How many times is Alexis Hall gonna make my heart drop to my butt and a lump form in my throat!?! Luc and Oliver continue to make me smile and think about love, life, and societal expectations. This is a can't -miss second installment in their story.

I really enjoyed seeing the journey Luc and Oliver took in this book. Both of their internal conflicts felt real and very natural. I do wish that we had Oliver's POV to understand this thought process better and maybe a little less of Luc's ramblings, even though it does make Luc our Luc. I really enjoyed reading about all the friendships and how they navigating the bizarre situations. Overall it was a very fun read.

I've heard such bad reviews for this that I don't even have a strong desire to read it anymore. The first one was very cute, but everyone has said to just skip this one all together.

This is a disappointing sequel for sure. I liked Boyfriend Material, but this book just felt... unnecessary. It was too long, it was repetitive and I was bored. If they really wanted to write a sequel, a little novella or short story showing the two of them living out their happy lives together would've been better than another 400+ pages.

I liked the character development in this book very much. There was a big break away from codependency and learning to communicate, as well as competing with societal messages about what is right versus your inner knowing of what is right for you. Which are similar messages in the first book and a common theme in LGBTQIA+ stories. I would recommend this series, although I will say the first one made me laugh a bit more.

Husband Material is the latest instalment in the London Calling series by Alexis Hall. We pick back up with Oliver and Lucen after their fake dating leads to real feelings in Boyfriend Material.

This book packed a lot into a story line and some of the time I was overwhelmed. That being said Alexis Hall is amazing at character banter. I love this. Conversations packed with sarcasm, cliches, rants, awkward moments and so much more. This leads to the realness of the feelings you get while engaging with these characters.

Oliver and Luc have a very complex relationship and that started from book 1 and it continues into this one. Even in the moments I didn’t enjoy their relationship was worth the challenges that they faced. It was messy, unlike some of the other romance novels I read. Sometimes love is worth it.

The one thing I really enjoyed was the way Hall was able to weave in a variety of different “weddings.” It really pulled back the lense of the wedding industry and how the mainstream ideas of weddings are very hetero. We saw some really unique things but also zoomed in on all the “traditional” wedding ideals through a lens of men in the LGBTQ+ community. What I took away was that not all relationships have the same type of happily ever after. This is a powerful message to take in.

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

With just as much heart and comedy as the first book, Husband Material became another instant favorite of mine. I loved being with the characters again and watching them grow and learn, as well as meeting up with some old friends. Another 5 star read from Alexis Hall. I cannot wait for the next book!

I was disapointed in this one. I was really expecting it to be as good as the first in the duology, but it just fell flat for me. I still love these two characters but the way the story was written focusing on so many additional characters really didn't work for me.

I give up! I feel if I read anymore this will tarnish the memory of the first book.

I’ve been reading for a couple weeks and I’m only about half way through. I can only bear about a chapter at a time. It’s so all over the place, so many I’ve the top attempts at humor, way too much of Lucien’s job, and where the eff is Oliver?! This is supposed to be about the both of them, but he’s barely present.

So disappointing because of how much I enjoyed the original. I know there’s meant to be another book and I can’t imagine a world where I’d read it.

3.5 rounded down to 3 stars. I don't know what I expected in this book exploring the continuation of Luc and Oliver's relationship but it wasn't this? It was broken into five parts and really tried to build a deep relationship, but Luc's constant Luc-ness (kind of self-centred, inconsiderate, asshole-ness) both had me snorting (some of the internal commentary was funny and quippy, laden with pop culture bromides) and so frustrated. One thing I really enjoyed about Alexis Hall's novel was it's exploration of what it means to be gay--how queer iconography (rainbows etc) can make someone feel included and part of a community, or stuck outside of it. Ultimately, the ending felt solid but I was so frustrated at Luc's lack of self-awareness and inability to communicate well with Oliver (who remained charming).

Really really enjoyed the first book of this series, but didn’t love this one. I felt like there was forced conflict, which they didn’t need to have. I would have loved to see the wedding they deserved without forced conflict. I believe they could have had a happy relationship without all of the issues that didn’t seem super realistic.

First of all I loved, loved, LOVED Boyfriend Material, so much so that I took the opportunity to re-read it before diving into Husband Material and it's one of the best decisions I've ever made! I'd missed Luc and Oliver so much, and I fully enjoyed getting to binge their story which is now extended with the addition of Husband Material!

Husband Material is just as hilarious and heartwarming as Boyfriend Material, with plenty of fun banter and sweet moments between Oliver and Luc or Luc and his friends, as well as more emotional moments thrown in. I've said it before and I'll say it again though, Luc and his friends had me cry laughing, even when the situation was quite dire for them! No matter how emotional it got, no matter how serious the talk, this book remained good vibes only thanks to the humour ensuring things didn't get too dour.

Things do take a serious turn, it's quite literally Four Weddings and a Funeral with a lot of relationship problems to overcome. Luc and Oliver have been together for a while and they embark upon a couple of weddings. One of which, I'll be honest, I didn't really care about and was kind of bitter Luc decided to be the bigger person because evidently I'm not as evolved a human being as he is. Proud of him though, genuinely. Unfortunately there is a death, which struck a sombre note although I feel it was an important step for Luc and Oliver. Both because of the circumstances around it and what it meant to Oliver given everything he'd gotten the chance to voice and what he realised afterwards, and also because of how he and Luc had to work to overcome it and be there for each other. I don't know if that entirely makes sense, I'm trying very hard not to spoil things!

The last positive thing I'll say is that I did really love the ending. I have a personal pet peeve when it comes to romance books and as much as I love Luc and Oliver, I'm glad they didn't succumb to it but again...spoilers so I can't be anything but vague!

However, I do feel like this could have been much shorter and perhaps a novella instead. I wouldn't say this book was entirely necessary as Luc didn't seem to have developed much as a character, although Oliver had quite the journey to go on himself which was both interesting and realistic. However, they have a few hurdles to overcome within their relationship as well as individually and I do feel like things were handled quite immaturely quite often and there was a lack of communication that could have quite easily resolved things and it grew frustrating.

I also wasn't a fan of rehashing the 'how to be gay' debate that came up in Boyfriend Material, and was brought up again in this book because it kind of seemed more like Luc didn't like or approve of the way Oliver wanted to express himself or didn't want to, as the case may be. Like the whole thing was over a rainbow arch and they had this argument repeatedly. Essentially, Oliver doesn't care for rainbow arches and expressing his identity with rainbows etc, and Luc does which is fine. Oliver never says he can't, he's just not a fan personally, especially because he's figuring things out, I think. But Luc makes a huge deal out of it and it's the same argument over and over again as a way to show their differences but I really felt it wasn't necessary for Luc to act like Oliver wasn't being 'gay enough' or something because he didn't want a rainbow arch.

All in all, I really wanted to love this and while it was good vibes for the most part, I did find it a little bit repetitive and frustrating in parts.

This was one of my most looked forward to books of the the year and I feel so sad that I am going to write this review. We join the characters from Boyfriend Material as they are going through changes in their lives, primarily marriage. Our happy couple needs to decide whether they are ready to embrace holy matrimony or not.

This cute quirky banter of the first book was flat, annoying and cliched. We did the "he doesn't understand the joke" and the "James Royce," what is keeping me interested this time around. Not much.

The disaster that is our main character, well, he isn't that anymore, but it felt like the character was lost without that definiing characteristic and so had to cause plot trouble that did not feel realistic at all.

And 7 weddings and a funeral riff. No thanks. Sure it is a rom com classic, but can we also recognize that it is not actually that good, so emulating it, just ends up feeling like a boring rewatch rather than something fun and fresh.

So so so sad. Luc and Oliver were some of my favorites of the past few years and I hated them through much of this book

Alexis Hall is such a prolific writer, with so many different series and standalones coming out at every given moment, that you would think the quality of his writing would begin to suffer. Not so here -- Husband Material is laugh out loud funny, pulling on the heartstrings just as hard as the first in the series, making you simultaneously root for and want to shake Luc and Oliver at every moment of the book. While not perfect (there are a few bewildering, somewhat out of character choices made throughout), this book is a more than worthy follow up to Boyfriend Material, and one that makes me absolutely thrilled that we are getting a third!

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I haven’t read the first book in this series but I will say I found it very easy to pick up from where the gang all left off. It was quite funny in bits and felt like an easy feel good book. I can’t say it was totally for me but I’m sure many people would enjoy it!

I enjoyed the second installment of Boyfriend Material, but I didn't love it as much as the first book. The pacing was rough and I realized early on that I didn't care much for Luc's friends. Overall I think that this book was enjoyable but lacked the magic that Boyfriend Material had. Of course, I will read another installment of this series, I just hope that it recaptures its charm.

This was a lovely sequel. Real, heartfelt, funny and sweet. I love and how their relationship evolves and strengthens throughout the story. A must read for anyone who’s a fan of the series.

There were some wonderful moments in this sequel but ultimately it felt off to me - the charm that matched the first book took a backseat to a lot of avoidable chaos this time. I enjoyed Husband Material because I enjoy Lucien and Oliver and it was lovely to see more of them, but I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed too.

That was not the HEA I expected, but it was the perfect one for Oliver and Luc!

What an eye-opening book for a cisgender, heterosexual woman. Really made me think of how heteronormative our society really is.

Sometimes the book got a little tedious because both Luc and Oliver can be a little too over-the-top about their self-loathing and self-doubt. But, all in all, a very touching story and one that I am glad I had the opportunity to read!

Thank you Sourcebooks Casablanca and NetGalley for the opportunity to read a digital ARC in return for an honest review.

I absolutely adored Boyfriend Material but this book was a horrible follow up to such an amazing story. The entire storyline was centered around every other possible couple in this couple’s world and numerous weddings that were not their own. So much of the read didn’t even have Luc and Oliver together in the scenes! There were some good one liners and laugh out loud moments, but for the most part the story was excruciatingly boring! I skipped from 55% to 90% because I just couldn’t take it anymore. The ending was an absolute let down.