4.5 stars

Sam, a manager at a bed & bath retailer, is summoned to a meeting with his boss Jonathan because his sales aren’t where they need to be. In a bit of a freak accident Sam trips, an entire shower display falls on him, and he gets a concussion. He might also imply to his boss he can’t remember the moment right before he tripped - when Jonathan fired him and his entire staff.

I really think that Alexis Hall shines brightest when he is writing witty 90’s romcom style romance books. This book was a hilarious good time. It’s over the top but heartfelt. In the end the two main characters are very human in their insecurities. I might have liked it more than Boyfriend & Husband Material because Sam and Jonathan have lovely chemistry. (Don’t get me wrong, I love Luc and Oliver but Luc is a chaos gremlin and I don’t understand how Oliver didn’t throttle him more often than not.)

Sam and Jonathan though, I enjoyed the slow progression of Sam coming to see Jonathan for who he is and why he is that way. And yes, I loved that Jonathan is a prick and just kind of stays that way but lets his guard down for Sam. Throw in some Christmas shenanigans, some heartfelt found family, and some very sweet moments between the couple and you have this book.

Oh and it’s very clever and fun, I laughed my way through this one.

Thank you, Netgalley for an ARC of this wonderful book.

10 Things That Never Happened is a charming and funny read with lots of heart, holiday spirit, and amnesia. Sam is a sweet guy with a bit of tragic past, who manages one of the stores Johnathan own. Sam ends up being called to London for a meeting with Johnathan, and the meeting is a disaster. Johnathan fires Sam and all the employees under him, but just as he does so, Sam falls and hits his head. After a doctor's visit and some miscommunication, Johnathan believes Sam has amnesia, and Sam is just hoping he can use his amnesia to buy some time to come up with a plan to save himself and his employees from the unemployment line.

The dialogue and interactions between the characters are very witty, and fit perfectly with the absurdity of the situation. Sam and Johnathan also make excellent foils to each other--Sam often being the compassionate one who is quick to defend people, but is a bit of a pushover, and Johnathan being the more "logical" and insensitive one, who comes off as someone who only sees numbers and not people.

It was fun to watch Sam and Johnathan interact, as well as, see how the two of them challenged and changed each other over the course of the book.

I can't recommend this romance enough for someone who wants a romance with comedy on almost every page, and with heartfelt moments that sneak into the story and flesh out the characters to tug on your heartstrings.

i loved this. this is the most Alexis Hall book out there and that makes it all the better.

it's filled with interesting characters, a swooney romance, and some seriously great banter. it felt like these conversations were jumping off the page.

Alexis has such an interesting voice and i love reading it.

Sam is a great protagonist with a surprising amount of depth. you figure out a lot about him in how he reacts to the world and then finding out his entire story crushed me.

and whew. Jonathan. what a guy. there's a LOT going on there and seeing his icy exterior warm up little by little was a treat.

this book is great.

This is a tough review to write since I have loved most of Alexis Hall’s writings.

This book didn’t land for me and in large part its because Jonathan and Sam are not likable characters and neither felt redeemable in the end. I didn’t understand how/why Sam would tolerate Jonathan’s cruelest and lack of awareness about how to run a business. How exhausting.

The best part of this book was the scenes with Jonathan’s family.

The cover is also misleading as this is not a book about Luc and Oliver - it’s slightly tangential.

<b> Thank you Alexis Hall, SOURCEBOOKS Casablanca, and Netgalley for providing me with an advanced reader copy to review. </b>

Sam Becker is a mediocre manager of an underperforming chain store, who feels protective of his rag-tag bunch of employees. A few weeks before Christmas he is called to HQ to chat with the owner about how to turn the ship around. While attempting to convince his boss, Jonathan Forest aka His Royal Dickishness, to give their location another chance, he falls into a shower display, sustaining an injury to his head and a concussion. This faked amnesia, forced proximity, enemies-to-lovers, slow-burn romance was an enjoyable read and not overly-saccharine Christmas story.

The book took me a little while to get into as I usually latch onto characters quickly and the MC and love interest both play their cards close to the vest. But as they gradually reveal themselves to the reader, their dynamic, relationship, and snippy bantering conversations draw you in.
3.75/5 stars rounded to 4/5 stars.


Note for the author/editor and NOT part of my online review:
I think what kept this book from being a full 4 or more stars for me was that I struggled a bit with the dialect/lack thereof. While I live in the United States, my best friend is from the UK and so I am familiar with the difference in turn of phrase (which was very fitting). What I particularly had problems with was the "yez"'s. I was constantly reminding myself it was pronounced "yous" on top of it really being the ONLY written word that indicated dialect. I think I would have found an easier flow while reading with you/yous or even a stronger indication of dialect being written into the text instead of expecting readers to know/remember/understand it from the Authors' Note at the beginning. I mention this solely because I think that the wider International market will likely have similar struggles.

Review Publication Note: The review is up on Goodreads, and was featured on Instagram Stories. An Instagram review post will be published closer to pub date.

Alexis Hall has done it again! Grumpy x Sunshine perfection, it had me laughing out loud, sighing with that "oh that's just so cute" and feeling all the emotions. I cannot get enough of this author, fast becoming one of my go-to's!

I typically love Alexi Hall, but 10 Things That Never Happened fell a bit flat for me. I loved the grumpy x sunshine aspect, but felt the plot was a bit drawn out and because of that the book was a bit overly long. I still really liked Sam and Jonathan, and the story as a whole, just didn't quite hit the mark for me.

Absolutely freaking adorable this book is! I love everything by this author, and :I can never get enough!

Man. I am a big Alexis Hall fan. I usually live a grumpy locked up hero mixed with a chaotic potential partner.
However, this was a tough read for me. The first half of the book took forever to get through. Neither if the characters was easy to connect to/ feel for. They were both irritating in different ways. I am a fast reader and books this length are usually quick reads. This book took awhile & almost put it down.
The last half moves faster and was more enjoyable for me. It isn’t my favorite book by this author.

As far as I'm concerned, Alexis Hall is one of the best authors out there when it comes to LGBTQ+ Romance and I'm honestly convinced he's incapable of writing a bad book. While I had a couple of issues with 10 Things That Never Happened, mainly with the pacing, Hall's character work was incredibly well done and overshadows any pacing problems I may have. Alexis Hall had such a strong sense of who Sam was as an individual that his narration effortlessly brought me into the story, ensuring 10 Things That Never Happened would be one to remember.

Thank you @netgalley for sending me an ARC of 10 Things that Never Happened in exchange for an honest review!
This is an enjoyable romcom! I was quite fond of how Jonathan warmed up to Sam! He turns into a sweet character, though still very grumpy. As much as I understand Sam not wanting his coworkers to be fired, I understand Jonathan's perspective. They keep damaging material and keep not showing up to work, obviously they're not good employees. I didn't enjoy how this got blamed on Sam tho. Even Tiff says she slacked off because she knew she could with Sam, but that's her problem. She's the problem, not him. You have to be responsible, I belive it's obvious that just because you can do something doesn't mean you should.
The side character's antics can be a bit annoying. Sometimes the main character will try to have a serious conversation with them and they'll just start rambling about verything and anythigd and it's a little irritating to the reader. To be honest, I wasn't fond of Sam's friends at all. They don't appreciate him enough. He sacrificed himself for them and they just say they're better of without him, I honestly would'vre dropped them way sooner.
Jonathan is such an asshole to his dad. His dad got fired and tried his best to support his family, I don't understand how Jonathan can't see that. He says that getting a low payig job is "failing at life", but also wants to fire his employess. In the end he's a huge hypocrite when it comes to classism.
I don't understand how Wendy doesn't care that Sam was lying to Jonathan during the whole relationship. Her son was being lied to constantly and she was just expecting him to not care. That very irrealistic. No mother would want her son to be in a relationship with a liar.
Overall, the romance is interesting as is the growth of the main characters, but the rest of the characters and plots fall flat.

TW:sexual content, amnesia, head-hitting.

Sam likes his job but hates his boss, Jonathan. Jonathan seems to ONLY love his job and nothing else. After an ill-fated employment standards meeting, an accident and a concussion, Jonathan makes Sam move into his London mansion to keep an eye on him after his concussion & supposed amnesia.

I really wanted to love his. I like the happy Vs grumpy RomCom trope but this just fell flat for me. It's a bit too long & I never really fell for any of the characters. It genuinely felt like there was never a plan to this book and it just ended abruptly. The third act mis-understanding came so late in the book, it was just swept under the rug in 2 lines in the epilogue. It was an unsatisfactory ending as a reader.

2.5 stars rounded up to 3

Thank you Netgalley for this book!

I must say it got me a couple of pages until I was completely into the story. But once I was I LOVED it!

Sam, Gollum and his chaotic Coworkers
Jonathan and his messy and loud family

It was a fantastic read and really funny - Sam, Sam, how on earth did you end up in this situation! And Johnny MCGrumpy ( at the beginning I could've slapped him left and right lol ) but I really warmed towards him and I love them both!

As a fan of Alexis Hall's Boyfriend Material / Husband Material series, I was delighted to see another queer romance from this author. I was thoroughly entertained throughout the novel, and was tickled by the fake-amnesia plot which is just so ridiculous it works.

My one complaint is that the two main characters are (and they admit this) terrible people! While that is refreshingly honest, they did get a bit annoying. Conflict is, of course, what you want and need from a book like this, but they were way too argumentative for my liking.

However, Alexis Hall fills out the story with a bunch of amusing side-characters to compensate, and the author's trademark wit and sense of humour is a constant and enjoyable presence.

Characters: 4/5
Writing Style: 5/5
Plot: 3.5/5
Ending 3.5/5
Humour: 4.5/5
Enjoyability: 4/5

As a big big fan of both BF Material and HB Material, I love the Alexis Hall's writing and this one did not disappoint! Getting to know these characters were a ball and the interactions with one another are incredibly amusing. This kind of reminded me of the movie While You Were Sleeping (this book and the movie both share the plot points of amnesia and meeting a huge family during Christmas), but otherwise not at all the same.

I think I may have been a little disappointed with the ending. The character development was also great up until the 5th of the book... not usually a big issue with me, but it almost brought my rating down to 3 stars because of it.

Sam works for Jonathan at a bed and bath store and is not very good at his job. Jonathan, your classic grumpy character, is regretting hiring him and sits him down for a tough conversation. Sam trips during the meeting, hits his head, and to avoid being fired decides to fake amnesia. Now Jonathan is feeling guilty and the two are getting closer as they get to know each other again for the ‘first’ time. This is set in the same world as Boyfriend/Husband Material but not the same characters. I really enjoyed this book! Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this advanced copy.

A little formulaic, but in a kind of comforting way. A "I've read this author before and know what to expect, so I'll grab the tissues" kind of way.

Some parts were a little frustrating--like how Sam's past is danced around until the very end, and that he is Never Once Described--but overall it was a cute romcom with Hall's usual banter and quirky large cast.

My favorite thing about Alexis Hall books is that I get to say “I get that reference” as an American and chuckle to myself. My other favorite things about Alexis Hall books is that every single one I read is better than the last.
I was one paragraph into this book when I decided I loved it. And about 100 pages into it when I couldn’t put it down. I just needed to know what was going to happen, and how many references to absurd little bed and bathroom items could pop up throughout the book. Turns out, many more than I could possibly have anticipated, and I laughed at every single one of them.
In all seriousness, this book is special. It has two flawed people who make mistakes, make some really absurd mistakes, which in turn had me rooting for them even more so than I thought I could. The characters made choices that, at first glance seem ridiculous, but make complete sense once you get to see the whole picture, and just in turn tells a really funny and heartwarming story.
Plus, there’s a cat named gollum. Which makes everything just a bit better.

Tropes:
- opposites attract
- amnesia plot
- forced proximity
- slow burn
- super grumpy/sunshine
- boss/employee

I do enjoy a good old amnesia plot! This was a fun read, started off really well, sort of dragged a bit in the middle. The story delves into both character's families and how each dynamic has impacted their current state. I liked the grumpy/sunshine aspect and how very opposite these characters were. Two lonely men, finding each other in the strangest of circumstances and falling in love.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for sending me an eARC of this novel! I loved Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall so I was pleased to receive this copy.

I was born in Lancashire and went to high school in Liverpool, so I identified with many of the north of England aspects of this book. I laughed out loud quite a bit a some of the funnier parts of the book, much to the annoyance of my husband. And right at the end I bawled my eyes out.

This was a slow burn, not a riveting one, but rewarding. Thanks again for letting me read it.