Going into this book I had high expectations because I heard so many good things about it and I was not disappointed. It lived up to the hype. I love a great fake relationship story because you know the main characters will catch those feelings even though they didn't want to. One of my favorite things about this book was how different Luc and Oliver were and they just worked so well together. The way they processed their feelings throughout the book was so real, I think that's why they worked so well together. They aren't perfect, but really - who is? This was my first Alexis Hall book, won't be my last.

In short, I loved this book! The main characters are realistically screwed up and messy, and I like how that manifests in their relationship with one another. The dialogue is so smart. I was always cringing at the way Luc would misinterpret people's intentions through the lens of his worldview and self-perception, then respond in a way that seemed inappropriate or defensive. It can be frustrating, but since we know what's happening in his head, it feels realistic. The writing overall is witty and funny, striking the perfect tone for this romantic comedy.

My only complaints are that the character development feels uneven between the two main characters, and the supporting cast feels a bit caricature-y for me. But they do provide some good humor and a fun backdrop for the story. The romance at the heart of it all is charming and takes the reader on a full, satisfying journey.

2 ½ stars

Boyfriend Material reads less like fiction than fanfiction. No one acts their age, we have an exceedingly angsty protagonist, a plethora of silly side characters who express themselves using a Tumblresque sort of lingo, unlikely interactions, and a lot tropes.
The novel's sitcom-like structure was predictable and often unfunny. Luc O'Donnell's friends, colleagues, and acquaintances had very one-dimensional roles: we have the straight friend who is always having a crisis at work (one more ludicrous than the other), the lesbian friend who is short and angry, the gay couple that share the same first and last name (and are both referred as James Royce-Royce) and have opposing personalities, a few ridiculously posh characters (who had no clue of anything related to contemporary culture or social norms), the fanciful French mother (who is very much the British idea of a French person), the estranged rock star father...
Luc was so self-centred and monotonous that I soon grew tired of him. He has a few genuinely funny lines (when he's told not to give up he replies: "But I like giving up. It's my single biggest talent") but these are far too few in-between. The narrative tries to make us sympathise with him because he's been sold-out by his ex-boyfriend and because he's dad had 0 interest in acting like a father...and yeah, those things aren't great but they don't give him the right to be such a narcissist. Most of the conversations he has with other people, Oliver in particular, revolve around what he has experienced, what he feels, wants, and fears. I just wish he hadn't been so focused on himself as it made him rather unlikable.
The other characters are really unbelievable and behave unconvincingly. They did not act or speak like actual human beings.
The running gags were just unfunny: most characters treat Oliver's vegetarianism as if it were an obscure dietary lifestyle they could never wrap their heads around, Luc's posh colleagues doesn't understand his jokes, while Welsh characters accuse Luc of being racist against Welsh people (this annoyed me because they kept throwing around the word 'racism' when it had nothing to with Luc's lack of knowledge about of Wales).
The romance never grabbed me as Oliver was such a stilted character as to be difficult to believe in. Luc often acted like a child with Oliver which made their romance a bit...yuck.
Sadly, this novel just didn't work for me. It felt superficial, silly, and juvenile.

I received an ARC from Netgalley. All opinions expressed are my own.

This is a book that I really enjoyed. Luc is stumbling through life - sometimes literally. When a pap photo paints Luc as a party boy, and donors pull out of the charity Luc is working for, Luc is forced to "clean up" his image. The consensus is reached that Luc needs a boyfriend. Enter Oliver

Luc and Oliver had a previous disastrous meeting, and Luc is convinced that Oliver is prissy, uptight, and totally wrong for the position of fake boyfriend. Their first few dates seem to confirm this, but soon Luc begins to see other parts of Oliver. Slowly this fake boyfriend is becoming someone Luc enjoys spending time with.

This book is written entirely from Luc's perspective. The constant inner monologue makes this book feel like it's rambling, often too chatty. It soon becomes obvious that Luc misreads situations, and because you don't get Oliver's perspective, it's hard to know exactly where the relationship is going, or what is actually happening. To a certain extent it feels mysterious, but I found myself frustrated because I wanted to know why Oliver was reacting a certain way.

All in all, this was a good read. Parts made me laugh, and some parts made me cry.

Luc is kinda an asshole, but you can't really blame him. He's got a dead-beat famous father that's trying to come back into his life, a CRAPPy job, and his last boyfriend sold him out to the tabloids. Because of Luc's infamous misdeeds and self-destructive behavior, he needs an image upgrade fast. Enter Oliver: a barrister, a vegetarian, and all-around normal-seeming guy. The two agree to be fake boyfriends until their commitments are fulfilled and they can forget they ever knew each other. Unfortunately, things start feeling pretty real pretty quick, and Oliver and Luc become more than just fake boyfriends.

Luc seems unlikable at first, but he really redeems himself in the clutch; it's fun to read his redemption arc. I did NOT think I was going to love Luc and Oliver as much as I did, but the story captured my interest and eventually my heart. It is really easy to empathize with Luc and Oliver, because who hasn't struggled with fucking up or trying to be something you're not for someone else?

This book is laugh out loud funny, and an all around great book. I mainlined it in a day and even stayed up late to finish it. The characters are wacky, snarky, and completely lovable. I recommended this for purchase for my library.

„Fake relationship“ has got to be my favourite romance trope and Boyfriend Material showed me why.
Oliver and Luc vaguely know each other via a mutual friend but could not be more different (on the surface). Of course fake dating makes perfect sense to help both of them solve uncomfortable situations but actually only works because - of course - they start falling in love slowly but surely.
I particularly loved the friend groups and that we actually got to read about “real jobs”.
This was sweet but at times also infuriating because I wish two people that cared for each other so much could avoid breaking up 3 times over the course of maybe two months.

Thank you to Netgalley for the free advance copy. From the top of my head I can think of quite a few friends who will love this :)

Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for the opportunity to read an advanced reader copy for review.

I can't imagine having my life documented by the media to the masses like Luc or dissected by my family like Oliver. With lives like those I can completely understand how they find themselves needing to fake-date. I think that way of spending time together was the best way to finally get to let their walls down and get to know each other and themselves.

Overall, I really liked this book. I loved the humor in it and I definitely laughed out loud throughout the entire thing. Where this one fell short for me was the relationship. I wanted it to be more developed, especially when it came to Oliver. I felt like I really knew Luc and what he was going through, but Oliver fell a little flat for me. I personally would have loved a little more steam, but I do realize that British romcoms typically don't have much of that. I think this book would have done well with an epilogue, something that wrapped up Luc and Oliver's story a bit more. It felt like the ending wrapped up too fast, and I wanted to know that Luc and Oliver had a future with each other. I think I'd use the work cheeky to describe this one.

This is such a solid rom-com. I really can't think of anything I didn't like about it.

Luc O'Donnell needs to clean up his image after a scandal hits the pages that threatens his employment at a charity. After talking to his friends and coming up with a solution, Oliver, the highly respectable and successful barrister Luc had tried to sleep with the first time they meet, seems to be the perfect candidate.

Oliver could use a date to bring to his parents' wedding anniversary party so they strike a deal. They will fake-date publicly and help each other out with their image. But can they fake-date with no feelings attached?

My favourite things were definitely the dynamic between Luc and Oliver and the British humour.

They are such polar opposites and I love it. Oliver's posh middle-class upbringing and lifestyle are so serious foreign to Luc that makes their dialogues hilarious. Luc, on the other hand, was raised by his single mum. His parents were both famous rock stars but his mother gave up his career to raise him while his father left and never looked back. That is until he was told he might have cancer and decided to seek out Luc to get to know him, or so he claimed. Luc's father was such an arsehole and selfish prick.

I loved how Oliver supported and stood up for him when they met Luc's father and then Luc stood up for Oliver. Their relationship was so heartwarming and adorable. They use self-deprecating humour to hide their feelings but also to express them, which I found super relatable. When they got emotional with each other I feel my heart squeeze and then melt when they came together in the end of their arguments. They challenged and brought out the best in each other and that's what I love in romances like this. It was slow-burn and with lots of honest communication.

Also, Alex is such a hilariously clueless character, he made me snort a couple times and I love his posh arse.

In short, I absolutely loved this and had the best time reading it. I would love to read more of Alexis Hall's books in the future. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a hilarious romance.

Love love this book.
Fake dating, check
Humor, check
Amazing circle of friends, check
Mother/Son close relationship, check
Loveable fun characters, check,
Drag Race references, check.

Many thanks to sourcebooks for the eARC for an honest review. Other than Lucien's low self esteem shenanigans, i loved and adored this book. Quick read and fun.

Coming 7/07/2020

I had some struggles getting into this book, I do take partly the blame for that as I didn't read the synopsis when I started this book so when a guy with instant chemistry was introduced in chapter one, I had already some set expectations. That's the reason I struggled through the first chapters, waiting for this character to show up again.

I did leave the book for a day or two, and when I got back to it the following day I read it entirely in one evening... I was so immersed in the story and these characters. Both Luc and Oliver are such complex characters with a interesting group of friends and family members. This definitely was not some superficial gay love story. It dealt with a lot of hardhitting issues every person might deal with at some point in their lives. Their insecurities and general disfunction in relationships was, sadly, very recognizable and that's a big part of what I loved about this book.

The chemistry and banter between the two lead characters was phenomenal. It made me all soft and gooey inside. I guess that's okay....

I received a free ecopy of this book in exchange of an honest review.

Actual rating: 4.5 (rounded up)

A thousand thanks to Sourcebooks Casablanca and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC, in exchange for an honest review.

You guys... yoU GUYS!!! I didn’t think I’d give a book a five star rating ever again (technically, this is 4.5, but who gives a good gosh darn?), but here came Alexis Hall’s Boyfriend Material to simultaneously rip me from my reading slump, and reinvigorate my literary LIFE!

This story was... I don’t really know—but it was exactly what I needed at the moment. It’s cute (but not so cute I died of diabetic shock), it’s funny (like, actually funny), decently angst-y, and overall charming. Does it makes sense that I enjoyed this immensely more because it was set in Britain, and not America? Actually, don’t answer that. I’m just going to go with: “Yes, Kyle. It makes perfect sense!”

This is what Red, White & Royal Blue SHOULD HAVE BEEN! The writing is LOADS better, the characters are LEAPS-AND-BOUNDS more interesting, fleshed-out, and far less ANNOYING AS HELL. The truth is, Boyfriend Material is actually realistically humorous, sincere, and endearing, whereas RW&RB is disingenuous, juvenile, and arrogant (yes, I say a book can be arrogant!).

Ya know, I generally cringe whenever someone says a book was “un-putdownable,” but here and now I’m going to straight up eat my words, because this book was 100% un-putdownable! I started reading around 1AM, and I literally had to force myself to put it down when I saw the light of Dawn blooming beyond my curtains (which—completely unrelated—were advertised as “blackout curtains,” and I dispiritingly discovered blacked zip nada zilch out).

I don’t often connect with—or even read, for that matter—“RomCom’s,” but this one just WORKS. Thank you, Alexis Hall! Thank you thank you thank you for this book.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I love Alexis Hall and his tendency to write all over the spectrum in terms of genre, so I was hyped for his take on the rom-com trend, especially since I don’t tend to associate humor with his books. But consider this yet another genre he’s conquered and made his own, because I love it.

For one, this romantic comedy is actually funny, but in that snarky British way that I love and was feeling the lack of in the romance genre as a whole. In her review; KJ Charles compared it to the style of Richard Curtis, but “more diverse,” and I have to agree.

The story is told solely through Luc’s perspective, and I love his commentary about all the shenanigans of the plot. And while Luc’s not objectively the most likable person (in fact, sometimes he can be insufferable), I liked following his growth as he navigated his complex emotions with the issues he was dealing with and became a better person through spending time with Oliver.

Oliver is really sweet. While it takes some time to get to know him, given that Luc is so wrapped in himself, I loved the revelations about what a good person he was and his true self. While I would have liked chapters from his perspective as well, I think the aspect of not knowing him until Luc did helped with the anticipation.

This book is a lot of fun, and serves as a much-needed mood-lifter in our state of continued uncertainty. If you love rom-coms, and have been looking for more featuring LGBTQ+ characters, I recommend this one highly.

Welcome to this ARC review,
Disclaimer (as per usual) I received an ARC of this book but it does not affect my opinion of this book.

Boyfriend material was exactly what I needed after dabbling in a couple fantasy worlds both in fanfictions, books, movies and video games. I really enjoy Alexis Hall's writing, as I had read another work by this author previously, so I went into this read pretty confident that I would enjoy it. And surprise, surprise, I did. It was everything I needed after hours of long exams, fluffy cute and romantic, not to say that it did not make my eyes water because I was laughing too loud (as this book was hilarious and filled with british humour) and because of all the FEELS I was feeling.
The story line in itself did not have much happening for it, which is why I cannot give this book 5 stars, however the chemestry between our two main characters and emotions you felt for these character made that not as much as an issue as I would've normally have had.
This is simply a perfect summer, or anytime really, read; I would highly recommend you pick this up for you and all your friends. This is not a steamy read, as some of his other works are, this is a more traditional, one could say, contemporary with a focus on romance (with some well handled angst).
I will be reading it physically sometime soon as it was a pre-order since it had been announced; this is how much I enjoyed this book.
Just aaaahhh all the feels and you just keep rooting for them all the way through this book.

Let me just say that I was a bit skeptical of how much I was going to like this book at first.
Our main character, Luc, was a bit pessimistic, some of the characters felt like a stereotype, and there was some British slang/knowledge that went a bit over my head.
However, I loved it.
Oliver was perfect 'boyfriend material,' Luc grew so much over the course of the book, there were lines that packed so much emotion, but also lines that were very funny, and the author did not resort to 'miscommunication' between the main characters to cause drama.
I know that I will be purchasing a hard copy for myself once this book it out. It is one of my new favorites.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing the E-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I'll be honest, I skimmed over half of this book. The first 20ish percent of it was ok, but it went downhill very quickly after that. I just wanted a nice, quick and cheesy read. I don't want to read about a terrible psychologically abusive relationship and rape jokes.

I JUST FINISHED THIS AND I’M FEELING SO MANY FEELINGS.

First of all oh my god this was so freaking SO FREAKING GOOD. It was light hearted and romantic and comedic and it had banter, it had angst, it had ALL THE ROMANCE. I genuinely laughed out loud I gasped I felt their love and their angst and their friendships and their sadness AND THEIR HAPPINESS. I fell in love with Luc and Oliver and their friends and Luc’s mom and JUDY hahaha. This was so good so good. It showed a ‘relationship’ from the very beginning and the messiness of it and the emotional baggage people hold onto and how to fix themselves. But we saw tender moments between Luc and Oliver but their individual friendships as well. I absolutely love Alexis Hall’s writing because it was so funny and just easy to read. She transported me into Luc’s and Oliver’s lives. And reading this from Luc’s point of view was just *chefs kiss.* Everything absolutely everything worked. And I can’t wait to reread and post all the spoilers later.

GOD THIS MADE MY HEART SO FULL!!!

I absolutely cannot wait to get my physical copy.

This book was pure magic. The dynamic between Luc and Oliver, the writing style, the wonderful humour. All of it came together to make a book I will be reading again in the future. I loved the fragility of each man and how they were both ultimately their own worst enemy when it came to committing to a relationship and I thoroughly enjoyed that there wasn't a big happy ending with Luc's father. Overall just a brilliant story.

I was very excited about this book when I first read the description. I couldn't wait to venture into the queer rom-com book world. The fake boyfriend trope was decently executed even if, at times, it did feel a bit stereotypical. I will say that it took me a while to get into the book. I think it was Luc and Oliver that made it difficult. At first, I couldn't relate or admittedly like either character, but as the I swam deeper into their stories, I started to get the feels and appreciate what each character had to offer, and I was able to get emotionally involved in their lives. I think that is where Alexis Hall really succeeded. The entire book was a journey into both characters. I got to learn more about their personalities, emotional baggage, faults, strengths, sense of humor, etc., which made the characters come alive.

This book is A++++++++++++++++++++++!!!!!!!!!!!! I want to sing the praises of this book to the heavens! I've been telling everyone I know about it and it's not even out yet! It's the perfect romance. Funny, sweet romantic with plenty of pathos and realism thrown in. I loved its mix of plausibility and utterly ruthless send up of British upper classes. All the characters are well done. I could immediately picture Luc and Oliver. They way they looked and talked. Their accents and mannerisms...the author has done a great job in creating realistic characters, keeping them grounded but also keeping them within a classic setting and set-up of a British rom com ala Sophie Kinsella and Jenny Colgan. Lets start with that trope. The fake relationship trope, in my opinion, can never be over used or trite. Its always my favorite. Especially when the two people are so helpless and ridiculous. Next, the dialogie, this is Gilmore Girls level of conversations quips, jabs and timing. It moved so quickly that i found myself going back to reread it and savor it. Lastly, the supporting characters are so superb. Luc's mother, his friends but especially his co--workers: Alex Twaddle, his girlfriend Miffy and the very Welsh Rhys Bowen Jones are instantly iconic. I found myself slowly down my reading of the book just to enjoy the scenes of Luc at work. I only have two criticisms: I wish the love scenes had been more graphic - I wanted more details. Who's the top and who's the bottom. who is doing what to who! Definitely not enough of that and I know that those missing details will also disappoint readers. Lastly, it's not long enough! I need more so much more! I need Luc and Oliver to tell their families to uck off, I need them to get married and have kids. So unless this authoe wants lots of subpar fanfic continuing her story out there she better be writing sequels and can we get Netflix to make this a movie?????