This was my first Alexis Hall book and most likely won't be my last. 10 Things That Never Happened was an enjoyable read full of witty banter and self discovery that led to romance. The two MC's are total opposites and I enjoyed (what felt like) a very brief romance. I was honestly more interested in the family dynamic between Jonathan and his family because his family is a hoot. The idea of faking amnesia to prevent getting fired was fresh and it was fun to see Sam get closer to Jonathan without giving away his secret.
I wish there was more romance between these two (it felt like it took a long time to get there and then felt rushes) but what was there was quite beautiful to read.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read this title in exchange for my honest review.

This book was actually really enjoyable, it’s told from Sam’s point of view and he was so funny that I found myself laughing out loud multiple times.

The only thing I had a bit of problem with was the romance. I do think they had chemistry, but there was so much back and forth that toward the end it made me feel like maybe they really weren’t suited for each other. I was still rooting for them but not as much as in the beginning, there was just so much hostility and lies in their relationship.

Also the fact that there was a side character that was so oblivious and incompetent, felt too similar to Boyfriend Material.

I would have loved to know more about Sam’s family, it was kind of a big deal because it finally showed us why Sam is the way he is, yet it felt like it was brushed off.

Overall i did really enjoy this book and I liked the ending a lot. The found family was great, I just wish some things could’ve been different.

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

I love Alexis Hall rom coms. They are so incredibly funny with lots of snarky British banter and quirky side characters, but they also always have a lot of warmth and heart. This is a fake amnesia, grumpy/sunshine romance set around the holidays with a sprinkling of A Christmas Carol for Good measure. It can definitely be read any time of year, however. I am looking forward to more books in this series!

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for providing me an advanced reader copy of this book for review.

This was my first Alexis Hall romance, and I’ve heard so many great things about their work, so I really wanted to love it! The plot was fun, the side characters were fantastic, but the romance fell incredibly flat for me.

Sam is about to be fired by his boss, Jonathan. When a freak accident leads to him falling and hitting his head, he fakes amnesia to save the day. While this sounds ridiculous, I was impressed with how quickly Sam thought on his feet and how well he held to his story over the next few weeks. In an effort to not be sued for a workplace accident, Jonathan takes Sam into his house to care for him while he recovers from his injury.

This entire story takes place in the weeks leading up to Christmas. Jonathan’s family is around often, trying to convince him to host a Christmas dinner this year. I was laughing out loud at their family dynamics!

Jonathan is the definition of the grumpy character. Honestly, there were times that I was yelling at him through my kindle “stop being such a dick!” I had a difficult time seeing where Sam fell for him, and as a result wasn’t truly rooting for their relationship.
Sam reminded me of a younger Michael Scott, especially in the beginning with his store management skills. He is a goof that means well, who cares for his employees deeply. His character is why I enjoyed this story as much as I did.

Overall, this was a fun novel and while I didn’t love the romance, all the other story elements were fantastic. I’ll definitely be reading more Alexis Hall stories in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I never know what will happen when I read a new Alexis Hall's story as it can be a miss, very few, or a hit, a lot.
This is a hit, very funny and compeling.
Read it and have fun
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

10 Things That Never Happened has Alexis Hall's signature writing style and humour. There's a compelling premise and set-up, but ultimately the lying (through the fake amnesia plot) made me feel really uncomfortable while reading the book, and while I trust Hall's writing - and he still did a great job here - and will normally accept things that I wouldn't like written by another author, I really struggled with this one.

I enjoy everything that Hall writes and this was no exception. Sam and Jonathan were wonderful characters and I really liked how their stories unfolded. The back and forth between them was sublime and it helped balance loving and caring moments. The ragtag team of Sam's co-workers and other secondary characters were great and so fun to meet. Hall is always great at making the secondary characters relevant to the story. This was a great book with wonderful character development and a beautiful love story.

Unexpected. This was a slow burn in the romance department, but that left the opportunity for a ton of character development which was so interesting to read. It was hard not to fall in love with all of the characters including Sam's employees and Jonathan's family who became crucial to the story and how these two progressed.

While of course this focused on the relationship between Sam and Jonathan, there was also a lot of really interesting material about grief, family drama, self esteem, workplace dynamics, and expectations, both self and familial. There was so much here that it kept me fully invested in what was happening.

The enemies to lovers trope here was great and you could definitely feel the tension. Of course the whole fake amnesia thing is not the most believable storyline, but I couldn't help but just love these two.

All I hope is that Alexis Hall does not crush my dreams with a sequel that mirrors my crushed dreams with Husband Material....

Many thanks to NetGalley and to Sourcebooks Casablanca for providing me with a copy of this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Fairly predictable rom com but it was still a good read that I enjoyed. I just don't know if it would be a reread or not.

The premise of the book sounded interesting; however, at 35% I am choosing to DNF for now. I enjoy the quick wit and humor but overall I’m not finding the two main characters to be likeable or to have chemistry. The fake amnesia plot is not working for me. I do want to know how it is resolved but will likely skim.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC. I also want to note that listening to audio is a great way to experience this story if it works for you as Will Watts provides excellent narration.

I thought this was another great installment from Alexis Hall. His characters are always so entertaining, never a doubt that the grumpy grump is going to turn marshmallow!

The family dynamics in this one really got me. They’re all so overwhelming and irritating and wonderful.

Another great aspect is obviously the boss/employee relationship we have running here.

Let’s not forget the cat. It’s always the way when your pets fall in love with someone you’re still trying to hate, the struggle is real!

Overall a great read that was as adorable as it was entertaining.

This was so much fun! Alexis Hall knows how to write a good story.

"...I don't know how I'm supposed to go the rest of my life without being kissed by you again." This line killed me. I was gone after that.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks and LibroFM for the ARC/ALC in exchange for an honest reivew

I adore this series on audiobook, it only adds to the fun of this twist on an amnesia plot. I loved the workplace antics, the bit of bonkerness for the entier situation and the adorable romance

I wanted to like this one so badly. I absolutely loved Boyfriend Material. But this one felt so surface level and lackluster. The dialogue between characters was dry, it felt like there was a lot of filler that could have been cut, and it just could not hold my attention. Originally, I was planning to DNF quite early on but decided to push through with the hope that it would eventually catch my interest, but it just never did.

So I requested this book when I saw the author, and I should have been a bit more cautious. I’m not a big fan of the amnesia trope at all. So that kept me from enjoying it fully. I will say that Hall does a good job with it, and it wasn’t as bad as I expected. Otherwise the book was fun and funny with plenty of character development. I would recommend this book.

I received an ARC from NetGalley. This is my honest review.

It took me a while to warm up to Jonathan (I couldn't get over him calling a lawyer first when Sam got hurt) but eventually I loved how these two softened each other up in different ways. It's a good slow burn. My one major let down was I was hoping there would be a bigger interaction between these characters and the Husband Material folks outside of Jonathan mentioning they went to university together. It feels like a missed opportunity that they didn't interact more.

Alexis Hall does queer romance better than anyone else. An endless sweet and compelling novel filled with laughs and warmth.

As someone who’s read all of Alexis Hall’s other books, I loved this one. This book is a triumph of love, self-discovery, and acceptance. With authentically crafted characters, Hall navigates LGBTQ experiences with heartwarming and thought-provoking storytelling. This impactful narrative celebrates diversity, making it a must-read for those seeking a powerful LGBTQ story that leaves a lasting impression.

I love this author but this book was not one of my favorites. At times, I was very captivated by the relationship between the main character but also the whole premise was just too forced for me. My biggest complaint is actually the character development. I don't know why the author waited so long to reveal the information about Sam's past. At that point in the book, it was less consequential. If that had been revealed and explored earlier in the book, it would have helped the reader better understand the character's motivations. I also felt like Jonathan's back story wasn't enough to justify what a jerk he was. I know going hot and cold is part of the enemy to lover trope, but it felt especially unrealistic for me in this book. Still love Alexis Hall, but won't be recommending this one unfortunately.

“𝑰𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒈𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒃𝒆 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒚𝒐𝒖’𝒓𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒐𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇.”

Alexis Hall is a must-read author for me, and I couldn’t wait to dive into this spin-off from his London Calling Series.

I loved that Hall picked the character that Oliver described as ‘a mildly unpleasant man’ from Husband Material to feature in this spin-off; Jonathan’s grumpy unpleasantness matches his introduction in the previous book, making this a true ‘grumpy-sunshine’ storyline. The wink to the ‘pompous English student who married a YouTuber’ was a nice Easter egg too. The story is full of classic Hall humour - “𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒎𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒂 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒃𝒆 𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒚 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈,” and I absolutely thought the fake amnesia trope made for such a good reason for Jonathan and Sam to start over. Gollum, Sam’s cat, adds the right touch of humour (grumpy cats are the best), and helps show another side to both characters in their interactions with him. Between the gang at the Sheffield branch of Splashes & Snuggles to Jonathan’s meddling family, there were plenty of laughs and fully fleshed characters who are flawed in a story that is both slightly absurd and down to earth. Although I could’ve done with more steam and overall romance, I still loved the festive rom-com vibes as a whole.

Ten Things That Never Happened is a story of misconceptions, family relationships, letting go of control, and finding connection. I hope we get a peek of Jonathan and Sam (or at least an Easter egg) in Material World #2. Thank you to SourceBooks and Raincoast Books for the ARC!