This book! THIS BOOK! I didn't know just how much I needed Boyfriend Material in my life until I read it. Now, I foresee myself reading this every year. It's the sort of witty love story that leaves you with a stupid grin on your face throughout the entire thing and leaves you bathing in a pool of all the swoony and cozy feelings. I freaking loved every moment of it!

Luc and Oliver are the two leads of Boyfriend Material and oh my goodness, did Alexis Hall write these characters just for me? I instantly grew attached to the two of them and throughout the book, my fondness for them only amplified. The author really did a great job of crafting two characters who are unique and delightful in their own ways - I dare you to not love them! Growing up as the abandoned son of a rockstar, Luc has always been in the spotlight. Though he has no relationship with his father, he was constantly hounded by the paparazzi which has obviously had an impact on him. When the latest media storm leaves Luc's job as a fundraiser for a dung beetle charity (LOL, yes, you read that right) in a precarious position, he is encouraged to enter a fake relationship with Oliver, a man that his friend Brigid is convinced is right for Luc. The two had a sour interaction some time back but Luc agrees for the sake of keeping his job.

Luc was a very relatable character. He had this self-deprecating humor that he used to shield himself from his self-esteem issues. He really didn't view himself for the great guy he was and it was sad when I was reading the book because I just wanted to gently nudge him to remind him of how wonderful he was. He definitely had abandonment issues and those were only worsened as a result of being the son of a famous person. He really was kind of a hot mess, but I was glad that he had a great support system around him. I adored his mother who, I kid you not, had me howling so loud I fell off the bed - ouch, but so worth the pain! Their relationship was really wonderful and reminded me of the bond I have with my own mother. And Luc had some excellent friends who were his ride-or-die and would drop everything to come to give him a lending hand. I loved them so much! Luc was definitely the kind of main character I would protect at all costs!

Oliver was the perfect complement to Luc. While Luc was more all over the place, Oliver was buttoned-up, calm, and collected. As a barrister, he had this very staunch and stoic energy to him that made him seem unapproachable and frankly, boring at first to others. These two could not have been more different from each other, but as the story progressed you realize just how much their differences make them the perfect couple. Oliver wasn't just the rigid guy he appeared to be. There were so many layers to his character that he only slowly revealed to Luc. He was actually as funny as Luc was and had a definite softness to him. Ugh. He was perfect and I'd die for him.

The romance in Boyfriend Material was first-rate. I knew I was going to enjoy their relationship since fake relationship romances are my catnip, but man did Alexis Hall completely blow me away! I could not look away from Luc and Oliver's on-page dynamic. Their ridiculous banter together, the "dick pics", and just their openness towards each other made their romance one that filled my heart with all the joy. One of my favorite parts of fake-relationships is reading those moments when they begin to realize that they've caught feelings for each other and Boyfriend Material is full of those moments - you bet I relished them all! The progression of their swoony romance felt very real to me and gave me all the warm and fuzzy feelings.

I'm so thrilled that we were blessed by the book gods with Boyfriend Material this year because as of right now, it is at the top of my all-time favorites. This is my first time reading an Alexis Hall book but after what a dreamy experience it was, it won't be my last - I already have some recommendations from other readers and I can't wait to dive in!

I loved this book so much. The witty banter had the perfect amount of snark and sharpness and the romance just melted me. I also laughed out loud so many times at their friends and family. Such a perfect romantic comedy

Short version: this was absolutely fabulous. You should read it.

But in case you need more convincing: Boyfriend Material uses all the fun romance tropes (fake dating, miscommunication, parental issues) in ways that kept me happy, laughing, sobbing, everything throughout the story.

I could go into a summary, but you can find those anywhere, so let's talk about my new favorite boys instead.

First up, Luc, son of 2 80's rock stars, with an absentee father (not just a "we don't speak", more like a "we never had a relationship to begin with") has just been photographed falling on his face wearing "sexy" bunny ears for a party by tabloids, which has had backers for the non-profit he works for pulling their donations. And he is kinda a wreck of a human, and I love him. He definitely has anxiety and abandonment issues, is kinda a dick, a bit of a superiority complex, but also seems to deal with impostor syndrome, which shouldn't work together, but somehow do.

And Oliver, poor Oliver, is just such a good guy, but he works so hard to be so good all the time he never has a chance to just breathe. To him, showing even a bit of actual emotion is akin to a full emotional breakdown (and don't get me started on his parents, I hate them passionately).

If either of my boys sound interesting, or you are a fan of an almost Bridget-Jones level of insane and nosy friends who just want to help you get what you want, definitely give this a read.

DNF @ 10%

Honestly, I think this is more of an it's-me-not-you situation with this weird pandemic book funk I've been in and out of in the last few months. But for now I'm putting this one aside since I cannot get into it after multiple tries and will try again later.

Boyfriend Material follows Luc as he navigates life as a late-twenty-something, commitment-phobe, with a famous father who left him when he was 3. Oh, and because of this famous dad who is never around he is always in the tabloids. His work is concerned about his public image so naturally the solution is to get a fake boyfriend to make him look better in the press.

The plot is the classic fake relationship, but maybe it’s real! I am generally on board with the tropey, cliched, rom-coms, so the concept behind this book is totally up my alley.

I listened to the audiobook on Libro.fm and had a b l a s t. There were some hilarious bits, and some pitch-perfect moments, as well as some extremely well-placed sentences. However, I did find the overall plot to be a little under-done. I never, not even for one second, believed this relationship was fake. It was like the author said it was fake, but everything showed it wasn’t at all. Now, I wouldn’t have minded if it was just stated that it wasn’t fake right away, I didn’t need a fake relationship to like this book - it was funny and spunky and cute and had just enough steamy moments. It was thoroughly enjoyable, I just really didn’t love that it was meant to make me believe it was fake, but didn’t.

I also found the end to be extremely rushed, and the beginning/middle to be a little long.

The cute moments were extremely cute, and the banter was on point. The funny banter was probably one of my favourite elements in this entire novel, actually.

All in all, I enjoyed this book and I will 100% pick up more books by this author, but I had some issues with its execution in certain areas.

CW: Homophobia, cancer, abandonment, eating disorder.

Well this was, okay. I guess.

Fake relationships will either work or not, depending on the context. In this case, it didn't work for me. Luc, born to ultra famous parents, is under the spotlight - he is even introduced as such at times, which I found it to be weird - is almost always on guard, second guessing everyone he meets and being very much on alert the entire time. Being under the spotlight means paparazzi, and paps means pictures of him on the internet he'd rather not have.

So, to save his job, his very ridiculous beetle charity job, he needs to find a boyfriend to clean up his image.

I fail to see how a risky fake relationship will do anything to clean up an image that frankly doesn't need cleaning up, but the thing about fake relationships is that you either buy into them, or you don't.

Luckily, this book quickly moved on from the the awkward forced plot to bring these two together and what I was left with was a unique sense of humor, combined with cheesy plot and British witty shenanigans.

Boyfriend Material had an unpretentious to the point writing style that I actually enjoyed most of the time, the MC's life is a mess from parents to job to co-workers but it was a funny read overall.

A complete delight! I loved reading this sweet, romantic, and steamy romance. The characters were so warm and relatable. This book is funny and has a ton of heart. I'll be recommending this to a lot friends!

I am so happy that I was able to read Boyfriend Material, because I fell in love with it and the characters instantly. There’s not a big plot as far as this story goes, but that honestly didn’t matter to me when it came to this book. I enjoyed the main characters and all their friends so much and that was what really made me fall in love with the book even if it didn’t have much of a plot.

There were so many laugh out loud moments throughout the entire story and I was living for every single one of them. Luc and Oliver seemed like complete opposites, but I was rooting for them so hard. They “relationship” together was a treat even when Luc kept messing things up over and over again. He’s so angsty and I loved that. Oliver is so posh and proper and it was funny seeing them together. They both had their fair share of baggage, but I loved them together anyway. The banter between them and also with their friends was gold. I also want to point out how much I love Luc’s mom and the fact that she was binge watching RuPaul’s Drag Race, because I’ve been binge watching RuPaul’s Drag Race for three months now and I loved seeing all the references and that I got them LOL.

Overall, Boyfriend Material was cute, hilarious, and had all the feels. There’s so much depth to every single character and it was so much fun to read. I love British humor and this book was a winner to me. I loved this book so much. I highly recommend checking it out!

A fake relationship trope, two charming Brits, a little bit of angst, low key sexiness, sharp and witty banter, I mean do I really need to tell you guys more than that?! I kinda feel like I don’t, because if that doesn’t sell you on reading this one I’m all out of ideas, but I will. How about fantastic narration if you’re an audiobook fan? I switched back and forth between audio and print and can confirm both formats are equally engaging. Ok, do you like a little drama? Because this one delivers with family drama, friendship drama and relationship drama. Did I already say humor? Cause this is legit laugh out loud funny. Opposites attract? Luv and Oliver couldn’t be more different and both are endearing in their own sweet and perfect ways. There’s also a cast of quirky supporting characters that keep things interesting. Last thing, do you like feeling all the feelings when you read a rom com? Laughing one minute and getting emotional the next? That’s all I’ve got but trust me when I say this one was an absolute delight and a must for romance fans.

This book was great. I loved the characters as well as some of my absolute favorite tropes (fake romance, enemy to lovers). I felt that the characters were realistic while being placed in very interesting positions. The path of their relationship was believable and well written and I loved the small motifs peppered throughout.

This was a cute and charming little book that unfortunately, in my eyes, fell short of the Red, White, and Royal Blue comparison that the cover so resolutely demands (seriously- compare the covers of these two books and tell me that there isn't at least a LITTLE "inspiration" involved.) However, unlike RWRB, I didn't care very much about these characters or the plot. Sure, they're cute, and the plot is charming enough, but it felt like all fluff and no substance. Again, perhaps it's because I read (and loved) RWRB, which had some serious consequences and tension beneath the cute fluffiness, that I made these comparisons - and I'd feel guilty for doing so if not for the fact that this book so clearly wanted to cater to the same crowd. It's fine, but I'll just be rereading RWRB.

Some familiar elements but managed to sidestep the obvious and make an interesting plot with loveable characters. Loved the humor.

A complete triumph. This book needs to by hyped and hyped hard.

Honestly, it’s one of the best romance novels I’ve ever read. It’s raw and genuine and side-splitting hilarious.

Luc’s narrative is absolute perfection. Seriously, so perfect I can’t even put it into words. He is on the top of the list when it comes to first person narrators.

To put it plainly... I LOVED THIS BOOK SO MUCH!!! At this point I’m hoping it’ll be optioned to become a movie because the population of world needs this story in their lives.

This book was a sweet romance of rediscovering how it feels to care for someone and let them in past the outer shell you show the world. Luc has been burned quite a few times and throughout the book works harder and harder to trust Oliver and be vulnerable around him (even if it means talking through a bathroom door). Oliver has been in a string of relationships that never go anywhere because Oliver is always on his best behavior around them, mistakenly thinking they want a perfect version of him, and not just him.

Due to the nature of their fake relationship, it takes the pressure they both normally put on relationships out of the equation allowing them to be themselves, the good, the bad, and the ugly. And it turns out, despite being opposite in nearly every way, they’re a good fit.

The book is very well written and each character is nuanced and fleshed out. I thought Luc’s mom and best friend were particularly hilarious as were his friends. Oliver’s family came off a bit one-note with their typical upper-class snobbery and ignoring their children’s’ feelings.

Here is the thing. I wanted to love this book so much more than I did. Don’t get me wrong, I liked this book enough to give it four stars, but I didn’t desperately need them to be together at the end. A few things kept it from being five stars for me. The sex was very fade-to-black. I felt like I earned the right to be a part of the sexy times, not have it be “between them”. HELLO, WHAT ABOUT ME!

McDreamy to McSteamy: McDreamy and a bit McInsecure

Classy to Nasty: Classy pg-13 fade-to-black loving

Hero rating - Luc: 🍆🍆🍆🍆

Hero rating - Oliver: 🍆🍆🍆🍆

Overall rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Boyfriend Material - Alexis Hall (7/7)


Rating 4.5 / 5 Stars

** Thank you to Netgalley, Source Book Casablanca, and of course, Alexis Hall, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I am an absolute STAN of delightfully British contemporary romance novels. Boyfriend Material is just that and MORE. It also has one of my favorite troupe - fake dating to real dating romance. It is always fun to see how relationships evolve when this is introduced as a plot point. On top of that Luc and Oliver have one of the best slow-burn possible. They are messy and a perfect fit at the same time. I was delighted with every page of this book and hated it when it ended.

The British humor in this book MADE IT for me. Beyond all of the other things I loved about this book, This was probably one of the best things. I moved to the UK a while ago and being able to read and understand some of the humor before it is explained is the best! It was snarky and truly beautiful as a whole.

This was the escape I needed and I am so looking forward to Alexis Hall’s next book.

So did you decide to read it yet?

A few decades ago Luc’s parents were household names worldwide: his father, a rock star; his mother, a one-hit wonder who’s still comfortably living off the royalty checks. Now his dad is aiming for a comeback as one of the hosts/team leaders on a singing competition show…and he’s hoping for another chance to get to know the son he walked out on over twenty years ago.

While Luc is perfectly content to continue working for a dung beetle nonprofit and failing at relationships, his father’s reemergence in the spotlight also puts a spotlight on Luc. And it’s a less-than-favorite light. With his drunken escapades splashed on the front pages, Luc needs to do some image PR – and fast before he loses more dung beetle donors.

Enter Oliver. A perfectly bland, perfectly boring lawyer who’s an ethical vegetarian and regularly changes his sheets, Oliver is just the ticket: a few fake dates is exactly what Luc needs to clean up his spoiled reputation. Unfortunately fake-dating can feel an awful lot like real-dating…

Fake relationships is my ultimate trope. I love it. If there’s a fake relationship in a book, chances are I will absolutely read it. Boyfriend Material was no different: the moment I first heard about it I knew it needed to be in my life ASAP.

Let’s start off with the good, mmkay? The representation. Just about every single main character is LGBT. Luc and Oliver are gay as are two of Luc’s closest friends. Luc’s ex is now dating their token (in their words) straight friend. Rounding out the group is a Muslim lesbian couple. Apart from the one bestie, all the straight characters take a backseat in this novel which was refreshing to see.

The humor was also great – several times I caught myself actually laughing aloud. Luc’s mother was also an absolute delight and completely shone in any scene she was in. And how can I pass up a career at a dung beetle nonprofit.

And, disappointingly, that’s where the good ends. I wanted to rip my hair out every time Luc or Oliver “broke up” with the other, only to go crawling back hours later. They fed off the other’s drama and I was not having it. I can deal with one over-the-top, climactic, break-up scene before the couple realizes they’re Meant To Be and live happily ever after. In Boyfriend Material I honestly lost count the number of times they called it off – the last time I truly thought it was for good as the end of the book was drawing to a close and they still hadn’t gotten back together.

Luc’s dad, that entire storyline, was another downfall of this novel. The book could have benefited from a hundred or so pages cut…and this would have been just the part to get the ax. It added nothing to the story (apart from further drama), led to a big cancer reveal, then led to a nope, it’s not cancer reveal. The reader is then left to decide whether the dad lied about his diagnosis or if he truly believe he had cancer. Yawn.

While Boyfriend Material had a lot of good within its pages, it was outweighed by the bad, by the meh, by the eye-rolling. There were genuinely funny moments that had me giggling, but the unending drama between Luc and Oliver – the countless break-ups, the arguments through bathroom doors and constantly pushing the other away because of feelings made this book feel every single one of its 400+ pages.

4.5 stars

Sometimes it takes a fake boyfriend to turn your world around.

In Alexis Hall's newest book, Boyfriend Material, Luc is the son of musicians, and while he never met his rock star father, it’s not stopped the tabloids from covering Luc’s every misdeed, especially with his father’s resurgent career.

Since everyone just assumes Luc is a depressed lush who flits from guy to guy, he feels it’s easier just to behave that way. And since he's only had disappointing relationships, it's best not to expect anything else.

But when the media coverage of his exploits starts to impact his job as a fundraiser for a charity, a colleague suggests he pretend to find the “right” sort of man and fake a relationship, so the media can provide more positive coverage. Luc’s best friend has just the guy: Oliver, a handsome barrister who has often acted as if Luc is the last man on earth he’s interested in.

However, Oliver could benefit from having a fake boyfriend, too, so he reluctantly agrees to Luc’s scheme. As the two get closer (for “verisimilitude,” as Oliver puts it), they discover that each is far more complex—and appealing—than they thought. But could they ever succeed in a “real” relationship?

If you don’t know what happens next, you’ve not read a romance before. Yet it didn’t matter that you could predict the way the plot unfolded—these characters were fun and charming and sexy and damaged and I was there for every second of it.

I’ve always been a fan of the fake relationship trope in rom-coms, and I love reading M/M romances that aren’t all steam or all drama. This was such a great read, and I’d love to see lots more of Luc and Oliver, as well as the great supporting characters. This was funny and thought-provoking and emotional and a bit steaamy as well.

NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca provided an advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making it available!!

boyfriend Material is the book we needed in our lives and didn't know it. Such a perfect Rom com with pride! I want a boyfriend like this too!

<i>A huge thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ecopy in exchange for an honest review.</i>

Full disclaimer: I got approved for this book one day before publication, at 3pm, so I clearly didn't have time to read it before it came out. Luckily Storytel (and Scribd!) had the audio available, so I listened to this book.

Best. Choice. Ever.

This book... This book became an instant favorite in no time whatsoever. I laughed out loud several times in the first minute. And I kept laughing throughout the entire book. This book was such a feel good book, and a perfect book for bad days. There is some angst towards the end, but it's all quite minor. The end itself is <i>very</i> rushed, and the book really could have used an epilogue to tie it all up. That's about the only thing I would change, though.

I have read several reviews calling this book silly, and juvenile. I have seen people calling this book too serious.

Safe to say there are a lot of contradicting views, and what it comes down to is what another reviewer said quite eloquently: it depends on what you expect from this book. If you expect this to be like all the fake dating fanfics, this isn't it. This is more mature, and our guys barely know each other. It has less angst than a fanfic would have. It doesn't have the bits we generally love in fanfics.

What it does have, is fake dating, in an original novel, with lots and lots of humor.

Ironically, a lot of people say this book reads like fanfiction, but as a complaint. I am saying this book reads like fanfiction as the highest compliment possible. Fanfiction has a bad rep due to disasters like FSOG, but so many of the fics I read are infinitely better than a lot of the original novels I read. People using this as a bad thing, probably don't read fics.

Is this the best book ever written? Of course not. It's a romcom. It's silly (but supposed to be and therefore a good thing!), it's funny, but it also deals with some more serious issues. Luc isn't the best person out there. Oliver has a lot of buried issues of his own.

Could some things be handled better? Yes. Oliver's friends not respecting him being vegetarian felt off to me and was wholly unnecessary. They could have made jokes while still having some proper food for him. And the end, as I previously mentioned. For a while there I thought it would either have an unhappy ending, or should have a sequel. So perhaps this shouldn't be a full 5 stars, but I just loved it too much over all. It made me feel happy, it made me smile, it made me laugh, and that counts for something. For me, it counts for everything.

The narrator did an absolutely amazing job, as well. Every voice was distinct, and there were different accents. The Welsh character, actually had a Welsh accent, can you believe it?? The inflection, intonation.. it was just perfect. I would wholeheartedly recommend the audio!

I would recommend this book if you just want a fun queer read without having the highest expectations in terms of it being the best book ever. It's fun. Have fun. Laugh. Yell at these idiots. And join me in feeling the feels!

Funnily enough, I’d just finished reading To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, which is also about an arrangement between two people who pretend to be in a relationship for various reasons, so Boyfriend Material kind of felt like a continuation of that niche in the fiction genre. I enjoyed Boyfriend Material very much. It made me laugh out loud numerous times even though I didn’t understand the majority of pop references with exceptions to the Pussy Cat Dolls and One Direction. Perhaps you have to be British or older or both to get them. Anyway, what I did get was the humor of this situation. Two hopeless romantics who are hopeless at romance being forced together through a bizarre series of poor choices, odd circumstances, and special events.

Luc’s group of miscreant friends were like a combination of the friends from Bridget Jones’ Diary and a trainwreck on fire after the explosion that derailed it. Truly made me wonder if Luc really was that bad at relationships or if his would-be significant others met that group and ran for the hills. I found Bridget’s disasters at her publishing job to be absolutely hilarious. They were definitely a highlight! I found his thick co-workers to be slightly less entertaining as they made me question how someone so dumb could survive so long. Did Alex put anyone else in mind of Thick Kevin from Pirate Radio?

Speaking of train wrecks, poor Luc is quite the disaster though he truly is his own worst enemy and spends far too much time whining and proclaiming his loserdom when he could actually be doing something to change his life. I did tire of his ceaseless self-loathing, but still empathized with him through the various hurts and relationship crises that he endured throughout the story.

Overall, I liked the plot and the characters. It was a fresh and different read. I must admit that I did find it went on a bit too long. I was definitely ready for it to be over before it actually came to an end, but it was entertaining, and I would definitely read other books by Alexis Hall.