I didn't expect to love this book as much as I did. I was thoroughly entertained by Luc and I just love him and Oliver together which lead for an amazing follow up to Boyfriend Material. I definitely wanted to see how their lives would turn out together. I spent the entirety of this series cheering them on. Luc and Oliver are definitely one of my favourite fictional couples.

I tried to physically read this and found it a little hard to get into, so I waited for the audiobook to come out and I loved it! Great banter and world-building.

I loved "Boyfriend Material," the first in this series, SO much. My hopes were high for this one. Sadly, I didn't like it as much, though it was quite fun to read.

My main issue with this book revolves around the third-act conflict, which felt really rushed at the end. I'm picky about a third-act conflict overall, because I feel like they can easily not work, and this one didn't work. It was resolved too quickly in a way that felt really unsatisfying.

Probably one of the most disappointing sequels ever. Boyfriend Material was great and this was marketed in a very similar way, but the whole book was all over the place and then spoiler alert - they don't even actually end up getting married!

This was enjoyable! However, I think I prefer to read about the falling in love more than what comes after.

I loved Alexis Hall's Boyfriend Material, so I was delighted to get my hands (and ears) on the audiobook of Husband Material. I'll admit that it took me minute to get in to this one - maybe it was because of diving into the complexities of an established relationship?

The banter is still there, which is the highlight of this one!

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for sharing this one with me. All thoughts are my own.

I am such a huge fan of Alexis Hall’s books, so it was an honour to get to read this new book. I love the comedic timing in all of Hall’s books, but this one really upped the ante. It was a fabulous read and one that I recommend to all of my friends! (Seriously, they are probably tired of me talking about how good this—and every other book that I’ve read by Hall—is) . Favourite book of the year, hands down.

I really enjoyed Boyfriend Material and had really high hopes that Husband Material would fulfill that same sense of longing and bumbling whimsy that I felt during the first book. Sometimes there is so much success with a book that was intended to be a stand-alone that the next portion was not fully flushed out before writing. The story was here and it could have been so good, but there was just some editing and rushed aspects that made it disconnected.
I know that relationships are never perfect and humans are well, human. But there was a lot more disfunction than I thought there would be and often times Luc just seemed horrible. I am no sure where the character arc and growth was supposed to be.
While there was promise, it just did not feel as though it was plotted out as well as I had hope and I could not connect to the characters.

I love love loved Boyfriend Material when I read it in 2020 and couldn't wait for more Luca and Oliver but this book kind of made me mad! They didn't seem to grow as characters throughout this book and still continued to argue quite a bit. It seemed like the same thing over and over! Almost wish this book hadn't been about them and was a new couple because I wanted to love them as much as I did in Boyfriend Material but that just didn't happen!

I absolutely loved this novel.
Such a great story with defined characters and a great plot.
What drew me in the most was how fleshed out the characters were
The writing style was fluid and relateable.
The cover was fascinating as well.
A reviting read overall
Definitely recommend adding this to your TBR!

I think? the author was going for "Four Weddings and a Funeral" vibes but honestly this was boring. Too many ~hijinks~ that ultimately had no effect on the overall plot, and I also wasn't really sold on Luc and Oliver actually liking each other/being a solid couple, despite having been together for 2.5 years. Overall not a win for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and SourceBooks for an e-ARC!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me access to the free advanced digital copy of this book.

A perfect follow up to a perfect fake dating romance! Luc and Oliver once again bring readers to tears of laughter while breaking your heart. These two idiots love each other dearly and this book is the perfect mix of shenanigans, heartbreak, messy friendships and complicated family relationships. This series is a must read for rom com lovers!

Finishing a book is bittersweet. On one hand there is usually significant resolution because you’ve come to the end, but on the other hand you’ve spent a great deal of time watching these characters develop and grow through their journey, only to come to a hard and fast stop. Having a sequel allows for that window that was firmly shut to open once again and allow you to visit with people you’ve come to care about in some small measure.

Alexis Hall brings readers back to London with his new novel “Husband Material”, which checks back in with Luc and Oliver, who are two years into their relationship and seemingly in domestic bliss. After growing attached to Luc’s hits-too-close-to-home self deprecating humor and Oliver’s steadfast demeanor, being able to linger in their world again felt like a treat.

‘Oh, this is nice,‘ I told him. ‘It reminds me of when we were first going out and I didn’t like you.’ And it was a testament to how far we’d come that I could say something like that and he’d laugh. And Oliver laughing in a special-occasion suit was a very good Oliver indeed.

“Husband Material” is very much character driven. Most of the novel circles around Luc and Oliver and how they engage socially with others while navigating taking their own ‘next steps’. Hopefully you can manage expectations well enough to enjoy the characters’ return to the page without needing a huge overarching plotline, because there isn’t much of one.


I really enjoyed reading the first half of this book because I was able to see Luc and Oliver, who I fell head over heels for in “Boyfriend Material”. Two years later they are still together, in a good place, and are settling down with each other, acknowledging each other’s warts and all. I realized halfway through, though, that there wasn’t as much character development off the page as I’d initially hoped for, and they didn’t grow during “Husband Material” either.

See, this was the problem with trying to be a better human being to impress your boyfriend. You ended up having to be a better human to everybody.

Luc is still self-deprecating, but it’s not as funny this time around. He’s insecure and self-sabotaging. Oliver is exceptionally anxious, even though he hides it better than Luc, and he hasn’t really worked out much of his family issues or reconciled being gay with being part of the gay community. To summarize, the same issues that plagued these characters in book 1 are still lingering in book 2, except they’re really together not just fake-dating together.

Final Thoughts
To be frank, “Husband Material” isn’t the novel that I was hoping it would be. I’m rating it 2.5 stars, bee-cause while it wasn’t everything that I hoped it would be, I still enjoyed experiencing Luc and Oliver’s banter again on the page. These two really do get into some fun shenanigans, and they have some interesting conversations. Luc’s internal monologue and commentary specifically reminds me of hearing my best friends tell a story over drinks. I hope that there will be more of them in Hall’s future London Calling novels, even as secondary characters, because they deserve more love.

It was absolutely delightful to be back in this world with Oliver and Luc. Boyfriend Material was one of my favorite reads the year it released and I was so excited when it was announced that we were getting a sequel (and a third book coming soon!). Being back with these characters was so heartwarming and wonderful and fun and I can't wait to see what happens for them next!

After quite enjoying the first book in the series, I was excited to read the second.

Unfortunately, while overall still enjoyable, this one fell flat. The characters seemed to not develop, but become almost caricatures of themselves and their attributes. To me, the plot never seemed to gain traction the way it did for the first.

Hall‘s style is easy to read and digest, there’s strong humour, which makes reading her works enjoyable. However, there’s a glaring error that could have been avoided with five minutes on google either on part of the author or editor. Oliver apparently off screen claiming a connection between the word “Kitsch” and “volkitsch” is baffling. First off, volkitsch is not a word in the German language, and the correctly spelled völkisch bears no connection with Kitsch. Granted, one has to know German to notice, but it made the character look so stupid that I almost didn’t finish the book.

A great follow up to Boyfriend Material

Thanks to NetGalley / Edelweiss and the publisher for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange for a review.

This book was okay. I think this should not have turned into a duo. It felt like an entire book of insecurities and idiocy with no real plot.
Did have some lol moments and as with boyfriend material, I loved Oliver but Luc was just meh.

This was the sequel to Boyfriend Material which I definitely recommend reading first. I absolutely loved the movie Four Weddings and a Funeral. Which I totally recommend. Huge Grant was especially great in that film. And who doesn’t like Huge Grant?! This book definitely used that framework. Each wedding was special in their own way and were filled with a lot of humor.
We see Luc and Oliver tackle each event with grace and humor. Oliver was great as always and Luc was a bit annoying as usual. I liked some of the wedding stories. Lucy’s friends were hilarious, sweet, and loyal as they ever have been. His mom was amazing as her son’s advocate and cheerleader along the way.
My only complaint was I didn’t like the ending. I felt that it didn't quite work out like it did in my head. It felt anticlimactic in a lot of ways. Unfortunately , I lowered my rating score due to that.
Overall, a good and sweet story, just wish for a better ending.
I also found out after reading this that there will be another book. I'm definitely looking forward to it. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my ARC in exchange for my review.

I have always been a huge Alexis Hall fan and of course Boyfriend Material is one of my top favorites. So with the release of Husband Material I was highly anticipating diving back in to Luc and Olivers world and romance.

This book reads almost like a diary of events for these characters. What I mean by that is that we are along for the ride for the events of their life as they play out instead of working towards the rise and fall of a predictable plot.

I think a lot of the issues other readers may have with this title is that they went in to with with what THEY wanted from it but Alexis wrote what works best with the characters overall. There is a 3rd book coming out with Luc and Oliver so this isnt the last we will see of them (hooray!), and I cant wait to read that one as well!