“I can pretend that you’re my boyfriend, and nobody will think it’s strange that I’ve never mentioned you before because I’m such an utter nincompoop that it could very easily have slipped my mind.”

4/5 stars!

Yay! I really loved the last Alexis Hall series I read, but I ended up having a lot of trouble with it. I’m really glad that this go around, I throughly enjoyed the book from start to finish.

This book is about Luc, who is unfortunately the son of somewhat decently famous musicians. He loves his mom, hates his job, and is devastatingly single. When he suddenly needs to be in an adorable relationship to save his job, he enlists Oliver Blackwood. The Oliver that has no sense of humor and already thinks he’s out of his mind. But it just so happens that Oliver could use a fake boyfriend to…and so the fun begins.

I think what I loved about this Alexis Hall book was something I also loved about the last series. The protagonist has such great character presences from the beginning. Even as we are introduced to Luc, he is already someone who the reader can be interested in. He’s funny, complicated, and vulnerable in a way that just sympathizes you to him.

An improvement in this book is the love interest: I loved Oliver. He was so cute and sweet without really meaning to. I thought he was a really great character all around and it really brought the story together for me that I could love them both individually as well as together.

I’ll also mention that this book has hilarious and wonderful side characters: Luc’s mom, his co-workers, and the background people in one scene are all so funny and well-written that it’s honestly a gift.

Besides being a great example of a fake-dating trope gone right, the story is really great for a lot of reasons. It subverts expectations and keeps you guessing. It also is so full of fun that you hardly notice the moment that your heart starts breaking! Isn’t that fun?!

In all seriousness though, the fact that this book is really about the ways that people judge themselves too harshly and never give themselves credit is a really strong message at the core of this. The book is one big example of how people self-sabotage and push others away. I really love that this book not only uses romance, but also friendship as a way to push back on this.

TL;DR: This is a hilarious rom-com with a surprisingly heartfelt core. Full of classic tropes and trope subversive, this book is a fun time for all.

E-galley provided by Sourcebooks Casablanca and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All quotations and opinions are based off an uncorrected proof.

Happy Pub Day to this FUN romantic comedy about a M/M relationship that blew me away!
Poor Luc is adjacent to famous because of his rock star father that walked out on him more than 20 years ago. Unfortunately, the paparazzi don’t care that he doesn’t he even know his dad. Luc’s every taboo, drunken mishap, and clumsy moment is shared in tabloids. The paparazzi seem to have a way of being there whenever he doesn’t need them to be. He works at a charitable foundation to save 😂 dung beetles😂 and his job is on the line because of his wild escapades and some homophobia.
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Luc’s coworker and friends help him fake a relationship that appears healthy to solidify his job and get him a bit of good press. He ends up with Oliver a man he loves to dislike as his new fake man!
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Their relationship struggles and issues were the perfect escape! I honestly loved both characters, laughed out loud a lot, was immersed in corny jokes, London, and two men fumbling to figure out family dramas and relationships together.
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I’m always here for the hate to love trope! I fall for it every time! I just plan enjoyed this one! If you still swoon for Red, White, and Royal Blue I think you’ll love this one too!
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⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 stars! This gem is out today so pick it up and laugh out loud! Thank you @netgalley and @sourcebookscasa for an advanced copy of the book for my honest review!

This book.

THIS BOOK.

Boyfriend Material may just be my favorite book this year. It’s got all of the things:

1. Fake dating
2. Enemies to lovers
3. Gut-wrenchingly relatable characters (at least to me)
4. Laugh out loud funny moments
5. An absolutely delightful cast of support characters (Luc’s friend group and their group chat name changes, OMG)
6. Just boys, standing outside their (fake, but now not so fake) boyfriend’s door, asking to be loved
7. Heartbreaking moments behind other doors
8. A raucous—and a maybe not well planned—road trip
9. The best mom in the world and her best friend analyzing reality TV
10. One of the sweetest and hardest-won happily ever afters I’ve read

I felt like I was watching a queer take on the Brit Rom-Com while reading this book. I wanted to crawl into the book to bear hug Luc and Oliver at the end, but they worked so hard for the HEA, I think it’s best if I stay out of it and leave ‘em to it.

This book was SO much fun to read!

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

DNF @ 20%. I found the writing to be weirdly paced, and it took too long to get into the main problem of the book and the fake dating romance. Also, the moments of dialogue felt rushed and under-developed.

4 stars for Boyfriend Material by @quicunquevult! We love a fake dating trope and this one was totally adorable 😍.
When son-of-a-C-list celebrity Luc needs a reputation boost because he’s in danger of losing his job, pretending to date well-spoken lawyer Oliver seems like an easy solution. But what happens when Luc develops real feelings and it seems like Oliver is just as indifferent towards him as before? And wait… they’re actually sharing a bed?

The banter in this one, y’all… WOW! Alexis Hall masterfully tells an unconventional love story that is both charming AND at times, laugh out loud funny. The characters are so well-developed too that we felt like they were friends of ours. If you’re looking for a fun novel with some depth, that will give you ALL the feels, we think this queer romance is the one for you! 🇬🇧♥️
Thanks to Casablanca Books, Alexis Hall and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Oh my goodness this book was so entertaining. I ended up listening to the majority on audio from Libro.fm because the narrator was a delight. He made Oliver sound like a modern day Mr. Darcy (which honestly he kind of was!). This was so cute. It's easy to compare this to Red, White and Royal blue (British, opposites attract) and I would say if you enjoyed that check this one out. What made me enjoy it was the quirky, fun characters and witty banter between Oliver and Luc. This was so fun, I have to give it 5 stars!

Thank you to the publisher for a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Honestly, this book was so British and so cute.

Luc is the son of two aging rock stars, one who abandoned him as a child and has come back into the limelight which has thrust Luc back into the spotlight, and not in a good way. After one too many instances of "bad" press, Luc's boss at a nonprofit indicates that donors are dropping left and right because of Luc's "deviant" lifestyle and if he can't get his life together his job is on the line. In comes Oliver, a friend of a friend who is uptight to Luc's free living, and together they hatch a plan to be fake boyfriends. Oliver will be Luc's respectable boyfriend and attend his organizations fundraiser, while Luc will attend Oliver's parent's anniversary party. As they start to hang out more, the lines blur between pretend and real, which both Oliver and Luc struggle with to the detriment to their relationship.

Honestly, if you don't love a British novel, this might be hard for you. It is SO BRITISH and I am obsessed. The language, the slang, the spelling, the way it's written. Half the time I was like "what is happening" but I really love reading a good British book. I felt so much for Luc - he is on the struggle bus for realzzzzz. As the child of two B-list stars who has experienced extreme betrayal and abandonment, Luc's default when scared is to become defensive, run away, or push the other person away. But his growth throughout the book to someone who fights for what they want, speaks up to save people, and doesn't hide behind snarkiness was really beautiful to witness. And don't get be started on OLIVER who is adorable and equally as messed up, but doesn't 100% realize it. The start off using each other, but end up being the support system that they didn't even know they needed.

So why not 5 stars? I love a good steamy novel and I would've loved more steaminess (I know, I know, not typical in a British story). I also wish Oliver showed up sooner and that the book was a little bit shorter - there was a bunch of back and forth that slowed the momentum down. And lastly, I would have loved to get Oliver POVs because it would have made for some of the later revelations to feel not so out of the blue. Overall, this is a great romance for folx who love romance, love everything British, and love some adorable, fiesty, funny main characters.

This was my first read by Alexis Hall and I found it to be a really fun read. Completely amazing and witty banter among all the characters not just the main characters. A fun, fake-boyfriend storyline. Some parts had me picturing Love, Actually with all the campy, former star, dance routines (there weren't any dance routines in the book mind you, it just brought that entire movie to mind, up to and including the late night, door step grovels). Luc needs to clean up his act and Oliver just needs a buffer of his own. These two should never work, but when they do find a common ground it is amazingly beautiful and fun. I'm needing more Alexis Hall in my future.

I adored this book! Boyfriend Material was exactly what I needed and I cannot wait to read more from Alexis Hall!

When I hear the word “romcom,” this is the kind of story that springs to mind.

The plot is relatively simple. Luc is continually hounded by the tabloid press because his parents were rock stars back in the day. After a negative story upsets some potential donors to the charity where he works, he needs to rehabilitate his image. How better for Luc to show that he’s a good guy than to be seen in a nice normal relationship with a non-scandalous boyfriend? That would be Oliver, who is a model of proper behavior. Because it suits his purposes, Oliver agrees to fake date Luc. The problem is that very real feelings soon make it difficult to remember it’s all pretend.

That’s pretty much it for the storyline; what makes the book shine are all the funny bits along the way. A lot of the comedy revolves around wincingly awkward moments, which both Luc and Oliver excel at—Luc because his insecurities run away with him (very Ardy-like, really) and Oliver because he’s a little too stiff and proper. Together, they bumble toward falling in love, with a fair number of missteps along the way.

The humor doesn’t stop there. The novel has a bunch of comic secondary characters—Luc’s clueless coworkers, his loving but daffy mother, eccentric aristocrats, etc. This is the kind of story where two of Luc’s friends are a married couple who are both named James Royce-Royce, so just throw the notion of realism out the window. It’s going to be a little OTT for some people, I think, but I enjoyed the absurdity. (The bit about the bullocks, though . . . tsk. One really must draw the line somewhere.)

It’s not all froth. Scenes like Luc dealing with the father who abandoned him or reading a newspaper article that leaves him feeling emotionally stripped bare give the story weight. Then there are the moments of pure romance, embodied in lines like this one, when Luc and Oliver share their first real kiss: “The wild impossible sweetness of somebody kissing you for you—because of you—and everything outside the press of bodies, the ripple of breath, the stroke of tongues drifting away like old leaves in autumn.” Swoon! That's really lovely.

If you are in the mood for a very English romcom, I’d recommend giving this book a try.

A copy of this book was provided through NetGalley for review; all opinions expressed are my own.

Hmm I'm not sure where to start with this one. First off, our main character Luc isn't exactly a likable character. He does some pretty crappy things to his friends and to his love interest, Oliver, and there were a lot of moments where I found myself getting really annoyed with him. I did though, enjoy how different Luc and Oliver were and how they decided to fake date and spending time together was initially awkward until they started opening up to each other.

For the first half to this book, once I got used to Luc's character, I actually enjoyed the romance and the quirky Britishness of this book. There were some funny jokes and quirky characters that were endearing. I thought Oliver's character was so cute and I liked how he was the more serious one in the relationship. As this book went on, though, there was just too much back and forth between Luc and Oliver, especially the last 200 pages. They broke up so many times to the point where I was like, WHAT NOW. I do think that this book went on too long and I really didn't care for the story the last 100 pages I was reading.

I really did love the premise of this book and how two completely opposite people were going to fake date and end up falling in love, but Luc's character was hard to like and the story and conflicts were dragged out too much.

This one was so. damn. CUTE. I was excited for this because I thought it would give me similar vibes as “Red, White and Royal Blue,” and if you loved that one as much as I did, this book needs to be bumped up on your TBR stat!

The story was a little slow to start, but once I got into it, I could not wipe the smile off my face. I did not expect to be so charmed by this story and to be so invested in the characters. The dialogue and character development were so well-written and endearing.

I would say I think it was about 50 pages too long, but otherwise I really enjoyed it. If you want a REALLY cute romance, definitely pick this one up!

Luc never knew his rock star father, but now that his dad’s making a comeback as the judge of a reality music show, Luc himself is back in the spotlight. When he’s photographed falling down outside of a bar (perfectly! innocently!), it threatens to compromise his job. He needs a respectable boyfriend to help clean up his image, and his straight friend has just the person: the only other gay guy she knows, vegetarian (yes) barrister (yes) Oliver Backwood (yep). And as it happens, Oliver could use a date to a family function too. It’s a match made in the Medium Place.

Alexis Hall is one of my favorite romance writers currently working, and the chief reason amongst a large group of reasons is his deftness with articulating messy, complicated emotions and power dynamics. As I was putting this post together I took a break to reread his book Pansies, which remains one of my top five romance novels and is, accordingly, among the books I shove at romance newbies to get them in on the genre. And it’s just, truly, so great to read books that honor and acknowledge emotions without giving a pass to people for letting their emotions drive them to make poor and hurtful choices.

Someone I either follow on Twitter or know in real life said recently1 that the best thing about fake dating stories is the part where the one person gets to (metaphorically) slap shit out of the other person’s horrible family. And that is the truest thing I’ve ever read on this here internet, and let me tell you, pals, Boyfriend Material fucking delivers on that front. There are not one but two scenes of horrible families being horrible and the protagonists having to defend each other, and it’s so good for me I wish it could be distilled and bottled and I would drink it every night and then advance to putting it directly in my veins. No, there are not specific parents of people in my life that I would enjoy to be very angry at. This is all purely hypothetical.

Oh, they also have to share a bed, for reasons. This book has all the tropey nonsense your mother warned you about.

Boyfriend Material features an adorably zany cast of characters, all of whom Alexis Hall gives space to be worthwhile. Luc has a posh colleague named Alex with no sense of humor to whom he tells jokes every morning just to see how his colleague will manage to not understand them. His mum has a best friend called Judy who goes on trips to inspect bullocks and prize roosters and then comes home to eat Luc’s mum’s indefensible curries. At times the characters are perhaps the tiniest touch too zany for my particular taste, but on balance I was more charmed than bothered.

Plus, of course, I continue to feel immensely fond of Alexis Hall for his obvious affection for regional British weirdness. Luc has another coworker who is Welsh, who — well, I will just let you read the book and discover it for yourself. His Welsh coworker appears to be ridiculous and then turns out to be great, a classic Alexis Hall move. And if you find yourself generally touched by that, I would love to recommend his earlier book Glitterland, in which a grumpy posh man falls for an Essex lad. As a former Essex girl, I endorse Glitterland.

I wasn’t wild about the way the book frames Luc’s relationship with his dad. His dad shows up out of the blue, having abandoned Luc at age three and never looked back, asking for a relationship now that he has cancer and is going to die. Oliver and Luc’s mum both advocate for Luc to accept the dad’s overtures, even though both of them are well aware that it’s likely the dad is just going to disappoint Luc again. I was… not wild about this. I do not believe that you have obligations to the family that ditched you, however sick they are. If you have been ditched by a family member and they come back wanting a relationship now that they’re dying and you want to give it a try, absolutely 100% go for it! But if you don’t want to give them that space in your life, it’s fine to not. Instead Oliver implies to Luc that he shouldn’t “abandon” his father, as if it’s possible to “abandon” someone you’ve never had a relationship with. I wish that had been framed differently.

Apart from that gripe, my only tiny wish was that the book had gotten into Oliver’s Issues slightly earlier than it did. As an avowed devotee of a Chaos Muppet / Order Muppet pairing, I was deeeeelighted with the central relationship of Boyfriend Material, and as I rounded the 80% mark around 10:30 at night (this is very late to stay up if you are me), I was thinking “How pleasing, and now for the denouement.” This was a FOOLISH expectation by me. In the remaining 20% of the book it suddenly gets very very “actually people who seem to have it super together are sometimes/often/always dealing with their own dysfunctional shit that needs to be worked through too,” and poor old Oliver has to really, properly start facing up to his issues around self-worth and control. As a control freak with self-worth issues, twas unexpectedly confronting, though beautifully and perfectly handled, to the point that I got a bit teary. Only I’d have loved for Luc to have been dealing with that stuff a bit more earlier on, to make the relationship feel a bit equaler a bit sooner.

All that said, one of the reasons Alexis Hall is among my favorite romance authors is that his books are angsty, yet soft, which is pretty much my sweet spot. Luc and Oliver each have their own dysfunction, the kinds of things that arise from what life does to us all, and the arc of the book is not so much learning to set those things aside as it is learning to live a life informed, not controlled, by them. Hall is reliably awesome, and Boyfriend Material is no exception.

Note: I received an e-ARC of this book from the publisher for review consideration. This has not impacted the contents of my review.

I really enjoyed this novel but then I'm deeply biased to halls work. Lovely rom-com feel lovely diverse cast, great banter, wonderfully lyrical writing, I love fake dating and this was perfectly done.

On my Instagram page for the 7th July- under highlights- NEW releases. I have tagged author and Netgalley for the RELEASE.

This book was such a nice, genuinely sweet romance. The conflicts were incredibly believable and I genuinely loved both main characters. The supporting characters, especially Luc's mother and her best friend, were well drawn. Loved it!

Boyfriend Material was just what I needed, a quick, heartfelt and incredibly witty read. The characters had a real three dimensional quality to them, and a plot that was more robust and emotionally complex than I was expecting. Many times it could've been contrived or cliche, but it managed to avoid doing what I expected at almost every turn. Which was refreshing, especially as someone who has read their fair share of gay romance. I didn't know how to feel about Luc and Oliver as a pairing during their first meeting, but as their relationship developed and we got to explore more of who they were as characters, and where they were coming from, I began to get really attached to them as individuals, which only strengthened how invested I became in their relationship. I really loved them together.

Oh, and the writing is quite funny. I hadn't anticipated to literally laugh out loud but it happened several times, much to my surprise, amusement, and probably to my roommate's annoyance. I definitely recommend anyone looking for a nice breezy romance to pick this up ASAP.

This is my first Alexis Hall novel, but it will assuredly not be my last.

3.5 stars

I feel it best to start this review stating that I am a cis straight women, so I am not the one to ask about the gay representation of this book, and if I missed something problematic let me know!

Anyyyyywho, this book was super cute and a perfect way to spend a very blah day. I laughed, I cried and i almost threw my tablet to the ground. Luc and Oliver are simply meant for each other even though it might take them a while to realize it. I love how messy, complicated, and blissfully honest both of these characters are as they tumble through a scheme of their own creation. Seeing them navigate through tricky parental relationships, connecting with friends, and balancing each others occupational hazards this book was entertaining and relatable from beginning to end.

Make sure boyfriend Materisl finds its way to your shelves.

Boyfriend Material
{ Thank you to @netgalley and @sourcebookscasa for this e-ARC in exchange for my honest opinion }

This book was a little slow to start, but once I got into it I was really invested. I am such a sucker for British romances because of the dry, snarky wit and this book didn’t disappoint.

I LOLed multiple times from the sass that Luc and Oliver brought to this book. I thought that while Luc was very self deprecating due to his past, Oliver did such a good job of helping him cope and work through trust issues. While Oliver could be uptight, Luc did an excellent job of bringing out his fun and easy going side, but also showing him you don’t always have to live up to the expectations set by others.

This book does an excellent job of discussing sexuality, staying true to yourself, but also exploring internally to better your life. It also dives into hard topics such as homophobia, family toxicity, and past traumas that affect how we see ourselves.

I truly loved this book and recommend it to anyone that loves British romances or is needing a good laugh.

Boyfriend Material is probably one of my favourite reads of 2020 so far. Luc's inner voice is so tragically relatable - awkward, insecure, but also loving and hopeful - anyone who's ever been hurt will instantly understand Luc's vulnerability. Also, Luc is an absolutely lovable trainwreck in social situations, but they're so LUC that you just end up wanting to give the poor guy a hug.

This book is simply life - there's no HUGE drama that permeates the story - it's all relational, and I appreciated that. There's a big emphasis on support networks, friends, family, and love. Both Luc and Oliver have great friend groups, and the author found it important to give them all unique voices and ways of supporting the two lovebirds. Luc and Oliver themselves are also super supportive of one another - they don't let each other get beaten down by assaholic relatives, or their own inner demons. All the little details of their relationship made them perfect for each other despite their differences and I loved every second of their love story!


I'd recommend it to those who loved If I Never Met You by Mhairi McFarlane and Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston. To set expectations, this is a fairly wholesome book - more fade-to-black than explicit - so don't go into it expecting lots of sordid sex.

Boyfriend Material is chalk full of humour and ALL the feels. Despite its general lightheartedness, there's a lot of psychology and emotion for the two MCs to work through. Full of heart and love, I definitely recommend this book to everyone!

Plot: 4.5/5
Characters: 5/5
World Building: 5/5
Writing: 4.5/5
Pacing: 5/5
Overall: 5/5
GoodReads Rating: 4.21/5

This wonderful book is quirky, funny, and absolutely loveable. Luc has made some bad choices but is convinced a fake boyfriend could benefit him in many ways, especially if said man is a virtuous bloke.
Oliver, a barrister, and an overall good guy is free of scandal and agrees to help Luc repair his image by being his fake boyfriend. These two could not be more different.

I loved how these guys fall into love with each other, and Luc, he loves so hard, even with everything he's going through. This is definitely a story of opposites attract with all the awkward "getting to know you" moments strewn in for a very good time. I find myself looking forward to Luc's ridiculous jokes and Oliver's even funnier responses. I felt there were parts that went on a bit more than necessary, but which never the less kept me glued to the pages. These two fake boyfriends are everything you've been waiting for!!