

I loved Boyfriend Material so much. I couldn’t put it down. I didn’t want it to end. I loved Luc and Oliver together, and loved some of their friends. I wanted to share a clever linefrom the book to really convince others of how great this is, but couldn’t decide which of the fifty lines I’ve highlighted to share. So I will instead repeat that this is a delightful love story, full of heart and humor and clever lines, wrapped up in a gorgeous cover. It is absolutely worth picking up a copy to read and to share.

Thank you very much to #NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for allowing me to read a free advanced copy of #BoyfriendMaterial . These are my honest opinions.

I was really hoping this book would be a bit like Red White and Royal Blue, but alas, it wasn't. I enjoyed the characters here, but much of the sex was behind closed doors. That is not my style at all, which is disappointing, I love rom coms, but this is not enough rom for me to put it in that category.

Honestly, what an amazing experience this book was! I am very grateful that I was given an ARC of this through Netgalley and was ecstatic to read it! I had a feeling I was going to absolutely love the story and, well, let's just say it exceeded that expectation! This review is going to contain spoilers because I need to express myself right now, and it's going to be an utter mess of a review because I'm having so many thoughts about the book that I don't know how to cohesively lay them all down.

To begin with, the story follows Luc O'Donnell who is the son of two widely known singers. Unfortunately, we find out pretty early on that Luc's father left him and his mom at a young age, and now Luc, understandably, hates him for it. Because both of his parents are famous, he, by default, is in the eye of the media and is pretty much cautious of the media at all times. This is one of the main reasons why I thought his relationship with Oliver was so special because you could see how someone who wasn't planning on using him for personal gain was incredibly important for Luc's mental stability. Oliver's influence on Luc was so important to Luc's character growth, which was another thing I adored about this book! I loved to see Luc become a better person to his friends, his family, Oliver, and, most importantly himself.

Speaking of Oliver, he was such a sweet character! The entire time I was reading the book I just wanted to give him a hug for being so amazing and pure. The way he cared about Luc even while they were pretend dating was so precious and I can only hope everyone on this earth can find their own Oliver one day if that day hasn't already arrived. He is, in my mind, the perfect boyfriend.

I also want to quickly bring up Luc's colleague Alex. I cannot comprehend how someone can be that sophisticated and yet that clueless! There were so many scenes that actually had me laughing out loud because he did something so outrageous and hilarious! Also, on the complete other end of the spectrum, Alex made me a little uncomfortable in a sort of homophobic way despite being clearly quite fine with Luc being gay, and it was a confusing experience. I guess it was just the one scene with Miffy, Luc, and Oliver that got to me and I can't quite put my finger on what exactly it was that made me uncomfortable, but I thought it was an emotion worth sharing.

I think it's pretty clear that the characters were probably my favourite part of the book, but I do want to talk about the writing as well. I loved the narration, it was a very fluid log of thoughts in Luc's head and I think it was a great choice. We got to see Luc's character growth through the eyes and mind of Luc himself, which was great because while he may have not noticed some of the ways he grew we certainly could! The only part of the writing I could maybe criticise was the use of UK specific colloquial terms and phrases because it made it harder for me, an Australian reader, to comprehend some lines of dialogue. But, to be honest, this is a stretch because it also made the story feel a lot more alive and really helped with the setting and hearing the accents in my mind. So in a way, my one criticism is actually a pro and not a con!

So, I've decided to give this book 5 stars. The big factor that influenced this decision was that the entire time I was reading the book, even from the very beginning, I kept thinking to myself 'gosh I can't to read this again.' Any book that makes me want to read it again only 50 pages in deserves 5 stars. And yes, I will be reading it again, and I'll look forward to it every single day until I get the chance!

Did you read Red White and Royal Blue ? Did you love it ? Because i you did, you have to read Boyfriend Material, it's a cute light novel, it's placed in london, so .... You're really going to love this one, to cry, to laught, to giggle, to sight.

What do you call that thing where...YOU ARE FREAKING OBSESSED! I adored this book. I was so invested in Luc from the first moment he sassed onto the page. I was also pretty invested in Luc and Oliver from the first date. An awesome opposites attract trope that I gladly sunk my teeth into.

Luc is a lovable hot mess, due to circumstances that actually weren't his fault, except in the fact that he couldn't handle the continuous betrayal from people in his life. He completely shut down and began to spiral into one bad decisions after another. Then, after bad publicity, he is forced to take on a fake boyfriend to clean up his image. What better than an uptight control freak barrister!

In comes Oliver, who has some issues of his own. Somehow they make it work in the most adorable way, and I am 100% smitten. My ONLY qualm is there was not enough groveling at the end for one these gentleman, I do believe he needed to do something epically cheesy to win back affection...but it was still a very satisfying ending.

I loved. Immediately went out and bought more Alexis Hall books!

Thank you to Netgalley and Sourcebooks for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review. My opinions are entirely my own.

I hate to say it, but I DNFed this one. While I kind of like Luc’s eccentric personality and I adore the scenes and chemistry between him and Oliver, I just cannot tolerate the insufferable ancillary characters for another chapter. If there were people like Alex in my life, I would cut them out. So I can’t spend another chapter or anymore of my time on characters like that. While I do love the whole concept and appreciate seeing LGBTQIA+ characters leading their stories, I just can’t continue on this journey with Luc. I have no doubt that at another time in my life this one might have might and might could be the perfect book. But now is not my time with this one.

This book was an absolute tonic for these dark times, really engaging and enjoyable story, loved the characters and their development and the pace and setting were all amazing also. Would highly recommend,

I would like to thank Sourcebooks and Netgalley for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4 stars!

This book was a wonderful! The characters were well thought out and Alexis Hall manages to make a predictable fake-to-real romance unpredictable. The fake boyfriends trope is interwoven well with the character growth and relationship development of Luc and Oliver, and I appreciated it very much. The side characters are a delight to read about! So entertaining - they had me laughing to myself from the first page!

Writing style was easy to read. Some references/expressions did fly over my head a little, likely because of the British context, but I had Google so it was fine. Pace was good, nothing too draggy.

Overall, a wonderful read. Highly recommend!

This is a spoiler-free review posted to respect the reading experience of others. A more in-depth review is available here on my Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3354064784?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1

This story was so sweet and so funny! The supporting cast of characters is maybe the best I've ever read, and the connection and growth between Luc and Oliver was so satisfying to read.

3⭐️

As the child of two former music legends, Luc O’Donnell is used to living his life in the public eye. When a compromising picture of him is published, his boss gives him an ultimatum: clean up your image or clean out your desk. What he needs is a perfect boyfriend to help him rehab his image. So when his best friend sets him up with Oliver Blackwood, an uptight lawyer who is in need of a date to his parent’s anniversary party, the answer seems fairly simple: they become fake boyfriends. What can go wrong? However, Luc comes to learn that just because he is in a fake relationship doesn’t mean he can’t catch real feelings.

So... I had a really hard time getting into this book. I honestly probably would have stopped reading it at around 25% in, but the positive reviews on Goodreads gave me hope that it would grow on me. And it just never did. Which is a tragedy because it’s got all the best tropes! Fake dating! Platonic bed sharing! Mutual pining!

I really struggled with Luc as the narrator. Most of the time I found him really unlikeable. The author goes out of their way to be like “he is this was because of x, y, z...” but it always felt like a cheap way to excuse his garbage behavior. He is whinny, selfish, immature, and a bad friend. I was hoping for more character growth than I got with him.

I did like the slowburn and witty banter between Luc and Oliver. Especially their texts. I think the highlights of this book were the way Luc pushes Oliver’s buttons and unabashedly flirts with him to make him awkward. And how patient Oliver is with all of Luc’s baggage and neuroses.

However these moments were often overshadowed by how they were on and off entirely too many times for a fake couple. They broke up too often and too easily. It felt like Oprah was out here going “You get cold feet! And you get cold feet! EVERYBODY GETS COLD FEET!”.

All the other characters feel like caricatures. They were often times so ridiculous that they were overly clownish. I’m found myself going “no one speaks like that” on multiple occasions. It really took me out of the reading experience.

I can see why this book is getting a lot of 4 and 5 stars... but it feels more like people are trying to fill the Red, White, and Royal Blue sized hole in their lives. I had high hopes for this one, and unfortunately it was just underwhelming.

This one was giving me all the British Bridget Jones vibes... such a fun, light read and PERFECT for quarantine (or really anytime!) I read it in one afternoon and put it down with a smile. It was sweet with dynamic characters and two leading romantic men you just keep your fingers crossed for throughout. Bravo! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

“ I thought I’d feel guiltier. But I just feel…full of bacon.”

Another lovely read from Alexis Hall and definitely a first class Rom Com.

Luc (Lucien) is the son of a famous musician who abandoned him and his mother when Luc was three. Luc is generally ok. He has his charity work at a weird beetle charity. He has good friends and a great relationship with his mum, but he doesn't have a boyfriend. His last boyfriend sold the story of their relationship to the media and Luc has been media fodder ever since. He doesn't trust people now and just seems to be rambling on through life, living under the shadow of unwanted media focus in an untidy flat in London.

Oliver is a good looking, well spoken, erudite criminal lawyer. He once met Luc at a party but they didn't hit it off. When a mutual friend suggests they pretend to be boyfriends Oliver agrees because he needs someone presentable to take to his parents anniversary.

Luc on the other hand needs to redeem his ghastly media image. He needs someone to act as a steady boyfriend so that the media will present him in a more stable light. The media portrayal of him as some kind of gay wild child is damaging his reputation at work and undermining his role as a fundraiser. Funders are withdrawing their support from the charity because they don't want to be linked to a gay wild child. Of course it is the 'gay' part that they really don't like but Luc decides that a stable boyfriend will show them that he isn't wild and that he is actually a nice chap.

And so Luc and Oliver become pretend boyfriends and along the way the inevitable happens and if you don't know what the 'inevitable' is you haven't read enough romance stories.

Generally these kinds of stories are always predictable because the reader knows the end of the story at the very beginning, but the point of these stories isn't the HEA, it is the journey to get there. The journey in this story is great fun to read. It does ramble along in some places, but that is the fun of a Rom Com. Mostly mundane people have a mostly mundane ramble and at the end you have a couple who are deeply in love, but you have had great fun getting there and lots of will he, wont he?

Of course he will! Eventually

Luc is full of self-doubt and unresolved antagonism towards his absent music star father. He works for a weird charity which expects him to 'tone down' his supposed party life and what he really wants is a steady boyfriend and a love of his own. He has great friends who are very caring but he has a kind of loneliness and bad previous relationship experiences. All this baggage makes it hard to grasp something new and when Oliver comes along Luc really wants to grasp him.

The relationship is a bit like a butterfly emerging from a chrysalis. It starts gently with a friendship and ends after a bit of a struggle as both men recognise the love they have for each other and the need to trust each other.

I liked this because it is a comedy. It would make a great British rom com movie. It is funny in parts, serious in others with lots if huggable ahh moments. It has a great supporting cast of loyal friends and weird work colleagues, and rather eccentric parents.

It has all the the perfect elements for a good romance story and it is. Best of all it is funny and I think funny books will help us get through the stresses of these difficult times.

Copy provided by Sourcebooks Casablanca via Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

I'll be honest...I picked up this book because I just finished Red, White & Royal Blue and the description of Boyfriend Material reminded me a little of it. I was not disappointed even though it wasn't as similar as I originally thought it would be going in. I love a good "fake" dating turning into lovers story and Alexis Hall did a wonderful job making this a rom-com in book form. So cute and fun! Perfect for YA romance readers.