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

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.