Cute and fun, these boys are as loveable as in book 1. For any lover of Bridget Jones this is a must!

Fun romcom. I didn’t relate to the protagonist as much as I would have liked. Thanks so much for the opportunity to give an honest review. The author writes very well. I would recommend.

We absolutely adored Boyfriend Material (London Calling Book #1) and couldn’t wait for the release of Husband Material (London Calling Book #2) to devour the wonderful ongoing relationship between Lucien and Oliver.

“Romance me, baby. Romance me hard.”

They say opposites attract, and they don’t come more opposite than Luc and Oliver. Two men from different ends of the pole, yet, despite their difference, they work so well. They did. Until Husband Material, where we see doubt and self-preservation take hold of our two beautiful men.

“The truth is, I don’t quite know how we’re together. And it’s not that we’re fragile, it’s jus that we’re…our own thing.”

Husband Material is an MM rom com take on Four Weddings and a Funeral premise with a bit of The Vicar of Dibley thrown in by way of the kooky frustrating joking banter between Lucien and Alex. It’s a fun, sweet, madcap romp, that for the most part we found enjoyable and entertaining.

Both characters have had to deal with personal growth, which is evident in Husband Material, but for every step forward, there seemed to be two frustrating steps back. Oliver is still the pragmatic partner, Luc the highly strung other half, which works surprisingly well. The Ying to the Yang.

‘My head was starting to hurt. Talking to my boyfriend was actually giving me a headache.’

The relationship between Luc and Oliver felt quite different from the one we loved in Boyfriend Material. We understood their struggles some three years into their relationship, however, something felt ‘off’ in this book. We never felt as though they were a cohesive unit, something we absolutely felt in the first book. What was never in question was their love. This, we FELT!

“Lucien, you know you are the truest thing I have ever dared choose for myself.”

Laugh-out-loud moments, led to some totally zany situations that gave us a giggle, however, the length of the book, made some of these moments feel a tad repetitive causing the story to drag at times. Maybe our thoughts would have been different it the story was somewhat condensed.

There’s give and take, push and pull, plenty of sweet love, wackiness and some wickedly witty banter in Husband Material, and whilst we enjoyed it, it didn’t provide the same level of love we felt whilst reading Boyfriend Material.

With everything that occurred, it felt as though we went through a whole lot to get to a whole lot of nothing, however, in saying that, we can’t wait for the third book, Father Material when it releases. Luc and Oliver as parents would be one sweet and funny adventure!

I love Alexis Hall and Boyfriend Material was by far and away on of my favorite books of his. I was so excited for the follow up and the return of Luc and Oliver. Husband Material was very much a meeting of old friends. The shenanigans and anxieties of this wonderful crew of characters wonderfully relatable. My only critique is that the end felt rushed... and I still want more Luc and Oliver. Is there room for another?

I really wanted to love this book. Boyfriend Material was a hit - fun story, strong characters. Unfortunately Husband Material did not deliver as a sequel. The characters got annoying, and the repetitive 'wedding diasaster' storylines were repetitive. I'm a big fan of the author's other works, so perhaps it's just the curse of sequels that made this one a flop for me. I'll definitely read future books from the author, but I won't be recommending this one.

Anyone who is a fan of Alexis Hall's <i>Boyfriend Material</i> will appreciate the second installment in her London Calling series.

According to Hall's website (https://quicunquevult.com/), <i>Husband Material</i> is now book two in the London Calling series. I thoroughly enjoyed the first book and was ecstatic when the publisher gave me the opportunity to read an advanced reader copy of the second book. I thank them for their generosity, but this review is mine.

Okay, so this book suffers just a tiny bit from second book in a series. From what I can gather, there hadn't been the original intention on writing a series, so the second book seems a bit more forced in some respects than the first one. First, I was extremely glad the first book was a hit. And second, I'm glad there was enough interest in Hall writing a second book, but I do think it doesn't have the same ring of authenticity as the first book.

In <i>Boyfriend Material</i>, Luc O’Donnell and Oliver Blackwood met and started dating to help Luc's image and appease Oliver's family. What they two hadn't expected on was falling in love. So, the first book took us completely on the traditional narrative arc of a romance novel from from meet cute to happy for now. The problem with that is, is leaves the romance author very little narrative room heading into a second novel. To some extent, this book reminds me of the 90s romcom <i>Four Weddings and a Funeral</i>, and this book even has a funeral.

Probably my biggest critique of this book is a hold-over choice from the first book, the POV. The book is told from Luc's perspective, so we really don't get too much insight into what's going on inside Oliver's head. I think that approach made sense for the first book, but I wish the author would have chosen a dual-POV in this book just to give us a deeper narrative and understanding of Oliver. As we all know, dialogue (whether in fiction or in real life) can be untrue, so we're left believing Oliver's words and actions instead of really getting a peak inside his upper-class head.

I loved Boyfriend Material, but was worried about a sequel to a rom-com that involved the same characters. They're already together, so where is there to go from here? But I shouldn't have worried. Alexis Hall pulled it off so well and I enjoyed the book thoroughly. The framing of 4 weddings and a funeral was inspired, and it was so nice to be back with these characters again. It was a nice closure for these characters. I loved it.

As much as it pains me to admit it, Husband Material didn't work for me. I love Luc and Oliver so much but I didn't vibe with this book from the beginning. I can't really even pinpoint why. I debated whether or not to continue reading when I came across someone saying how unsatisfying the ending was, so rather than waste any more time reading a book I was struggling with, I skipped to the final chapters and spoiled it for myself. At that point, I decided to DNF. I think I will just remember them fondly from Boyfriend Material and leave it at that.

(I'm only giving a rating because I can't submit this review without it, but I'm not rating it on other platforms.)

A fantastic sequel. I was honored to have the privileged to sample this one before the publication. I am already revisiting it as an audio book. I hope the author publishes more in this series.

Another delightful outing from Alexis Hall, featuring the characters from "Boyfriend Material". If you loved that one, you'll love this one!

The perfect follow-up to Boyfriend Material! So glad Alexis Hall took the leap to write a sequel because I absolutely needed to know where life went for these characters.

How many times is Alexis Hall gonna make my heart drop to my butt and a lump form in my throat!?! Luc and Oliver continue to make me smile and think about love, life, and societal expectations. This is a can't -miss second installment in their story.

I really enjoyed seeing the journey Luc and Oliver took in this book. Both of their internal conflicts felt real and very natural. I do wish that we had Oliver's POV to understand this thought process better and maybe a little less of Luc's ramblings, even though it does make Luc our Luc. I really enjoyed reading about all the friendships and how they navigating the bizarre situations. Overall it was a very fun read.

I've heard such bad reviews for this that I don't even have a strong desire to read it anymore. The first one was very cute, but everyone has said to just skip this one all together.

This is a disappointing sequel for sure. I liked Boyfriend Material, but this book just felt... unnecessary. It was too long, it was repetitive and I was bored. If they really wanted to write a sequel, a little novella or short story showing the two of them living out their happy lives together would've been better than another 400+ pages.

I liked the character development in this book very much. There was a big break away from codependency and learning to communicate, as well as competing with societal messages about what is right versus your inner knowing of what is right for you. Which are similar messages in the first book and a common theme in LGBTQIA+ stories. I would recommend this series, although I will say the first one made me laugh a bit more.

Husband Material is the latest instalment in the London Calling series by Alexis Hall. We pick back up with Oliver and Lucen after their fake dating leads to real feelings in Boyfriend Material.

This book packed a lot into a story line and some of the time I was overwhelmed. That being said Alexis Hall is amazing at character banter. I love this. Conversations packed with sarcasm, cliches, rants, awkward moments and so much more. This leads to the realness of the feelings you get while engaging with these characters.

Oliver and Luc have a very complex relationship and that started from book 1 and it continues into this one. Even in the moments I didn’t enjoy their relationship was worth the challenges that they faced. It was messy, unlike some of the other romance novels I read. Sometimes love is worth it.

The one thing I really enjoyed was the way Hall was able to weave in a variety of different “weddings.” It really pulled back the lense of the wedding industry and how the mainstream ideas of weddings are very hetero. We saw some really unique things but also zoomed in on all the “traditional” wedding ideals through a lens of men in the LGBTQ+ community. What I took away was that not all relationships have the same type of happily ever after. This is a powerful message to take in.

Thank you to @sourcebookscasa and @netgalley for my gifted copy in return for an honest review. Opinions expressed are my own

With just as much heart and comedy as the first book, Husband Material became another instant favorite of mine. I loved being with the characters again and watching them grow and learn, as well as meeting up with some old friends. Another 5 star read from Alexis Hall. I cannot wait for the next book!

I was disapointed in this one. I was really expecting it to be as good as the first in the duology, but it just fell flat for me. I still love these two characters but the way the story was written focusing on so many additional characters really didn't work for me.

I give up! I feel if I read anymore this will tarnish the memory of the first book.

I’ve been reading for a couple weeks and I’m only about half way through. I can only bear about a chapter at a time. It’s so all over the place, so many I’ve the top attempts at humor, way too much of Lucien’s job, and where the eff is Oliver?! This is supposed to be about the both of them, but he’s barely present.

So disappointing because of how much I enjoyed the original. I know there’s meant to be another book and I can’t imagine a world where I’d read it.