Husband Material was one of my most awaited books from the very moment it was announced. And when I finally read it, I came away unfortunately conflicted.
The first 80% of the book was absolutely amazing. It was hilarious, it was angsty, and I adored Luc and Oliver's relationship so so much. Both of their development was so good to see, and the multiple shenanigans were definitely entertaining.
The problem lies in the last 4-5 chapters. There was just way too much going on. Too much conflict, nearly not enough resolution. The ending seemed like it needed more to seem like an actual ending. Considering we are saying goodbye to these characters, an epilogue or an afterword was probably due.
Overall, I still dearly loved the book. Luc and Oliver hold very special places in my heart and I am very glad this book exists.

Aw, man, this was exactly what I needed. I laughed my arse off. I delighted in all the romcom references. (See spoiler tag below for one Thing, though.) I got the most massive kick out of revisiting all these characters and seeing how they’ve grown since BOYFRIEND MATERIAL. And I had absolutely HEAPS of emotions about it all, because this book is both hilarious and thoughtful about relationship trajectories and queer identity and tough families.

Now, a spoiler that’s really only a spoiler if you’ve seen the movie in question: the biggest reference totally gives the ending away, but the HOW is the kicker here, and Alexis Hall delivers a GREAT how. Which is clever and referential in itself, really, since the reader also knows where any given romance will end but not HOW the characters get there. So, even if you’re all, “This is the same structure as that one movie, so obvs they’re gonna go there,” you can still squee over the very Luc-and-Oliver way they get there.

I'm a sucker for a good romance novel, but often find sequels disappointing, where either the characters don't feel like themselves, or the plot feels contrived and obstacles appear just to give manufactured conflict. In Husband Material, Alexis Hall manages to avoid both these pitfalls for a wonderful, heartfelt and thought-provoking sequel that I loved almost as much as the first.

Luc, Oliver and all their friends and colleagues are back, and right from the get go Luc's voice felt comfortingly familiar. The main conflict of the book comes not from external obstacles but the very real (possibly too real for a "rom com" going by other people's reviews?) soul searching that comes from deciding if you really do want to settle down with someone, particularly when they seem to be almost completely your opposite. Real relationships are messy, and I did appreciate the acknowledgement of that here. I can see that it's worth knowing what kind of book you're getting into here, though - it's not a fluffy, escapist rom com, although it is funny. And I say that as someone who often doesn't appreciate overt humour for humour's sake - I think it's just the familiar Britishness of it all that gets me.

Overall, I loved returning to Luc and Oliver's world for a while, with all of the messiness that includes.

Husband Material by Alexis Hall
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Boyfriend Material is my favourite romance novel and a comfort read for me, and so saying that Husband Material was by far my most anticipated read of 2022 is a bit of an understatement. I went into it with a mix of excitement and trepidation, and I can say that my trust in Alexis Hall remains unbroken. This book is exceptional in a lot of ways, some expected, and some unexpected. I’m gonna try to keep this review free of specific spoilers, but it’s definitely a much longer and deeper dive than I usually write. Here goes!

The story takes place two years after the end of the last book and follows the rough structure of the movie “Four Weddings and a Funeral” over the course of about a year. Luc and Oliver have both grown as people and as a couple, and like all of us, that process of growth is a life long project, and we see a lot of that in this book.

The story opens up with Bridget’s gender-non-specific “do” party ahead of her wedding to Tom. It was so nice to be back in Luc’s head, it felt joyful and a bit like coming home in a way. The book has tons of hilarious group scenes with all your favourite characters coming back. It’s full of laugh out moments and over-the-top bananas situations.

It also has several meltingly romantic moments that made me want to clutch the book to my chest and bask in warm fuzzy feelings. It was so nice to see Luc and Oliver so in love, so tender and supportive, and yet still with the bits of awkward that I love so much about them.

As much as there is romance and this is very much a romance novel, it is also not an extended epilogue of wall-to-wall Luc and Oliver being deliriously happy. This book deals contains conflict and grapples with difficult situations and issues in what felt like a very real way. There are difficult external and internal situations in this book, and Luc and Oliver argue and fight, make mistakes and make up.

The more I think about, the more impressed I am with how these external and internal conflicts were handled in the book. One aspect that I found really true to life is that sometimes a disagreement about something that seems superficial on the surface is actually a manifestation of something deeper that is harder to name and discuss, and that takes a lot of courage to bring to the surface. In my experience at least, it’s sometimes also not immediately obvious to me what that deeper thing is until I’ve made time to sit with it.

Something that really stood out to me in the book is the journey to discovering your own core values, and how part of that is teasing out what is truly important to you, versus what you’ve absorbed as important because of society/your family/your friends/your community/etc’s expectations of you, or at least your perception of those expectations. How do you know what’s actually important to you? How do you integrate that into a long term relationship with a person who’s values and priorities are in some ways the same, and in other ways different? Working through those things takes courage and vulnerability, and it was both terrifying and immensely satisfying to see Luc and Oliver go through that journey.

I particularly loved Oliver’s growth in this book. I relate to him in a lot of ways (minus the cleanliness, I am definitely Luc when it comes to that!), and there are several parts that made me really emotional for him and awed by him. Both he and Luc continue to be their own types of messes, and sometimes I wanted to shake them! They go through the wringer, and as a reader you go through the wringer right with them. The fact that they are able to traverse difficult times and come through and out the other side of those moments supporting and loving each other fills my heart with joy. I am so thankful for this book, and I am sad that it’s over. Selfishly….could we have a short epilogue please and thanks?!?

Tl;dr This book will make you laugh and cry, it will make you anxious and joyful. This book has romance, all the secondary characters you love in all the bananas situations you hope for, and it grapples with conflict and difficult times in messy ways that feel true to life, and resolve in ways that are emotionally resonant.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for the ARC

"Boyfriend Material", the first in Hall's London Calling series, was a super enjoyable fluffy read. I honestly didn't even know that a second book was coming so imagine the glee of finding out that I would be allowed to spend more time with Luc and Oliver.

"Husband Material" is, once again, a super enjoyable fluffy read. I liked the predecessor more, though. It's romantic comedy that very strongly leans towards comedy, and while Luc and Oliver and their romance are all cute and swoonworthy, the focus on comedy and comedic writing definitely takes away from the serious and emotional scenes. The side characters are mostly just caricatures that are called upon for plot convenience but aren't fleshed out enough to not be rather forgettable.
The plot in this one is a little all over the place and I, personally, wouldn't have needed certain aspects of it (The whole Miles thing was way too drawn out and I still don't understand why we had to have a whole wedding to deal with this issue. This could have been done much better in my humble opinion). I also, for the most part, didn't really feel like Luc and Oliver had been in a serious relationship for more than two years by the start of this book. Yes, I was told that as a fact, but they often didn't act like it at all.
And then there was the ending - just like in book 1 it's WAY too abrupt, and while I understand where the author is coming from and what the message of this story is supposed to be (how could I not, the book's really not very subtle about it), because it was told in such a rushed and inconsistent way and the last chapters read like they were written five minutes before the deadline it really didn't work for me. It kind of made the book pointless in hindsight. There's also really not much development both for Luc and Oliver as people and for their relationship, even though the book tries to tell us otherwise. It's a bit of an unnecessary sequel, to be honest.

And still, I had a really good time with it. I chuckled, I awed, I felt for these two idiots and I spent some very happy hours with them. That was all I really wanted from this book and it delivered.

I received an E-ARC through Netgalley, this in no way affected this review.


Husband Material is the sequel to Boyfriend Material and we follow our main cast two years after the events in the first book. I didn’t reread BM and was anxious I would be able to remember everything, but the book sucked me right back in from the first chapter and I enjoyed it so much!

I love how this book was so unapologetically British and it really read like I was reading skits, which was so much fun. We follow Luc and Oliver through four weddings and a funeral and see how much their relationship has grown and how they’re still working on it now.

Luc’s sarcasm is so on point and there were several times where I was laughing out loud!

Maybe I had too high of expectations for a sequel to "Boyfriend Material" or maybe I am just over romance novels where the couple actually doesn't like each other that much. Oliver and Luc continue to be polar opposites but devoted to one another for...reasons? I guess the idea is that they balance each other out?

Luc and Oliver want very different things and have very different expectations for what their lives as gay men should look like. Luc insists he's a recovering party boy but is also desperate to keep parts of that in his life while Oliver wants to live a more traditional and calm life. Every wedding or funeral they attend just exemplifies these differences more. With each of them running away instead of communicating throughout the novel, you almost wish that they'd realize they would be living their best lives apart.

Hall does a good job at bringing humor and friendship into this mess of a relationship story and that kept me reading. I just wish that you know, there was more of an acknowledgment that you don't have to stay with someone that you resent, even a little bit.

Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Netgalley for the advanced reading copy! If you loved Boyfriend Material and Alexis Hall’s writing, you should definitely give this book a try, but it’s not an easy journey. Luc and Oliver continue their romance in this sequel, where they attend friends' weddings, go through life traumas, grow together, and work through their unconventional love story. This book is kind of hard for me to review because I did love Boyfriend Material, the first in this series, so much. This book started out strong, making me laugh very often. It was nice to see the main characters of Luc and Oliver happy and thriving together, while still working through a lot of life issues. But then the book just goes on too long and the ending is a slog, and I will even venture to say I hated the ending. I am of course fine with Luc and Oliver having a different view on marriage and happy endings, but the fighting and miscommunication to get to the final scene was too much for me, especially in what started out as a sweet romantic comedy. Though it was a difficult reading journey for me, I am giving it three stars because of the beginning being great, the structure of being modeled after Four Weddings and a Funeral (love this idea and execution), and the charm that did escape through the hard parts of this book. I recommend this book for fans of Boyfriend Material and Hall, contemporary romance, comedy, and LGBTQ+ stories.

Special thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me an ARC of this book for an honest review.

… Wow. This was… completely unexpected.

I took a couple days to digest this book in order to write this review, because here’s the thing: this story is not what you think it will be. It’s not a long epilogue to Boyfriend Material, it’s not a dream fantasy of Luc and Oliver’s HEA. It’s a very real (probably more real than I wanted/needed it to be?) depiction of what Luc and Oliver’s relationship would be like after two years, and I want you all to be ready for it so your experience goes more smoothly than mine, lol.

Firstly, let’s go back to the beginning: Boyfriend Material was my break-in-case-of-emergency book for a long, long time, and when I finally read it, I became instantly obsessed. It’s gorgeous, and insanely funny and sweet, with the burgeoning romance between chaos demon Luc O’Donnell and the most perfect man of all time, Oliver Blackwood.

Husband Material picks up two years after the end of Boyfriend Material, and everyone is getting married (except Oliver and Luc, that is), from Luc’s beloved best friend Bridget to Luc’s hated ex-boyfriend Miles.

As a way to make himself feel better about betraying Luc and selling a story about him back in the day, Miles invites Luc to his wedding to his perfect fiancé, JoJo, which sends Luc into a tailspin. How does he feel about it? Does he want to go? Would he just be appeasing Miles’ conscience, or would it be good for his own peace of mind, too?

Bridget’s nuptials are not getting any less panicked attention from Luc – it turns out that Bridge was sent pictures of her fiancé Tom getting awfully close to another woman, and he’s now unreachable.

All these feelings about these supposed perfect relationships end up getting to Luc, who, in typical Luc fashion, starts questioning his own relationship to his perfect boyfriend and wondering if it might also be doomed (or headed for the altar).

This is essentially the first half of the book. The second half is born out of Luc’s reaction to the events I just mentioned. Cue mysterious song.

So, I’m going to tell you the secrets to enjoying this book and not throwing your kindle at the wall:

1. You are inside Luc’s head for this whole story. Listen to him. Don’t ignore the feelings that he ignores. He might not follow his instincts all the time, but you should always make note of them; after all, characters go through arcs, and, chaos demon that he is, Luc sort of walks around in panicked circles until he gets where he needs to be. His is not a linear journey and you have to be able to understand it in order not to hate this book.

2. Again: this is NOT a long epilogue. A new book means new issues to work through. This is a very realistic – and sometimes frustrating – peek at what it would look like for Luc and Oliver, who are complete opposites in so many ways (all the ways?) to build something together. Just hang tight!

3. Be ready for fighting. And bickering. Please see item 2 above.

Was this book… necessary? I’m not sure. It sure added dimension to Luc and Oliver’s relationship, but it showed us sort of an ugly truth that I prefer to avoid in my romance novels. I wanted them to be happy together at least, like, 85% of the time? And I’m not sure they were.

All in all, I laughed and swooned a lot during this, because Alexis Hall is the ultimate writer. But it was also a white-knucle kind of reading experience. I would give this 3.5 stars at the most for being such an unexpected punch in the gut, but I would still urge everyone to give it a chance. Spoiler alert (and you want to hang on this one): Alex Twaddle’s need to be obtuse makes everything worth it.

This book was positively perfect. If you are looking for a book that is a 400 page epilogue, move along. If you want to watch complicated people in an established relationship, live and grow through a series of challenging life events, then welcome! You have come to the right place!

Luc and Oliver have hit the age where everyone around them is "settling down" and the pressure to hop on the "Adulting Train" is growing. People around them are getting married, having babies, buying houses, and they want to join in and demonstrate their love and commitment to each other.... don't they? Except how do you plan a wedding for two people who have very different tastes and ways of expressing themselves?

This book demonstrates everything Alexis Hall does best. The surroundings cast are clearly formed and engaging. The insight gained both about the main characters and the world they inhabit create a whole universe of complexity. Jojo and Uncle Jim were particularly memorable. You are shown a range of different ways to be in love and to express it (shout out to Judy and Odile!). Families can be difficult to navigate and Hall doesn't shy away from that, but through these conflicts you can see how much Oliver and Luc have and (still are) growing.

I laughed out loud, I was almost in tears and I was the human embodiment of the Heart Eyed emoji.

Ok, here we go. This was not my favorite Alexis Hall. I really enjoyed Boyfriend Material when I read it last year because it’s cookiness between Luc and a Oliver and the side characters were just that, side characters. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still lots of fun and Luc and Oliver are still swoon worthy but to me they felt like background characters in their own story where they are supposed to be the main characters. They’ve been together for over two years but still argue about things that seemed to be resolved back in book one.

Uggghhh I don’t want to make it seem like I hated this book because I didn’t but it just didn’t live up to the expectations I had from book one. I do still recommend this book if you read Boyfriend Material because it’s still really good and leagues ahead of other romantic comedies!

***THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS***
Star rating: probably something around 3.5 and 4. I'm not quite sure yet.
Boyfriend material is one of my favorite books. I read it in 2020 and reread it in 2021, and I almost never reread books. So, to say I was hyped for the sequel is an understatement. I was so happy to receive an advanced copy from Netgalley and started reading it right away.
Husband Material is a good book, but not as good, funny, sweet and engaging as the first installment. I was excited to be back with Oliver and Luc, but found that they didn't get as much "screen time" as I wanted on the first part, and for the rest of the book, they spent bickering and fighting over silly things.
I really get their decision not to get married the traditional way, because that's a decision I made and see a lot of people making too. What I don't get is how they spent three years of their relationship not discussing things like that and more important, why didn't they sit down and talk before the cerimony. It feels so weird that they would chose the day of the wedding to decide to not go through it. They are so good at comunicating and talking about the hard stuff, I wish they'd talked about it sooner, because I don't want to be reading a book about my favorite couple and not knowing if they are going to break up or not in the last few pages of the book. They fought so much and Luc spent to much time wondering if their relationship was something he actually wanted that I was genuinally scared they were going their separete ways.
Apart from that, Husband Material was cool and I don't regret reading it. Alex's wedding was funny, I loved that Judy officiated Bridge's wedding, and was really surprised when Oliver's dad died. I could see that Luc and Oliver's relationship was getting more mature and that they helped each other overcome a lot of tough stuff. I only wished they had more sweet wholesome moments like in the first book, and less fighting and judging each other (actually, Luc was doing almost all the judging).
I'm curious to see what happens in the next book and hope that Oliver and Luc make an appearence.
Thank you NetGalley for sending me an advanced copy!

I loved Boyfriend Material. I found it to be a perfect blend of witty and adorable.

I had hoped that Husband Material would be a continuation of this blend. But with more Luc and Oliver. More romance. More of those wacky unique people they call friends and family. Except for Jon Fleming, or the Blackwoods, they’re the worst.

But this was not that. This was the same set of arguments over and over again, to the point where I wanted to slap them both, and a shunting style of getting from A to C to E to G but completely bypassing B, D and F in the process.

I get that it takes it’s style from Four Weddings and a Funeral, but I don’t think this approach worked for me. I felt that things were missed. Things that would have developed characters and story further with the actual dialogue instead of rehashing something that we didn’t get to see…you know…hashed, in the first place. Eg best man conversations,

And don’t even get me started with that ending. It’s Brian and Justin and Gretchen and Jimmy all over again, and while I respect that not everyone has to live in matrimony, it just felt rushed and flat that it happened at the last possible moment.
Those other couples had an epilogue to give the viewer some kind of balance after those bombs were dropped. This one just ended. It didn’t sit well with me after committing to hundreds of pages of ‘will they, won’t they’ angst and their repetitive angsty arguments.
Most of all, I missed the sweetness and the warm humour.

Okay, negative nelly is going back in her box and positive lemon posset has a few words also. There were lots of parts I loved. The Sarcasm. The road trip, the arrest, picturing Odile and Judy carrying a crapload of wedding dresses, a woman who does not really come across as a relationship person having not one but 2 simultaneous relationships, Oliver’s eulogy. Notably all of this happens in the first half of the book.

To be clear, I liked Husband Material, but I didn’t love it. And I feel a bit bad about that, because I wanted to love it.
I will, however, be on the lookout for other books by the author as I enjoyed the easy-to-read style of writing.

Thank you to Alexis Hall, Sourcebooks Casablanca, and NetGalley for an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Boyfriend Material is a book that gives me so much comfort. It's a catharsis for people who struggle to be vulnerable and a reassurance that everyone is worthy of love and being loved.

It took Luc and Oliver a long time in Boyfriend Material to be open about their emotions, to learn how to be vulnerable and how to accept they are worthy of being cared for. There were a lot of times where it almost didn't work, where one of them got scared and called it off.

In Husband Material we see the same little moments of fear, of fights, of small arguments that lead to bigger arguments. Only, this time there aren't any break-ups. We see a more mature Luc and Oliver, two years after Boyfriend Material ended. The boys have learned open and earnest communication and it means every argument ends with them pulling towards each other instead of pushing away.

This book was different from Boyfriend Material in a lot of ways - I mean it's going to be pretty hard for them to fake!date while in a real relationship - but the heart of it is still there. All the things I loved about Boyfriend Material - Luc, Oliver, their friends, their humour, the overwhelming concept of someone seeing your vulnerabilities, where all there. It was just slightly different. And I loved that. I loved seeing that these characters have grown and I love the fact they will continue to grow.

Luc and Oliver are perfect because of the fact they aren't perfect. They are vulnerable and real and deal with so many heavy things, but they'll support each other through it all.

Much thanks to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for my E-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Husband Material was a fun and enjoyable read. I enjoyed seeing Oliver and Luc again. Boyfriend Material was one of my favorite reads when it first came out; the story is hilarious and brilliantly written. It was an emotional rollercoaster of laughs, moving, and tender scenes. Everything about it was fantastic. It was swoony, lovely, and hilarious. Luc and Oliver are actual relationship goals. I adore how much they love, support, and help one another and how they communicate, through freaking out, fights, and talking. I enjoyed every minute, even the tense and emotionally charged scenes. As I write this, I'm smiling and having the best feelings. My only concern was that the ending felt rushed. I would have preferred it to be longer and slower because it seemed to move quickly. Once again, Hall perfectly blends so many elements into a book that you cannot put down. I'm excited for everyone to read this.

3.75 stars rounded up for NetGalley

I was so excited to receive an eARC of Husband Material! Thankfully, right before I dove in, I realized it was the second in a series and immediately downloaded book 1, Boyfriend Material. While I saw somewhere that these could be read independently, I’m so glad I read Boyfriend Material first as it provided so much insight into the characters and let me go into Husband Material already loving our MCs!

What I loved:
- Luc and Oliver 💜 I adore these two! They are polar opposites and somehow make it work together. It was lovely to watch them grow and evolve and learn to handle their traumas separately, but together.
- The supporting characters - All of them are so fun and compliment the MCs so well! I feel like they’d be great to be friends with IRL.

What I didn’t love:
- This was a hard book to review because there was no real plot and without the backstory of book 1, I would have been left feeling disappointed. Without going into spoilers, the book is broken into different stories following their friends’ weddings. As someone who LOVES wedding and wedding planning, these broke my heart! Each wedding had its own over-the-top drama that made the planner in me cringe. But aside from the wedding drama, there wasn’t a whole lot moving this one forward.
- That after two years, Luc and Oliver are having a lot of the same arguments. Although they do seem to handle them slightly better than before!
- That ending 🤯 As it was unfolding I found myself pleading with the book to not be doing this. And then it ends so abruptly, I was left flabbergasted!

I think middle books can often be difficult and I’m looking forward to the third! Hopefully, things are pulled together and we get to continue loving Luc & Oliver with book 3.



———————
I was thrilled to receive an eARC of this book from the publisher, Sourcebooks Casablanca, in exchange for my honest review. These opinions are my own and not influenced by the publisher or author!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for "Husband Material" by Alexis Hall.

Luc and Oliver have been dating for two years and now Luc is helping plan Bridget's wedding as her maid of honour. During this Luc also sees Miles, his ex that sold him out to tabloids, once more and he is also getting married. After attending those weddings Alex from work invites Luc to his wedding as well. With all the weddings going on around him Luc ends up proposing to Oliver because he wants to keep him in his life and doesn't know how else to go about this. While planning the wedding tragedy strikes as Oliver's father dies suddenly soon after they have a huge fight and Oliver has to cope with this. Fighting begins about the wedding and everything else that goes on between Luc and Oliver and suddenly getting married may not be the best idea.

Hall is an excellent writer and she often makes me laugh out loud while reading with lines such as "Be gay, do crimes?" and "it's the jigsaw puzzle friends we make along the way." That being said while there is a lot to love in this story and the characters are very real I felt very uncomfortable reading this story. While Luc and Oliver fighting all the time worked in "Boyfriend Material" it feels so wrong in this book and as the reader I came to the conclusion that they shouldn't get married long before Luc and Oliver did. Also while there is character growth and I agree that every person is a mess and a Moomin jigsaw puzzle some of these problems probably should have been worked on before moving their relationship forward (Luc should also probably be seeing a therapist alongside Oliver).

Then the end of the story happened and while I know that there is a third novel on the way this was a very unsatisfactory ending. It was like someone just turned out a light and I was left standing in the dark that this was the end of the book. So while I enjoyed the characters and getting to be alongside Luc and Oliver again I was less entranced by this book than I was the first one and I have high hopes for the end of this trilogy.

4 stars.

Luc is really hilarious! I thought this was funnier than the first book and I thought the ending was nice

I was so excited to see a sequel to Boyfriend Material since I loved listening to the audiobook! However, I was left feeling disappointed by Husband Material. I loved getting to see what Luc and Oliver were up to two years after the end of Boyfriend Material along with the rest of their quirky friends. I wasn't as engaged reading this one and just didn't connect to the characters the same way I did with the previous book. The ending was also disappointing and left me feeling underwhelmed.

I was so excited to see that Boyfriend Material was getting a sequel that I went back and reread it in preparation for this book (and I’m glad I did)!

Husband Material picks up 2 years after the ending of Boyfriend Material. Luc and Oliver find themselves surrounded by happy couples preparing to walk down the aisle - from Bridget and Tom (in true chaotic Bridget fashion) to an unwelcome blast from Luc’s past to one of Luc’s beloved coworkers. Between Luc (and Oliver) surrounded by love and a series of very unfortunate events, Luc begins to wonder: Is marriage even in the cards for them?

This book is filled with so much heart and humor that you’ll fall back in love with every single character. If you’re looking for a book to lift your spirits, Husband Material is definitely the one for you!

A special thanks to Sourcebooks and Netgalley for the advanced digital copy of the book!