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.

I really enjoyed this novel but then I'm deeply biased to halls work. Lovely rom-com feel lovely diverse cast, great banter, wonderfully lyrical writing, I love fake dating and this was perfectly done.

On my Instagram page for the 7th July- under highlights- NEW releases. I have tagged author and Netgalley for the RELEASE.

This book was such a nice, genuinely sweet romance. The conflicts were incredibly believable and I genuinely loved both main characters. The supporting characters, especially Luc's mother and her best friend, were well drawn. Loved it!

This book makes my cold dead heart believe in love again cause it’s so effing cuteeeee! There’s so many things I want to talk about (or rather, gush about) so buckle up everyone, I am taking you on a fun ride of emotions yipeeeee!
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I like to imagine myself as Oliver: handsome and smart with a good career and a house but to be honest, I am more of a Luc who is a bitter mean mess with a life that isn’t together. Despite Oliver looking like he got his shit together, he clearly lacks of it in his family department cause wow, his parents are such assholes and emotionally abusive? I am so glad Luc stood up for Oliver and told them both to fuck off cause honestly, Oliver clearly respects his family too much to directly confront them.
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I do however have one tiny bit that annoyed me and it’s the text messages between Luc and Oliver because Luc’s messages are bolded while Oliver’s replies are often a combination and continuation of the narration and thoughts of Luc and then followed by Oliver’s message in the same sentence.

Boyfriend Material was just what I needed, a quick, heartfelt and incredibly witty read. The characters had a real three dimensional quality to them, and a plot that was more robust and emotionally complex than I was expecting. Many times it could've been contrived or cliche, but it managed to avoid doing what I expected at almost every turn. Which was refreshing, especially as someone who has read their fair share of gay romance. I didn't know how to feel about Luc and Oliver as a pairing during their first meeting, but as their relationship developed and we got to explore more of who they were as characters, and where they were coming from, I began to get really attached to them as individuals, which only strengthened how invested I became in their relationship. I really loved them together.

Oh, and the writing is quite funny. I hadn't anticipated to literally laugh out loud but it happened several times, much to my surprise, amusement, and probably to my roommate's annoyance. I definitely recommend anyone looking for a nice breezy romance to pick this up ASAP.

This is my first Alexis Hall novel, but it will assuredly not be my last.

The story was a good read hence, the 4 hearts rating. I enjoyed it from first to finish. It was not a 5 since Lucien could be dramatic and hurtful. However, I like him as a character because he improved a lot. It was nice of him to acknowledge that he is a good person. I connect to him in this way, since I am sometimes my own enemy. To improve, Lucien needed to be pushed and inspired by Oliver. The story was written well. It was an easy, fluffy adult read. I laughed a lot because of Lucien's sarcastic remarks. I recommend this read to anyone who wants to laugh and feel butterflies in their stomach.

3.5 stars

I feel it best to start this review stating that I am a cis straight women, so I am not the one to ask about the gay representation of this book, and if I missed something problematic let me know!

Anyyyyywho, this book was super cute and a perfect way to spend a very blah day. I laughed, I cried and i almost threw my tablet to the ground. Luc and Oliver are simply meant for each other even though it might take them a while to realize it. I love how messy, complicated, and blissfully honest both of these characters are as they tumble through a scheme of their own creation. Seeing them navigate through tricky parental relationships, connecting with friends, and balancing each others occupational hazards this book was entertaining and relatable from beginning to end.

Make sure boyfriend Materisl finds its way to your shelves.

Boyfriend Material
{ Thank you to @netgalley and @sourcebookscasa for this e-ARC in exchange for my honest opinion }

This book was a little slow to start, but once I got into it I was really invested. I am such a sucker for British romances because of the dry, snarky wit and this book didn’t disappoint.

I LOLed multiple times from the sass that Luc and Oliver brought to this book. I thought that while Luc was very self deprecating due to his past, Oliver did such a good job of helping him cope and work through trust issues. While Oliver could be uptight, Luc did an excellent job of bringing out his fun and easy going side, but also showing him you don’t always have to live up to the expectations set by others.

This book does an excellent job of discussing sexuality, staying true to yourself, but also exploring internally to better your life. It also dives into hard topics such as homophobia, family toxicity, and past traumas that affect how we see ourselves.

I truly loved this book and recommend it to anyone that loves British romances or is needing a good laugh.

Boyfriend Material is probably one of my favourite reads of 2020 so far. Luc's inner voice is so tragically relatable - awkward, insecure, but also loving and hopeful - anyone who's ever been hurt will instantly understand Luc's vulnerability. Also, Luc is an absolutely lovable trainwreck in social situations, but they're so LUC that you just end up wanting to give the poor guy a hug.

This book is simply life - there's no HUGE drama that permeates the story - it's all relational, and I appreciated that. There's a big emphasis on support networks, friends, family, and love. Both Luc and Oliver have great friend groups, and the author found it important to give them all unique voices and ways of supporting the two lovebirds. Luc and Oliver themselves are also super supportive of one another - they don't let each other get beaten down by assaholic relatives, or their own inner demons. All the little details of their relationship made them perfect for each other despite their differences and I loved every second of their love story!


I'd recommend it to those who loved If I Never Met You by Mhairi McFarlane and Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston. To set expectations, this is a fairly wholesome book - more fade-to-black than explicit - so don't go into it expecting lots of sordid sex.

Boyfriend Material is chalk full of humour and ALL the feels. Despite its general lightheartedness, there's a lot of psychology and emotion for the two MCs to work through. Full of heart and love, I definitely recommend this book to everyone!

Plot: 4.5/5
Characters: 5/5
World Building: 5/5
Writing: 4.5/5
Pacing: 5/5
Overall: 5/5
GoodReads Rating: 4.21/5

This wonderful book is quirky, funny, and absolutely loveable. Luc has made some bad choices but is convinced a fake boyfriend could benefit him in many ways, especially if said man is a virtuous bloke.
Oliver, a barrister, and an overall good guy is free of scandal and agrees to help Luc repair his image by being his fake boyfriend. These two could not be more different.

I loved how these guys fall into love with each other, and Luc, he loves so hard, even with everything he's going through. This is definitely a story of opposites attract with all the awkward "getting to know you" moments strewn in for a very good time. I find myself looking forward to Luc's ridiculous jokes and Oliver's even funnier responses. I felt there were parts that went on a bit more than necessary, but which never the less kept me glued to the pages. These two fake boyfriends are everything you've been waiting for!!

This book is all of my favorite things. I really enjoy the wittiness of British fiction, I love m/m romance, and one of my favorite tropes is a celebrity. This book checked all of my boxes and I LOVED it.

Luc is a charity worker and son of famous musicians. He was hurt very badly by a former partner and has spent the last 5 years in a spiral and being photographed while doing it. The most recent photo has his job in jeopardy so he decides to get a fake boyfriend to clean up his image.

Oliver is a criminal defense attorney and practically perfect. He's a vegetarian, is passionate about his job, and has oodles of self-respect. He has been attracted to Luc for a while and decides to go along with his fake relationship scheme.

In the end, the fake relationship creates real feelings and to my delight, they go with it (instead of freaking out). There was immense character development on both sides with a large cast of hilarious characters. Their friend Bridget cracked me up with every book publishing emergency. The angst is just right and the relationship ups and downs are believable. I loved this book and I can't wait to read more from this author.

This is just such a smart book. Laugh out loud funny, an open, honest and healthy window into toxic and healthy relationships, a great voice and a healthy dose of feels. I truly loved it.

From enemies to fake lovers.

Luc needs to improve his image or he'll lose his job. This makes him desperate enough to accept going on a date with goody-two-shoes Oliver, who has dismissed him already in the past. After the disaster that date proved to be, he finds out Oliver too needs to find a partner, even if it's a fake one. Quickly, the limits become blurry.

My first impression was that there were too many jokes and that the narration sidetracked too much, summing up to what is probably a longer book than necessary. However, the story and the characters made up to what looked like a surplus and eventually became a bonus, because I really needed to get more of this delightful book.

And wow, I'm not sure how Alexis Hall was so on point building Luc. He's unbearably cranky and can't hold his tongue, he's always suspecting everyone too—and he's not wrong to, unfortunately—, which doesn't help his mood. I think his was not a main character that was easy to create, control and show the readers while still getting our empathy. Oliver would be more what we're used to, but still very lovely. I'd totally marry him if I could and while it was well explained why he couldn't hold on to a boyfriend, I'd still be up for the challenge.

Just a warning (?). As you can infer from the cutesy cover (I love it!), this won't have many sex scenes. I'm not a fan of them, so I loved this fact even more, but I did observe this author tends to write other types of m/m books. I can't say if those few make up for it, because again it's not my thing. And for those who don't like sex scenes, as I said, there are some, but not many and definitely not the point of this story. I think it's worth giving it a try.

This is probably one of my favorite romcoms of this year and could even satisfy fans of romcoms outside of the LGBT niche. Looking forward to more books like this one!

Honest review based on an ARC provided by Netgalley. Many thanks to the publisher for this opportunity.

Luc works at a non-profit dedicated to saving the dung beetle. An awkward encounter leads to a terrible photo of him in the paper and his job says get your crap together or you're fired. His father is a rock star (who Luc hasn't seen or spoken to in years) and the rumor is like father, like son. So Luc and his friends decide he needs a fake relationship with a nice man to bring himself back up to par, at least in the charity's eyes. Enter Oliver.

Luc and Oliver make an agreement to fake a relationship so Oliver doesn't have to go to a family event alone and Luc can bolster his reputation. The two hate each other at first but over time, learn that the other isn't as bad as they seem. Both men are adorkable in their own way and awkward when it comes to relationships, talking, people, you name it.

I liked the influence you could see Luc and Oliver had on each other. I also loooved Luc's mom to pieces. Overall the book was a fun read but it had a couple of annoying spots for me.

1) I'm tired of this trend where there is conflict up until the last like 5 pages and then it's all magically resolved. It seems too quick to me. What can I say, I like a good epilogue?

2) The way Oliver's family treated him was absolutely disgraceful and I never felt like that got fully addressed or resolved.

I gave the book 3.5 stars out of 5. I liked it, it made me smile and laugh out loud a few times but those two sticking points took away a bit from it for me.

I have been a fan of Alexis Hall for awhile and was so excited when my wish for this new novel was granted! Then, I had a reading funk where I could only get through re-reads so I saved this for a time when I could appreciate it! I LOVED this book! I plan on buying it to support the author and to have my own physical copy! Luc and Oliver had me right from the start with their awkwardness and formality. The story had a great pace, keeping me entertained and literally unable to put the book down. I finished it in one sitting! I enjoyed meeting the friends of each and seeing the support they received through them. Their issues were dealt with together and in ways that were tough and sweet by turns. I hope everyone takes the time to read about this beautiful love that I hope to see in more books!

*Novel given in exchange for an honest review, NetGalley.*

What an absolutely perfect book to read in a pandemic. Laugh out loud funny with a sweet romance involving two deeply-flawed, but extremely lovable men. Throw in two enviable friend groups and you've got the perfect book to devour in a weekend and distract you from the world around you.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the arc!

Luc O'Donnell is sort of- but not really- famous. As the child of two famous musicians who split when he was young, Luc has never met his father. Daddy dearest has spent the last 20 years in and out of rehab, and is now making a comeback, which throws Luc reluctantly back into the spotlight. And one compromising photo is enough to throw Luc back into the bad side of the public eye. Now his reputation (and job) are suddenly at stake, and he needs to clean up his image fast.
Enter the idea of finding a perfectly normal guy to date to distract from his bad boy reputation. Luckily Luc's friend knows the perfect guy: Oliver Blackwood. Oliver is as nice and normal as they come. He's a barrister, ethical vegetarian, and has never once been accused of scandal. But Luc and Oliver realize very quickly that the only things they have in common are being gay, single, and in desperate need of an acceptable date for a big event. They agree to be fake boyfriends until the dust settles and both of their events are over. But sometimes fake dating can feel a little too real, and you're at risk of totally falling for your fake boyfriend...

Okay. So. I absolutely adored this book!! It's got excellent humor. I was crying laughing at so many moments. It also balances that with great heart warming and heart wrenching moments. I love the fake dating trope so I was so excited to see it play out so well. And I'm always here for a queer disaster, and Luc fits that bill sooo much. I loved Luc instantly. He's a mess, but he knows it. And I love how he grew and changed. Oliver starts seeming a bit uptight, but I loved his growth too. And them together is everything I wanted. I adored their friends too. All the interactions felt real and like my own group. I also love Luc's mom so much. And oh lord Luc's coworkers. Alex is some of the best comic relief in this book. I loved every minute of reading this, and couldn't put it down. So if you like fake dating, queer romance, excellent humor, and books that will still hit you in the feels, this is for you!! I highly recommend picking it up!