Alexis Hall's "10 Things That Never Happened" takes readers on a captivating journey through the lives of its characters, offering a unique blend of romance, alternate realities, and self-discovery.

The story unfolds with a fascinating premise: What if our choices led us down entirely different paths? Hall weaves an intricate narrative exploring parallel lives and the profound impact of pivotal decisions. Through vivid storytelling, readers are immersed in the intricate web of possibilities, each choice leading to a new set of consequences.

The characters are beautifully crafted, with their struggles, joys, and vulnerabilities laid bare. The emotional depth and authenticity of their journeys make it easy to invest in their stories. Hall's writing style is both lyrical and thought-provoking, making for a compelling and immersive reading experience.

The exploration of identity, love, and the roads not taken is a central theme in the book. It delves into the complexity of human relationships, emphasizing the importance of seizing opportunities and embracing one's true self. The narrative challenges us to reflect on our own choices and what might have been.

While "10 Things That Never Happened" may at times require a suspension of disbelief due to its speculative elements, it ultimately offers a thought-provoking and heartwarming tale of love, fate, and the infinite possibilities of life.

In conclusion, Alexis Hall's "10 Things That Never Happened" is a beautifully written and emotionally resonant novel that invites readers to contemplate the profound impact of choices and the enduring power of love. It's a must-read for those who enjoy thought-provoking romance novels with a touch of speculative fiction.

I genuinely wanted to love this book as it had potential to be everything that I was looking for, however, it just fell short for me. Sam and Jonathan's entire relationship is built on lies upon lies when there were multiple opportunities for Sam to come clean. I just wanted to shake him sometimes because he was being so silly in not telling Jonathan the truth.

I think the reason that I couldn't really love it was because it was only a single person POV. I was dying for Jonathan's POV and think it would have elevated the story that much more.

While I didn't love this book, I would definitely still read more of the authors work in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley for an opportunity to read in exchange for an honest review.

10 Things That Never Happened is classic Alexis Hall - it's genuinely funny, clever, a bit zaney, and had me rooting for the characters the whole time! It's entertaining and once I started, I didn't want to put it down. You absolutely need to suspend your disbelief for this one but it is well worth it for a genuinely funny story! It's very evocative of the first book I read of Hall's years ago, Boyfriend Material.

Read this for:
- Grumpy/Snarky
- Fake Amnesia
- M/M Romance
- Workplace Romance
- Single POV
- Holiday Romance that isn't Hallmark-y
- Quirky Supporting Characters

Jonathan is the grumpiest grump to ever grump but seeing his softer moments - with Sam's cat in particular but also with Sam himself - was so cute to see! The scene of Sam and Jonathan in the store shopping for holiday decorations was so stinking funny and had me actually kicking my feet.

Thank you to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for the eARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own and I am leaving this review voluntarily. 10 Things That Never Happened publishes October 17th and was a 4.5 star read for me! Highly recommend checking it out.

Thank you to SourceBooks Casabalanca/NetGalley for a copy of 10 Things That Never Happened in exchange for an honest review. 

OK People Doing Bad Things

Alexis Hall's 10 Things That Never Happened is about very mid people. Not that they're mid in how interesting they are, but by their decency as humans. IRL, faking amnesia is probably not a forgivable trait. In a book, it can seem almost understandable. It likely works because we've all let things get out of control. A misunderstanding can quickly snowball. It's just not usually something as high stakes. If the plot puts you off, try not to let it: it isn't "as bad" as it seems. 

OK People Being Endearing

Of course, these characters, Sam and Jonathan, in particular, are ultimately endearing and move beyond "mid." Once you slowly understand what makes them tick, you start rooting for them. And the larger cast of characters is also endearing in the way only an Alexis Hall cast could be. Cheesy jokes, wordplay, and, frankly, mean people are all present in 10 Things That Never Happened. Hall takes it just to the limit without ever crossing -- another of his specialties. I suppose this humo(u)r could be grating to some, but I have a low tolerance for twee Britishness, and I love Alexis Hall. 

The romance, too, is quite sweet. Later bloomers or people who are generally insecure are in less short supply these days, but they are still not the usual suspects of the romance world. People literally tripping around each other is a nice change of pace. 

Should You Read It?

If you like ridiculous 90s British romcoms, you'll love 10 Things That Never Happened. Though it's part of Alexis Hall's London Calling series, it's only very tangentially related to the characters of Boyfriend Material. If you liked that book and its follow-up, Husband Material, you'll like this one. They're very much cousins with the same vibe. I just really loved this book, and I think most romcom lovers will, too. 

10 Things That Never Happened is out on October 17, 2023. Preorder a copy at your local indie bookstore or put one on hold at your library! 📚🤕🚿

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to receive this book for an honest review.

I was on the fence witht his book. I thought this was going to be more of a love story but I found it lacking in that area. I found it a little far fetched with the amnesia storyline.

I also felt like the story was missing something.

Although I finished this book I found it a struggle.

4.5/5*s

Super charming, Very trope-y. Surprisingly Christmasy- kinda surprised that isn't clearer on the cover. Sam was super loveable, which made it easy to forgive him for getting caught up in his amnesia story. Jonathan was a dick with Hidden Depths, and I maybe would have liked if there was more character development there.

A good pick if you like: found family, sunshine/grump, and regional accents. Great for a nice cozy read.

The audiobook (read by Will Watt) was excellent. Love the variety of accents and voices he did, including a goofy but not over the top kitty cat voice. Highly recommend.

Very grateful to Netgalley and Dreamscape Media for early access.

Hmmm...not my favorite by the author.
I've come to realize that I have a hate/love relationship with Hall's books. Some like Glitterland hit me so viscerally in the feels that I can't escape the effect they have on me. Others, like Husband Material, I want to burn to the ground.
This book, while having Hall's trademark dry sarcasm, lacked for me in the romance department and in the general...feels? The characters felt a bit flat and I didn't really like their interactions all too much, they seemed almost forced at times. Nevertheless, it was a quick read and if you're a fan of the fake amnesia trope, go for it.

First of all, I’d like to thank the publisher for providing me with a advanced copy of this book in exchange for a fair review.

This is a highly entertaining and enjoyable, if flawed, book. The things that worked for me worked really well: The ‘grumpy sunshine’ dynamic between the two main characters was pulled off brilliantly, the side characters provided good comic relief, the writing sparkled with the author's characteristic charm and wit, and the book went down as easily as a vanilla milkshake. Honestly, there are few authors out there who can make me smile with their writing as much as Alexis Hall. There is true brilliance here! But, as entertaining as the book was, there were also a lot of things that didn't work for me. The ‘fake amnesia’ storyline was, for lack of a better word, just dumb, not only introducing a whole set of implausible lies at the heart of book, but also preventing Sam from taking up the agency he needed to show Jonathan his value. It also made the dynamic between the two characters very one-sided: Sam learns all about Jonathan’s family, life, and background, but Jonathan learns nothing about what makes Sam tick. To make matters worse, this plot element was also completely unnecessary; if the confrontation between them had been even ten percent less intense, the concussion would have been more than enough to drive the plot forward. Also, while the grumpy sunshine vibe worked well, a lot of Jonathan’s behaviour went beyond grumpy and overworked into the domineering and abusive — something that was certainly addressed, but never adequately resolved. So in all, I’d definitely encourage readers to pick this up, but as nothing more than a fun, silly, highly enjoyable romp.

An edited version of this review (going into less detail about what I didn't enjoy about the book) will be posed to my dedicated Instagram account closer to the release date.

I've enjoyed books by this author, and I feel like this book got off to a great start and had genuinely hilarious moments, but the relationship between Jonathan and Sam never really developed for me and I couldn't see any romantic potential. I also struggled with the boss/employee dynamic, particularly with Jonathan being honestly insufferable the majority of the time.
Thank you to SOURCEBOOKS Casablanca for an ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest opinion.

hmmm... not my favourite Alexis Hall book, but it's good none-the-less. This is the first holiday romance I've seen pop up for the season. It's funny and quirky in keeping with Hall's usual style. Maybe not as much of a "spark" as I've felt from their other projects?

Thank you NetGalley & Sourcebooks for the gifted ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is the first title I've read by Alexis Hall and based on how popular this author is, I was expecting...more.

The premise is definitely intriguing and not one I've seen in a romance novel before, but the execution fell flat. The characters had, like, no sexual chemistry whatsoever. The first intimate interaction they have is about halfway through the book and it was...well, lackluster. I think too much time was spent on Johnathan's family dynamics, which meant less time on developing the romance between Sam and Johnathan. I also don't think this book needed to be 400+ pages, it truly dragged on in some spots which made me keep putting the book down in order to read something with a faster pace.

Ultimately, the book is fine, but it's not something I'd revisit. I'd be interested to see if the author's backlog of titles are more my speed.

Maybe 2.5 stars... I just don't know about this one. It's a little light on the romance. The romance part felt very forced, just unnatural. And, the premise, the whole fake amnesia thing just didn't work for me. It's a quick read, and it's funny. I just wasn't buying any of it. And, Sam is basically Lucien. I did like Jonathan's family and Gollum. But, the rest just fell a little flat.

So much to like about this 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!

Love an Alexis Hall book and this one was no exception. The writing, building and realness of characters was top notch. It was a slow one but was definitely needed for their relationship to grow and for them to fit together. Sam, Johnathan and especially Gollum you were wonderful.

This has everything I've come to expect from an Alexis Hall book but in a good way. It was a little light on the old spice but other than that, I really enjoyed the relationship development between Jonathan and Sam, the crazy cast of side characters and of course, the cat Gollum stole the show!

The chicken fisting part was absolutely freaking hilarious - I couldn't stop laughing. Trust me it was funny.

I received an advanced copy and because we found a second snake in our backyard in 2 weeks, I have left an honest review.

This was cute! I really enjoyed the slow burn of this romance. I know everyone doesn’t love a closed door/fade to black, but I do, and I think it worked well here. My favorite thing was probably the parts with Jonathan’s family and the slight christmassy vibes. The biggest drawback for me was the fake amnesia plot. The suspension of disbelief was difficult to maintain at points. Mostly it was just annoying and silly. But bonus points for the cat!!

If you like holiday romance, Enemies to lovers, slow burn, sweet romance, this is your jam. It was an easy read, funny in parts, sometimes a little slow. I enjoyed it, though there is no spice in this book. The side characters were a great, there's even a matching making cat so to speak. It was a good book.

I really enjoyed 10 Things That Never Happened, so much so that I found myself wanting to reread it soon after my first read (and I did).

The story is told from the point of view of Sam Becker, the manager of a bed and bath store in Sheffield, who is about to get fired (and possibly have the store shut down) right before Christmas by his boss Jonathan Forrest. Sam travels to London to meet with Jonathan and… it doesn’t go well. Just as Jonathan is firing Sam, an accident happens and Sam gets a concussion. Through a misunderstanding that Sam does not correct, Sam decides to fake amnesia hoping that Jonathan will change his mind about firing him and shutting down the Sheffield store. Since Sam can’t be left alone with a concussion for at least 2 weeks he moves in with Jonathan.

I think from that plot summary it goes without saying that you’ll need a healthy dose of suspension of disbelief with this book. I’ve never read a book utilizing the amnesia trope before, let alone fake amnesia, so I didn’t know what to expect. On my first read through, I was a bit slow to get invested in this book because it took me a minute to suspend my disbelief. But once I got there, it really paid off. Because even though on the surface the plot is very unrealistic, it’s just the vehicle for exploring deeper themes about work and trust and forgiveness. Also, I was pleasantly surprised by how much tension there was with the story, which I don’t normally expect with a romcom. When one character lying to the other is the basis of the plot, it creates a lot of tension and keeps you guessing about how, exactly, shit will hit the fan. That tension kept me turning the page. I had my theory of what was going to happen. Turns out, I was totally and completely wrong.

What makes this book really shine is the character work. In that regard, 10TTNH reminded me of Boyfriend Material in that I really liked the POV character (flaws and all) but fell in love with the love interest. Sam is a fully formed person who I sympathized with, got frustrated with, cared for, and more. He feels real and I reacted to him accordingly. But Jonathan stole my heart. Jonathan is the grumpiest grump to ever grump. At first I was like, I know this guy is the love interest but boy is he a jerk and I don’t know that I’m ever going to like him. And then he bonds with a cat, and I understood him. Watching Jonathan slowly open up to Sam (and grow attached to Gollum the cat) made my heart melt. I don’t cry easily when it comes to books, and I teared up at the end of this one.

This is my first read by Alexis Hall and I kinda liked it.

The story was cool and funny, banter just fine but I wished it was dual pov. Just so we could understand Johnny more.

I didn’t know it was closed door romance and I kinda got disappointed. It would be like a cherry on the ice cream with this story.

📍 one pov
📍 faking amnesia
📍 grumpy / sunshine
📍 hea

Thank you to Sourcebooks Casablanca and Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Alexis Hall's Boyfriend Material is one of my all time favorite books, so when his newest, 10 Things That Never Happened, became available on Netgalley, I hit "Request" so fast.

Sam is the manager of one of three branches of a bed-and-bath retailer. His co-workers are a bunch of misfits, and to be honest, his store is a bit of a disaster. Jonathan is the owner and Sam's boss, and he realizes that hiring Sam, who is too sentimental for his own good, was probably a mistake. He asks Sam to come down to London for a chat, intending to fire him, but Sam trips and hits his head, and then accidentally implies he can't remember anything. When Jonathan assumes Sam has amnesia, Sam just...doesn't correct him. Since Sam requires supervision, Jonathan takes him home with him, and the plot just gets more ridiculous from there.

Unfortunately, for me, this book just didn't have the same joie de vivre as Boyfriend Material. The amnesia plot was farcical. Sam struggles to keep up the ruse while simultaneously planning both the company holiday party and Jonathan's family celebration. Like all of Hall's books, the absurd is front and center, and the supporting cast steals the show. My favorite part of the entire story was his grumpy cat who falls in love with grumpy Jonathan.

When Sam and Jonathan kind of fall into a romantic relationship, Sam knows he needs to fess up, but the timing is just never right., and then loose lips sink their ship. Of COURSE Jonathan reacts badly when Sam finally confesses he was faking it the entire time. Although--to be honest--the third act breakup was a lot shorter and less dramatic than I expected it to be.

If you're a fan of While You Were Sleeping (the old Sandra Bullock movie) and Hall's other books, you'll probably really enjoy 10 Things That Never Happened.