Alexis Hall always writes an entertaining story, and 10 Things That Never Happened is thoroughly enjoyable. A sweet slow-burn, enemies to lovers romance, this one is super charming.

Hall sets a mellow pace in 10 Things That Never Happened. The characters gradually reveal themselves, and we get to watch as their connection grows from dislike to friendship, and finally to mutual respect and sprking hot attraction.

What a pleasure!

Leave it up to Alexis Hall to come up with a plot that seems impossible to write and still turn it into something perfect.

10 Things is a (Christmas) story about two lonely people finding each other in the strangest of ways. Sam fakes amnesia to keep his Scrooge-like boss, Jonathan, from firing him and his entire branch. This leads to Sam having to live with his boss for weeks so that Jonathan can make sure Sam's all right (and won't sue him).

Throughout the story, a lot of silly, hilarious stuff happens, but it's the tender, emotional moments (the guinea-pig!! 🥺) that I loved the most. And I LOVED Jonathan + Gollum the cat. It was both hilarious and adorable at the same time.

For a long time, I wondered how they could possibly fix their relationship once the truth came out because it seems like quite a big deal to me to find out someone you love has faked amnesia. I expected lots of drama, big apologetic gestures, etc. But what actually happened was way better.

Simply loved it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for sending me an eARC of this novel! I love Alexis Hall's other novels, so I was super excited to get my hands on this one. I am always a huge fan of grumpy-sunshine romances, and this one certainly hit the mark on that. Far and away the best part was when Jonathan was finally admitting his (quite obvious) feelings for Sam and he basically said how could I not like the ray of sunshine that you are. I also thought Jonathan's family was wonderful. Other than that though, this didn't have anything particularly special. It was a little too long and a little too slow, and while of course the amnesia plot is inherently cheesy, it could have been done a little less eye-roll-inducingly.

I absolutely loved this book! The characters felt really earnest and relatable, especially when talking about their bodies towards the end and how his minor betrayal wasn't resolved immediately. It was wonderful and I'll definitely recommend it for people who want something Red White & Royal Blue adjacent :)

I was absolutely thrilled to receive an ARC of 10 Things That Never Happened. Alexis Hall is an auto-read author and the premise of this one seemed particularly comical/sweet. Unfortunately this is the first Hall book I’ve read and disliked. It has so many of the things I love about Hall’s romcoms - unlikely love interests, extreme situations, excellent supporting characters. My issue was with our two MC’s. I found Sam to be surprisingly unintelligent (a major rarity for Hall), Brian to be boring (even rarer), and both to be somewhat insufferable. There was a very good attempt at charm here, that I’m sure many readers will appreciate. Admittedly, my expectations for this was very high, but I’m still sad to share they weren’t met.

Thank you to sourcebooks Casablanca and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was so excited to see a new story in Boyfriend Material universe!

Let me first say that Alexia Hall is a pro at banter. This book was sweet, and funny and the characters all had distinct and interesting personalities. Sam's sunshine vs Johnathan's grumpy was *chefs kiss* and I want to catnap Gollum.

Although the amount of characters was at points overwhelming and it became hard to keep some of the family straight, it was lovely to see Sam being included in what he obviously missed. Both of these men were lost and lonely in their own ways and it was a delight to get to see them find each other and open up to each other.

I loved the Christmas setting and would love to reread this around the holidays. I flew through this book and it gave me the warmest fuzzies. I want to put Sam and Johnathan in my pocket and keep them both!

Thank you to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Hilarious, emotional, and completely adorable! Alexis Hall truly never disappoints and always brings one-of-a-kind romcoms.

4.25 stars

*eARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

overall i really liked this!! the forced proximity-grumpy/sunshine vibes were excellent and i loved the characters - especially sam! also the found family was great although i couldn't always keep up with who was who in jonathan's family. alexis hall tends to be a fan of quite late resolution which can feel a tad jarring, but overall i'd recommend this book. really liked the northern rep as i don't see it a lot.

Something that I can’t deny is that I really enjoy reading Alexis Hall, his stories are always entertaining and make me laugh on more than one occasion, this was no exception.

Sam is funny and absurd, in contrast to Jonathan who is serious and correct, workaholic and a difficult person to get along with. I love Grupy-sunshine stories, Sam and Jonathan captivated me in the way they get to know each other and develop feelings (it's a slow-burn in all its splendor).

Yes, several parts of the story are unreal and absurd, but in a way, it's what gives the story its charm and I loved the Christmas vibes in the background.

Sure, this isn't perfect, Jonathan's family was overwhelming and I think Sam's backstory could have been fleshed out more, however I did enjoy it and appreciate that this had a HEA.

If you loved Boyfriend Material, then you’ll love this book too.

Absolutely loved this book. The characters just steal your soul and who doesn’t love a forced proximity-esque story? Johnathan deserves good things and soft hugs and Sam also needs a hug. I am a sucke4 for found families and fish did thus give that. I definitely recommend this!

10 Things That Never Happened by Alexis Hall
This is part of the London Calling Universe, but it is a standalone story and can be read without any other books.

Alexis Hall is one of my favorite authors. If they are writing it, I am reading it! I loved 10 Things That Never Happened!

Things I am here for:
Sam's cheekiness
Gollum
Jonathan
Jonathan and Gollum
Jonathan's whole family
Agnieszka the housekeeper who is hilarious and brilliant
A Christmas tree in 3 parts
Elephants
River fights

The whole progression of Sam and Jonathan's characters is absolutely wonderful.

I received an advance review copy for free from NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Reading the description and seeing the summary involved a fake amnesia plotline, I was really interested in reading this book as it was such a silly concept. I really enjoyed all of the secondary characters in this story. Jonathan's family and the other workers at the store Sam manages really helped to flesh out the story. You could see into the motivations behind each of the main couple. I do feel like the romantic relationship between Jonathan and Sam could have been more developed. Reading this you can see how they start to become friends and improve their relationship, but it did not always feel very romantic at times.
Overall though, I really enjoyed this book. It was a fun and quick read!

I loved revisiting characters I enjoyed from other books and this met those expectations. I love the fact that his characters do not change, they just get a little softer around the edges. I enjoyed the back story on why they were the way they were and their interaction together was amazing AMF the extremes that are gone through to avoid situations... it made me smile and get a bit agitated but I enjoyed it

This is one of my most anticipated releases of the year and I’m sad to say that I’m a little disappointed. I think the story had so much wonderful potential, but it wasn’t fully flushed out. I’m not too sure on the main couple and I don’t really feel like they had that much chemistry. I also really disliked the main love interest, and thought that he never really had a redeeming quality throughout the book. The big reveal was also handled a little poorly and wasn’t super believable. I did, however, really enjoy Jonathan‘s family and just their presence. At times they were a little too much, but I think they brought enough comedy into the book to make it work. I’m sure some people will love this book but it’s just not the book for me.

I adore Alexis Hall. If Alexis Hall writes a new book, I'm reading it.

Want to know why?

Because Alexis Hall never misses.

And this one is a perfect 10.

Imagine if you were a home goods store manager, just doing your best to keep your store afloat, just a good guy with an adequate job in an inadequate store with good but sometimes inept help. (If you've seen the Kinky Boots musical, that visual might be helpful.) That's main character Sam.

Imagine a very minor accident, a boss who is as hot as he is grumpy, and a bit of faked injury. And Sam's equally grumpy cat.

Oh, and it's almost Christmas. (Trust me, the scene unloading the tree is worth it.)

I think what I love most about an Alexis Hall book is the dialogue. From witty banter to heartfelt gushing to quippy sniping and ordinary conversion, the author makes the characters come to life in the pages, while their flaws stay flaws but make them better together.

"You're the kind of person who would be a serial killer. That suggests to me that you might have a bit of an image problem."
"Serial killers can be very charismatic."
"Shut up and finish your chicken."
"Excuse me, I'm your boss."
"Shut up and finish your chicken, sir."

Also, I sobbed. I can't help it. Alexis Hall has that effect, as usual.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing me with an ARC!

3 stars!

I really liked how this was written and the author’s note about the Liverpool accent!!

The story itself I really enjoyed, especially about finding yourself after loss and the amnesia story trope is something I will always eat up even if it’s real or fake haha

The ending felt a little rushed but I did enjoy this!!!

Clearly you know by page 1 exactly how this book is going to end, but it is still fun to go along for the ride. Sam hates his grumpy boss Jonathan and when he's called into London for a talking-to that he fears will lead to either him and/or his team getting fired, a series of mishaps leads to Sam's living with Jonathan while recovering from a concussion. Add in some crazy but lovable family members (actually, a lot of them - a family tree might have helped me to keep track of them all) and some crazy co-workers and you have a quick read.

NOTE: Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Fabulous banter. Truncated backstory.


This is the first amnesia/fake amnesia romance I’ve read and I am not sure if the trope is for me. Other than something about this trope grating at me, I feel that Sam’s story wasn’t given the proper incubation it deserved because Sam is a great, empathetic, character who I wanted to know more about.

I LOVED the dialogue between Sam and Jonathan and found myself laughing out loud several times. The Forest family is a chaotic delight. If you have a big, nosy, noisy family like I do, you’ll see your family reflected back at you. If you don’t have a family like this, you’ll still understand how deeply frustrating and annoying they are.

I thought the romance was a little hasty to develop. Yes, there were signs observed by the narrator but it still felt like we went from 0 to 100 in 5 sentences. Jonathan does deliver some quality, swoon worthy lines though.

I liked 10 Things That Never Happened.
I love the Christmas-y vibes and enemies to lovers always makes my heart happy. I believe the character developments could have been a bit better but other than that the story was really amazing.

4.25. I'm always surprised by how much I end up liking Alexis Hall's books, and not because I necessarily think I'm going to have a bad time. He just tends to come up with the most silly setups for a plot that I think surely, surely this isn't actually going to be <i>good.</i> But it's actually...pretty good?

For spoiler reasons I won't get into specific details, as this was an e-ARC I received, but basically we follow Sam Becker, a 20-something man who manages a bed/bath store that isn't doing too well. The boss is a dick, conflict ensues, and Sam ends up faking amnesia after an accident in order to buy himself more time to sort things out. What follows is the most goofy sequence of events ever, in which somehow Alexis Hall made me care a lot about the fate of these two very argumentative gay men.

I think the reason that this story works is that it doesn't rely as heavily as you might think it would on the whole amnesia thing. There's a great amount of substance and exposition that really helps flesh out these main characters, even if the side characters suffer a bit from the lack of attention. Some might argue that there's a whole lot of filler crap, but I would justify it by saying that it helped me to actually care about what was going to happen and <i>how</i> it was going to happen.

My biggest criticisms are probably that the timeline is way too fast, as well as the conflict climax and resolution. I can maybe excuse the former, as this is technically a Christmas-themed romance and those tend to get fast tracked on account of the quickness of the season, but the latter was a bit disappointing. I think I just wish that the resolution was drawn out a little bit more, given some more time for things to ruminate. I didn't hate it, though, and it's always cool to see two seemingly very different characters come together and realize they have a lot more in common that they thought. Overall, very fun and silly read. I think fans of Alexis Hall's other works (especially fans of the <i>Boyfriend Material</i> series) will really love this one.

Huge thanks to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for allowing me early access to this ARC!