A solid sequel! This sequel does follow the characters from the first book (whereas most sequels in these kinds of contemporary romance stories, follow a different set of characters). My two complaints - both these books end rather abruptly and despite Luc and Oliver having been together for two, two and a half years, and yet they still have a ton of arguments which were basically added for the sake of the plot. Besides that, Luc and Oliver are a really lovely couple. There is A LOT happening in this book but I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Book Review
Husband Material by Alexis Hall
Follow Up from Boyfriend Material where we first met Oliver and Lucien

First
Hall hands down has the best banter! The sarcasm, the cynicism, the cliches, the rants, the tangents, the awkward declarations of love, the nuances of new love,
new marriages, and new parents. Its all there. Its consistent. It has style and flow. It feels real.

Second
Oliver and Luc
A case of opposites attract. Their relationship is complex and convoluted. At times I was annoyed with both of them… their stubbornness, their (at times) childish antics BUT
What I took away from their relationship- that love is worth the struggle, and that not all happily ever afters include marriage and/or children is an important
Message for EVERYONE- irregardless of sexual orientation.

Third
Underlying Luc’s narrative is the
“Heteronormative “ wedding industry . The general idea of
Matrimony in a relationship is picked apart along with all of the traditional ceremony, pomp, and circumstance associated with it but through an LGBTQIA+ lens

Honestly at times I found it hard to keep up with… there was a lot to digest…. I made an effort to enjoy reading the book without getting caught up in the controversial subjects the author readily
Delved into.

Overall
This book definitely provides
Readers with a fresh
Perspective and look at happily ever afters in general!

Thank you to @sourcebookscasa for my gifted copy in return for an honest review. Opinions expressed are My own

REVIEW ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Husband Material by Alexis Hall. The love story of Luc and Oliver begins in the very successful previous book, Boyfriend Material. Now, two years later everyone around them is getting married, so feeling nagging social pressure, Luc proposes. But it is soon obvious that it will take more than four wedding and a funeral to get them to the altar. ⠀
⠀
I absolutely loved the characters of Luc and Oliver in the first book, but they seem to lose some of their charm in the second. Luc, in particular, seems to go out of his way to create turmoil. This highly anticipated sequel is underwhelming and disappointing. The story comes across as cluttered, and the seemingly non-stop bickering quickly grows tiresome and frustrating. As the story progresses the read soon comes to wonder if these two people should be together at all. The ending (I’ll keep this spoiler free) is unsatisfying and disheartening. I can only hope that Alexis Hall redeems herself with a third book to give us a conclusion more befitting these characters. ⠀

Thank you to Netgalley and Alexis Hall for this ARC.

I was lucky to get a 5 chapter preview in February and I really liked how it had started. I was really excited to read the full novel. I felt the middle was a bit of a slog to get through but it picked back up again towards the end. I still love Luc and Oliver but those boys are complicated.

I could not WAIT to get my hands on the sequel to Boyfriend Material!

Our story takes place two years after the first book, and I"m trying to hard not to give away spoilers but it reminded me so much of the movie Four Weddings and Funeral.

I laughed.
SO SO HARD.
I swooned.
SO SO HARD.

I love that Alexis Hall gives me the perfect Rom -Com with realness that you rarely see. It was about romance yes, but the journey and development and growth of both characters that really made this book stand out for me!

I loved loved loved it.

Thank you to Net-Galley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

The sequel to Boyfriend Material is not just as good as the first book, it's better. Knowing the characters already, it's seeing them grow and struggle and overcome obstacles so much better. There were lots of LOL moments for me.

The structure of the book kind of made the ending obvious, but it's the best ending for Oliver and Luc.

Just like the first book this book did not disappoint!! The book is hilarious Luc and his friends have crazy adventures. Luc and Oliver are cute and the perfect example of real couples with problems. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who just wants a quick and hilarious, feel good story!

After just finishing Boyfriend Material, I had to see what was going to happen next in the lives of Luc and Oliver and their lovely group of friends and colleagues.

Alexis Hall did not hesitate to pull on all of your heart strings in this second book. There were several weddings and a funeral. There were confrontations with feelings. There was also the amazing banter with Luc and his work colleagues which I couldn’t get enough of.

But what becomes of Oliver and Luc as they get more in touch with their relationship and start discussing marriage? You have to read it to find out! No spoilers from me!!!

Thanks again to NetGalley for letting me read this book early in exchange for my honest review.

Well, I finished the advance NetGalley copy on the Eve of its release so yay for that.

This was yet another perfect story from Alexis Hall. I read Boyfriend Material a few weeks ago at the recommendation of my book club, got excited there was a sequel, bummed it wasn’t out yet and got it early anyway. I was so glad to continue my time with Luc and Oliver so soon after meeting them. I loved the representation of several different types of weddings and their reactions and musings on what their wedding would be like. Definitely recommend.

I was interested to see where Husband Material would take us after reading Boyfriend Material recently, and I’m happy to say I was not disappointed. This book follows Luc and Oliver now that they’ve been together for a while. Luc feels the pressure to get married and proposes, but planning a wedding is not as easy as it sounds and the road to I do is full of hot mess moments for this couple.

I loved that this story was told through the different weddings and one funeral Luc and Oliver attended. This one was more character driven than book one, and really didn’t have a plot, but it was fun to be back with Luc and Oliver and all of their friends. I appreciated that there was no real drama between the couple, it was more dealing with internal conflicts which made me continue to love them together (not going to lie, I was nervous about that going in). This book really allowed the characters to grow as individuals in the best ways. This book was a great example of how relationships can be messy at times and HEAs look different for different people. It was so real and I loved it. As always I also adore Alexis Hall’s snarky sense of humor and that was back in this book.

I particularly loved the audiobook version, Joe Jameson does a stellar job bringing these characters to life!

Thanks to Sourcebooks Casablanca and Dreamscape Media for the advance copies.

I recently read a eARC of Husband material by Alexis Hall thanks to Sourcebooks Casablanca and Netgalley.

Just like the first book Boyfriend material, this sequel is the right mix of mad cap hilarious, heart warming and an absolute emotional roller-coaster.

I alternative titled it A few weddings, a funeral and a baby (and no Luc and Oliver are NOT the parents of the baby in this book)

I definitely recommend reading Boyfriend material first, this is not a standalone. It is part two in the story of two extremely opposite people working out how to make a life together, now two years into their relationship. Surrounded by a bunch of loveable, bonkers side characters and a small number of really hard to like ones (its ok, you arent supposed to like those ones) I found Luc and Oliver to be very fleshed out characters with real hopes, dreams, struggles, past trauma etc. The first half of the book is more lighthearted with the kind of daft situations Luc tends to get himself into. While the second half was taking all my emotions between it's fists and wringing me out and then depositing me on an emotional amusement park ride.

It took me a few days afterwards to decide how I felt about the ending of this one and in the end I decided that though it wasn't what I expected or necessarily how I would have chosen to end the story it was very in keeping with the main characters.
Alexis Hall's books are very British and after a lifetime of watching British film and television, reading British books and having lots of British friends I think I am understanding most of the jokes and references in this and Googling what I don't understand.

I absolutely loved the first book Boyfriend Material and was patiently waiting for this book to come out. It definitely did not disappoint. I love the love story between Oliver and Luc and it warms my heart.

I really enjoyed how this was split into short stories of weddings and a funeral. It made the chapters fly by and there were many moments when I laughed out loud.

I loved I would say 90 percent of this book, the last few chapters fell a bit flat for me. It was not what I expected, it was still written nicely but just not what I had hoped for. I wish the author did an epilogue due to the way it ended.

Overall I would read this book again and definitely recommend it. I give this book 5 out of 5 stars. Thank you net galley and publisher for the advanced read.

I read the first book and was worried I would be disappointed by this sequel. I was not disappointed in the least! It was a bit of a roller coaster ride but I devoured this book in one sitting. I would recommend this series!

I was really hoping to like this book a lot more than I did. First, I think you absolutely need to read the prior book Boyfriend Material before you read this one. And, frankly, since there were a couple of years between the two book, I would have appreciated a bit more retelling of the backstory or a prologue or something to remind me of the events of the first book. That aside, Husband Material is a homage to classic rom-coms with allusions to Four Weddings and a Funeral, Pretty Woman and Love Actually. I thought the first two sections of the book were pretty boring - as if the author was trying to figure out how to possibly build tension after the happy ending of book #1 and could not come to any good solution. Section three was slightly better, or at least had some dry humor, and then sections four and five finally had some good story about the relationship between our main characters Oliver and Luc.

NOTE: Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a free advance readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

Sweet, hilarious and just all together wonderful, Husband Material is an absolutely delightful read.

After finishing Boyfriend Material I found myself missing Oliver and Luc, needing more of their special brand of crazy - and my wishes have been answered!
With wonderfully written characters and a simple yet well put together plotline, Alexis once again manages to completely captivate with his special brand of chaos filled, absurd romcom, filled with some of the best character dialogue and rapport, mental tangents and so many feels.
This book is un-put-downable and so special in the best of ways and I truly adore it from cover to cover.

5 stars and a bad conductor

Husband Material is a great read, but it’s also surprising in a way that might not appeal to everyone. I honestly had to think about it a bit to decide whether I liked it, and the verdict is yes, I did.

Oliver and Luc are back and better than ever. I mean that literally in Luc’s case. Luc is a much happier person, and he’s matured in the two years he and Oliver have been together. Luc still has bouts of insecurity and pettiness and insensitivity, and he still finds it difficult to talk about his emotions. But when Luc and Oliver have disagreements, Luc pushes himself to talk through their differences and trust that he and Oliver are still good as a couple. After recently re-reading the first book, I found Luc acting like a grown-up a bit shocking. (Who knew he had it in him?) But it’s great to see him grow and change; people aren’t static, and characters in novels shouldn’t be either.

Much of the humor in Boyfriend Material comes from Luc being a complete disaster, and he’s really not anymore, which is probably part of the reason I didn’t find this book as hilarious as the previous one. Don’t get me wrong; the story still made me laugh. A lot. But Luc and Oliver have issues to work through, like what constitutes a proper wedding for a gay couple, which becomes a major point of contention between them. Plus, Oliver has to try to address his very toxic relationship with his parents, and that comes to a head in a terrible way.

Late in the novel, Luc is considering falling in love and relationships and marriage, and he thinks to himself:
“At some point, you had to think, really think, about where you were going and what it meant. You had to ask if you were in this forever, and if you were, what you were going to do about it, and if you weren’t, what were you even doing.”
These sentences sum up the difference between the two books in this series well. While Boyfriend Material is about the promise of a new romance, Husband Material is about sorting out being a couple. Although that still leaves plenty of room for romantic moments, it’s much harder work than falling for someone.

But work through it Luc and Oliver do, and now Father Material is coming next fall. Luc as a father is hard to imagine, but I’m looking forward to reading all about it!

A copy of this book was provided through NetGalley for review; all opinions expressed are my own.

The boys are back! I had such a good time getting to know Luc and Oliver in Boyfriend Material that I now feel like I've been invited to a dinner party with the gang! Especially since everyone has so much going on this time around. Alexis Hall has made me a forever fan of this couple. It feels warm, funny, and comforting to be around them again. What can I say... I just love this world💕
~Tanja

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

In Husband Material, Oliver and and Luc watch all their friends get married, one after the other. It doesn't take long for the couple to get the bug too. They plan their upcoming nuptials among the craziness of weddings, complicated family things, friend trouble and unexpected circumstances.

I'll be honest here: this book wasn't what I expected. Don't get me wrong, that wasn't a bad thing! I had expected a novel, instead I ended up reading what seems to have begun as a series of short stories and then melted into a more novel-like format. I actually really liked this element! It was completely new to me, not like short stories that end up connected or a classic novel that begins with a clear storyline. In general, the idea is unique and executed beautifully. I did think it would be a collection of short stories after reading the first chapter, which was unexpected, but fine by me. I loved watching it morph into a full-blown story.

As the first novel, the sequel was written with a witty voice and great characters, every one interesting and fleshed-out (including, this time, the James Royce-Royces, which were the only couple that were missing something in the characterization department before). I thought the character development that begun in the first novel for all the secondary characters was continued nicely. I especially liked the addition of a child with gay parents and a polyamorous relationship. However, the character development (or rather... character degeneration...) of both Oliver and Luc disappointed me a lot. Healing isn't linear, so showing some setbacks is more than fine but it just felt like too much here. It seemed like there wasn't any actual development, they were just accepting the other person being shitty because they loved them. And also getting mad when the other person dared speak on their wrongdoings. And this wasn't criticized at all! (Also it was really annoying really quickly) It seems to me that a miscommunication trope was overused instead of allowing the characters to have a conversation that ends well for both... or at all. Except the absolute last conversation in the whole book, which I'm sorry to say, I just didn't like.
I'm very aware that this isn't fair and that it was actually a very good ending for the story as it stands and as it was written, but it was disappointing to me nonetheless. Don't let that stop you from reading it though, because it is very much a personal preference.

I reccommend this book to anyone looking for a fun lgbt read with witty dialogue and good characters.

Oliver and Lucien are back... four weddings and a funeral style.

They've been in a relationship for two years now, making things work. Alexis Hall takes us into what they've been up to and every single batty argument [which, to be honest, happen a lot with Lucien being whiny]. It was nice to see Oliver's insecurities being played out and opened up however; they were also dragged out.

I absolutely adored Boyfriend Material and was highly anticipating this one. Sadly, it fell short and I wanted to pull my hair out at the ending.

Thank you SourceBooks and Netgalley for my arc in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Husband Material was a delight and cemented Alexis Hall as a must-read author!

I want to preface this review by saying that I read Something Fabulous by Hall earlier this year which was just that – fabulous- but to then read this contemporary novel just put me in awe of Hall’s writing abilities.

Something Fabulous read like the perfect historical romance while Husband Material was the best British contemporary romance. I’m sure there are other authors who can tailor their writing to a genre and just make it work, but Hall seems to do it with ease!

At times I had to just slow down my reading because the dialogue comes really fast and full of the best nuggets of random facts and humor. I had to make sure that I didn’t miss anything.

While I thought the humor went on an on in Boyfriend Material, I thought the moments of hilarity with Luc’s co-workers and friends were just spot on in this novel and had me in stitches.

I love Luc and Oliver! These characters are just great men who seem so real. They have flaws, personal struggles and neuroses that don’t necessarily go away even two years into a relationship but isn’t that real life?!

That’s what I enjoyed the most about this novel. You get to see how tehse two have grown over the course of their relationship, how the other partner has influenced the other for the better, and yet how they aren’t perfect individually or together.

I enjoyed the running storyline of what it means to “be gay,” the thoughtful look at how to process feelings of inadequacies and grief and heteronormalizing aspects of society.

It had a 4 Weddings and a Funeral vibe that I thought was the perfect framework for the story too.
For those looking for more intimacy between Luc and Oliver, it’s just not there (so it’s a very clean, closed door romance), but that didn’t detract from the romance for me.

I loved the writing, the humor, the friendships, the arguments and the feelings expressed and processed. Bravo for a fantastic follow-up novel! I highly recommend.

*I received an advanced reader copy. All opinions are my own.