This book was a fairly cute rom-com of a story, but was not without its problems. It was, first off, VERY British--which sounds rude, but you know how books or movies can sometimes embody the wrong stereotypes of a nation or a people? This was sort of like that. It was like a slap-you-in-the-face sort of mentality toward being British. So British you couldn't avoid it. I don't want to sit and read a book like that--I want to be immersed in the story. I wanted to be dragged into the characters' lives and become a part of their world but instead found myself staring perplexedly through a proverbial window.

Luc was also so self-deprecating that I quickly grew annoyed by him. His friends, similarly, were over the top and not very realistic to me. Oliver was enjoyable, but we never got his PoV so we didn't really get to learn a lot about him.

Overall, I had fun but was still disappointed. I was really hoping for more from this book.

The story starts with our main character Luc, being already a mess. I think many of us can relate, well, maybe not with his kind of a mess but you know what I mean. Some things were too real.

Being a son of a rock star who had ruined his career and abandoned his son and his wife was bad; imagine when this same rock star who happened to be your father is also ‘coming back’ drugs and scandal free? And he wants to connect with you? Luc’s life isn’t very easy right now, since this whole situation put him back in the media eyes and a single photo could really ruin things for him.

And a single photo really put him in a bad situation at work, so now he needed to clean up his image showing he could have a normal and healthy relationship with someone nice and especially without any dramas. It happened that Oliver, a charming barrister who was friends with one of Luc’s friends was exactly like this. Then, both of them made a deal to pretend to be dating until things got settled down in the media.
Of course they would catch the feels right? And that was exactly what happened.

How much I adore Luc! He is a very flawed character. His self-loathing is an immense problem since he can’t believe he is someone that is worth being loved. He was abandoned many many times in his life so he started believing he was the problem. He has low self-esteem and trust issues as well but he has a great heart, he is supportive and only needs a gentle push to see all of those things. 

The gentle push has a name and it’s Oliver, who seems to be all perfect but he's also full of flaws. He tries his best to be someone his parents can be proud of but at some point, he stopped doing things that would make him happy but others. 

Both of them have different personalities and backgrounds, but they have something in common, they just want to be accepted and loved for what they are, they wanted and needed someone who could accept their flaws and be there for them. They found that with each other. 

Luc’s relationship with his father, Luc’s mom and his friends and also Oliver’s parents were good aspects in this book and really nice to see how both of them managed to deal with things regarding the other.

Even though this was a ride you could find in a romcom, especially the end, it was also able to show deeper subjects and make you care about these two a whole lot. 

So if you want something sweet and funny and a lot of feels, this could be a great choice.

This ARC was provided by NetGalley in exchange of an honest review.

Oh. My Goodness. This book. 

I stayed up reading it until two in the morning even though i knew the kids would wake me at six. That's how good it is. 

I never thought that it would be possible to find a man who out-Darcy's Mark Darcy, but I was wrong - Oliver is all that and more.

And Luc ... you beautiful hot mess. You had me at your skinniest jeans and pointiest shoes.

I loved this book and read it in two settings. It's witty, funny and hard to put down.
I loved the well written characters, rooted for them, laughed and thoroughly enjoyed.
It's highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

RATING: 3/5 STARS

This was a cute read. If you enjoy British humor, I think you'll like this book. The main character Luc is sarcastic and witty - his voice is really unique and keeps the reader on their toes. There were some lovely romantic moments between Luc and Oliver as well. However, by the end I felt like there was unnecessary drama and I lost interest a little bit. I also couldn't get invested in the supporting characters. I ended up giving this book 3 stars because the fake-dating and enemies-to-lovers tropes were overall done pretty well, and there were a lot of amusing scenes and dialogue.

A sincere thanks to Sourcebooks Casablanca for providing an advanced reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Social: @_shelf.awareness on Instagram

Fake boyfriend stories are hands down some of my favorite stories. I have loved it in soap operas and other TV shows and movies and in books. It is such a great troupe because you know the lines from fake to real will blur and feeling will be caught and everything will change. It’s predictable and comforting and I love it. So whenI saw Boyfriend Material popping up on social media the cover intrigued me and then I read the description and saw it was a fake romance, I was hooked from the get go. And I am happy to report it fit all the things I have come to love about fake romances and left me just wanting more of these two.

Boyfriend Material starts with Luc, the son of a rock star couple that hates all the media attention that comes with famous parents. All it does is ruin his life. After an unfortunate incident that leads to some bad press Luc finds his job on the line. He needs to do something to change his image and do it fast. Enter Oliver Blackwood. Oliver is everything Luc isn’t. He has a solid job as a barrister, is related to no one famous and on paper, looks like the perfect fake boyfriend even though they are complete opposites. But as the two of them start spending time together something shifts. Instead of being opposites they find a connection that could easily turn fake dating into the real thing. The question is, are they ready for it?

Boyfriend Material was truly and entertaining book. Luc and Oliver were such an unlikely pair but they worked so well together. Oliver seemed so posh and stuffy while Luc was all over the place and a mess. But something about that just made them work. They were so charming together and I loved how they flirted and joked around. They were truly perfect for one another. And their friends were the best! They knocked them down when they needed it and lifted them up when they need the push. Both groups of friends were the sounding boards they needed and added something to the story.

I really, really enjoyed Boyfriend Material. It was utterly British and made me laugh from the first page. It also broke my heart and made me extremely happy. I had an issue with one part that swayed this book from being a completely perfect reading experience, but even with that blip I HIGHLY recommend picking this one up and falling in love with Luc and Oliver.

This is the first book I've read by Alexis Hall, and after such a beautiful, witty, and at times intense story I discovered in the pages of BOYFRIEND MATERIAL, this most definitely won't be the last. 

With perfectly timed humour, one that captures quintessential British wit and sarcasm so perfectly, it was impossible to not get sucked into Luc's story as he navigates his journey of acceptance and self-belief while finding a man who is so perfectly opposite, it's clear that these men are wonderfully right for each other.

The narrative managed to punch me in the gut a time or two, just as it gripped my heart, making it impossible not to be moved by Luc and Oliver's journeys. 

Simply put, I adored both characters. Loved their distinctive voices, their unique personalities, and their connection. And boy was their chemistry off the charts incredible—all without an explicit sex scene. 

A truly beautiful romance offering the perfect indulgent escapism.

I loved this book so much! It has all my favorite tropes. Fake dating, check. Mutual pining, check. There was only one bed, check. And the humor was so good, I found myself laughing all the way through. I could have easily read hundreds more pages of these characters, and I am def gonna be reading more of Alexis Hall's works. If you are a fan of Red White and Royal Blue, I absolutely recommend you read this one.

ARC provided by publisher through NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Boyfriend Material is a super fun fake dating queer romance novel. If any of those are what you are looking for, then you should probably scurry off and pick up this book! Here is the summary from Goodreads:

Wanted:
One (fake) boyfriend
Practically perfect in every way

Luc O'Donnell is tangentially--and reluctantly--famous. His rock star parents split when he was young, and the father he's never met spent the next twenty years cruising in and out of rehab. Now that his dad's making a comeback, Luc's back in the public eye, and one compromising photo is enough to ruin everything.

To clean up his image, Luc has to find a nice, normal relationship...and Oliver Blackwood is as nice and normal as they come. He's a barrister, an ethical vegetarian, and he's never inspired a moment of scandal in his life. In other words: perfect boyfriend material. Unfortunately apart from being gay, single, and really, really in need of a date for a big event, Luc and Oliver have nothing in common. So they strike a deal to be publicity-friendly (fake) boyfriends until the dust has settled. Then they can go their separate ways and pretend it never happened.

But the thing about fake-dating is that it can feel a lot like real-dating. And that's when you get used to someone. Start falling for them. Don't ever want to let them go.

So I have already told you I love this book, now I am going to do that thing where you compliment, criticize, compliment, so you begin and end on the happy notes. I also have a small rant about vegetarians that did not impact my rating but just drives me crazy, and if I don’t put it here, I might explode from having no one to express this too. 

I genuinely had a hard time rating this book because I sincerely enjoyed the reading experience, but these two factors (one more than the other) keeps pulling me out of the story very consistently over the course of reading the book so that kind of sustained issue so it seemed to merit a four-star rating overall. The first thing that I encountered was that the book is sort of aggressively conversational. This was not necessarily a bad thing, and this was the less noticeable of the two things that pulled me out of the story, after about the first 10% of the book I mostly stopped noticing the narration. In fairness, this style of narration does also have positives, it certainly contributed to how hilarious the books is, and it helped with the immediacy and the development of our main character, Luc. 

The part that pulled me out consistently was that most, if not all, of the side characters, are so incredibly over-the-top that some of them were very hard to suspend your disbelief and keep in the world of the book. This was such a weird one because I did really like most of these characters, and at times I found their eccentricities to be charming and reminiscent of the way in which your closest friends are family are deeply strange people when you really know them well. But there were other times where they just seemed so unbelievable that I was completely pulled out of the story. It was such an issue in part because the two main characters seemed real and vulnerable and tangible, so the occasional contrast to a hurricane of wackiness was jarring. This is not to say that I didn’t like these characters, I did, I just also didn’t fully buy their veracity in the same manner I did for Luc and Oliver. So, at times, the side characters and hilarious and fun, and at times they are over-the-top and annoying. 

So I wrote my mini-rant about the choice to have the ethical vegetarian eat bacon, and it was far longer than the situation warranted. I am probably going to write a post about vegetarians in books soon because I clearly have a lot of feelings. Basically, my issue comes down to I personally don’t like vegetarians eating meat being a plot device; I find the voice of meat unrealistic because the long term vegetarians I know (and I admit there must be exceptions even if I do not know them) agree that pork smells the worst, and Olivers guy would be at least slightly in distress due to not having enough of the correct bacteria kicking to help digest bacon. I accidentally had a small amount of pork a few years into being a vegetarian, and that night was certainly not romantic. 

Back to the things I deeply enjoyed about this book. The book is consistently and deeply funny. I laughed out loud too many times to count and probably on average found something genuinely funny one every page. When reading this book, prepare to giggle for 400 pages. 

Hall handles other emotional reactions exceptionally well too! I felt deeply for Luc and his hardships, I was invested in Oliver and his emotional arc throughout the book, and I cried at least one time. Hall really is excellent at leading the reader through the emotional journey he crafted. 

I also thought the plot was very well done; Hall totally follows the path of doing the expected thing earlier than the reader anticipated. This is wonderful, especially with a book that used the fake dating trope. You know the story beats that accompany that trope, and Hall excellently places them and manages to bring you as a reader down a more nuanced and interesting use of this trope than maybe you originally expected. 

I particularly loved the relationships between Luc and his parents; I think they were excellently handled. I am not here to spoil anything, but his relationship with his dad is a rollercoaster that I super liked where Hall chooses to go with it. And Luc’s mother was delightful and, at times, over-the-top, but her emotional journey through the book was so solid and helped ground Luc’s story in such a wonderful way. 

Of course, I have to take about Luc and Oliver’s relationship; this is a romance that is the core of the book. I think the love story is incredibly well done. Hall is deft with showing the reader where the characters are emotionally even when the characters are lying to each other or themselves. I was really incredibly invested in how these two would work out together. Hall is excellent at making you care deeply about this relationship. It is such a fun and engrossing love story. 

Boyfriend Material will be published on July 7th, 2020, and is available to preorder (or purchase) here!

I recommend this to anyone who wants an excellent romance, who loves the fake dating trope, and to anyone who wants to read queer stories by queer authors. I have read one Alexis Hall in the past, but imagine I will go read more of his back catalog soon!

I was originally drawn to this because of the cover and because of the comparison to Red, White, and Royal Blue, but outside of it being a queer romcom, it’s hard to find the similarities. I’m a huge fan of the fake dating trope, as well anything remotely similar to Pride and Prejudice, and this felt like the perfect combination of To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before and Bridget Jones’s Diary, but, you know, queer. I can also see this having a lot of YA crossover appeal, especially for teens who want adult romances without much sexual content.

Boyfriend Material is one of those books I’m finding difficult to review because I basically just want to gush and squee and scream, ‘I loved everything about this book!’ It was hilarious (I had actual tears of mirth running down my face at times), romantic, and full of unexpected feels. It had the perfect balance of hilarity and ridiculousness and also depth and real emotion. Add in a fantastic cast of memorable characters, and Boyfriend Material is easily one of the best books I’ve read in 2020.
 
Luc was a screwup and he knew it, but he wanted to do better. He’d been trying to fill an emotional void with all the wrong things - casual sex, booze, complete avoidance of his problems. He and Oliver were both so wonderfully, realistically flawed. They didn’t like each other at first, but they needed one another, and they ended up being so good for each other and integral to each other’s growth. Their banter was hilarious and their chemistry was super hot. I rooted for them throughout the book and I swooned hard on several occasions. I also really felt their pain, their insecurities, the self-destructive tendencies that stemmed largely from a lack of self-worth on both their parts. They were so different and yet so similar, and I adored them.
 
Luc and Oliver weren’t the only fantastic characters in Boyfriend Material. I loved Luc’s zany friend group, his ridiculous co-workers, and his eccentric mother. I’m actually sitting here giggling as I think of all the antics this group of characters got up to. I feel like I’d fit right in with Luc’s quirky group of friends, and I desperately wish they were real so I could be part of it.
 
Charming, hilarious, heartfelt, and full of British wit, Boyfriend Material is the perfect escape from the hellscape that is 2020. It’s an instant new favourite and one I know I’ll recommend constantly. Also, this would make such a fun, funny movie, so who do we have to talk to to make that happen??

I absolutely loved this book. It was the funniest book I've read in a while & I think we could all use a little more humor these days. I especially enjoyed that there were many unpredictable moments in what's typically a very predictable genre. Both Luc and Oliver are imperfect individuals with issues of self-worth, relationship baggage and living up to others' expectations that felt completely real. That they were so relatable is why this book is so enjoyable and endearing. Boyfriend Material is also peppered with supporting characters that perpetually tow the line between hilariously dim and shockingly clever.

DNF AT 18%


I thought I would really enjoy this book but I find that it is just dragging for me. I know I am still every early on in it but I feel like there has not been much growth throughout the time being so far. The main character just keep dragging himself and saying he is undateable, I wish I was taken in more as I usually love stories with pretend dating but this one just isn’t doing it for me.

I love the fake dating trope and felt that this one was exceptionally well done.  The story follows a young man named Luc, who is the son of famous rock star parents, meaning his life is under the constant microscope of the paparazzi.  Because of this, a few “unflattering” photos of him have made it into the newspapers, and his reputation is in dire need of fixing.  

So when his boss tells him in no uncertain terms that he needs to clean up his image…or else, Luc decides to find a nice normal boyfriend and sets his sights on Oliver, a rather stuffy and uptight vegetarian barrister who is in need of a date for an important family event.  After a disastrous first date, the two men decide quickly that they don’t like each other, but they do agree to be each other’s fake boyfriend for the next several months, after which each man can go his separate way.  Of course, our guys have to keep in mind the first rule of fake dating:  don’t fall in love.

What I enjoyed about this story is that it was also an endearing romantic comedy of opposites attracting, as these two men couldn’t be more different.  It was so much fun watching the ups and downs of their budding relationship as they slowly begin to develop real romantic feelings for each other once the lines of their “fake” relationship begin to blur. I also loved witnessing Luc’s journey as he went from a place of super-low self-esteem and low self-worth to being a confident and self-assured young man.

While the fake dating/romance theme does take front and center, the book delves into some serious topics as well, including abandonment issues, toxic family dynamics, homophobia, trust/mistrust,  mental health, parental estrangement, and self-acceptance.  In this way, the book is much more than a light, fluffy romance; it has quite a bit of depth.  

It was refreshing that our main characters did not jump into bed right away just because they are fake dating, which we often see with this trope. And when the sex does finally occur, it’s mostly off-screen and fade to black, so if you’re looking for a sexy, steamy and explicit romance, this isn’t it.  But what you will get is an emotional, gripping story with plenty of heart.  It was so easy to fall in love with these characters as they’re amusing, somewhat angsty, super sweet, determined, flawed, and real.  

I thought this book was hysterically funny, and the banter made me cackle out loud on several occasions.  It’s also heartwarming and touching, with wry descriptions and excellent pacing — it’s the sort of book you’ll clasp to your chest with a happy sigh after you finish it.  If you like witty banter and shenanigans, this is the book for you.

This book had the best characters!  I loved Luc's attitude about his life. He's such a hot mess, and he knows it!  His internal and external commentary had me giggling constantly.

This a fake-dating story that created a lovely dynamic between Luc and Oliver.  I really enjoyed the story as the two of them learned about each other, and eventually how to communicate their feelings with the other one.

This is a light, fun read that I would highly recommend!

I was provided an advanced reader's copy of this book for free. I am leaving my review voluntarily.

Five beautiful stars! All the right things about creating a Ro/Com really pulled through with this story. Luc O'Donnell has this very witty narration that makes the story very entertaining to read. I'm usually very picky when it comes to reading stories in the romance genre, and while the theme of "Fake Relationships" isn't wholly new to me, the way Boyfriend Material was executed really sold me into this plot.

If you know me, and the way I am with romance novels, I am veeeery picky on my reads. For the quick gist, Boyfriend Material is a story about Luc O'Donnell, the son of a famous rockstar but is the hot topic of a lot of gossip in London primarily because of his past relationship being out in the public. Because of a downward spiral in his present career as a charity worker, he needed to create a clean slate on the tabloids in order to literally keep his job on the line. Enter, our hot lawyer "fake boyfriend" Oliver Blackwood, the perfect gentleman in suits, with a well-off family, who signed up on the facade with Luc. 

I'd be writing a full review on this once the book comes out, but for an overview of the book, I find the story a well-blend of funny, and adorable to read through. There were also some very relatable moments with Luc's inner turmoils of his self-esteem. Aside from the two main couple, I also love Luc's friends most especially, I haven't laughed so much to a Ro/Com story in such a long time, this has honestly been one of the much-needed breath of fresh air during the months-long quarantine period. 

Lastly, I'd like to thank NetGalley and Sourcebooks for providing me an E-ARC copy of this book. Highly recommending this book for a good humorous and also very meaningful story of friends/family/relationships/ and even social culture.

2.5* A bit inorganic with what led to the leads' relationship, and with the constant snark...

The very Britishness of this cover (is it designed to attract readers of last year's hit book, 'Red, White and Royal Blue'?) is what drew me to the tale, and the Britishness of the writing and dialogue had me nosing to see if the author is a Brit, but I couldn't figure this out. In any case, his/her voice does ring pretty authentically British, considering that the leads for the most are middle-to-upper class Brits. 

Please note that this review contains Spoilers. 

But, it didn't read organically, unfortunately. This is the UK, and the tale starts off with a premise which no British employer would be so open about, and which no employee with Luc's upbringing and education and group of LGBTQIA friends in 2020 would take the way he did. Yes, he worked for a charity that was short of funds but no employer has the right to bring his personal life into the tale the way in which the author and his employers did. This would have been ripe for an open-and-shut court case, so for me, the tale started off on the wrong foot. It also made me wonder if the author is American, not a Brit and whether he/she had done the research, as this sounds like something perhaps that might happen in the USA, but not in the UK, thankfully, where we're a lot more PC and have the Discrimination Act 2010. This felt like a really weak start to the tale and a really weak reason for the fake-boyfriend trope.

The more I read, the more it felt that the tale borrowed the snark that Lily Morton tales abound with, and it didn't read organically. The lunch scene at a gentleman's club, at about 35% into the tale, was more along the lines of a British farce from the '70s than anything I could imagine 4 20/30-somethings with an Oxford education enduring. The dialogue was not believable, the vacuousness of two of the four people was hard to believe and the Miffy thing? Made no sense at all. 

I couldn't finish the tale - after the lunch, the leads somehow ended up in one's flat, with the fake boyfriend sober and the not-suing-his-employers lead drunk on Amontillado (I think). They ended up sharing a bed and some repetitive sober-drunk conversation and there really didn't seem to be a spark of anything between them. Next thing, it was the morning after, which skipped tons of much needed detail and started with the drunk lead and his co-worker who'd been at lunch the day before, having the most surreal of conversations. Of all the characters in the tale, Oliver, the fake boyfriend, actually seemed the most believable because he seemed to be more reasonable and down to earth.

The author absolutely can write but the tale lacked believability and authenticity and he/she lost me and my interest from nearly the start. It was the many positive Netgalley reviews that had me persisting with it, until I couldn't any more. 

ARC courtesy of Sourcebooks Casablanca and Netgalley, for my reading pleasure.

3.5 Stars
My first read by this author, Boyfriend Material was a nice introduction.  Engaging characters, good support cast intertwined in a m/m rom com story. I enjoyed this read and will look to explore more by this author

This book had been on my radar ever since I first saw that super cute cover and synopsis that of course made me scream I NEEED IT, because fake dating is a trope that I always enjoy and therefor I’m always excited to read a new one with it! This one truly hit the mark for me and made me laugh out loud, grin like an idiot, and swoon quite a bit as I read it. 


Things I liked:

- The characters felt so real. Like, they genuinely felt like real and genuine people and it was so so easy to invest in their lives because of that. They were flawed and made a few mistakes, but as that is part of being human, I enjoyed that aspect of their personality immensely. The author did a phenomenal job with writing relatable characters that are incredibly easy to love. 
- Talking about phenomenal jobs, this one truly hit the mark for me in terms of humor. I laughed out loud so many times. Luc’s POV was so hilarious and just so fun to read. 
- Luc and Oliver has great chemistry. I enjoyed their moments together from their very first interaction. Their banter provided such fun entertainment and although they were truly complete opposites (think someone with Captain Holt from B99’s personality getting together with someone like Jake Peralta... Yes, extremely different personality) they just worked well together and grounded each other in such a perfect way. 
- I mentioned this once but.. I just love the fake dating trope. There is something so satisfying when two characters are fake dating and still believe wholeheartedly on the fake aspect of the deal without even noticing that they’ve become so wrapped up in each other that they are genuinely dating without even noticing it. These two made me so giddy! The author used this trope in an amazing way!
- I liked the character development. Both of these characters are going through so much throughout the story. Luc suffers from a huge lack of self confidence, but manages to grow a lot as the story progresses, which I really enjoyed seeing as he was a complete mess at the beginning. 
- I loved the side characters. Luc’s friends were absolutely hilarious and one of my favorite parts of the story. I loved when they showed up! I also quite enjoyed Oliver’s friends as well. 


What I didn’t like: 
- The story dragged in a few parts for me. I was enjoying it so much but at some points throughout the book I had to force myself to pick it up because the story just wasn’t moving as fast as I was hoping. I think it was just way longer than it needed to be if I’m being honest. 
- Luc’s coworkers were a little bit annoying. I felt like the author made them way too dumb to add extra humor to the story but it got to a point where it wasn’t funny as much as it was infuriating.
- The way the vegetarian thing was dealt with... was not a fan. 


Overall, I loved this one so much and it has the biggest potential to become the next big release of the year! I recommend this without any hesitation if you enjoy a sweet story with great and funny main characters as well as awesome supporting characters, fake dating trope done extremely well, and the best BEST banter. I enjoyed this immensely!

Considering I thought this book was a romance between a rockstar and a barista because apparently i can't read I really enjoyed this book more than i was expecting too. 
My favourite tropes from this book include:
•fake dating
•bed sharing
•a healthy relationship between two characters who know how to communicate and love and respect each other despite their flaws and personal struggles.