I absolutely, positively adored Boyfriend Material and have listened/read my favorite passages more than once. I was over-the-moon to get early access to HUSBAND MATERIAL (PUB 08..02) on audio.

For me- it was good, but not great. At the end of Boyfriend Material I just placed my hand to my chest and sighed a sweet, contented sigh. That did not happen with the sequel. 

WHAT I LOVED: 
*Yes- you should read Boyfriend Material first to fully enjoy the sequel. 
* Hello- British accents. And truly spot on narration. ⁣
* Oliver -the way he said 'Lucien' still made me a bit weak in the knees. ⁣
* Cast: large cast of smart, eclectic characters ,LGTBQ+/Mental illness representation, humor and wit.
*Four Weddings and a Funeral vibes
* Hijinks & humor- awkward and positively British. One passage had me laughing so hard that it left me in tears and gasping for breath.
*The romance is closed door which I appreciated because it felt very authentic for the characters and their story.

 WHAT I DIDN’T:
* I love books that blend levity with heftier social/representative issues. While I enjoyed the commentary on queer-ness/heteronormativity/identity/rainbow balloon arches, it felt repetitive, disjointed and heavy handed at times.  This is a rom-com, yet these aspects kept  pulling me out of the story.*This is my 4th Alexis Hall book and I've come to realize that Hall likes words. There was a lot of wordy dialogue. Almost too much banter (gasp).  I love words and conversation, but it started to bog down the pacing.

3.5 stars. Boyfriend Material was one of the first books I listened to on audio when I started trying them last year and absolutely loved it! I was so excited to get an ALC of its sequel, Husband Material, and immediately started listening to it! I really enjoyed where this picked up and the continued dynamic of the friend group, CRAPP co-workers, and Luc's family. This was so good until the ending which was insanely rushed and I personally did not love at all.

Thanks to Netgalley & MacMillan Audio for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review!

I don’t even know how to start writing this review. This book took me through such a rollercoaster of emotions and I’m unsure of how I landed in melancholy.
I loved the book first and foremost, Alexis Hall has yet to let me down after all. It was hilarious and charming like the first one, and although it was a lot less sexy, it felt more personal and domestic. I laughed out loud countless times and swoon over Oliver and Luc, but I also suffered so much! I swear I was the third person in this messy relationship and my heart couldn’t take it.
I guess I wished the end was a little longer to give me more time to come to terms with it and feel the joy I should be feeling, but instead I’m left wanting more (which is not a bad thing I suppose).

Husband Material
Publication Date: 08/02/2022
Date Read: 07/15/2022
Format: Audiobook (NetGalley)
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Sequel to Boyfriend Material
Characters: Luc O’Donnell & Oliver Blackwood
CW: this list is copied from Alexis Hall’s website.
Homophobia (challenged), internalised homophobia (challenged), bigoted language spoken by a minor character (presented very much as a bad thing), mentions of past emotional parental neglect, death of a parent (heart attack; happens off page), grief, on-page funeral service.
Rating (❤️/👍/🤷‍♀️:👎/❌): ❤️
Spice: Fade to Black.
Would I Recommend?: Yes but read BF Material first for sure.

I loved this book. There wasn’t a scenario where I wasn’t going to love it. Is it as good as the first book? Of course not. But I still had a good time. The plot is very four weddings and a funeral style. Very much just about Luc and Oliver as characters and less about a legit plot. I appreciate the ending but it did feel slightly abrupt. I would have loved another chapter or an epilogue. Overall it was good. It felt great to read Luc again! I re-read Boyfriend Material right before this and it was just as good the second time.

✨ Review ✨Husband Material by Alexis Hall; Narrated by Joe Jameson

Bridget Jones Diary but make it gayer.

The sequel to Boyfriend Material, Hall brings back our beloved Luc and Oliver. As more of their friends start to get married, Luc and Oliver must grapple with the pressures to advance their relationship forward. This book was full of angsting, mishaps, and jokes -- all of what we have come to expect of these two.

The Bridget Jones vibes made it lots of fun -- Luc is constantly misstepping, second-guessing and just Bridget Jones-ing it up. With that said, the book dragged on a bit toward the end and got a bit repetitive as the reader was made to keep asking -- will they or won't they? It has fun moments and frustrating moments, and it will make you feel the feels.

Sequels are hard to write, even though we constantly pine for them to see how our fave characters live out their future together. This provided that sequel fulfillment but also had the sequel curse that it didn't quite live up to the OG book. Despite that, this was definitely fun, and the audiobook is enjoyable!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: contemporary romance - m/m
Location: London
Pub Date: August 2, 2022

Read this if you like:
⭕️ Bridget Jones Diary
⭕️ rainbow balloon arches
⭕️ DJ or live band debates

Thanks to Dreamscape Media and #netgalley for an advanced audio copy of this book!

Husband Material by Alexis Hall was a sweet, witty, and heartfelt romance about a couple's journey to find true happiness set within their own boundaries. This follow-up to Boyfriend Material is not to be missed. In Husband Material, Luc and Oliver navigate the uncharted waters of their relationship by attending various weddings that give them all sorts of ideas about their own future plans. Luc is adorable and awkward at the same time constantly trying to please everyone who is around him and to take their relationship to the next level. Oliver is safe, hopeful, and charming as he comes to terms with his true feelings for Luc. Luc and Oliver's journey to HEA is a bit unconventional and full of hilarious ups and emotional downs, but then again when it comes to love does a couple really need a label if they are both truly happy?

Joe Jameson reprises his role as Luc and is just plain brilliant in his performance. He didn't just read the story, he became the story giving so much life to Luc, Oliver, and all the various side characters. In his performance, you could feel all of Luc's vulnerabilities, hesitancies, passions, and swoon-worthy love for Oliver! Plus, his ability to voice so many side characters with various tones and accents was simply amazing! I loved it!

Overall, I loved this audiobook. Being back in Luc and Oliver's world gave me all the warm fuzzies and the perfect amount of delicious happy feels. I look forward to more from Alexis Hall!

Unfortunately I did not like this book as much as the first one. The story was still cute and of course the characters were still great and have amazing chemistry but this book just felt sort of unneeded. I Alexis Hall and will read anything written by them but this one just didn't and like the first one. Don't get wrong this was still a good book and sent with some serious subjects in the classic sweet and well done way as other Hall books I just felt like it wasn't needed. I would have reached had another unique story from Hall.

In the follow-up to the popular 2020 romcom Boyfriend Material, Alexis Hall brings back beloved characters, Luc and Oliver, as they consider taking the next step in their relationship. Luc is happier than he ever imagined he'd be with Oliver, so when all of their friends seem to be pairing off and getting married, the logical step would be for them to do the same, right?

Like any good sequel, Husband Material is full of twists that get our main characters into all kinds of shenanigans, with a lot of growth along the way. The book has both main characters go through their own separate journies of self-discovery which really felt raw and real and is bound to bring readers closer to these characters that are already so loved. This was a fun, ultimately lighthearted read that is as outrageous as it is true to life, I'm so glad to have gotten another glimpse into Luc and Oliver's world!

You read my review of the print edition here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4092143562

I greatly enjoyed this book and was so grateful to have the chance to listen to the audiobook. Joe Jameson is a great narrator and had good, distinct voices for Luc and Oliver, and especially for the rest of the cast. I had a few days off from work so I listened while cleaning up around the house and running errands and through all that the narrator kept me interested and invested in the story. One of the better audio narrations I’ve listened to!

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the audio eARC in exchange for an honest review.

“You know you are the truest thing I have ever dared choose for myself. And we are the only thing I’ve ever had that I haven’t let other people define for me.”

It’s incredibly difficult to write a sequel to a romance novel that has achieved a fanbase as rabid as BOYFRIEND MATERIAL has: we readers want to read something familiar yet surprising, angsty while still comforting, all without the traditional narrative fixture of a romance novel (i.e. the couple getting together) - and of course, we are seriously attached to the characters, who’ve lived rent-free in our heads for months or years. With HUSBAND MATERIAL, Hall has achieved the near-impossible: a romance novel that simultaneously sweeps you off your feet and makes you feel right at home, with a twist at the end that made my little gay heart burst with glee.

The premise of the sequel is this: Luc and Oliver, our fake-dating-turned-real-lovers from the first book, are two years into a happy, fulfilling relationship, both working on their emotional baggage (yay therapy!) and falling more in love every day. When it suddenly seems like everyone around them is getting married, from best friends to coworkers to ex-boyfriends, Luc and Oliver start to consider moving their relationship to the next level  - and what it might mean for them in particular. Along the way, there are plenty of wedding-related shenanigans, a fair bit of emotional tumult and existential dread, and an intimate romance that managed to sweep me off my feet all over again.

I don’t usually worry too much about giving away spoilers for a romance novel (we all know it ends with a happily ever after, duh), but the path this particular story takes felt so fresh and unique to me, I really don’t want to take the fun of the journey out of it for anyone. I do want to say that this novel means so, so much to me as a queer person. On top of the joys of being back with our gay disaster Luc, our stern daddy Oliver, and their entire gang of quirky and beloved community (friends, colleagues, and of course Luc’s mom & Judy, my actual BFFs), Hall has created a book that gets right to the heart of two prickly issues that come up in queer relationships: our connections (or lack thereof) to popular queer culture and our engagement with the institution of marriage.

HUSBAND MATERIAL asks questions that so many queers can relate to: What does it mean to be a queer person when you don’t see major parts of yourself represented by mainstream queer culture, and when the understood markers of queerness don’t fit with how you express yourself? What does it mean if your partner loves rainbow balloon arches and bucking social conventions and you don’t? How do you try to fit your partnership into that established relationship trajectory of living together, getting married, having kids, etc., when aspects of that pathway have been (or still are) denied to us as queer people? How do we arrive at those benchmarks when for many of us, for much of our lives, we haven’t been able to imagine achieving such things, and the things themselves have often been used as a tool to exclude us? HUSBAND MATERIAL hits the questions on the head, and it hits hard.

I started off reading this thinking of it as pure joyful romance candy, adoring being immersed in Luc’s hilarious and insightful narrative voice again, before sinking my teeth into the deep, meaningful core of this novel and realizing just how much Hall has to offer with this sequel. I laughed, I cried, I laughed again, I strongly considered becoming a vegan for ethical reasons, and I felt the warm embrace of seeing conversations I’ve had with my girlfriend and feelings I’ve struggled to articulate represented in print.

In sum, HUSBAND MATERIAL is many things: it’s a 100K post-canon domestic fanfic with all the angst and comfort you could want, it’s a completely absurd and utterly delightful queer homage to “Four Weddings and a Funeral”, it’s the extended BOYFRIEND MATERIAL epilogue of our dreams, it’s a deep exploration of the intersections of queerness, relationships, and culture, and I adored every minute of it. Thanks to Sourcebooks Casablanca for the ARC and to Dreamscape Media for the ALC; the audiobook narration by Joe Jameson (same performer as BOYFRIEND MATERIAL) is fantastic. This book is out in August.

Content warnings: homophobia, minor incarceration, death of a parent, self-harm

Sigh… I’m fairly certain I would listen to Joe Jameson narrate a phone book, just saying.

Can I just, like, wrap myself up in this book for a while? The world is pretty shit right now and this book is completely not shit, so I think I’d just like to live in there for a while, okay?
I will say, that after reading about a bunch of weddings and getting some behind the scenes with these weddings, I am SO glad that my partner and I eloped. Sure, some family was a bit upset that we got married in Vegas, but we are not at all upset that we did! There’s just so much stress with planning a wedding and the cost of the wedding. So, eloping is my recommendation, then throw a party when you get home. 100% would do again. 😜
There were some absolutely hilarious bits that had me LOLing all over the place (one particular conversation between Luc and Judy, OMFG), but there were also a lot of serious discussions about marriage and queer identity, and it all was so perfectly melded together to make this an absolute pleasure to read.
I loved seeing how Luc and Oliver have each grown over the two years since Boyfriend Material, and also how they've grown together as a couple.
There are so many good bits in this book, I already want to reread it, but will need to wait until I can get it in a different format so as not to kill my eyes (adobe digital editions on my phone is not a pleasant way to read, but needs must). This is my most anticipated release of the year, and it absolutely lived up to all of my rather high expectations.

Well written and sweet but as with all sequels written about a couple you really love it caused a bit of anxiety seeing them face so many real struggles. To be honest I couldn't really find a point/purpose for this book. In the end they didn't improve their ability to communicate, they didn't settle any major differences and it seemed to remain a happy for now, not truly a happily ever after considering there was so much left unsettled

Thank you NetGalley, Sourcebooks Casablanca, and Dreamscape Audio for sending me an ARC of the audiobook.

I loved Boyfriend Material and I was so excited to receive this ARC. Husband Material was pretty much everything I wanted from this sequel: laugh out loud humor, seeing my favorite side characters have more of a central role (read: Bridge!!) and of course Luc and Oliver being a real couple after admitting their feelings at the end of Boyfriend Material and living their happy lives.

I don't know that this book is your typical sequel, leaning more towards 5 "slice of life" stories that follow Luc and Oliver two years later via the "4 weddings and a funeral" style. For me this was such a fun way to get an update on everyone's lives. Husband Material doesn't follow your typical 3-act romcom structure, and I actually really liked that. I see from the mixed reviews that some people weren't fans of this structure, so I'd be aware of it for readers who want to pick up this book.

The one thing that really didn't work for me is the ending, particularly the miscommunication between Luc and Oliver. For two people who have constantly pointed out to each other that they have poor communication, it is hard for me to accept that Luc and Oliver still have this much trouble talking to each other about important things after 2 years. I think that not getting married and just being together as they are was the right call for them, but it was so frustrating that after 2 years, it took both of them each having separate breakdowns on their wedding day to be like "hm maybe this whole conventional wedding just because our friends are getting married thing isn't for us."

Even though that particular conflict wasn't my favorite, I'm still giving Husband Material 4 stars. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and found myself laughing at so much of the banter, especially because I was reading the audiobook and got to listen to the narrator deliver the lines in character. This is very much an "everyone is a mess but mostly everything is okay by the end" book and it was just so fun.

Oliver and Luc are back in this sequel to Boyfriend Material but unfortunately this was a bit of a disappointment for me :(

Clocking in at approx 12 hours and narrated by Joe Jameson, the audiobook for this sequel was a little too drawn out (in my opinion). The first half of the book seemed to move soooo slowly and I honestly was getting incredibly bored. Thankfully some more exciting things happen in the second half and the author's trademark wit and humor saved this book from being a total wash.

What I did like: the banter, the humor, the criticism of the heteronormative wedding industrial complex and of course the MCs themselves. This sequel was a bit of a rocky go for me but I am still incredibly grateful to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for an early listening copy in exchange for my honest review.