ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall is one of the best books, and by far the funniest, I’ve read this year. I’m willing to say her best since Glitterland.

Luc O’Donnell is the C-list celebrity child of B-list ex-rockers. With an unfortunate photo in the gossip column, his job at a dung beetle charity is in jeopardy. Oliver Blackwood is a vegan barrister who needs a plus one for his parent’s anniversary garden party. Hence, the fake boyfriend compromise. The wit, sarcasm, and banter are laugh-out-loud funny. Nothing is saved from mockery — American politicians, pop culture, wine coolers, or Tube stations. (I Googled her Google reviews, and they are real!) The supporting characters range from married friends, James Royce-Royce and James Royce-Royce, to posh nitwits, Clara (call me Miffy) and Alex Twaddle.

My only regret is that it wasn’t longer. I didn’t want it to end.

This was such a sweet story about Luc and Oliver and it built and built the emotional layers in such a way that made the ending such a treat to read! I wish it has gone on for just a few more chapters but the ending was still great. I loved Luc and Oliver's friends and how they all created a family of choice. Recommend for anyone who liked "Red, White, and Royal Blue." I'll be on the lookout for Alexis Hall's next novel!

<p>I freaking loved it so damn much.</p>

<p>Lets talk about the writing, which was amazing. It was immersive and easy to get into and kept me hooked for long enough to wanna blast through the book and know what is gonna happen next.</p>

<p>The plot is super cute and will make you feel happy on the inside and even though there are a lot of serious topics in it, it will made me feel fuzzy on the inside.</p>

<p>Luc and Oliver need a fake boyfriend to parade around at functions for one reason or the other and that's why they decide to fake dating each other and the story starts from there.</p>

<p>Luc and Oliver's relationship is not easy, even though it is fake there is a lot happening there and both characters are growing as people throughout the book, there are a lot of cute scenes scattered throughout the book and reading those scenes made me grin like a fool and there were scenes that made me cry.</p>

<p>Throughout the book they become each others rocks and stand up for each other and I loved seeing them getting closer together and fight for each other and for their relationship</p>

<p>Another thing that I adored a lot in the book was Luc's friends, almost all of them belong to the lgbt community and are amazing friends, they stand by Luc when he needs them and there to pull him out of his misery and are ready to go to lengths to help him.</p>

<p>My only problem with the book was that sometimes the characters acted like teenagers, instead of talking they just made some pretty stupid stuff and the last chapter could have been avoided and it could have been wrapped up very well one chapter short but other than this, I loved the story.</p>

<p>Both of the characters are dealing with a lot</p>

<p>Luc is dealing with betrayal and has trouble accepting people into his life and trusting, that plays a huge part in the book and in the relationship and I loved his growth, his relationship with his mother is also something I adore a lot, it is really admirable. He is also pretty hard working given the fact that he is not really fan of his job (who really is), it is nice seeing him open up and trust people again. He is also kind of an asshole in the beginning but he morphs into a good person later and he is an adorable little bean.</p>

<p>Oliver, he is crushed under the expectations of his parents but overall he is strong man who knows what he wants in his life, he is ready to protect Luc and is extremely lovable and I adore him a lot. He also undergoes a lot of growth in the book as well, he opens up to Luc and he is adorable, a little awkward and a cute dork.</p>

<p>Overall this was a great book, I really loved this book and I adored the characters and the relationships both platonic and romantic and I would love to see how Oliver and Luc's life turns out maybe a novella (hopefully)</p>

<p>I would recommend it to anyone who liked Red, White and Royal Blue (it is adult so be vary of that) and just wants a to read a cute queer book that will tug on your heart strings both in a good and bad way. It will make you feel happy.</p>

This book was a light, fun, enjoyable romance with just enough heart and drama! As a reader I loved Luc and Oliver, as well as their cast of diverse and entertaining friends. Even though anyone could see their "Friends to lovers" plot coming a mile away, this is just the kind of heartfelt happy-ending we all need right now! The book felt a little bit long, but was an enjoyable read.

Luc and Oliver come together because they both need a partner - Luc to salvage his career and Oliver to appease his parents - but aren't very good at holding down real relationships. So they agree to fake date for a while. Rather predictably, they fall in love along the way, with a spattering of humor and rom com shenanigans along the way. It's wonderful.

This is such a delight. I absolutely love tropey fic and fake dating which turns into real feelings is one of my favorite things in the world. A close second is 'human trainwreck character B falls in love with no nonsense well put together character B'. Seeing as those two tropes pretty much sum up this novel, it was love at first sight. (Also a fair amount of daddy issues as a result of a deadbeat, absentee father, which is also depressingly up my alley.)

Both boys are really lovely and endearing in their own way. Luc is a hot mess, but it's because he's hurting and afraid to let people in, something which he becomes more and more aware of the closer he gets to Oliver. Meanwhile, Oliver is the 'perfect' man, a reputation he pretty much relies on to cover up all of his own insecurities. Their fake-turned-real relationship helps them both come to terms with that and start taking steps to improve it. Meanwhile, as a reader, I was just falling more and more in love with them and wanting to wrap them up and give them nothing but good things. Especially whenever they came into contact with Luc's father or Oliver's parents who are, in my totally unbiased opinion, The Worst.

They end up together after some grand declarations of love, of course, but not after a long road there full of the humor you'd expect in one of those guilty pleasure British romcoms we all pretend not to watch. That's one of my favorite genres, no guilt involved, so yes. Boyfriend Material was undoubtedly a five stars from me and I'd wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone who wants a tropey, funny, sweet romance to read over the summer.

I seriously want to shout from the rooftops HOW MUCH I LOVE ALEXIS HALL. Seriously. I loved the Spires series, and then I found out about this book, and ... wow. It made me laugh and (almost) cry and just be so delighted and in love with the characters and all their complexities and flaws.

The story follows Luc O’Donnell, who is the son of a rockstar - one that left when Luc was three years old, and hasn’t made any type of effort to be a parent ever again. Luc has spent his whole life trying to be someone else than his father’s son and has gotten to the point where he’s given up on being normal or having a relationship (especially after his last boyfriend sold his story to the papers). When a compromising photo gets him in trouble with his job, he has to find a way to salvage what is left of his reputation, and quick.

Salvation comes in the form of Oliver Blackwood, Luc’s complete opposite. Oliver is an ethical vegetarian, Luc loves bacon sandwiches; Oliver’s home is pristine, Luc can’t remember the last time he washed a dish; Oliver’s a lawyer with a pristine reputation, while Luc has to have a Google alert set up with his name so he can find out what scandal he has created this time. The two men are as unalike as they come, but agree to act as boyfriends in order to fulfill upcoming work and family obligations, with an agreement that this fake relationship has an end date.

Of course, there’s always those pesky things called feelings that get in the way.

I absolutely tore through this book - both wanting to find out what happened next, and not wanting the story to end - and loved getting to know Luc and Oliver, plus their friends and coworkers (a hoity-toity peer making me laugh especially hard). The ending was perfect, and I’m just so delighted that this book exists. In my eyes, Alexis Hall can do no wrong.

I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Book comes out July 7th (and you best believe I preordered my copy the second I knew it existed)!

This book is 5+++++ stars. It is the perfect love story - I loved it so much. I know I've said "oh this book is so stinkin cute. Or that book is so stinkin cute." No, no. Boyfriend Material is the STINKINIEST CUTEST BOOK EVER!!!! I'm so in love with Luc and Oliver, they are flawed and perfect at the same time. The secondary characters are so funny and flawed and perfect in their own way. If you love Love, Actually you will love this book. It is so British I had a hard time at first understanding Luc's voice but after a short time I found it and it was a case of insta-love for me. I want more of this world. Please Alexis Hall write a sequel so we all can know that Luc and Oliver are still the real thing and not fake boyfriends. Be still my beating heart, indeed.

I need to go now and find out what toast racks are. But you need to go right now and get this book. Yes, I know it doesn't come out until July 7 but go and pre-order it! You won't be sorry.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a free copy of this book for an honest review.

I’m so sorry, but this book was just not for me. I tried... but just couldn’t get into the story, or bond to the characters. I sure appreciate the opportunity to read it though.

"You remain the thing I have most chosen for myself. The thing that's most exclusively mind. The one that brings me the deepest joy."

When we first met Luc, I wasn't completely drawn into the story. A non-profit, son of ex-rock stars finds himself in the eye of the media, but not in a good way. To avoid losing donors for his company's major fundraising event, his friends suggest he finds a respectable fake boyfriend to gain positive media attention. Enter: Oliver.

It took me about a third of the way through the book to really be drawn in, which is when Luc began to realize that maybe he had feelings for Oliver. I think Luc's inner dialogue began to change at that point, which is why I started to like the story more. It wasn't all negative self-talk; instead, he began to work through some of the emotional blocks holding him back.

In almost all fake-relationship books, you see the couple hit a point near the end where they call off the fake dating and separate before realizing they are meant for each other. The conflict in this book seemed rushed and out of place to me, especially because the two seemed to know that they were well-matched outside of their fake relationship. The end was very abrupt and left me wanting more.

All in all, it was a pleasant read. I really enjoyed watching Luc and Oliver fall for each other. The romance was light-hearted, and we also get to see some major character development along the way. If you're a fan of British romance and Red, White, and Royal Blue, this book is for you.

Thanks to Sourcebooks and NetGalley for the advance copy.

I really loved this book. It reminded me a little of Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston but definitely had its own vibe. I have a lot of teens looking for things similar to that title so this is perfect. Plus I love seeing a good queer romance.

You need this in your life if:

- You’re a sucker for the fake boyfriend trope
- You love self-deprecating humor and characters who mess up
- You love opposites attracting 😉
- You want a heavy dose of British wit
- You miss Alex and Henry from Red, White and Royal Blue

Review:

You can tell a book is going to be a good one when you find yourself cackling multiple times and the pages flying by while you do it. Boyfriend Material was one of those books. The dialogue and banter in this book? Pure gold.

As you would probably expect from a British comedy, there are loads of characters that are just so particular in their ways, you can’t help but crack up whenever they grace the pages. From Luc’s colleagues from work who try their best to understand and make jokes that fail spectacularly to Oliver’s peculiar group of friends who are overbearing but have their heart in the right place and should most definitely be kept away from alcoholic beverages, there were just a lot of moments that made me cackle. Sure, sometimes the humour is very pointed and exaggerated but it all feels natural to the characters. In all honesty, it reminded me a lot of the humour from one of my favourite sitcoms of the 90s, The Nanny. As long as you take some of the comments with a grain of salt, I think you’ll enjoy the humour, too!

And the characters, oh how I loved the characters in this one. Oliver is this high-strung, straight-laced person who is just too good for this world. And then we have Luc, who’s been in the press his entire life just because of a second-rate superstar for a father and has to deal with the pressures that come with that private life being splashed across the tabloids whenever he missteps. I just loved these two very opposing characters deciding to fake date to appease someone they’re trying to keep off their backs and the conversations between them had me in stitches. From Oliver’s face-palming moments whenever he texts Luc to their discussions of Luc’s messiness and overall disregard for any ethical issue ever all while trying to figure out whether their feelings are more than just for show, every interaction just kept me so invested in how it was all going to end!

The storyline following Luc’s father reaching out to him to try and rekindle a nonexistent relationship was also so well done and left me just as heartbroken as Luc must have felt. There is a lot of discussion surrounding what makes a parent good or bad and it definitely tugged at my tear ducts watching Luc open himself up and being vulnerable faced with someone who has inadvertently made his life incredibly difficult.

With that said, this book also had quite the cinematic feel to it! The descriptions of the places Luc takes the reader, from his mother’s home to the vegan restaurant he meets clients at, just flowed really nicely and painted a picture in my mind.

The only caveat I really have with the book is the discussions surrounding vegetarianism and veganism. Being neither of those, I didn’t even pick up on the offensive descriptions and comments sprouting in this book until I read reviews from other people who relegated their own feelings about this. In hindsight, I think what I read as part of the pointed humour I talked about, definitely could be considered derogatory and therefore I feel like there needs to be fair warning that there’s some cajoling into eating meat (even though the vegetarian in the book voices the desire himself) and more than a few digs at vegans and vegetarians that could have been handled better.

All in all, Boyfriend Material is a laugh-out-loud story about a hot mess of a guy fake-dating his polar opposite to save his reputation, a book that brings all the feels and will surely keep you flipping those pages late into the night!

This ARC was received from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Alexis Hall writes romances that can only be described as literary therapy.

Like, literally, they're these wonderful romances that have characters grappling with crippling insecurity and 21st century prejudice, and illustrate how essential healthy and honest communication is to a relationship. Also, your feelings are fucking VALID.

THESE ARE THE BEST.

This is up there with Helen Hoang works for modern romance storytelling. We don't have to keep writing the same shit- we can have healthy and contemporary romances with diverse stories featuring modern issues.

I've been reading romance since I was 12. Starting with harlequin and historical romance and almost all of them were sexist af with white, straight leads. I would say about 1 in 10 had a rape storyline (looking at you early Johanna Lindsay). And it was like for a long time. Finally we're getting new stories that are with the times.

This is the fucking future of romance and I am so excited.

Recommend for fans of Helen Hoang, or Red White and Royal Blue. If you like this, try Hall's How to Bang a Billionaire series (basically the author's response to Fifty Shades and it's the best)

I absolutely adored this new romance by Alexis Hall. Fake dating is one of my favorite tropes and I felt like the relationship between Luc and Oliver developed so naturally. I loved their dynamic and the way the two went from slight adversaries to friends to actual lovers. Both characters felt well developed and I rooted for them and shook my fist at them in equal measure. It is a wonderful story full of laughs and some tears and absolutely ridiculous British names.

Things I loved:
- Alex Twaddle
- The whale joke
- Luc’s relationship with his mum
- Beetle Drive

Things I didn’t like:
- Um, literally nothing, pretty much a prefect book in my opinion

Really fun, romantic book that I really need right now with the world being on fire.

Luc's father is famous so Luc gets to share the fame of articles being written about him and dodging the paparazzi without any of the befits like money. After one night tripping and falling on the street finds him being written about, his job is at risk. So he needs to find a boyfriend who looks stable enough for the press. He lands on Oliver, who is a clean-cut barrister. Then Luc starts catching feelings for his fake boyfriend.

This book is funny. Luc is funny. He works with upper class people who are so very posh that they remind me of a Monty Python sketch. His friends are funny. Oliver can be funny once he relaxes.

In the end, I wished that we had another book about Luc and Oliver going into therapy for their family related issues. Luc for his trust and abandonment issues and Oliver for his family's emotional abuse. Their relationship together becomes so strong that I would love another book of them dealing with this pain together.

The one thing I didn't like about the book was that Luc's low self worth reminded me of myself too much.

Boyfriend Material
By: Alexis Hall
4.5 / 5.0

I honestly was not a big fan of this book in the beginning. I requested the e-book ARC because I loved Red, White and Royal Blue. This book was sold to me as being similar to it. But it is slightly different. It has nothing to do with a President’s son and a British Prince, but does involve people that are in the public eye a lot.
It has a lot of British humor and jokes, which as an American, it kind of went over my head/wasn’t my cup of tea. I know a little bit about British culture, humor and slang, but I still felt like some of it didn’t make me laugh like it was intended to.
Once I got farther on in the book, I started to develop a love for the novel. As much as I didn’t understand all the jokes, I felt like the characters were mine and the more I read, the more I felt almost possessive about them. I got very angry when a character hurt Luc or Oliver.
I know I was reading an ARC, but there were a lot of spelling errors or words put in the wrong order. Hopefully, they caught them before they went to print. Another thing I didn’t like about the novel was the homophobia in it. I understand homophobia is still a thing, but there were a lot of people in Luc and Oliver’s lives who made fun of their sexuality. I really wished there was more support shown in this book. Or even one of them getting angry at the remarks. But they just stood by and let people talk to them as if their sexuality was a bad thing.
This novel shows how love really is. It shows the hardships and the arguments that might happen. However, it also shows how beautiful love can be. Luc and Oliver are very different, but also very similar. It’s important to show characters who seem real and Hall did just that. They made Luc and Oliver seem like my own friends.
Without giving too much away, this novel shows how to cope with many things and how not to let what people say affect you. It also shows the importance of mental health. This novel shows how important it is to work on yourself and how you can overcome any obstacle life throws at you.
In the beginning, I wasn’t sold on this novel. But now it has become part of me. It’s another novel I will hold close to my heart. I will definitely be recommending this novel to LGBTQIA readers as well as new adult/contemporary romance readers. I will be purchasing this book for my collection when it comes out.

Author’s Site: http://www.quicunquevult.com

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Boyfriend-Material-Alexis-Hall/dp/1728206146/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1592156709&sr=8-1

Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/boyfriend-material-alexis-hall/1133879159?ean=9781728206141


This review will appear on my blog on July 7,2020.

I basically went in to this book blind, all I knew was that Christina Lauren loved it so I needed to read it. So I was not expecting this to be a fake dating story, which I have previously said is not my favorite trope. However, this was also a little enemies to lover which is my favorite! Here we are following Luc who is struggling at his job for fundraising for dung beetles because of some bad press. In order to make sure he is not fired he has come up with a plan to have a respectable fake boyfriend. Enter Oliver, a somewhat uptight Barrister. The two have known of each other for a couple of years due to a mutual friend, so when Luc needed a boyfriend Oliver was willing to help out! I loved their relationship from the start. The animosity was just the right amount! Both Luc and Oliver have personal things that they need to overcome in this story and I thought it added some great depth. This books was at times both funny and heartbreaking and I could not put it down! I read this in less than 24 hours, it was so good!! I also loved the reference of Happy Hippos which happens to be my all time favorite candy! I can't wait to read more from Alexis in the future! Thank you Netgalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for my review copy!

Boyfriend Material is the epitome of a classic British rom-com in that Bridget Jones-esque kinda way.

Luc is the son of two famous 80/90's rock stars who still doesn't have his act together or so the tabloids say. But actually the tabloids are right and he is really in need of cleaning up his act especially if he wants to save his job.

Oliver is a Barrister and is quite straight laced in all aspects of his life but can't seem to keep a man interested for the long run. When Luc approaches him with the idea of them fake dating he decides to put a little twist in his life to see where it takes him.

These two are so utterly different. About as different as two people can be but you can see how these two might just be the perfect compliment to the other and you'll be hooting and hollering for them to just see it.

I loved the entirety of this book. The secondary characters are such a blast!! They add so much dimension and a whole other layer to this story and you want them to be your best friends. I really Hope AH decides to do another story from this cast of characters because I would be first in line to see more into their world.

Absolutely brilliant!!!!

**Received review copy through NetGalley. Voluntarily reviewed**

When it comes to books with the fake dating trope, different people will have different expectations and I’m pretty sure it comes down to what fics you have read in the past. And yes, this intro is necessary for me to explain why I feel about Boyfriend Material the way I do.

See, what I’m personally hoping to get from a story like this is: some cute shenanigans while the pair pretends to be a couple in public, with some mandatory careful (and constantly over-thought) touches and kisses; two people who already knew each other before and actually might be harboring secret feelings for one another; lots of pining and angst because none of this is real and that angst ending with the couple breaking up before they start dating for real some time later.

Boyfriend Material gives you bits and pieces of that, but never concentrated enough. It glosses over the parts where real feelings could be had. And yes, mostly it happens because the guys have adult conversations and that is healthy, but at the same time, the fake dating trope demands some miscommunication to work in a story.

This is not to say Boyfriend Material is a bad book. Not at all. It’s well written, the characters are great, the humour is very good and just how I like it (Oliver’s texts alone are hilarious and make the book a must-read). It’s all good. Which is exactly my problem. I didn’t come here for pure fluff.

So this is really a very subjective matter: if you want a light, cute, fluffy novel with basically no angst, read Boyfriend Material. If, like me, you like to suffer a little bit before you get to the happy ending, maybe read a fic.

This is a truly great example of a rom-com in book form—it’s hilarious (in a way that I think books rarely are) and romantic and very, very fun. Very heavy on the Britishness, and the quirkiness, and the rompiness. What’s not to love?

4.5/5

I really, really enjoyed this book. I figured I would, since it sounds like the type of thing I would love, but I’m glad I was right.

I loved the romance. It was fun, and cute, and the banter was fantastic. I also loved the way Luc and Oliver communicated their feelings and thoughts with one another. It was refreshing to see, since with many books, couples don’t seem to talk and just ignore their problems. Luc and Oliver themselves were great characters to read about as well.

The side characters I really liked. Sure, there could have been a bit more development for some of them, but either way, they were good. I liked how Luc’s friends were super supportive, and his mother too.

Both Oliver and Luc deal with family troubles in this book, and I quite enjoyed how they were handled. It’s nice to see not everything magically resolved by the end, and that being okay. Because that’s just life. Sometimes you can’t fix things, and just have to learn to move on without them.

I think really my biggest issue with this book besides some underdeveloped side characters was that I felt it was just a tiny bit too long. Some parts felt dragged out. And there were a bit too many pop culture references for my liking.

But honestly, I just had a really great time with this, and I would HIGHLY recommend it if you’re looking for a heartfelt romance.