REVIEW: Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall
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What it’s about: Luc O’Donnell is going to be fired from the only job left that will have him: a charity to save beetles. Luc is the son of long ago rockstar parents who split when he was young, leaving him with anger and resentment towards his absent father, and just enough left-over-fame to warrant bad publicity. After a compromising photo from a night out lands in the tabloids, the threads keeping his life together snap. He decides to fix his image by finding a respectable, perfect (fake) boyfriend. Who better than, ethically conscious, vegetarian, lawyer extraordinaire, Oliver Blackwood. It turns out, Oliver could benefit from having a fake boyfriend in return, but their mutual need for each other is about all they have in common... or so it seems. And fake-dating starts to become something more.
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My thoughts: OKAY SO PREPARE FOR GUSHING!!!! I so did not expect to fall in love with this book and ALL the characters. Firstly, Luc was such an authentic character I was surprised he didn’t jump off the page in front of me. He was so perfectly flawed and real. I honestly can’t believe the author managed to make me love him despite his initial awfulness. I found the source of his mostly selfish and insufferable personality to be so relatable and understandable though.
There is something so special about finding a book with characters you relate to on a deep level, and I found that here. I adored the relationship he had with Oliver so much. I can’t express enough how much I adored the character development in this story. Oliver’s character grew from a locked away personality to such a passionate, intricate human. He was perfect in every way for Luc and I truly appreciated his understanding over the bad emotional state Luc was in. It was so refreshing to see him just want to be there for Luc even if he gained nothing. The struggles in their relationship and with their own personal issues was so well done.
I am obsessed with all the side characters too. I want to be friends with all of Luc and Oliver’s friends. The dialogue!!!!! I was watching a real life conversation in my head and it was so immersive. I also felt so attached to Luc’s relationship with his mom, she was amazing and so hilarious. I was laughing out loud so much! Don’t even get me started on Alex Twaddle and the terrible morning jokes. I will admit the ending felt a little abrupt, but I think it added to the authenticity of a relationship relationship faults. I could literally go on and on about how much this story meant to me and how much I loved it.
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Rating: ★★★★★
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*arc provided by netgalley in exchange for an honest review, all opinions are my own

Luc O’Donnell’s father is a has-been rock star. Even though he has never met the man in his life, his family status made Luc reluctantly famous ever since he was able to walk. To Luc’s demise, his father is not only trying to rekindle his career but also his broken relationship with his son. After a compromising photo gets leaked to the press Luc’s boss threatens to fire him if he doesn’t save his reputation. Enter Oliver Blackwood- The perfect boyfriend to help Luc get back in the public’s good graces. And someone who is also in dire need of a date. So, they make a deal to pretend to be in a relationship for the time being. Which of course leads to more than they could’ve anticipated. Boyfriend Material was a delight. I had high hopes since I love the fake dating trope and this book didn’t disappoint. Was it cliché and cheesy? Totally but I expected it to be. Luc and Oliver were lovely and funny (and sometimes really, really stupid) and their dynamic was a lot of fun to read. Although I do wish the book would’ve given more space to the side characters. Especially Luc’s queer friend group was extremely entertaining and had a lot of potential but fell a little flat due to the lack of attention they got. I totally recommend this book to everyone who loves reading MLM romances and cheesy love stories. Plus: A bonus point for Own Voices.

Do I love a M/M Rom-Com, why yes I do! There have been a lot of great ones out lately, Conventionally Yours for example, but Boyfriend Material is the best one I’ve read in a while.
I really enjoyed the fake dating trope, and it weirdly made sense under the circumstances. Luc needs and image rehab, and I got the feeling that though Oliver needed a date to his parent’s anniversary, no one had to twist his arm too much to pretend to be Luc’s boyfriend. Luc was a total mess and Oliver is a total Mr. Darcy. More of a Mark Darcy than a Fitzwilliam Darcy, but a Darcy none the less. So it goes without saying that I absolutely loved Oliver. The other thing I liked was that most of Oliver and Luc’s friends knew about the whole fake dating thing. It made it much more realistic, though I myself have never had a fake relationship, I have to imagine I would at least tell some of my friends.
The book is told in the first person from Luc’s POV. I tend to like first-person in romance, but I could help but want a little of Oliver’s POV as well. I liked watching these two characters grow and get comfortable with themselves. It was nice to see how they made each other better.
This book was too cute and there were a few parts that quite literally made me laugh out loud. If you are looking for a sweet rom-com then look no further

Boyfriend Material was a book I expected to enjoy, but not love as nearly as much as I did. This book was incredibly cute and I really loved that. It has a very standard romance trope at the centre of fake relationship blossoming into real feelings, which I seem to love and it really worked for Luc and Oliver.

Luc is the son of famous rock-star parents, only one of them, his dad abandoned him 25 years ago for a life of rock-and-rock, drugs, and alcohol. His dad is forever in the newspaper, but unfortunately that also means Luc is also too often caught up in the tabloid gossip as journalists seek an extra scoop on the son of a celebrity. This has left Luc a little bitter and a little anxious about his actions, people's intentions and particularly his love life. He's very much in need of some help and support at the beginning of this book and he really stole my heart from the beginning. Then you have Oliver, who for all intents and purposes has his life set with a house, a good job as a barrister and a good upbringing. He initially comes across as frosty and a little pompous and seemingly entirely opposite to Luc.
The crux of the story is that despite the fact they have nothing in common, they both need a relationship for one reason or another. From there we see a different side to them both and we see that Oliver is so damn cute, his looking out for Luc, his cooking, his thoughtfulness and consideration. I absolutely adored the dynamic that grew between Luc and Oliver. The humour, the fondness and emotions and it just made me all warm and happy inside. There was a good balance between angst, humour, romance and general plot for me to really enjoy this book.

The other aspect that I really loved was that this book was set in London. I so often feel that a lot of romances I read are American based, which is fine, but I just love the Britishness so much more.

Overall, this was fun, cute and I would definitely re-read as a great standalone romantic read in the future as this was so honestly delightful on all levels.

Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for the eARC. This book is out 7th July 2020.

Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall is probably my best contemporary read of 2020 so far! I AM IN LOVE WITH THIS BOOK! As the synopsis suggests, a cute fake date relationship is played out between two totally opposite people for the sake of convenience. This journey of 'convenience' was a total laugh out loud and full of fluff!

The plot of the book was quite gripping. The pacing too, was pretty well balanced which kept me intrigued till the end. There were not many plot twists, which was quite okay as only a few blew me away pretty well! I mean, some of them were quite predictable but some were just sooo surprising and fun!

The characters, were not too unique but really helped the story to shine more! They were QUITE relatable and make me finish the book in just one sitting! Especially, Luc's character! IT SPOKE TO ME THROUGH THE PAGES! And Oliver was just "WOW!" (only if he was straight. sighs) Overall, I found all the characters really fun and interesting to read about!

The writing style was very easy going and simple. It was quite intriguing. I mean, it has been quite a long time since I genuinely found a contemporary writer's writing style unique and fun and Alexis really surprised me!

I kinda did not expect to like Boyfriend Material. I thought it was the usual fake trope romance story. But Boyfriend Material caught me off guard because I was laughing at their antic throughout the read.It may have the typical fake relationship trope idea. But there are some moments in Boyfriend Material that will catch you off guard especially in Luc case. Luc has a rough going for him because everyone will judge from his famous father's past. But what can you say, parents' actions, especially the famous will have a hold on you. But Luc is willing to fight on by faking a relationship. And this is where you know where something will go wrong. Nothing is ever perfect when you are faking a relationship. But it’s going to be a funny read between Luc and Oliver.

Not to exaggerate or anything, but <i>Boyfriend Material</i> is the book we need in 2020. It has given me oodles of joy, a lot of laughter, swooning emotion, and a queer romance between two wonderful, flawed, vivid, very relatable characters.

The two main leads, Luc and Oliver, seem to be as different as one can imagine: Luc’s the son of a 70s rock star and a recluse French song-writer mother, frequently in the tabloids himself for his drunk antics, while Oliver is a barrister, born and bred in a toxic middle-class environment, and who’s so straight-laced that I wondered if he could breathe. (in hindsight, prob not.) One of the things I adore the most in romance is seeing how two very different personalities will fall in love with each other (the moment in the beginning when you meet them and think “no way these two can be together!” --> I get all tingly with anticipation at that moment). Hall, with the assurance of an experienced, masterful writer, takes these two men and peels their layers one by one to show us the baggage they carry; how lonely they are; the solace they find with and in each other.

Luc’s our narrator, and his voice is a delight: he’s wry, self-deprecating, sharp with his observations and absolutely hilarious. I laughed out loud so many times—loud enough to startle the cat, not just a chuckle. Luc sees Oliver as perfect, and it was fascinating to see through his eyes and follow Luc to the realisation that Oliver is, in fact, a stack of super-high standards and three sacks of anxiety in a trench-coat. Or rather a cashmere, posh, lawyer coat. The progression of the relationship is well-paced, and the way it blurs from fake dating to ‘omg this is real’ feels organic. Nothing forced or contrived (which tends to be my main pet peeve in romance novels). Although I wasn't happy with Oliver's decision towards the end, it came from a place that I could understand--even sympathise.

There’s also a diverse and vividly-drawn cast of secondary characters, who straddle the line of over-the-top but never cross it. Hall writes them with intense love, even the ones he pokes fun at, and that shines through the text. They're quirky but also intensely real. And I think that's what I loved the most about the book: that, on the one hand, Hall exaggerates certain aspects of characters/situation to draw humour and keep the tone light and fun, but on the other hand, he grounds everything in very real, often painful emotions and doesn't shy away from heart-break and disappointment. I also appreciated a great deal how the situation with Luc's father was resolved: no easy solutions. No US-style open-arms forgiveness.

I do have one complaint, though! OK so, I knew going in that there was no explicit sex on page (I think I might have been a little let-down if I hadn't been spoiled, bc I've read <i>For Real</i> and I know how great Hall is at sex scenes) but I have to say that I didn't miss it as much as I'd have thought. My complaint is about the ending: it's too abrupt for my tastes. We have the love declaration, but the couple is still on unstable ground at the time of the final chapter and I'd have felt better if we'd seen another chapter, an epilogue, something to reassure us that it's all going fine. This short/non-existent denouement is something I've noticed in other modern books as well and I wonder if it's a publishing decision or a trend, but whatever it is, I'm not a fan. I want my denouements! I'd like to make a formal request that Hall writes an epilogue for us subscribers to his newsletter, please and thank you. (oh and the first sex scene, Alexis, there's a good boy.)

tl; dr: If you want a romcom that leans heavily on the -rom- and the -com- then you've come to the right place. Romantic, hilarious, and achingly real, this is a joy of a novel.

I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thank you to Netgalley for the free ebook in exchange for a review.

This book was EVERYTHING. It was adorable and witty and sarcastic all in one. I loved the wide variety of characters and I was seriously laughing out loud multiple times throughout. I loved all the banter between the characters and they were just so lovable. I loved the raw emotions in this book, and it was very real emotions I was feeling right along with the characters. I loved how Luc and Oliver were messy and beautifully human and their journey with messy backgrounds and trying to learn to love themselves and being in a relationship that isn’t toxic or unhealthy. I loved everything about this book and can’t wait to read more by this author.

Thanks to Sourcebooks Casa and NetGalley for the complimentary e-arc of this book. Thanks to libro.fm and Dreamscape Media for the complimentary alc of this book.

Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall is an amusing romp with a fun opposites attract, fake relationship story. The story follows Luc O'Donnell, a fundraiser who finds himself the victim of unwanted paparazzi attention, and barrister Oliver Blackwood. The two men are complete opposites and yet both have similar insecurities that plague them. Where this book really shined for me though is in the many amusing supporting characters and their witty dialogue. More than once I found myself laughing aloud.

I would recommend this book to people who like character driven novels. These characters talk a lot. I thought the dialogue was pure gold but if you are a fan of action, or plot driven novels, this may not be your type of book.

Narration: I went back and forth between the e-arc and audiobook on this one. The narration is brilliant. The narrator does a terrific job bringing these characters to life.

I am so glad I got approved the arc from Netgalley!
This book was fun! It is a cute romance set in London. I really loved the two main characters. Luc & Oliver together were awkward and hilarious. The plot was simple, or as simple as Luc tried to make it. I think Luc was just a very well written character. I was cracking up with his puns and inner monologues. I think this book is so simple that is why it feels not as plot-driven. I'm not going to give any spoilers, but the ending was satisfying yet not. I could see this easily being continued in a series. The characters felt real, their inner conflicts felt real, and that is why the story felt wholesome. I think it's a great light read and I enjoyed t very much. I will definitely recommend this as a bookseller!!

Boyfriend Material was one of my favorite books of 2020! I went into this story thinking it was just going to be a fun fake dating M/M troup. It ended up being so much more. The story was just so relatable and as far as main characters go, Luc was written so realistically. I loved how he was far from perfect. He was actually extremely flawed. I loved watching Oliver, by just being who he was, got Luc to realize he deserves so much more then what he was allowing himself. I also really enjoyed Luc's relationship with his mother. The two of them were hilarious together!

The writing took me a little bit to get into, but once I got thru a few chapters, I didn't even notice that the writing was weird to me. I think it was because its set in London, so a lot of the terms and phrases I didn't understand.

I highly recommend picking this one up when it comes out on July 7th.

4.5 stars — This one reminded me a LOT of Bridget Jones’s Diary in tone and snappy dialogue…I mean, the movies at least, it’s been so long since I read the book, I don’t remember what the writing was like. I was actually a little…put off? (or lost I think) by the fast pace of the external and internal dialogue, and all the UKisms. But as I continued to read, I got back into that groove and really enjoyed myself. I guess I just hadn’t been expecting it.

I was also worried by the sheer level of snark and dryness and total lack of self-esteem that was Luc. It could be offputting at times how much he put himself down. But honestly? In the end I did connect with him in spite of that, and I guess I just figured out who Luc was, and loved him in spite of his deflections and fear of feelings. I think it made it really satisfying to see the places where he did end up growing, and I LOVED that he really truly did grow — perhaps because of Oliver, but he didn’t chuck it all when they hit the conflict. That was kind of awesome.

Honestly, I feel odd saying this, but there were so many things that had me wary when I first started reading this book. I think I went into it fairly blind, no expectations, and I had to get used to a different set of characters than I was used to. I really truly am bummed that this wasn’t dual POV, because I really wanted inside Oliver’s head. It didn’t detract from the story necessarily, it still felt full…I’m just greedy. I had an initial hard time figuring Oliver out…but I think I got him as Luc was getting him. And he was really endearing in so many ways. But I also appreciated that he was messed up in his own ways, that may have seemed quite different from Luc’s hangups, but in the end came down to the same thing. Basically, the conflict and resolution ended up being strangely satisfying for me.

And the two of them together put me through so much. I laughed so much at their witty banter, I ached with them as I saw them both feeling the feels, and I hurt for what they were going through individually as well as together. I thought their chemistry was pretty solid, though was a bit bummed at the mostly fade to black (again, greedy).

And wow, were there ever a lot of seriously colourful secondary characters in this one. So many of them felt completely unbelievable and caricatures, and AGAIN, that threw me off initially…but then I just kind of rolled with it, and they added their little tidbits, and it was fun and zany, and…it just worked for me. Of course there were also some douchebags, but when aren’t there? And they were seriously douchey.

So yeah. This book was a strange rollercoaster ride for me. Maybe it’s just a solid 4 stars…I can’t tell. I think I’m just impressed with how it burrowed under my skin and made me accept all sorts of weird things that put me off initially. So take from that what you will.

Th world needs more books like this! They need more authors like Alexis Hill. I enjoyed every single word in this book and have bought it for my library's collection at every branch.

I received an ARC of this book to read through NetGalley in exchange for a fair review. Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall is a delightful M/M fake relationship story. I’ve been in a bit of a reading slump with being stuck at home, and this charming, funny, sad, sweet, hopeful book was precisely what I needed to read. Deeply unhappy, Luc O’Donnell burned by past relationships, semi-famous because of the ageing rockstar father who abandoned him, has been self-medicating with alcohol and meaningless encounters. When a picture of him lying in a gutter ends up in the tabloids, his job is on the line unless he cleans up his act. Oliver Blackwood is a successful barrister who banishes his demons by being practically perfect in every way and when a mutual friend suggests that they have a fake relationship with each other to help Luc’s reputation at work and in the tabloids and give Oliver a date for his parents anniversary party they agree to give it a try and discover that maybe opposites do attract and also that perhaps they aren’t so opposite at all. Watching Luc go from hot mess to someone who can express and deal with his feelings plus the well written secondary characters made this a book I enjoyed immensely and highly recommend. Steam Level: Fade to Black. Publishing Date: July 7, 2020. #BoyfriendMaterial #AlexHall #NetGalley #SourceBooks #ContemporaryRomance #bookstagram

Went into this book thinking and maybe hoping it would be similar to Red, White, and Royal Blue and was surprised that everything I loved about RW&RB was in this book and more. Luc the son of rock star parents and estranged from his father always seems to be in the press and not for a good reason. Oliver is genuine as they come is the perfect Boyfriend Material for Luc to drag himself back into the positive press. Together they devise a plan to pretend they are fake dating. Except it isn't long into the fake dating when the feelings start to fly. Filled with surprise, humor, and everything in between you will fly through this book.

NEED. MORE. OF THIS BOOK!

Boyfriend Material definitely shoots right up on my list of best reads of the year. I'm usually not a fan of the fake dating trope - BUT MAN DID IT WORK IN THIS BOOK. Luc and Oliver are all kinds of cute, lovable and ship-able. They both go through a lot of character development over the story which I absolutely loved. In the beginning, the two reminded me a little of Elizabeth and Darcy; with Luc always misinterpreting Oliver's actions, and Oliver admittedly seeming a little pompous together. And I still found myself rooting for them from the very first second.

The book is charming, witty and made me genuinely laugh out loud more than a few times. The writing is excellent and I could picture every scene so clearly in my head. If you're looking for a nice Rom-Com to curl up with, I definitely recommend this one!

[Thanks Netgalley for the ebook. This review is my honest opinion but just another opinion, you should read this book and judge it by yourself]
What a lovely book! I had a great time reading the not-so-fake love story between Luc and Oliver, just what I needed for cheering me up after some awful readings. I loved them both (although we can only read Luc's POV) and I found myself smiling everytime I was reading, I didn't want it to end! It's so well written... I've only read another Alexis Hall book (Glitterland) and I struggle a bit with the vocabulary he uses (English it's not my native language) but I think his brilliant with words. Everything between Luc and Oliver felt natural and I enjoyed a lot reading their journey from enemies to lovers.
However, everything related to Luc's work put me a bit out of the reading and his relationship with his dad seemed to steal too much story.
But overall it's a sweet, charming and funny love story (almost chick lit, for there's no sex descriptions), perfect for forgetting about real life.
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[Review in Spanish]
Ay, qué bien me ha venido este libro! Una historia divertida y dulce con unos protagonistas que, a pesar de todas sus imperfecciones (y de que te pueden sacar de quicio), se hacen querer y te tienen leyendo todo el tiempo con una sonrisa en la boca. Me lo he leído despacito porque, sin ser una maravilla ni algo novedoso, lo estaba disfrutando tanto que no quería que se terminara.
Un nadismo perfecto para desconectar y pasar un rato estupendo.

First, let's talk about the sex.

Wait. There wasn't any (aside from the slow fade out before anything really happens. You know what I'm talking about). Is this, like, a growth thing for writers? Writers who've been around the block a few times? Let me be clear; I am not decrying this book over its woeful lack of sex. I was just caught off guard. Like, the author chose to rebrand after the five other books I read? It was like listening to Tool's entire discography and macking super hard on Danny Carey's drumming (because duh) and then, suddenly, after six studio albums, you get Metallic Lars. Like, is someone holding you hostage, mate? Blink once for yes!

But seriously, all joking aside--and I am joking because Alexis Hall is a wonderful author with a wonderful story here--I loved these two characters. Mostly Oliver if I'm being honest (Luc is a self-admitted berk). This story was just the right timbre of sweet for which I was aching. The build-up of the romance and the construction of the characters’ lives—mostly Luc’s, with his work mates and group of friends, was spot on and hilarious.

But sometimes you read a book and it's not at all what you thought it would be from the blurb. Boyfriend Material was this for me, which was partly a good thing and partly a teensy bit disappointing, only because it wasn’t exactly what I was looking for. From the premise, I expected a strangers-to-friends-to-lovers scenario in which there was a painful slow burn saturated in miscommunication. And *there was all of this*, but because these characters *Arc* and *Grow*, they reveal their hands a lot sooner than I expected. They play off of this place of mutually acknowledged interest in being more than fake boyfriends from almost the halfway point in the book. Which was actually refreshing for the genre, rather than the tension and story riding on the MCs’ ignorance of each other’s feelings.

Overall, this book defied expectations. I enjoyed the characters and their individual stories, as well as how they fit in one anothers'. I couldn't put the damn book down, okay?

I first heard about Boyfriend Material when Kathy (from Kathy Trithardt) reviewed it on her channel earlier in the year and I knew I had to see if I could request a review copy, and hot damn, am I glad I did that. This book is released on July 7th and I loved it so much I preordered a copy of as soon as I finished just so I could read it again in paperback.

Our protagonist, Luc, is the son of two aging, former rockerstars. His father left when he was young and then spent a lot of time in and out of rehab - dragging the family he left behind through the tabloids time and time again. Now in his twenties, Luc is trying to build his own life away from his absent-father's shadow, but an innocent but compromising photo taken after a night out places his tenuous career in dangerous and he needs to find a 'respectable' boyfriend. Fast. Enter Oliver, a straight-laced barrister with ethical views on the world and in need of a fake boyfriend for a future family event. The two decide to fake-date each other for 'good publicity' and it's going great... until feelings begin to get in the way.

There is so much to love about this book, I don't even know where to begin.

One of my favourite books last year was Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston, and Boyfriend Material feels a lot like the grown-up version of that,  but with much more relatable characters. Part of that could be that I am closer in age-range to Luc and Oliver and their friends, but I think there's a lot to be said for people working every day lives and having struggles that are easily relatable.

It's easy to fall in love with Luc, who's definitely down on his luck and a bit of a screw-up, but genuinely doesn't want the charity he works (supporting dung beetles!) to suffer because of his moderate child-of-famous-people fame. He's quite negative at the start of the book, but you see him grow so much as a person throughout the book as he begins to realise he can't continue to live his life the way he always has. At some point he has to start to grow-up and that's what happens. Is he perfect by the end? Nope, but he doesn't have to be to grow.

Likewise, Oliver has his own issues to deal with, which are revealed a lot slower, because we don't get his point of view in this book, which I thought was an interesting choice, but not necessarily a negative one. What we know of Oliver, we learn through Luc's POV and I think that it worked really well. We learn about him as Luc does. But there's something about a character who has done really well in his life to prove himself worthy of others, but remains clueless to actually living, and Oliver sits somewhere along that line, doubting his self-worth in a completely different way to Luc.

Then there's all of the side-characters who are just WONDERFUL. From Luc's mother, who's an absolute firecracker, to his friends who help him even when he's being a pain, to Oliver's friends who welcome Luc into their lives without question and show both Luc and Oliver that maybe they do fit into one another's worlds. And those characters aren't just positive - we also learn about Luc's father, who tries to regain a foothold into Luc's life, and we see the impact that has on Luc.

This was just fun and entertaining and an all-round delightful read that I know I will come back to time and time again. If you liked Red, White and Royal Blue but want something a little more adult, then this is the book for you. I can't recommend it highly enough!

fake dating + enemies to lovers + queer + british = I will be screaming about this book forever

I cannot even express in words how goddamned happy this book made me. I laughed, I swooned, I was emotional- this book was an experience to say the least. We get everything from beetles to lawyers to rock stars to bacon sandwiches.

My absolute favourite part about this book was actually not the romance (gasp) - but the humour and voice of our main character, Luc. It is quirky, quintessentially british and hilarious. While the sense of humour will, inevitably, not be everyone's thing- it was without a doubt mine. It was that self-aware, sarcastic and quippy writing style that I am a sucker for, and this was no exception. It was so easy for me to fly through the book without even noticing. It was definitely a case of 'just one more chapter!' (and we all know how that one goes).

"It was so fresh and exciting that I got out of bed without my customary five-more-minutes-whoops-it's noon. I even considered putting actual clothes on, but I didn't want to overwhelm myself with too much maturity all at once"

This book was ridiculous. Some of Luc's co-workers are... eccentric to say the least. I can definitely see some people disliking that and finding it over the top and excessive but once I got used to them, it only added to the charm of the story.

Now, I should probably stop my gush-fest and mention what this book is actually about. In short,(because you should absolutely read this if you really want to find out *wink wink*) Boyfriend Material is about Luc O'Donnell who works at a charity for dung beetles (yes, you read that right). His reputation has become slightly sullied, so he decides to get himself a well respected fake boyfriend, Oliver, a stuck up, posh, lawyer. Enter in some charity events, French toast, emotional baggage and voila, romance!

I would without a doubt recommend this to fans of Red, White & Royal Blue. Not because this is a rip off of it, but because they both have similar vibes and definitely reminiscent of each other. If you want something that will give you the same feelings as Alex and Henry- look no further! (plus this one is own-voices!)

Overall, the only reason this isn't a full five stars is the slightly lacklustre ending, but don't let that put you off from reading it! I can't wait to see what else Alexis Hall does in the future, but in the meantime I am getting the urge to re-read RW&RB...

Thank you to Sourcebooks Casablanca for this ARC

Release Date: 7 July 2020