Member Reviews

Ugh.

I'm disappointed. I LOVED Boyfriend Material, adored half of Mortal Follies, but 10 Things just... didn't do it for me. The Amnesia trope isn't for me.

I don't know that I've read a romance where both main characters are so unlikable. I think the basic premise of the book, lying about having amnesia, probably should have given me some kind of clue. But then I didn't like the Love Interest either. While Sam was clearly a misguided liar, he was also annoyingly always putting himself in other people's business. And Jonathan was just an asshole nearly to the very end. I like flawed characters, but they at least need to be likable.

On top of it all, I felt the story just kind of lacked... something. Everything? I found myself so bored. I was hoping that, even if I didn't like Sam and Jonathan, then I could at least rely on tension and banter. But I didn't even get that. I daresay, there wasn't even chemistry.

With that said, I think there are readers out there that would enjoy this.

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This is in the same universe as Boyfriend Material, but only by the tiniest of margins.
One of the characters here is very vaguely connected to one of the side characters in the other one.
In terms of tropes, this is grump/even bigger grump, with a pinch of fake amnesia, around the Christmas Holidays.
So shenanigans are had by all, including the cat, who is maybe my favorite character in this one.

Sam and Jonathan are fine, they have good arcs and are very dimensional as characters.
The banter is funny and I cared about them, but this book dragged on for me for some reason.

It isn't my favorite, but I am glad I read it.

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This was a very likeable book. A slightly unlikely premise, but it is so fun to read, it doesn't matter. I really wondered how the author would turn the grumpy MC into a hero I could root for, but they pulled it off! I just wish it wasn't quite as much of a slow burn. I did have a lot of fun with this one!

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I love Alexis Hall's writing, which includes interesting characters, laugh out loud moments, and heartfelt emotion. Set in the world of bed and bath retail, Sam and Jonathan are pretty much opposites, and when an accident occurs at the time Sam fears he is about to be fired by Jonathan, the stage is set for fake amnesia. When an unlikeable boss starts to become more human and guilt sets in, is there a chance for new beginnings? While not my favorite, Alexis Hall never disappoints.

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This book has a lot of humor in, but not necessarily in a LOL way. More of a self-depreciating kind of way with how the character narrates it. On verge of being fired (shortly before Christmas) Sam has an accident that leaves him with a concussion and somehow his boss (who was partially at fault for the accident) comes to the conclusion that he has amnesia and Sam doesn't correct him. With no one else there to take care of him, the boss (AKA His Royal D!ck!shness) reluctantly agrees to act as his caretaker, inviting Sam into his home until he recovers. Slowly over time, Sam starts to peel back the layers that make Jonathan (the boss,) and see him in a new light. Not that it's an easy task. Jonathan didn't get his nickname by chance. Ever so slowly Jonathan starts to show a softer side and maybe Sam is having a good impact on him... if only there wasn't that big secret, you know... the fact that he doesn't actually have amnesia and has basically been lying this whole time. Not only does Jonathan have to take care of his employee (who he's more worried about being sued by) but also his family who brings chaos whereever they go, and they tend to go to his house often. Meanwhile, through all the chaos and caretaking, a bond starts to form between the two fellows and feels grow. Too bad one is the boss of the other and won't go there with him. Both the main characters are interesting and fun to read about (even the no-nonsense money hungry boss.) Both have things in their past that make them act the way they do. (That eventually are uncovered.) The side characters all bring a little something to the story as well. This is the first book by this author I've read, and so I don't know if it's the case with all their books, but this is centered in the UK, so the language/slang used may not be understood completely if you aren't familiar with it, but you get the gist of it all and it's not anything that will take away from the story. Just be prepared if that is something that annoys you in books. While it's clean as far as sexual content goes, the 'F' Bomb is prominent and used quite frequently. That is really the only thing that may be a hinderance if you are concerned about younger readers. The book is taken from Sam's POV only. This is a good, fun, hard to put down read.

*I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley.

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Sam Becker is a straight talking foulmouthed marshmallow. He spends most of his time covering up the mistakes made by some of his sales team. His boss Jonathan Forest is the owner of the bed and bath retail store, plus two others. He is a rigid uptight man concerned with budgets and the bottom line. The two are literally brought together by accident. This story is sweet, poignant, and laugh out loud funny!

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I'm a big fan of Alexis Hall's books and will always read everything and anything he publishes. Although, I will admit that 10 Things That Never Happened was not a favorite by any means. I enjoyed the overall story and was very interested in how Hall was going to use amnesia as a plot. I don't mind that it seemed so unbelievable that something like this would happen, it just didn't work despite my suspension of belief. I think the characters lacked enough chemistry where I could overlook the absurdity of the situation and I couldn't understand why they liked each other if it didn't feel like it was developed on the page, which is very unlike Alexis Hall.

I always laugh when I read a book by Alexis Hall because his humor is usually SO GOOD but I literally wanted to throw my e-reader out the window by how many times we had to read the stupid brand name of the shower. It might have been funny the two or three times it was mentioned but it got really annoying after the 10th time.

Overall, I don't think this was the best of Alexis Hall but I was still happy to read something new by him.

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A sure buy for our collection. Expected to be popular among library patrons. A clever and touching romcom that will be a star in our queer lit collection.

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Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. We follow Sam(wise) Becker and Jonathan Forest. Sam is a reluctant manager to a bed/bath retailer and Jonathan is the owner of the chain. Sam is called into London since his store isn't performing up to standards and accidentally trips and bangs his head while Jonathan is trying to fire him. He gives Jonathan the impression that he has amnesia to get out of being fired and Jonathan ends up having to take care of him while he recovers. There's a lovable hideous cat, a loud and intrusive family (Jonathan's), strange pizza combinations, and overall a fairly cute plot. I do think that the central misunderstanding wrapped up a bit late in the story and it was pretty slow burn for most of it, but overall charming and cute and a light-hearted read.

3.5 rounded up to 4.

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Okay as per usual I went in based on vibes alone and managed not to realize that this book's primary trope is FAKE amnesia. Real head injury, fake amnesia. This is an important distinction going in, because the POV is from the would-be amnesiac, so you get a front-row seat to a whole lot of guilt. I did realize my mistake very early (I wish I could say it was before the head injury but no, I went to read the synopsis right after the whoopsie that led to the head injury), and it's truly unfortunate that I'm immune to shame but completely prone to secondhand embarrassment. However, we soldier on and I'm too stubborn to let some embarrassment stop me.

The pacing of this book was a bit tough for me. I love slow burn but the building emotions were a bit subtle for me; now, perhaps that would've been helped by dual POV, but I wasn't sure these boys were going to complement each other for a good chunk of the book. You know the feeling when you're aching to root for the couple but they're not giving you a lot to work with? I would've been delighted if the turn was a bit sooner, is all I'm saying. It did come together, and I flew through the last 20-30% of the book, but just know this is a very slow burn.

Ultimately, if you go into this knowing there's fake amnesia and you love the awkwardness that comes with that, this is definitely for you. I'm definitely going to give some of his other books a go, because I love British humor and I really truly loved the nerdy references tucked into this book here and there. Not to mention the ones not so tucked, I mean the main is literally named Samwise, which made me kick my toesies on page one.

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I’m struggling with what to rate this one, because I both enjoyed it immensely and I struggled to get through it. Alexis Hall’s writing style is funny as ever — I’m constantly laughing out loud when reading his books, and this one is no exception. However my issue here is with the plot and characters. The plot, because I struggled for the better part of the first half of the book to accept that it is a romance; and the characters because they are the reason why I couldn’t see this book turning out to be a romance. I knew that Jonathan was going to be the love interest from the blurb, but there were various points where I thought we were being punk’d. Jonathan is not likable at all, and even in the “soft” moments where the reader is supposed to be seeing another side of him were so disingenuous and forced. I really thought he would be more like Oliver in Boyfriend Material because at least Oliver was endearing and cute. Jonathan….is a big no from me no matter that his behavior was “justified.” And Sam was giving Luc energy because he’s a bit of a hot mess, but I just don’t understand why he couldn’t be a better manager and get over himself? I don’t know, I read the whole thing cover to cover just because I like Alexis Hall’s writing — I wish the plot had more to offer, but c’est la vie.

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10 Things That Never Happened focuses on Sam, who is the manager of a bed and bath superstore. He likes his job, but he doesn't love it. When his overbearing boss, Johnathan, demands that Sam come in for a talking to, things quickly go off the rails. As Johnathan threatens to fire Sam and some of his coworkers, Sam falls and hits his head. Thinking that Sam has amnesia, Johnathan is forced to have Sam live with him as he recovers. Fearing that if he tells the truth that he will be fired, Sam decides to go along with the lie.

As Sam lives with Johnathan, he sees new sides to him, including how he is with his large and loud extended family members. Sam starts to feel like he part of Johnathan's family, and he feels comfortable with him. Their bond starts to grow, but under the surface is the truth of Sam's lie. How will his lie affect their connection?

I really enjoyed this story for so many reasons, including:
-caretaking
- grumpy/sunshine
-enemies to lovers
-workplace romance
-holiday romance
- emotional themes
- two lonely people finding each other
- secret pining

Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for an ARC of this book.

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I have conflicted feelings about this book. I have read this author before, and really enjoy his style of writing. Thus, there were elements that I loved: the witty banter between our main characters, Sam (an employee at a bedding store) and Jonathan (the owner of said bedding store), as well as their hilarious, heartfelt interactions with Jonathan's family. The premise of the book essentially revolves around Sam staying with Jonathan while he recovers from a concussion that occurs from a fall in the midst of Jonathan trying to fire Sam, so Sam fakes amnesia to save himself and the employees of the store he manages. I think what was lacking for me was the romantic connection between Sam and Jonathan. The story is told from Sam's POV and I believe that this story may have been greatly improved with an alternating POV from Jonathan. I have a hard time with books where I can't connect with the character on any level, and Jonathan just never really became a likeable or relatable character for me. I expected more character growth from him in the story, whereas we get a lot of character growth from Sam in the end. All in all, this is still a fun, well-paced romantic comedy, that I believe will please Alexis Hall fans to some extent.

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I love Alexis Hall's work and this book was no different.
I was excited for this new twist on the amnesia trope - a character not actually getting amnesia, but faking it? Sign me up!
Hall always manages to create incredibly genuine characters, with both his leads and the side characters. The cast of people working at Sam's retail store felt so real i could have sworn I have worked with people similar in the past (for better or worse).
Sam was a lovable blundering hero. He's not perfect, but that makes the story much better. Jonathan was brooding and very Darcy-esque. It's really refreshing to have the main love interest not be an out-of -this-world sex god, as they so often are in rom-coms. Jonathan was a normal guy, with a loud and boisterous family.
The whole story felt attainable and realistic, despite the absurdity of Sam's actions.
Alexis Hall has done wonderful work once again!

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The story was too unbelievable, especially the amnesia . The love interests didn't fit, and Sam's harshness was unattractive so why did Jonathan desire him?

Alexis Hall's works are some of my favorite reads but this one was NOT for me.

Thank you Sourcebooks for the complimentary copy.

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This was my first book by Alexis Hall. I love m/m romances and am always looking to discover new authors in this area so when I got approved for the ARC for this I was super excited! Unfortunately this ended up being a mixed bag for me.

I enjoyed some parts of this but it was hard for me to connect to the characters. Sam was too much of a pushover and his tendency to try and save one employee at the expense of everyone else got on my nerves by the end of the book. Johnathon is all about the bottom line which didn't necessarily bother me.

I liked the opposites attract aspect to the story. It just dragged on and on for too long and I found myself losing interest quite frequently. I don't think this authors writing is my style but hopefully it's yours!

3 stars. Thank you for the arc!

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First I want to thank #netgalley for the reading of ARC. I’ve never read an Alexis Hall book before and I was really excited to get this one. I wanted to love it but it fell flat a bit for me. I loved the premise of the story, and it’s at Christmas time, and it’s in Britain, but I didn’t love it. I did enjoy it and loved the authors writing style. I would recommend this book and I look forward to reading more by this author. Both the MC’s were boring, but Jonathan’s family is perfect. I loved their chaos and I really enjoyed how the author brought that to life.

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10 Things That Never Happened, book one of Material World-

I’ll tell you one thing that never happened-
Me, connecting with this book. Each chapter dragged on and on, and on, and on…
I found this book lacking most things that make a book enjoyable. The one thing it did have, is a plot. Unfortunately, the plot alone could not carry the entire book. I found the main characters insufferable. Jonathan was the most dry, serious, all about numbers, money and the bottom line. He could care less about the actual livelihoods of people. Sam was the biggest push over and cared entirely TOO much about everyone else’s well being before his own. The support characters were over the top, each having their own quirks that made them outcasts, in general.

Sam suffers an accident at work and fakes amnesia in hopes that Jonathan will grow a conscience and change his mind about having fired him moments before Sam’s accident. Because of faked amnesia, Sam moves into Jonathans home so that Jonathan can keep an eye on him. This is how their story begins…and it took entirely too long to get to this moment of the book! And, for as long as it felt for this book to take getting to the end? The ending felt completely rushed. Sam has amnesia for the whole damn book and then BAM! Gone. What?!

Although this book was an entire “miss” for me, the grumpy sunshine trope and the banter were written pretty well. I received an advance reader copy and am leaving my review voluntarily.

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How is it that I have never read an Alexis Hall book before?? Now I want to listen to this book just for the accents.
Apparently I had marked Boyfriend material and Husband material as Want to read, so I plan to find the audiobooks.
As an American I was surprised at the stores that Sam worked in and that Jonathan owned. A store that sold beds and toilets and all the accoutrements for both sounds interesting.
Jonathan is the owner who acknowledges that the Sheffield branch of his store that Sam manages is not doing well. We the readers see that he actually isn't a very good manager, but when he goes to London to ask Jonathan not to fire his workers ( though most are incompetent due to Sam's poor management skills) he somehow falls into a shower display and gets a concussion. In a split second he sort of claims he has amnesia and this starts the plot going.
I don't want to give more away, but for me, Christmas with Jonathan's large, contentious family, along with Sam being helpful, and his ugly cat Gollum attaching himself to Jonathan, is what made the book fun for me. With witty dialogue, a grumpy Jonathan and a sunny Sam, I found the book quite fun.
Thanks to NetGalley for my review copy
In exchange for an honest review. I will be recommending this book to people looking for an interesting gay romance.

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I’m always excited to pick up an MM romance and one that features two British men, sign me up. “10 Things That Never Happened” is a sweet, fun and heartfelt romance that I enjoyed immensely.

Sam is like almost every working man out there, he mostly likes his job. Sure it wasn’t his dream to run a bed and bath retail store but it pays the bills. When his awful boss, Jonathan Forest calls him up to London for a meeting, he is sure that he is getting fired. But one accidental bump to the head and some assumptions by all, Jonathan thinks he has amnesia and Sam doesn’t deny it.

This was such a cute MM romance and I loved the plot of the story. Sam is in a job he really isn’t a fan of and he has a boss who makes things even more difficult. That instantly makes him so relatable. Jonathan is a classic grump and workaholic. He puts a lot of pressure on himself to have his company succeed so his family has everything they could possibly need. They are a classic grumpy/sunshine duo and they balanced out each other so well. I loved their banter and I found myself cracking up several times with them. Gollum the cat was the perfect cat in all of his cat qualities. The ending was so sweet and wrapped up their story wonderfully.

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