A great follow up to the first in the series! Luc and Oliver are back, and working out their relationship, now that they are a long-term thing. Everyone around them is moving on to the "next" thing in their lives, so Luc feels like it's natural for their romantic relationship to evolve too.
Luc and Oliver remain steadfastly true to themselves, the humorous banter is top-notch, and the sequel surprises and satisfies. A great summer beach read with an unexpected twist.

As addictive and charming as the first book though I believe the humor was better in book 1. The characters remain ever lovable though I am disappointed we didn’t get to see more of Luc’s parents. All my silly complaints aside this book was still pretty great and that ending was magnificent!

3.5/5 - I have kind of complicated feelings about this book because I really enjoyed some of it and other parts I found kind of frustrating. There were genuinely bits of this been that had my chuckling to myself which was enjoyable. But it did feel like the characters were having a lot of the same problems over and over again, which is honestly pretty relatable but maybe not the most fun thing to read. In the end I was a little worried that the characters were doing more harm to each other than good, which is concerning in a romance. There is still plenty to enjoy about this book, I liked how the plot was split into different parts, each driven by a different life event. And the two main characters are both definitely well developed complicated interesting individuals. I’m just not so sure about how it all came together in the end.

A sequel to one of my favorite books? Yes, please! Luc, Oliver, and the gang are just as delightful as before. I kept highlighting bits to share and laughed out loud so many times! The growth in their relationship is just lovely to see. It made me so happy to see them stand up to family members and communicate with each other, two things sorely lacking in their early relationship. While they still do have problems, they handle them better and I definitely felt like the angst level was lower this time around. I may love this one a tiny bit more than the original. *gasp*

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital ARC. This is my honest opinion.

The following review will appear on my blog on July 30:
I was fortunate to receive an Advance Review Copy of this hotly-anticipated sequel to Boyfriend Material (2020), which comes out this week. And did it ever deliver! We meet up again with Lucien and Oliver two years after the first book as they continue to navigate their relationship and insecurities, while it seems like everyone around them is getting married. One of the wonderful things about sequels in the romance genre is that we get to see the progress in the lives of the characters after their 'happily ever after'; so while the first book saw Lucien start at rock bottom and begin to put his life and self-worth back together, here we see him in a much healthier and mature place (even if that still surprises him), but still plagued by doubt; similarly, we left Oliver just beginning to pick apart the strictures of his upper middle class WASPy upbringing, and here we see him further along that process, but nowhere near settled in his relationship with his parents and their values. All of this struck me as profoundly realistic, and it enabled the conversations in the book to be very reminiscent of the real conversations I have with my friends about things like queer culture, ‘the community’, heteronormativity, ‘rainbow capitalism’, and so on. Additionally, unlike most literary ‘romantic comedies’, this is legitimately funny, through a combination of witty dialog, absurdist situational comedy, and most of all, Lucien’s hilarious, pitch-perfect, wry, self-aware narrative voice. All told, this is a charming, honest, and hilarious book.

Read this if you’re interested in:
Romance after the Happy Ending
LGBTQ2S+
Comedy and Humour
Contemporary Urban Life
British Culture
Sequels Done Right
--
While I won't spoil the ending in my public review, for the sake of providing feedback, I'll say that, while I know the ending will likely be divisive, their ultimate decision felt true to the characters to me. (If anything, I'm surprised it took them so long to figure it out!)

Luc and Oliver are BACK!

I have been waiting very impatiently for another book about one of my favorite romcom couples. I sat down and read it all in one fell swoop. At 2am, I came out of this binge read with a book hangover and sore cheeks from grinning at my kindle.

Is this just as good as Boyfriend Material? Well, no, but sequels so rarely are. However, it's a great continuation of their story. All your favorite friends are present and accounted for with all their little quirks. Oliver is still adorably overly-serious and Luc is still adorably overly-anxious.

The pacing was a bit off for me at places - some scenes seemed unnecessarily detailed and others seemed to get skipped over rather quickly. Regardless, I am so happy to have read this book and I'll probably read it again when my pre-ordered copy turns up in the mail. Crossing my fingers for a third Luc & Oliver book.

A HUGE THANK YOU to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for this e-ARC.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a requested ARC. All opinions are my own.

I feel a little unmoored after that ending? I wanted more: more time to process, more time to see what happens next, just more! Which I mean props to Alexis Hall for making me feel like that!
This book has all the characters we came to love in Boyfriend Material. I ADORE Oliver and Luc. There were so many laugh out loud moments and amazing turns of phrase. And goodness there was so much angst. The arguments Luc and Oliver had got repetitive, but that was also kind of the point? There were also heart melting moments too. I felt all the range of emotions honestly, combined with Hall’s signature wit and humor.
I both loved the book and wanted more.

Fav quote:
“But you should know that I am yours, more truly than I have ever been anyone’s. Because when I’m with you, I’m me. Not someone I think I should be. And I’ll be with you, however you want, for as long as you’ll have me.”

4.5 stars

Super excited but it overall didn't hold my interest the same way that the first story did. I think it is a really cute sequel and definitely worth the read. I like the ending and thought it was quite fun overall. I also love all of the clear cast shown throughout the story.

It is everything to be able to revisit these characters and I totally forgot how much I love them and how much they all make me laugh. that begin said, I loved getting to watch Luc and Oliver attend various weddings but I'm not sure I needed to see so many of them. I would honestly read anything these characters do but it did get a littleeee bit repetitive by the end.

speaking of the end... I was going to give this book five stars and then the ending came so abruptly that I have to knock off one because it was super super super rushed, like to the point where I felt like words surely must have been left out because the writing had me moving at lightning speed while I was begging for someone to slow down.

overall, I loved this and I really love this duology together. It's funny and filled with loveable characters, and while the first book works great as a stand-alone, this was a great continuation of the story.

thank you to NetGalley for the arc!

Husband Material by Alexis Hall

My thanks to NetGalley and Forever Publishing for this ARC. This is my honest, unbiased review.

Husband Material is the much anticipated sequel to Alexis Hall’s Boyfriend Material. We are back with Luc and Oliver, two years after we last saw them. They’re in a good place in their relationship, more confident in their feelings for each other and in themselves as far as their relationships goes.

The format of the book is more episodic this time, rather than continuous narrative and it very much has a Four Weddings and A Funeral vibe. The secondary characters that we met and loved in the first book are back and featured quite prominently in each section. We also meet a few new characters and get more time with some old characters we perhaps weren’t fond of (Miles, for one).

As before the story is all told from Luc’s perspective. It’s lovely to see his friendship with Bridge in more detail and spend more time with his coworkers from CRAPP.

I kind of missed Oliver in the first part of the book and I think that was intentional, as Luc misses him too, busy as he is being Bridge’s maid of honour (with all the mayhem that entails, seeing as it’s Bridge). It was so satisfying though to see Luc and Oliver’s comfort with each other even being apart, the quiet confidence of a stable relationship.

They’ve both grown since we saw them in Boyfriend Material and they continue to progress in this book also. Each section of the book takes place a few months along from the previous, so we get to see the domestic side of their relationship and their continued growth as characters. They confront relationship hurdles that feel so real and immediate: finding time to be together, work-life balance, philosophical differences that come up as a relationship moves into long-term territory.

Everything that made Boyfriend Material so engaging is here: Luc’s inner monologues and chaotic existence, Oliver’s steady, reasonable self, the three-dimensional secondary characters (friends and family) that enrich the narrative.

Their peer group is swiftly moving to another level as far as relationships and Luc and Oliver are finding themselves not sure if they are where they’re supposed to be or not moving as fast as they should. There is some intense introspection in this book, a wry commentary on the commercial behemoth that is the wedding industry these days, and conversations about expectations and community. Luc and Oliver have known they differ in their individual approach to their own queerness, but they do delve deeper into that issue here. It’s a fundamental difference in thinking.

I won’t go in to spoilers here but I will say that Hall’s writing, as always, is transcendent and inspired. There were some parts of this book that hit home very hard, so hard in fact I had to put the book down for a bit and collect myself. This book captures how complex and fraught and messy family can be. How you can love someone but also be aware of that person’s shortcomings and flaws. How you can love someone but not particularly like them. And how loss and grief are so individual and nuanced. There is no right way or wrong way to grieve but there is the capacity within it to be true to yourself, to attempt to process the loss and lack of closure that can accompany that loss. I read that after a recent loss of my own and the content is not only relatable and immediate but the writing captures the turmoil of emotions and internal conflict that can accompany the loss of someone close, someone who was complicated, with the complexities of processing that relationship once it’s gone.

There are the usual laugh out loud Hall moments, the absurd instances that are so enjoyable in his books, the complex interplay of such engaging characters. This is still Luc and Oliver’s story: it’s just played out on a larger stage, with more supporting characters and situations that give us insight into their relationship and that also allow them the chance to assess where they are and what they want and how that would look for the two of them. Hall’s writing carries them through the joyous moments, the grief, the questioning, the day to day of their shared lives, the exploration of what their queerness means to them, what they mean to each other, and how they express that and move forward together.

It’s a different book than Boyfriend Material. In a good way. This digs deeper into the emotional and philosophical parts of being in a committed relationship. How growing individually can affect growing together. This is a realistic look at that. The good days, the bad days, the days it all makes sense and the days that nothing does. People are messy and real. Sometimes communication is natural and easy and sometimes if feels like the right words just won’t come. This book captures all of that.

The ending is hopeful, open-ended and positive. They’re in a good place, even if the road there held more than a few bumps, they’ve made it to a place where they both are comfortable and content.

Happiness is individual, something you create in your own way—it’s not perfect, it’s not textbook, it doesn’t look the same for everyone, but it’s what you choose, together.

It is a joy spending time with these characters on the page. I could read hundreds more pages of Luc and Oliver being together. But Hall leaves the rest to my imagination. And that’s ok.

All in all this was a wonderful reunion with a beloved cast of characters, punctuated by realistic and emotionally charged moments, written with such care and insight. I’d have loved one more chapter, a glimpse beyond the end, but Hall left us with a beautiful moment, cinematic and romantic and simply them. I can be content with that.

Thank you to sourcebooks Casablanca and netgalley for the ARC! I literally gasped when I got the alert in my inbox. It was such a pleasant surprise. I have been eagerly awaiting this book since it was announced AND I cannot wait to receive my physical copy so it can sit beside boyfriend material on my bookshelf.

Luc is so relatable. Just like the last book, it’s so obvious how much he cares for and loves Oliver. I ached at the passage below.

Okay, maybe that was working. Except
even after two years of relationshipping and
self-care and emotional development, it still
scared me how vulnerable sex could make
me feel. Which meant it was way easier to
say "Spank me, Daddy," which we both
knew I didn't mean, than “Hold me, I love
you”, which I definitely did. And I was just
trying to find a way to articulate this --see
above, re: emotional development-- when
Oliver came back, unbowled, and took me
firmly by the wrist.

The entire part one where Luc is struggling to be the perfect friend for Bridge and be there for her and the entire time all Luc wants is to be with Oliver. To share those moments with him. And Oliver is obviously frustrated but is just there for Luc when he finally lets himself relax. The entire pretty woman scene had me grinning at my phone like a dope. The way Alexis weaves in such emotionally weighted scenes with humor is something I deeply aspire to as a writer. Luc is so in love yet remains his cyclical sarcastic self which Oliver loves lol.

I also got very lost in the back and forth of will they or won’t they. I just wanted them to communicate but also things kept getting throw at them because well that’s life. But also … although the ending made me feel a little lackluster the more I think about it the more the ending was very them. They’re both quite messy people that somehow work and love the shit out of one another. I think well my main complaint is I got to the end and … somehow felt kind of empty? I wish there was an epilogue or something. It was a happy ending for sure it just felt … rushed in a way? But also this book was very much about being yourself despite what everyone around you pressured you to want. They just want each other without all the societal trappings. I understand! I think it just again … would have benefitted from an epilogue to tie some things up. I still loved it and them though.

Husband Material is everything you loved about Boyfriend Material and more. Here we meet back up with Oliver and Luc, two years down the road. We follow along their relationship as they decide what the next step is for them.

The highly entertaining side characters and the witty sarcastic humor are thankfully back in full force. But we also get to see a more mature side to it all, especially with Luc. I enjoyed and appreciated the nuanced introspection and discussions about being queer, and how there's no right or wrong way to be. Same about marriage. One of the things I love about this duology/series is that even though the characters and some scenarios have a caricature-like quality about them, they're still very much relatable.

If I have to be nitpicky, the only thing I might point out is that at some parts, I felt like it read a little long? But at the same time ended kinda abruptly? That in no way diminished my enjoyment though. I still breezed through it and enjoyed it a lot. I might have even teared up at some parts 🥺🥲

If you loved Boyfriend Material, you HAVE to read Husband Material. And if you haven't read that one yet, get on it 😉

I am sad to say this book did not live up to the first. It was so unnecessary, and reading our lead's anxiety and stress was not what I consider fun. His awkwardness was brutal, and made it so difficult to read. He's been planning his best friend's wedding for months, and didn't know what to say for his maid of honor speech? It made no sense. Also, of course, the dress was forgotten, a vicar bridesmaid got drunk off her butt, and all of the humor fell totally flat. Oliver was pretty bad too. It's the week before his boyfriend's best friend's wedding, and he's all put out because he's focusing more on that than him? You've been dating for two years dude, you can give the guy some space until next week.

*Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review *

3.5 stars

Picking up on Luc and Oliver's story where Boyfriend Material left off, Husband material is a bit of a take on four weddings and a funeral, and definitely kept with the wittiness of the first book.

While I did feel like this did get a little repetitive at times, I do feel like the humour made up for it! Also, the characters felt quite real with their neuroses (although these could be a little grating at times, they definitely did feel like people I know), and also this gets bonus points from me for an accurate portrayal of the legal profession!

Also, I did not see that ending coming honestly. I'm definitely curious to see where the third book will take this!

Thank you NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Casablanca for this eARC.

Loved Boyfriend Material, loved Husband Material. Now comes the funny part, for completely different reasons.
Where Boyfriends was endearing, quirky and funny, Husbands is mature, lovely and introspective.

Our favourite couple goes through a lot, basically 4 wedding and a funeral type of thing. The growth is palpable! I loved all the introspective and grownup conversation, with a side of quirky and funny, that hasn't changed.
Its a book about love, sticking up for one self and finding you, finding your way in the the world we inherited from out parents.

One thing I'll point out, it starts a bit slow, builds up. In the very beginning I did find myself wanting to skim over, feeling that I haven't had enough of Luc and Oliver. But its done quite purposefully and it really sets you up for that end!

Great follow-up to Boyfriend Material! We meet back up with Luc and Oliver two years down the road, and we go along for the ride as they work out where their relationship is going as they attend several weddings and, yes, even a funeral.

The great cast of secondary characters is back and as quirky as ever, and we get another look at both sets of parents and how their relationships have developed since the last book.

*I received a free ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

This was such a delightful sequel to "Boyfriend Material"! It was great to see Luc and Oliver (and all of their friends) again, and get a glimpse into what new shenanigans they were up to. There was Luc's signature brand of chaos, and Oliver's delightful awkwardness and steadying influence. The overall arc of the book was good, and it clipped along at the perfect pace.

What I find most striking about Alexis Hall is his ability to write in different voices, he has truly mastered his craft. If you compare the writing in "A Lady For A Duke" (also released this year) to "Husband Material", he has written in two completely different voices, something I find authors with multiple series often do not do well. Alexis Hall's voice and writing are stellar, and "Husband Material" is no exception.

If you liked "Boyfriend Material", you have to pick up this sequel!

Thanks to Sourcebooks Casablanca and NetGalley for an ARC! I had really enjoyed Boyfriend Material when I first read it, and recommended it to so many people it was ridiculous. Husband Material was just as enjoyable a read, but in a different way.

With romcoms and romance novels, it’s hard to write a sequel about the same characters; where do you go after happily ever after? I feel that Hall did a great job at keeping the happily ever after alive and preserving the spirit of a romcom, while also reminding us that “hey, these are two guys who have their own hangups and problems to confront, and dealing with that while planning a wedding and living your life is hard.” (Also, after having planned my own wedding, I have to say it any time anyone talks about weddings: just elope. Do it. My wedding was so beautiful, and so not worth the stress it caused.)

What I really liked was the firm theme throughout the book that there’s no one correct way to be gay. That whole “there’s no one right way to be XYZ” is something I’d struggled with in the past, and I appreciated seeing it dealt with in what (to me) felt like a realistic way.

Basically, this was a cute, realistic sequel that looked at what happens after happily ever after, and how life can just simply be messy while also being amazing.

I love the first book so much that I was very excited for this one. The one thing that happens with sequels is that it allows the author more time to show you how annoying their characters can be in different situations. For example, Bridget is probably one of the most codependent and narcissistic friends ever. This is a complete 180 from the first book where, yes, she was intense, but I don't think bridal stress forgives her behavior. I understood why Oliver gets annoyed at Luc repeatedly for just ignoring him for alleged "emergencies." Oliver unfortunately had no real depth beyond being Mr. "Perfect and Understanding." Luc seemed to have forgone all growth from the first book. I thought two years would have been enough time. And I forgot how much I did not care for the CRAPP office's banter.

I did enjoy this book but the complete opposites attract plot line felt forced.

I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

The characters remain their loveable selves, from Luc and Oliver to their truly bonkers friends and companions. The humour remains subtle and ironic, sarcastic and fabulous, and made me snicker in public at awkward moments. The central relationship is still swoony and affirming and wonderful. But this book is also about growth and change and examination and striving for self-actualisation, and it felt like a wonderful, realistic, encouraging examination of what love and life are really about.

The heroes grow individually and together, and it’s HARD (and entertaining, lol), and they both have to think about themselves, about the world, and about each other, and it’s also super relatable because they’re both trying their best, but trying their best is often what makes them get things catastrophically wrong. I love that we see this relationship tested by so many realistic life obstacles, that we see them take a stab at things and fluff them up but deliberately scramble back on the horse because they are in love.

Essentially, Husband Material shows us the heroes of Boyfriend Material living happily ever after, and that doesn’t mean “happy always." It means sometimes sad and sometimes angry, sometimes exhausted and sometimes messed up, but ultimately okay because they choose to be each other's happily ever after. And that’s what’s really powerful and romantic about this book.