This was the perfect holiday romance book. Samwise Becker is a manager of Splashes and Snuggles a bed and bathroom store. The store is not making its sales goals and is over budget. Sam’s staff are all a bit quirky and it is funny to see them and all their flaws. The shenanigans with Claire and the jokes about Jonathon Forrest being a dick boss were hilarious. Sam gets summoned to a meeting with his boss.

Jonathon wants Sam to shadow him for a day to see how he should manage his team. Things get heated and and Jonathon says he will fire Sam and his whole team then Sam trips into glass bathroom enclosure and ends up with concussion. Sam is drowsy when he wakes up and is confused so with miscommunication it is believed Sam has amnesia. Doctor says he must be watched and can’t be alone so Jonathon is forced to take him home.

Sam is thinking he can use this to his advantage to save his team. Living with Jonathon he starts to see another side of him and begins to understand why he is the way he is. Jonathon has family that long to be closer so they show up and push Jonathon to host Christmas.

What I really enjoyed was all the family dynamics and how they joked around. Gollum the cat who seemed to melt Jonathan’s heart.

This was a fun grumpy/sunshine, forced proximity, holiday romance that warms your heart and makes you smile and laugh.

I had a fun time with this book, it's exactly what you can expect from Alexis Hall. It's very British and I had a fun time feeling like I was dropped into the lives of Sam and Jonathan, and their friends and family. The fake-amensia plot does feel very rom com movie-esque, and I feel like while some of the logistics surrounding a manager losing his memory and moving in with his boss are explained, it does feel like something you have to go along with rather than figure out how it would actually work (and I do kind of wish they were honest with each other earlier in the book). But still an enjoyable read, and with a lot of fun Christmastime events and conversation - probably one of the best Christmas romance books I've read!

Also, it's maybe a strange reference, but if you like the dynamic between Jonathan and Martin in the Magnus Archives, or the main characters in TJ Klune's Under the Whispering Door, you'll probably also enjoy Jonathan's very grumpy personality, and Sam's generally positive but with a sad undertone attitude, that these two leads have.

Always love a good enemies to lovers 🤌🏻🤌🏻
Also the banter in Alexis’ books is always top tier.

Enemies to lovers/age gap/millionaire boss romance

In 10 Things That Never Happened, we follow Samwise, or Sam for short, manager of a bed and bath retailer, and too nice to do anything about the misfit group of employees who cause more problems than they solve. The big boss, Jonathan Forest, calls Sam down to London with the intent to fire him and his team, but in the middle of this – Sam trips and falls into one of the showers on the shop floor, and comes out with a concussion. In an accidental turn of events, Sam accidentally implies he has amnesia and remembers nothing in a bid to not get himself and his team fired. This leads to Jonathan reluctantly having to take Sam in, and forced proximity ensues. They say opposites attract and it’s so true with this couple, with a good dose of enemies to lovers thrown in too!

I loved this book; it was so easy to read, constantly entertaining, and really funny. Sam and Jonathan’s back and forth and arguing was very entertaining, and I loved how they really went from enemies to lovers. It felt really natural as they got closer, and as Sam made himself at home with Jonathan and his family. Jonathan’s grumpy personality worked really well, and juxtaposed Sam’s relatable personality. Although really funny and cute, Alexis also brought a really mature tone in the discussion of family relationships and trauma, especially parent-child relationships.

This book felt so British in the best ways, and as a British person it was so refreshing to read! There were so many British sayings, accents, landmarks and just general culture that really rooted this book in a strong sense of place. I loved the northern representation too.

Gollum the cat was great, and the Christmas setting was awesome. I don’t normally like holiday romance settings, but this was so, so good. It’s the middle of summer but it had me longing for Christmas!

I really need to read more of Alexis Hall’s novels, especially since I’ve heard Jonathan shows up in Husband Material from the popular London Calling series!

I absolutely ADORED this read.

I have a real struggle with the miscommunication trope, and while this is next level miscommunication in a way that surpasses miscommunication and hits downright lying, I was totally here for it! Alexis Hall has created the situation with the just the right amount of uncomfortable tension with this trope, but not too much.

Sam is about to get fired by his uptight boss when he falls and hits his head, putting him in the hospital briefly. When he inadvertently claims amnesia, it starts to benefit him and his own small team of employees that would have also got sacked. When his boss, Jonathan has no other choice but to house Sam in his beautiful home for the duration of his concussion, Sam sees this as an opportunity to find a way to not get himself and his team fired… he just needs a little time to work it all out.

This was a very slow burn romance and it killed me in the best way! This is a low loooooowwwww heat romance, but there is the perfect romantic tension between them. I loved the ways in which the two grew together. Jonathan is an overbearing man who is closed off emotionally, while Sam is a golden retriever in human form, always filling silences and making people like him. So the opposites attract trope was fantastic.

I really loved the family element in this book. Jonathan has a big family with a lot of baggage and a lot of drama and it gave so much to the story. On the other hand, the one thing I didn’t care for was Sam’s team of employees. They weren’t terrible, but they just weren’t it for me.

I highly recommend this one if you like slow burn, grump/sunshine, opposites attract, and forced proximity.

Also, it’s set at Christmas time and what’s not to live about that?

Thank you Sourcebooks Casablanca and NetGalley for this advanced readers copy of 10 Things That Never Happened by Alexis Hall!

I enjoyed this book and found myself laughing out loud from the humor and giggling from the flirting. I loved the grumpy boss trope, the fake amnesia, the big loving family, the Lord of the Ring references, especially the main character being named Samwise and having a cat with a deformed face named Gollum. I loved that it was a Christmas book without being completely centered around Christmas. It was a lot of fun to read! I had a hard time putting it down and stayed up late just to read more! I highly recommend this book when it comes out October 17, 2023!

THIS IS A GREAT READ AND I WANT TO SCREAM IT FROM THE ROOFTOPS. I highly recommend this book to everyone and anyone. I will be recommending this to buy for my library.

Another banger from Alexis Hall. An author that constantly hits all the right beats, and a narrative voice that's so engaging and funny, it's difficult to put down.

Sam Becker, the manager of a bed and bath retailer, is probably good- or maybe okay enough- at his job. Their store is over budget and under target, and his boss, Jonathan Forest, is a bit of a dick. When h'es called up to London, a good fou-hour trip, it's to be there in person while he's fired, and possibly so is the rest of his team. Except he falls into a display shower and knocks his head, then there's a concussion, but not amnesia, except now his boss thinks there's amnesia,,, and maybe that's for the best.
Now he's got to stay with Jonathan until he's all better, and Jonathan's family keeps popping up, and god dammit, he just wants a home-cooked meal, and Jonathan is such a dick, but maybe he's a dick with hidden depths? Honestly, it's a right mess.

There's something so comforting about watching two messes figure out they really like each other, and while we're waiting for that to happen, Sam stumbles his way into a found family that don't just welcome him, but outright engulf him. We get absolutely hilarious and frustrating family dynamics, quick-witted banter, and quality sibling griping, all against the backdrop of the Christmas season.

A beautiful, funny, emotional read .

Full five stars, if only for the chicken stuffing scene.

I really enjoy Alexis Hall's contemporaries (less so his historicals) and this one shares the same fun, cheeky voice and the same kind of entertaining side characters with Boyfriend Material and Husband Material. Unfortunately, it doesn't share the pacing, and I found 10 Things to be overlong and pretty slow. I was not as convinced by the enemies-to-lovers transition as I was with Boyfriend Material...it just seemed unlikely. A comparative disappointment.

I'm really not sure where this one fell flat. Because I was really enjoying the first half of it. But then, suddenly I didn't care about reading it anymore. Instead of looking forward to the latest development in Jonathon and Sam's relationship, I was reading because I felt like I had to. And now, thinking about it, that may be because this wasn't dual POV. Having only Sam's POV really robbed Jonathon of the depth he so desperately needed. I don't think that's the only reason this one was so meh, but it's the only one I can pin down right now. Something was just off with it.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review

Humor with heart, another great romance from Alexis Hall featuring characters that are real, really messy, and real fun!

Another absolutely splendid title from Alexis Hall!

I was greatly anticipating this book, wondering how Hall would get me to care about Jonathan, the side character from Husband Material, who was so briefly seen at Miles and JoJo's wedding talking to Luc.

Hall made me more than care! I am completely devoted to Jonathan and Sam! This book has shot up my list of favorite books by Hall and I can't wait for the final copy in my hands and the audio book!

Sam, the narrator and protagonist, is an immediately engaging character. He's kind, he's observant, he's funny, but also detached in a subtle way. He is mostly happy at his job, as long as he's not having to think about things too much, and is fiercely devoted to his staff which brings him into conflict with his micromanaging, detail oriented, annoying boss Jonathan.

Jonathan is the owner of a small bed and bath chain and he has an unparalleled zeal for the bottom line and details of the business. He's on top of things and way too involved in the day to day for Sam.

A workplace mishap leads to Sam faking amnesia to keep Jonathan from firing his whole staff and Jonathan into keeping an eye on Sam. Forced proximity at the holidays. What could go wrong? Or right?

Plenty of things! Jonathan's loud, vociferous, and motley assorted family members descend on him, Christmas party planning goes awry, Sam and Jonathan's proximity leads to feelings, a Christmas tree shopping expedition leads to house renovations, and a cat proves to be disloyal to his owner.

This book is laugh out loud funny, thought provoking on family love, friendship, workplaces and contains all the wry humor, nuanced personalities, and social commentary I've come to love in Alexis Hall books.

I didn't know what to expect with this one, being in the London Calling universe but not about Luc and Oliver. I couldn't be happier. Jonathan and Sam have my whole heart. This book is a triumph and so worth the read. I am so grateful Hall chose to share Jonathan and Sam's story with us.

My heart is full.

Highly recommended. All the stars.

My thanks to net galley and the publisher for this ARC.

Alexis Hall has done it again! Another spectacular book that engages you from the first page and makes you love characters so deeply, you want to keep reading more of their story.

10 Things That Never Happened is a book that is part of the London Calling universe, but follows one of the minor characters in Husband Material–Jonathan–who owns a small empire of bed and bath shops and his store manager, Sam.

I can't say enough good things about this book. It had me laughing out loud, reveling in the Lord of the Rings references, crying and tearing up again and again.

This book has all the wonderful moments you get with Hall's books: humor, witticisms, three dimensional characters, relatable situations, social commentary, heaps of romance, the many facets of love, emotionally resonant communication, and the reality that love makes things better but it doesn't magically fix everything and doesn't need to.

Sam is the protagonist and narrator and his voice is unique, engaging, and oh so dear to me. I honestly can't wait for the audiobook, to hear his voice out loud. Sam manages one of Jonathan's stores. He is capable, kind, observant and devoted to his staff. His staff, though only in the book for short bursts of time, are all memorable and distinct and quite funny. The attention to detail of retail jargon and the nuances of corporate structure are all so well developed and exposed here. I laughed every time Sam detailed exactly what brand/model/style product he observed. Anyone who has worked in retail will find resonance, even if your store didn't focus on bath and bed.

Jonathan is the grumpy owner of the bed and bath chain. He has a few stores and is growing his brand but he is extremely hands on and quite the micromanager. Sam's store is the weakest performer of his chain and Jonathan is determined to do something about that. At a visit to the store (to likely cut costs by cutting personnel) Jonathan ends up involved in a mishap that leads to Sam being injured and coming up with the idea of faking amnesia as a last ditch effort to save his staff.

Jonathan is tasked with Sam's care in the aftermath and their relationships develops as they are forced into proximity by this arrangement thrust upon them by the harried and busy A&E physicians. Jonathan and Sam are both complicated characters, with pasts that have shaped them and continue to resonate in their daily lives, with hidden (and not so hidden) traumas that affect them and how they interact with the people and world around them. And with each other.

The Christmas setting and Jonathan's unique, eccentric, and utterly relatable family add to the depth of the story. Hall's side characters are always so engaging and vibrant, people you feel you know and want to know more about. I would gladly read books about almost any of his side characters. I am so glad he chose Jonathan–someone I would never have expected to be a protagonist in his own book–someone I found somewhat irritating in Husband Material and now find myself completely devoted to. I would do anything for this man. Anything.

And for Sam as well.

Hall gives us characters with flaws, with their own issues and pasts, characters who grow and progress as the story progresses but who aren't magically fixed by love, or another person, or a new situation. They remain themselves, flawed and unique and relatable, and with a deeper understanding of themselves and each other. With someone at their sides who gets them for who they are and how they are and has compassion and understanding and takes them as they are.

Everyone has a story arc in this book. Jonathan. Sam. The staff at the store. Jonathan's family. Gollum the cat. Everyone.

I laughed. I cried. I literally wanted to hug this book when I finished it. I did not expect to get so fiercely attached to Jonathan and Sam and the rest of the crew in this book but here we are. Hall has done it again. An absolute triumph of a book. One I wanted to start reading again as soon as I finished it, to find all the deeper nuance and care in the storytelling that I might have missed the first time.

Splendid book. I can't recommend it enough. It is a such a wonderful book. It has my whole heart.
My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC. This is my honest review.

Another cute read from Alexis Hall. I wasn't counting so I'm not quite sure I get the title and what the 10 things are, but this was a fun enemies-to-lovers with a side of fake amnesia! The one thing I didn't love was that there was SO much buildup - about 270 pages worth - and then only about 30 pages of conflict and resolution. For what a major player the amnesia was, it didn't get a lot of air time when it came to the big reveal, so to speak, and I with there had been more around that. Also a closed door romance. 4/5 and no eggplants.

OMG I loved this! I was little wary at first because amnesia tropes can be tricky and make you not feel good about the relationship but this did a great job of working with it and commenting on it. I was also worried at first how Jonathan was going to develop as a character because he is not very likeable in the beginning. What I love about Alexis Hall's characters is how developed they are, how they have real conversations and not everything is perfect. There's backsliding and discussions about how everyone messes up but how you can work past that. Another great thing is the full cast of characters who never disappoint. The only one that really stressed me out was Brian, I could not with him. But I couldn't stop talking about this book once I started reading it and kept reading parts out loud to my friends even though they had no idea what was going on in the book. So cute!

Really enjoyed this one—had all of the romcom elements that I love and, as usual, the perfect amount of depth and feeling without being maudlin. Alexis Hall has such a remarkable ability to write deftly across a whole spectrum of romance, and I felt like this installment had exactly the tone I was looking for.

4.5 stars, rounding to 5

If you've read Alexis Hall books, you'll enjoy his familiar wit/humour, social commentary, and his ability to leave the reader gripping their book/device until the absolute last possible moment.

If you've never read an Alexis Hall book, you're in for a lot of fun.

One thing that always strikes me, is that Alexis Hall manages to pick up on subtle nuances in situations that, unless you've lived them, might not have the same level of impact. For instance, if you've worked retail/retail management, the level of detail between product model names, customer interactions, upper management interactions and well, even the, uh, inappropriate use of display model toilets. If you've worked in this world, these moments will hit different for you.

Jonathan is the grumpy, micromanaging owner of the bed and bath company with three locations, while Sam (Samwise, yes, THAT Samwise) is the manager of one, particularly struggling, store location. Sam's staff is a vibrant mix of characters that, once again, if you've managed in retail, you've likely had every one of these people on your team, including Brian. In an effort to save his team's jobs, as well as his own, Sam resorts to faking amnesia after an in-store incident.

Sam and Jonathan's relationship develops in an honest and sweet way, in typical Alexis Hall fashion. Both Jonathan and Sam are flawed individuals in very real ways. Another appreciated characteristic of Alexis Hall's writing, is that one character does not bounce into the relationship and fix ALL THE THINGS. They remain flawed individuals, but they remain flawed together, with considerably more understanding for each other. Alexis Hall also has an innate ability to create incredibly layered side characters and since this book takes place during the holidays, Jonathan's family, with their complicated family dynamics (and Sam, with his own), play a significant role. The holiday theme adds an extra emotional element to the story of Jonathan and Sam navigating these dynamics. And there's Gollum, the cat. Even Gollum has a fabulous story arc.

I couldn't wait for this book and I am so excited to have had the chance to read the digital ARC. Big thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks!

Was delighted to recieve an advance reader copy of this!

I started this novel expecting a witty rom-com about fake amnesia - and while '10 Things That Never Happened' is a witty rom-com about fake amnesia, it is also a touching story about family, love, loss, and about how two people make each other better, and help each other reach for happiness. It's heartwarming and emotional and at times sad, and I absolutely loved how many feelings these wonderful characters made me feel. I adored it!

In '10 Things That Never Happened' we meet Sam, who manages the Sheffield branch of a bed-and-bath type store and who's having trouble meeting the specific sales targets of his grumpy boss, Jonathan. In an effort not to be fired from said job - as well as to save the jobs of every other employee at the Sheffield branch - Sam ends up faking having temporary amnesia, which leads to Jonathan taking care of him while he 'recovers'. But what starts as a ploy to score sympathy points with the boss soon turns very, very complicated. Because while Jonathan is unsurprisingly a bit of a dick, that's not all that he is, and it's definitely not the person he truly wants to be. With Christmas just around the corner and Jonathan's family showing up on the scene, Sam must navigate trying not to lose his job, and trying not to fall in love with his boss, and trying not to think too hard on his own past, and his family, and what truly matters in his life going forward. So long as he can save the Sheffield branch, everything will be okay. Right?

One thing I love about Alexis Hall's books is that they always make me think so much, and this one's no exception. Yes, there is humour, and banter, and a bed-and-bath store called 'Splashes & Snuggles', but between it all there's a profound story about struggling to come to terms with the past, and about making the best of one's future. I was turning the pages so fast from the middle of the book to the end, desperate to know how things would finally work out for Sam and Jonathan. Both characters really grew on me during the course of the novel, and I absolutely loved so many of their conversations - maybe especially the difficult ones. This book has wit and levity, but also so much heart. And that's a classic Alexis Hall story if I ever saw one!

Rated four stars because I felt the beginning of the narrative could've been a little more engaging, but once we learn a little more about the characters I absolutely couldn't put this one down!

Four and a half stars.

Sam Becker is the manager of a bed and bath showroom in Sheffield, one of four owned by Jonathan Forest. Sam is a good boss to the bunch of misfits who work there, but he's not such a great store manager; they are over-budget and missing their sales targets. When he's called down to the Croydon head office and store by Jonathan he's told to shape up, fire the most unproductive staff, and cut costs, or he'll be fired. Long story short, things get a bit heated between Sam and Jonathan, Jonathan screams that Sam is fired and so are all the staff of his store, and Sam ends up falling through a Nexa by MERLYN 8mm sliding door shower enclosure, cutting his head and getting a concussion.

When Sam first comes around he is a bit disorientated, so when the doctor asks what he can remember he says he can't quite remember. Then when Jonathan arrives and starts being nice, Sam goes to say 'Who are you, and what have you done with Jonathan Forest' but only gets the first bit out before Jonathan thinks he's got amnesia. Sam decides to play along, firstly because its funny, and secondly because he hopes temporary amnesia will mean he and the other staff from the Sheffield store aren't fired. Later Sam also thinks that if Jonathan gets to know him better, he might see that a less dictatorial leadership style would work better.

With no-one to look after Sam, Jonathan agrees to look after him for a couple of weeks, until the amnesia clears up and the doctor gives the all-clear on the concussion. Sam may have been a teensy bit influenced by that rom-com classic Overboard starring Goldie Hawn :).

Jonathan lives in a palatial home, but he's all alone and doesn't seem to have friends (or a boyfriend), he doesn't cook, or have a hobby, all he does is work 24/7. But stuck at home watching Pointless all day long is driving Sam around the bend, so he offers to cook dinner. The next thing you know, Sam is brokering peace between Jonathan and his extremely voluble family (parents, grandparents, aunts, cousins, sister etc) over why Jonathan won't host the family Christmas in his five bedroom, three reception room, mansion. Oh and he's also offered to arrange the works Christmas party.

This is Alexis Hall at their best, its not just the cover that's reminiscent of Boyfriend Material, its also that light-hearted fun, frothy writing that just seems effortless. I'm not sure where the title comes from - but who cares. My only quibble was that Alexis says that they wrote Sam as a Scouser, but all I heard in my head was Newcastle, although TBH I'm pretty useless at accents.

Anyway, a lovely, lovely holiday romance, featuring far more toilet seats than I would normally expect in a romance, an amnesia prank that gets out of hand, and a crabby boss with a soft heart.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Absolutely loved this one! Workplace romance meets enemies to lovers but make it queer. Alexis Hall really nailed this one with two characters that I really enjoyed in Samwise, the manager of a home store and Jonathan, his boss on the verge of firing him. Toss in a little fake amnesia, a wild and woolly group of family members that are endearing and frustrating and overwhelming, a real Gollum of a cat and then add the Christmas season for good measure and you have an adorable romcom that you won’t want to miss.