Hello, welcome to my new favorite contemporary romance!! Seriously I’m recommending this to literally everyone. Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall has one of my all-time favorite tropes: fake dating!! (With a hefty side of enemies-to-friends-to-lovers, which is also amazing.)

Luc has had a rough, well... life. But the past five years have been especially rough in both the career and romance departments, and he’s not eager to repeat them. So when his job is threatened because of an accidental paparazzi shot (did I mention his parents are both famous rock star has-beens?), he’ll do just about anything to keep it. The “anything” in question? Making sure the paps only get respectable shots of him from now on, by maintaining a fake relationship with Oliver, a lawyer who is a friend of a friend and essentially Luc’s opposite in every way.

I couldn’t get enough of this story! I want a sequel, a prequel, whatever I can get my hands on — I’m already ready for a re-read and I finished the whole book in less than 24 hours! (I even stayed up until 3am because I had to know what happened!! 100% worth it, btw.)

It’s such a funny, sweet read and both Luc and Oliver are so cute, so relatable, so stubborn, have a lot of insecurities, adore each other and just have undeniable chemistry that comes across so perfectly and healthily. I love a healthy relationship!! Also if you’re not into a lot of steamy or explicit scenes, then this story has a nice balance of romantic moments to sexual ones, with lots of fluff in between.

Boyfriend Material By Alexis Hall (2020/07/07)
Rating 3/5 Stars
Disclaimer: Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher (SOURCEBOOKS Casablanca) for providing me with an ARC to review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
TW: Cheating

This story follows Luc O'Donnell who is famous because he has rock star parents. His parents split when he was little, so he's never really met his father. 20 years later his father is trying to make a comeback. When Luc gets photographed is a bad photo it ends up threatening his career. The only thing that will help Luc is if he shows the media that he has his life together. In order to do so he must find a fake boyfriend. When one of Luc’s friends suggests that he dates Oliver Blackwood he takes her up on the offer. Oliver is a barrister, single and practically perfect in every way. There’s just one problem, they don’t get along and have nothing in common. Together they make a deal to be in a relationship for the public. However, when feelings get in their way they must decide if this charade is worth it or if they can be boyfriends for real.

I liked this story; I love reading about fake dating romances. I loved the quickie characters and British words that were used. I liked how the romance progressed and how we really go to see the characters get to know each other.

I found that there were too many pop culture references. Usually I don't mind them especially when they’re sprinkled throughout the story. However, this book had so many that it made me disconnect from the story and it hindered my enjoyment of this book. I felt like since everyone knew that they were fake dating, it didn't really feel like a fake dating romance to me it felt more like a friend to lovers instead.

I didn't like how the characters kept breaking up instead of communicating about their issues. Another thing that I didn't enjoy was that I felt the novel was too long. I also felt like there were scenes in the novel that didn't really add to the story and therefore didn't need to be there.

Overall, I liked this book. If you want a light, fluffy M/M contemporary novel then I suggest reading this one. Once again thank you to SOURCEBOOKS Casablanca and Netgalley for providing me with an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

Boyfriend Material is my third book by Alexis Hall. That was a bonus surprise because when I requested this book I didn’t even look at the author’s name. I saw the cover, read the synopsis, and thought to myself “Man, that looks cute!” I was right, too. It’s adorable!

The relationship dynamic was a refreshing departure from what’s “normal” in this genre. Usually, one character is grumpy and gruff, where the other is a gentle soul. In this case, neither Luc nor Oliver fit those descriptions. There was something sweet and vulnerable in both of them, and I loved it.

I also loved the romantic fade to black scenes between Oliver and Luc. We got just enough, and it was good, before the door closed on us peeping Tom’s, leaving Oliver and Luc to their own private moment.

Alexis Hall wrote with a whimsy I don’t remember in his previous books, and it worked.

A love story between an awkward cinnamon roll and a stickler for rules . Sounds right ip my alley but unfortunately it wasn’t as good as I was hoping it to be. I found Luc very endearing in the beginning with all his awkwardness but I started getting a bit annoyed after a while. Oliver was the opposite. I slowly grew to love him as the story progressed. I felt like there was a lack of chemistry between Oliver and Luc which made the reading experience a little lacklustre.
But I did enjoy the banter between them a lot and the friends circle and their conversations were hilarious!! It had me smiling at various parts. So although the chemistry was missing, the comedy definitely kept me entertained for a while.
If you are looking for something with amazing banter, then I would suggest looking this up.
Rating: 3 stars

We love to see growth and communication in a relationship. The angst felt very realistic and grounded, which was welcome with the absurdity that the fake relationship trope invites.

I've read a few of Alexis Hall's books. Gritty, angsty, well written stories. So when this came up, it definitely seemed out of the norm, but hey- branch out, right?

Oh boy. Nope. Go back. Go back to gritty and angsty.

We have Luc. Son of two 80's rock stars, although his father walked out when Luc was 3 and he hasn't seen him since. This has turned Luc into a bitter person. And apparently a giant jerk and something happened in his young adulthood that led to him being black listed and the only job he could get was as a fundraiser for an obscure charity to save dung beetles. I don't know how a disgraced, blacklisted person gets a job leading a fundraising charge. But whatever.

Because of whatever happened in the past, he is plagued by paparazzi catching him at inopportune times and making it look way worse than it is. The latest shot caught him tripping outside of a club, but made it out that he was wasted and passed out in the gutter. People start pulling their donations because he is unsavory. So to try to save his reputation, and the donations to the charity, he decides to get a fake boyfriend to last just through the big fundraising ball.

Enter Oliver. Friend of a friend whom he has met previously. The mutual friend had been trying to get them together because "you are the only 2 gay men I know!". Ya, not the type of friend I would want to have. In fact, all of Luc's friends kind of seemed like jerks. They basically tell Luc all the time what a loser and jerk HE is, but they are still friends with him. And he is all "oh, thank you for still being friends with me even though I am a jerk and loser."

So the fake boyfriend thing is set up. And even though of course no one is supposed to know they are fake boyfriends, so many people do. The two complete idiots that Luc works for. No seriously, IDIOTS. And who talks that way? "Right so old girl". Really? The way he spoke (and his fiance, who may or may not be his fiance because they are TOO STUPID to remember if they are engaged or not) was a stereotypical mockery of uptight British people.

OH! And Luc's father shows up out of the blue because he has cancer. And Luc's mother encourages him to get to know his father so he tries. But then it turns out his father is the same wanker he always was. And Luc's mother was all "Ya, I figured. So sorry" (My eyes were bugging out at this point)

Oliver's friends were EVEN WORSE than Luc's friends. He is obviously the "token gay" because it is good to have a gay in your circle. They were horrid!

Oliver's parents and brother were equally horrid! No wonder the man feels unlovable.

Now onto the fake relationship that of course turns real. It was pretty cute. I liked how there was no kissing, but touching, etc were negotiated. They were obviously both crushing on each other but didn't say anything because of their own personal demons. And it seems that Oliver's demons were worse because he instigated the inevitable break up.

Cue a scene so OBVIOUSLY taken from Notting Hill it was embarrassing. Luc and all of his friends pile into the ONE vehicle owned among them all to drive 5 hours (FIVE HOURS!?) to where Oliver is supposed to be. With them telling Luc how stupid he was the whole time. And then the scene with the front desk clerk at a hotel not giving them any information. And come on!

Can you tell I did not like this book? I seriously did not like this book. Everyone says Luc is a jerk, but really he isn't and everyone around him is. Oliver thinks he is unlovable because of who he is, but really it is because of the way he is treated. The only side character that didn't piss me off was Luc's mother's best friend Judy.

I've read other reviews. I know I am the complete opposite of most of them. Guess what? Don't care.

This book just blew me away!
I had such a brilliant time reading this book, and there was several times I laughed out loud.

This is a great story about someone who's been through very tough times and relationships that has left you feeling like no one is trustworthy, and your life means less to nothing, because of it. It takes up so many though subjects like gaslighting, emotional abuse and broken trust, and how that affects a person's choices and life afterwards.

It is a though story, but it is also a story about finding yourself, forgiveness and finding love in the most unexpected ways. Of finding love for yourself, and those around you. A story of strengthening friendship and the turbulence of life.

The voice of Lucien is erratic and chaotic, but also a character it is so easy to connect with. The change in this character from start to finish is done with such finesse, and it is such a ride to go along on.

I absolutely adore the relationship that evolves in this story, and the queerness to this book is spot on. I adore all the diverse characters we meet along the way, and how being in that community has its ups and downs. I feel the author really put a lot of reflection and work into building this story, and I am here for it!

“I can pretend that you’re my boyfriend, and nobody will think it’s strange that I’ve never mentioned you before because I’m such an utter nincompoop that it could very easily have slipped my mind.”

4/5 stars!

Yay! I really loved the last Alexis Hall series I read, but I ended up having a lot of trouble with it. I’m really glad that this go around, I throughly enjoyed the book from start to finish.

This book is about Luc, who is unfortunately the son of somewhat decently famous musicians. He loves his mom, hates his job, and is devastatingly single. When he suddenly needs to be in an adorable relationship to save his job, he enlists Oliver Blackwood. The Oliver that has no sense of humor and already thinks he’s out of his mind. But it just so happens that Oliver could use a fake boyfriend to…and so the fun begins.

I think what I loved about this Alexis Hall book was something I also loved about the last series. The protagonist has such great character presences from the beginning. Even as we are introduced to Luc, he is already someone who the reader can be interested in. He’s funny, complicated, and vulnerable in a way that just sympathizes you to him.

An improvement in this book is the love interest: I loved Oliver. He was so cute and sweet without really meaning to. I thought he was a really great character all around and it really brought the story together for me that I could love them both individually as well as together.

I’ll also mention that this book has hilarious and wonderful side characters: Luc’s mom, his co-workers, and the background people in one scene are all so funny and well-written that it’s honestly a gift.

Besides being a great example of a fake-dating trope gone right, the story is really great for a lot of reasons. It subverts expectations and keeps you guessing. It also is so full of fun that you hardly notice the moment that your heart starts breaking! Isn’t that fun?!

In all seriousness though, the fact that this book is really about the ways that people judge themselves too harshly and never give themselves credit is a really strong message at the core of this. The book is one big example of how people self-sabotage and push others away. I really love that this book not only uses romance, but also friendship as a way to push back on this.

TL;DR: This is a hilarious rom-com with a surprisingly heartfelt core. Full of classic tropes and trope subversive, this book is a fun time for all.

E-galley provided by Sourcebooks Casablanca and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All quotations and opinions are based off an uncorrected proof.

Happy Pub Day to this FUN romantic comedy about a M/M relationship that blew me away!
Poor Luc is adjacent to famous because of his rock star father that walked out on him more than 20 years ago. Unfortunately, the paparazzi don’t care that he doesn’t he even know his dad. Luc’s every taboo, drunken mishap, and clumsy moment is shared in tabloids. The paparazzi seem to have a way of being there whenever he doesn’t need them to be. He works at a charitable foundation to save 😂 dung beetles😂 and his job is on the line because of his wild escapades and some homophobia.
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Luc’s coworker and friends help him fake a relationship that appears healthy to solidify his job and get him a bit of good press. He ends up with Oliver a man he loves to dislike as his new fake man!
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Their relationship struggles and issues were the perfect escape! I honestly loved both characters, laughed out loud a lot, was immersed in corny jokes, London, and two men fumbling to figure out family dramas and relationships together.
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I’m always here for the hate to love trope! I fall for it every time! I just plan enjoyed this one! If you still swoon for Red, White, and Royal Blue I think you’ll love this one too!
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⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 stars! This gem is out today so pick it up and laugh out loud! Thank you @netgalley and @sourcebookscasa for an advanced copy of the book for my honest review!

This book.

THIS BOOK.

Boyfriend Material may just be my favorite book this year. It’s got all of the things:

1. Fake dating
2. Enemies to lovers
3. Gut-wrenchingly relatable characters (at least to me)
4. Laugh out loud funny moments
5. An absolutely delightful cast of support characters (Luc’s friend group and their group chat name changes, OMG)
6. Just boys, standing outside their (fake, but now not so fake) boyfriend’s door, asking to be loved
7. Heartbreaking moments behind other doors
8. A raucous—and a maybe not well planned—road trip
9. The best mom in the world and her best friend analyzing reality TV
10. One of the sweetest and hardest-won happily ever afters I’ve read

I felt like I was watching a queer take on the Brit Rom-Com while reading this book. I wanted to crawl into the book to bear hug Luc and Oliver at the end, but they worked so hard for the HEA, I think it’s best if I stay out of it and leave ‘em to it.

This book was SO much fun to read!

ARC received from the publisher via NetGalley for an honest review.

DNF @ 20%. I found the writing to be weirdly paced, and it took too long to get into the main problem of the book and the fake dating romance. Also, the moments of dialogue felt rushed and under-developed.

4 stars for Boyfriend Material by @quicunquevult! We love a fake dating trope and this one was totally adorable 😍.
When son-of-a-C-list celebrity Luc needs a reputation boost because he’s in danger of losing his job, pretending to date well-spoken lawyer Oliver seems like an easy solution. But what happens when Luc develops real feelings and it seems like Oliver is just as indifferent towards him as before? And wait… they’re actually sharing a bed?

The banter in this one, y’all… WOW! Alexis Hall masterfully tells an unconventional love story that is both charming AND at times, laugh out loud funny. The characters are so well-developed too that we felt like they were friends of ours. If you’re looking for a fun novel with some depth, that will give you ALL the feels, we think this queer romance is the one for you! 🇬🇧♥️
Thanks to Casablanca Books, Alexis Hall and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Oh my goodness this book was so entertaining. I ended up listening to the majority on audio from Libro.fm because the narrator was a delight. He made Oliver sound like a modern day Mr. Darcy (which honestly he kind of was!). This was so cute. It's easy to compare this to Red, White and Royal blue (British, opposites attract) and I would say if you enjoyed that check this one out. What made me enjoy it was the quirky, fun characters and witty banter between Oliver and Luc. This was so fun, I have to give it 5 stars!

Thank you to the publisher for a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Honestly, this book was so British and so cute.

Luc is the son of two aging rock stars, one who abandoned him as a child and has come back into the limelight which has thrust Luc back into the spotlight, and not in a good way. After one too many instances of "bad" press, Luc's boss at a nonprofit indicates that donors are dropping left and right because of Luc's "deviant" lifestyle and if he can't get his life together his job is on the line. In comes Oliver, a friend of a friend who is uptight to Luc's free living, and together they hatch a plan to be fake boyfriends. Oliver will be Luc's respectable boyfriend and attend his organizations fundraiser, while Luc will attend Oliver's parent's anniversary party. As they start to hang out more, the lines blur between pretend and real, which both Oliver and Luc struggle with to the detriment to their relationship.

Honestly, if you don't love a British novel, this might be hard for you. It is SO BRITISH and I am obsessed. The language, the slang, the spelling, the way it's written. Half the time I was like "what is happening" but I really love reading a good British book. I felt so much for Luc - he is on the struggle bus for realzzzzz. As the child of two B-list stars who has experienced extreme betrayal and abandonment, Luc's default when scared is to become defensive, run away, or push the other person away. But his growth throughout the book to someone who fights for what they want, speaks up to save people, and doesn't hide behind snarkiness was really beautiful to witness. And don't get be started on OLIVER who is adorable and equally as messed up, but doesn't 100% realize it. The start off using each other, but end up being the support system that they didn't even know they needed.

So why not 5 stars? I love a good steamy novel and I would've loved more steaminess (I know, I know, not typical in a British story). I also wish Oliver showed up sooner and that the book was a little bit shorter - there was a bunch of back and forth that slowed the momentum down. And lastly, I would have loved to get Oliver POVs because it would have made for some of the later revelations to feel not so out of the blue. Overall, this is a great romance for folx who love romance, love everything British, and love some adorable, fiesty, funny main characters.

This was my first read by Alexis Hall and I found it to be a really fun read. Completely amazing and witty banter among all the characters not just the main characters. A fun, fake-boyfriend storyline. Some parts had me picturing Love, Actually with all the campy, former star, dance routines (there weren't any dance routines in the book mind you, it just brought that entire movie to mind, up to and including the late night, door step grovels). Luc needs to clean up his act and Oliver just needs a buffer of his own. These two should never work, but when they do find a common ground it is amazingly beautiful and fun. I'm needing more Alexis Hall in my future.

I adored this book! Boyfriend Material was exactly what I needed and I cannot wait to read more from Alexis Hall!

When I hear the word “romcom,” this is the kind of story that springs to mind.

The plot is relatively simple. Luc is continually hounded by the tabloid press because his parents were rock stars back in the day. After a negative story upsets some potential donors to the charity where he works, he needs to rehabilitate his image. How better for Luc to show that he’s a good guy than to be seen in a nice normal relationship with a non-scandalous boyfriend? That would be Oliver, who is a model of proper behavior. Because it suits his purposes, Oliver agrees to fake date Luc. The problem is that very real feelings soon make it difficult to remember it’s all pretend.

That’s pretty much it for the storyline; what makes the book shine are all the funny bits along the way. A lot of the comedy revolves around wincingly awkward moments, which both Luc and Oliver excel at—Luc because his insecurities run away with him (very Ardy-like, really) and Oliver because he’s a little too stiff and proper. Together, they bumble toward falling in love, with a fair number of missteps along the way.

The humor doesn’t stop there. The novel has a bunch of comic secondary characters—Luc’s clueless coworkers, his loving but daffy mother, eccentric aristocrats, etc. This is the kind of story where two of Luc’s friends are a married couple who are both named James Royce-Royce, so just throw the notion of realism out the window. It’s going to be a little OTT for some people, I think, but I enjoyed the absurdity. (The bit about the bullocks, though . . . tsk. One really must draw the line somewhere.)

It’s not all froth. Scenes like Luc dealing with the father who abandoned him or reading a newspaper article that leaves him feeling emotionally stripped bare give the story weight. Then there are the moments of pure romance, embodied in lines like this one, when Luc and Oliver share their first real kiss: “The wild impossible sweetness of somebody kissing you for you—because of you—and everything outside the press of bodies, the ripple of breath, the stroke of tongues drifting away like old leaves in autumn.” Swoon! That's really lovely.

If you are in the mood for a very English romcom, I’d recommend giving this book a try.

A copy of this book was provided through NetGalley for review; all opinions expressed are my own.

Hmm I'm not sure where to start with this one. First off, our main character Luc isn't exactly a likable character. He does some pretty crappy things to his friends and to his love interest, Oliver, and there were a lot of moments where I found myself getting really annoyed with him. I did though, enjoy how different Luc and Oliver were and how they decided to fake date and spending time together was initially awkward until they started opening up to each other.

For the first half to this book, once I got used to Luc's character, I actually enjoyed the romance and the quirky Britishness of this book. There were some funny jokes and quirky characters that were endearing. I thought Oliver's character was so cute and I liked how he was the more serious one in the relationship. As this book went on, though, there was just too much back and forth between Luc and Oliver, especially the last 200 pages. They broke up so many times to the point where I was like, WHAT NOW. I do think that this book went on too long and I really didn't care for the story the last 100 pages I was reading.

I really did love the premise of this book and how two completely opposite people were going to fake date and end up falling in love, but Luc's character was hard to like and the story and conflicts were dragged out too much.

This one was so. damn. CUTE. I was excited for this because I thought it would give me similar vibes as “Red, White and Royal Blue,” and if you loved that one as much as I did, this book needs to be bumped up on your TBR stat!

The story was a little slow to start, but once I got into it, I could not wipe the smile off my face. I did not expect to be so charmed by this story and to be so invested in the characters. The dialogue and character development were so well-written and endearing.

I would say I think it was about 50 pages too long, but otherwise I really enjoyed it. If you want a REALLY cute romance, definitely pick this one up!

Luc never knew his rock star father, but now that his dad’s making a comeback as the judge of a reality music show, Luc himself is back in the spotlight. When he’s photographed falling down outside of a bar (perfectly! innocently!), it threatens to compromise his job. He needs a respectable boyfriend to help clean up his image, and his straight friend has just the person: the only other gay guy she knows, vegetarian (yes) barrister (yes) Oliver Backwood (yep). And as it happens, Oliver could use a date to a family function too. It’s a match made in the Medium Place.

Alexis Hall is one of my favorite romance writers currently working, and the chief reason amongst a large group of reasons is his deftness with articulating messy, complicated emotions and power dynamics. As I was putting this post together I took a break to reread his book Pansies, which remains one of my top five romance novels and is, accordingly, among the books I shove at romance newbies to get them in on the genre. And it’s just, truly, so great to read books that honor and acknowledge emotions without giving a pass to people for letting their emotions drive them to make poor and hurtful choices.

Someone I either follow on Twitter or know in real life said recently1 that the best thing about fake dating stories is the part where the one person gets to (metaphorically) slap shit out of the other person’s horrible family. And that is the truest thing I’ve ever read on this here internet, and let me tell you, pals, Boyfriend Material fucking delivers on that front. There are not one but two scenes of horrible families being horrible and the protagonists having to defend each other, and it’s so good for me I wish it could be distilled and bottled and I would drink it every night and then advance to putting it directly in my veins. No, there are not specific parents of people in my life that I would enjoy to be very angry at. This is all purely hypothetical.

Oh, they also have to share a bed, for reasons. This book has all the tropey nonsense your mother warned you about.

Boyfriend Material features an adorably zany cast of characters, all of whom Alexis Hall gives space to be worthwhile. Luc has a posh colleague named Alex with no sense of humor to whom he tells jokes every morning just to see how his colleague will manage to not understand them. His mum has a best friend called Judy who goes on trips to inspect bullocks and prize roosters and then comes home to eat Luc’s mum’s indefensible curries. At times the characters are perhaps the tiniest touch too zany for my particular taste, but on balance I was more charmed than bothered.

Plus, of course, I continue to feel immensely fond of Alexis Hall for his obvious affection for regional British weirdness. Luc has another coworker who is Welsh, who — well, I will just let you read the book and discover it for yourself. His Welsh coworker appears to be ridiculous and then turns out to be great, a classic Alexis Hall move. And if you find yourself generally touched by that, I would love to recommend his earlier book Glitterland, in which a grumpy posh man falls for an Essex lad. As a former Essex girl, I endorse Glitterland.

I wasn’t wild about the way the book frames Luc’s relationship with his dad. His dad shows up out of the blue, having abandoned Luc at age three and never looked back, asking for a relationship now that he has cancer and is going to die. Oliver and Luc’s mum both advocate for Luc to accept the dad’s overtures, even though both of them are well aware that it’s likely the dad is just going to disappoint Luc again. I was… not wild about this. I do not believe that you have obligations to the family that ditched you, however sick they are. If you have been ditched by a family member and they come back wanting a relationship now that they’re dying and you want to give it a try, absolutely 100% go for it! But if you don’t want to give them that space in your life, it’s fine to not. Instead Oliver implies to Luc that he shouldn’t “abandon” his father, as if it’s possible to “abandon” someone you’ve never had a relationship with. I wish that had been framed differently.

Apart from that gripe, my only tiny wish was that the book had gotten into Oliver’s Issues slightly earlier than it did. As an avowed devotee of a Chaos Muppet / Order Muppet pairing, I was deeeeelighted with the central relationship of Boyfriend Material, and as I rounded the 80% mark around 10:30 at night (this is very late to stay up if you are me), I was thinking “How pleasing, and now for the denouement.” This was a FOOLISH expectation by me. In the remaining 20% of the book it suddenly gets very very “actually people who seem to have it super together are sometimes/often/always dealing with their own dysfunctional shit that needs to be worked through too,” and poor old Oliver has to really, properly start facing up to his issues around self-worth and control. As a control freak with self-worth issues, twas unexpectedly confronting, though beautifully and perfectly handled, to the point that I got a bit teary. Only I’d have loved for Luc to have been dealing with that stuff a bit more earlier on, to make the relationship feel a bit equaler a bit sooner.

All that said, one of the reasons Alexis Hall is among my favorite romance authors is that his books are angsty, yet soft, which is pretty much my sweet spot. Luc and Oliver each have their own dysfunction, the kinds of things that arise from what life does to us all, and the arc of the book is not so much learning to set those things aside as it is learning to live a life informed, not controlled, by them. Hall is reliably awesome, and Boyfriend Material is no exception.

Note: I received an e-ARC of this book from the publisher for review consideration. This has not impacted the contents of my review.