It's pretty well established that romance novels don't get sequels. Maybe you get glimpses of a couple through a friend or sibling's story, but even then, it's "look at how happy and glowing this couple is since they got together!" The fact that Luc and Oliver are getting a trilogy is kind of mind-blowing and I think it's going to open all sorts of doors.
Husband Material is a twist on Four Weddings and a Funeral, which I'm honestly not sure I've seen all the way through since I was *checks notes* seven when it came out. But I know it's a big one for a lot of people. I'm not sure how strongly this cribs from that, except the story really is four weddings and one funeral. It's fitting for a group of friends who are starting to settle down. Luc and Oliver get roped into the various weddings with a variety of emotions. It's honestly very different to read a story about an established couple planning a wedding together and maybe that's why it doesn't happen as often. It's like the age old television question of what happens when your OTP actually gets together? For Luc and Oliver, this decision come with family stuff and personal baggage. There are a LOT of conversations and arguments about feelings. And while it's all very well done, it is a different dynamic than the initial romance novel vibe of "will they, won't they?" And even if you know they <i>will</i>, you're still waiting to see how it happens. You never doubt Luc and Oliver...there are plenty of sweet-as-wedding-cake moments, but Husband Material is a bit of an awkward middle book per trilogy standards and I want to make sure people have the right expectations. That said, I do think it opens up romance to a whole realm of sequels and that's really very exciting.

While I don't think this quite lived up to Boyfriend Material and my experience reading it this was a pretty good followup and I loved seeing Luc and Oliver together and working through their issues (though some of the arguments/discussions got a bit repetitive). I'm not huge on epilogues and I don't think the end of this book would be improved by one, but I'm definitely curious about what happens after so I'll be reading the rest of the series for sure!

The good things about this book: the audiobook is narrated by the same very talented actor, who does lots of lovely voices and accents.

The bad things about this book: ...all the rest? I found Luc pretty self-centered in BOYFRIEND MATERIAL, and he certainly hasn't changed. It was weird to me that no one had suggested therapy, and that no one has in the interim, and seeing Luc and Oliver back on the page made me realize just how badly Oliver also needs therapy. The way Luc thinks about Oliver's relationship with his body and with food seems honestly quite harmful to me, and I'm not going to get into the weeds on proper expression of or identification with one's sexual identity and the community that comes with it but I really didn't feel comfortable with the way Luc felt about Oliver not loving the rainbows, et cetera.

It makes a lot of sense to me that many people felt let down by this book - if the first one were one I'd held real close to my heart, I would be disappointed, too. I didn't think BOYFRIEND MATERIAL necessitated a sequel, and this book really proved to me that it didn't. If you were satisfied by the first as a stand-alone, don't waste your time here.

Thank you Sourcebooks and NetGalley for the ARC!

I adored Boyfriend Material and was thus thrilled to receive this one ahead of pub date. I wasn't aware that the book followed the structure of Four Weddings and a Funeral; that knowledge might have perhaps better prepared me mentally for all the jumping ahead in timelines and for this being a much more episodic narrative than its predecessor. I wanted much more of Oliver and Luc in happier times to offset the reality - that all they seemed to do here was fight and resolutely not communicate with each other leading to a vicious cycle (at times it did feel like the plot was contrived this way to keep them apart for longer/heighten the cracks between them). It was all hastily resolved in the final few pages (very unsatisfactory even in its so-called resolution), making it worse.

That said, I am still looking forward to Father Material because I do love these characters (however exasperating) and their close friend circles.

Thank you Netgalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

I'm seriously disappointed by this novel, one of my most anticipated releases of 2022. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Luc and Oliver and Boyfriend Material all too much to let my experience of this novel hinder my thoughts of the predecessor.

I just don't understand Hall's purpose for this chain of events. I didn't care for half of the weddings in the novel?! A lot of this novel felt like we were watching others' love stories through the eyes of Luc and Oliver (mostly Luc). Unlike when in Boyfriend Material, how their romance was a key component, in this novel it felt as if they were background characters in a novel that's supposed to be about them! Yes, the ending is cute but with the leading being nothing but weddings before it, that last chapter or two were detached and abrupt from this whole storyline.

Apparently, there's a third installment in the works specific to Luc and Oliver? "Father Material"? If that's true, then I hope it provides us readers with more centric moments for Luc and Oliver.

And in similar vein, Boyfriend Material didn't need to turn into a series. That book works perfectly fine as a standalone.

I enjoy Hall's writing, so I'll continue to read the upcoming novels, but I wished Husband Material was setup differently.

Husband Material
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Genre: MM Romance / Queer
Format: Audiobook
Date Published: 8/2/22
Author: Alexis Hall
Publisher: Dreamscape Media
Narrator: Joe Jameson
Goodreads Rating: 3.82

I requested a digital advanced readers copy from NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca Books and providing my opinion voluntarily and unbiased. NetGalley provided me the ebook but I loved the audiobook on the first one so much that I decided to buy the audiobook on this one.

Synopsis: In Boyfriend Material, Luc and Oliver met, pretended to fall in love, fell in love for real, dealt with heartbreak and disappointment and family and friends...and somehow figured out a way to make it work. Now it seems like everyone around them is getting married, and Luc's feeling the social pressure to propose. But it'll take more than four weddings, a funeral, and a bowl full of special curry to get these two from "I don't know what I'm doing" to "I do". Good thing Oliver is such perfect Husband Material.

My Thoughts: This was an another absolute delight to listen to. This is book number two in London Calling. I did listen to the first one and then followed with this one. I love the continued relationship with Luc and Oliver. I loved and connected with the MCs and loved Bridget’s role as the best friend to Luc, she was perfect. Right away, you could feel the love and chemistry between Luc and Oliver, even if they were very different from one another, it just worked like peanut butter and jelly. I am a huge fan of Alexis Hall. The characters were well developed with depth, witty banter, deep chemistry, and the supporting characters were fantastic! The author’s writing style is complex, swoony, humorous, creatively written, and kept me engaged the whole time. The narration was fabulous, really breathed a life into the characters and made you feel like you were right there, experiencing what they are experiencing. The ending is not what you would expect but worked so well for the story. I would highly recommend.

I absolutely adored Husband Material! I think I enjoyed Boyfriend Material more, but nevertheless I also loved Husband Material, I had completely forgotten the hilarious & lovely dynamic between Luc and Oliver and the side characters were mostly funny in their own ways. Following through 4 weddings in this book was a fun concept.
I absolutely ADORED the ending of this book!

I loved the first one in this series and I guess I just expected a lot more out of this one, but I was seriously dissapointed with this one. It just didn't have the same charm and endearing feel from the characters and it just seemed like they argued the entire book.

2.5

The follow up to Boyfriend Material follows Luc and Oliver through wedding season. Despite having a great past two years in their relationship, attending multiple weddings finds Luc and Oliver both thinking about the future and marriage for themselves.

It hurts to rate this so low because I had high expectations and was so excited to read this. It took me forever to get through this. Now, the author's writing style is so hilarious and entertaining. But, I feel like the way the author writes requires the reader to really pay attention to every single word. I had to go back and re-read countless times throughout this. This is not a bad thing per see, it just makes it harder for me to read the story as each word adds something to the story. Besides this, I found the story a little boring and just unnecessary all together. All that happens in this story is some people get married, someone dies (think, four weddings and a funeral), and Luc and Oliver literally end up exactly where they started at the beginning. But, you have read multiple arguments about the same topic where nothing is resolved. This could've been cut in half and it would've been the same story. I just could not get on board with the ending. It didn't make sense to me. Both of them admitting they're not compatible enough for marriage, but compatible enough to just be together forever? It doesn't make sense! So disappointing. Rounding up to three stars because the book was funny and entertaining when the characters weren't arguing. I never want to read the words "sucky" or "rainbow balloon arch" again. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the free preview in exchange for an honest review.

*I received an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks for the free book.*

I enjoyed "Boyfriend Material" because it was very much over the top, overly dramatic, and verging on ultimate cringe. "Husband Material" is just like that but turn the emotional angst and drama up to eleven, which was not so enjoyable. I think my main issue is that I don't see why people need to get married a) in the first place, b) after 2 years of relationship (???), c) care so much for what other people think. This is also why I kinda disliked the ending of the novel, it did not feel like it was worth it. Had the two of them done away with their immense expectations and also learned to really talk to each other when not in emotional distress or just stress, much drama, hurt, and heartbreak could've been avoided. Additionally, I did not like that all characters are cardboard characters, that people are reduced to having children. I also did not like how one character hated on one baby, geez, I don't want a kid, but why so negative? Having a kid is a hardcore deal, of course, and it changes people. And being an asshole about your friends changing is not cool.

Nevertheless, the novel was in parts hilarious and I enjoyed parts of it a lot.

3 stars

I read 55% of this book and although entertaining off and on, I was struggling to want to keep picking it up. I loved the first book, but this one seems redundant. If you love sequels then you’ll probably like it. I might try again, but for now I have no desire.

I found the main character kinda annoying. Everything he thought was very negative and he had a big self-destructing attitude. I really wanted to like the relationships, but they didn't seem like anyone really cared for each other. While this was not the book for me, I hope others enjoy it.

If you wanted more of Luc and the shitshow that he is, this book is for you. It's ridiculous and over the top, but also fun and endearing. The ending made me so happy, if you're read it you know. While i didn't enjoy this as much as the first book it was still enjoyable. ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Thank you for the eARC provided by Netgalley and the publisher.


I was such a big fan of the first book but this didn’t really stuck with me so much. Not a bad book at all, just not the best I guess.

This was a strong sequel to an enjoyable first book. I loved diving back into Luc and Oliver’s life and I can’t wait to read more from Alexis Hall!

Perfect. All of the stars, and glitter, and balloon arches, and high fives for this book.

1000000/10 would still let Oliver throw me onto a busy highway if he truly wanted to I'd do anything for that angel and I'd do it with a god damn smile on my face.

Being back with these characters has made me so incandescently happy that I am just in this giddy little bubble and I love Oliver so much and I am just so in love with how this was done I will never get tired of spending time with these dumb muppets I love them I love them I love them.

I laughed. I cried. I felt personally attacked. I just... UGH I love them so much.

I will never shut up about these books.


[Thank you to Sourcebooks Casablanca for my review copy]

Husband Material is my most anticipated book of 2022, and when I opened the email to find an advanced copy - well, let's just say that I was deceased for a little bit.

And Luc and Oliver's second book did not disappoint.

I just loved everything about it. It was swoony, and lovely, and funny. Luc and Oliver are relationship goals really. I liked that they didn't have everything go smoothly, that they had to fight for what they wanted at times, but mostly that they stuck it out, they love each other. I want to be their friends.

I had forgotten how funny Luc's workmates were. Alex and Rhys had me in fits of laughter - they are so darn clueless it is adorable.

I don't want to spoil anything for anyone going in, but just know that if you loved Boyfriend Material, you are going to really love Husband Material

This sequel to the Boyfriend Material is just as funny as the first book in the series. Hall highlights the problems of a modern gay couple trying to navigate a series of high-stress group public & family events. Highly recommended.

I really enjoyed this one! It’s definitely a strong followup to boyfriend material, looking forward to more from Hall in the future

This was such a fun follow-up to Boyfriend Material! Loved the humor and emotion and the bad jokes (so many wonderful bad jokes) - it was a great pleasure to spend time again with Luc and Oliver and their group of friends.