Oh man was I glad to be back with Oliver and Luc! I had missed them. Wished this book had more steam but it was still great being back in this world.

A complimentary e-book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. I borrowed the audio from my library and base my review on that edition.

This installment did not work for me. I enjoyed book 1, see review here, so I don't understand what happened! There was just way too much filler "story" going on to make me care.

Luc running in to his Ex who is engaged and invites Luc to the wedding. Really? Why is Luc even debating going? They are not friends! I'd go so far as to say they are enemies with the way the Ex treated Luc. And there was ALL THE DRAMA around Bridget and her wedding, hunting down her fiancé [ whom she suspected was cheating on her and they call together a hunting party to find/spy on him. WTH? Seriously. What. The. Hell? I get that it was supposed to be funny and we were all going to laugh when the truth is revealed - he wasn't cheating, he was protecting a witness or something since he is a secret agent. Insert Eye Roll Here. But I didn't laugh, or if I did, it was because it was so stupid (hide spoiler)].

Then all the drama between Luc and Oliver leading up to their big day. Frankly, I skipped MOST of the story because I was bored and didn't care, and felt it was unnecessary drama for just DRAMTIC purposes and added no value to the characters or their story. This shouldn't have been a full novel if there wasn't enough material to write it, which clearly there wasn't. This could have been a simple, short story and it literally could have still ended the way it did. Take out all the CRAP, you have the SAME ENDING!

There appear to be 2 more books coming?!?!?! Unless something dramatic happens to make me think those will be better, I won't continue the series.

I cannot say I recommend this however if you read book 1 and enjoyed you, you will likely read this because it continues their story. Just know that you've been warned book 2 is NOT book 1. It may have actually soured me towards book 1.

Since I listened to the audio I will comment that the narration was good and added some animation and interest to an otherwise ridiculous and dreary tale. In the few comedic moments that I actually laughed at as the author intended, he nailed it, and I liked those parts.

[There is a scene where Bridget is wearing a borrowed wedding gown (long story) and it has like a mile long train, a mother saved her kid from being eaten by the monster train of the borrowed gown.

Long Story Short: They forgot to bring her wedding dress, so they had to borrow one. And who did they borrow one from? Why, the owner of the property to where they are holding the wedding, which is a new location because the church burned down.

And the owner of the dress volunteering she had been wed in the nude in the 60s, with flowers, though I don't remember if it was specified where the flowers were on her person, and that nudity, flowers, the outdoors, and bugs DON'T mix. Those two scenes I found funny, and a few minor scenes throughout the book, but they were limited. (hide spoiler)]

I am a fan of Alexis Hall but this one did not work for me. :(

Story 1 star
Narration 4.5 stars

DNF'ed at 53%.

I tried. I REALLLLLY tried. I attempted this on audio and as a physical read. After 26 days, it's time to throw in the towel. I just don't care for this book and that hurts to admit because Boyfriend Material was a favorite of mine in 2021 - I gave it five stars! Here's my review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I wanted Luc and Oliver. Not their friends. Not their families. I WANTED THEIR STORY. "Husband Material" is anything but.

Boyfriend Material was one of my favorite romances of all time, so I was so excited to pick back up with Luc and Oliver's story.

Overall, I really enjoyed this one. There were the typical hijinks we came to expect from the first book and lots of LOL moments. Luc was being a bit of an ungrateful twat for part of the book but that was pretty typical for his character. I was proud of Oliver for finally standing up for himself as well. The book also gave some classic British romcom vibes with Love Actually references and a Four Weddings and a Funeral plot. The ending did feel a bit rushed for me, and I'm looking forward to seeing if there is a third book to build out Luc and Oliver's future even more.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I was so, SO excited for Husband Material after completely devouring Boyfriend Material after its publication in 2019. That being said, I was not prepared to the sequel to be both underwhelming and disappointing.

Five-star romance novels are a rarity for me, however Boyfriend Material had all the right things to make it an exception: heartbreaking, raw and REAL, funny, romantic, and really just all-encompassing of a great romance novel. Husband Material took all of these things and completely crushed them to smithereens.

All in all, Husband Material was EXHAUSTING. It took me over a month to read simply because it took so much effort to drag my eyes across the page. All of the character development from Luc and Oliver in their debut seemed to disappear: they spent the majority of this novel bickering, misunderstanding each other, and not growing together (as you would expect a long term couple to do).

What I loved so much about Boyfriend Material was how complex both Luc and Oliver were, and yet they were able to figure things out and work hard to be together. None of this development shines in Husband Material, as we just see more of the same (Luc acting like an awful narcissist, Oliver acting eager to please and overly formal). This isn't to say I was expecting both of their characters' flaws to have simply solved themselves in the two year pan between novels. But I WAS expecting at least some growth (which, at this point, feels bare minimum). I found it extremely difficult to continue to care about ANY of these characters and the plot. The reader was dragged through meaningless weddings that didn't do much except expand the gaps in Luc and Oliver's relationship. (Maybe that was the point?)

The cherry on top had to be the ending, in which Luc and Oliver decide that, while neither of them are fit for marriage, they still want to be together. This leads them to skip out on their own wedding and... THE END! We're left with these two running off together to presumably continue to be miserable and insufferable. We could not have even gotten another chapter to wrap things up?!

All in all, I really wish this sequel didn't exist so as to tarnish its predecessor. In the meantime, I'm willing to forget it exists in order to enjoy a brilliant first novel.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this sequel to Boyfriend Material, and the characters are as loveable as ever. I found the pacing of it and where it brought emphasis to be a little disappointing. I thought the ending would have worked better had it come slightly earlier and been a bigger focus. As it is, I didn't totally see how we got to the ending that we did, and I wished it had made more sense in the context of everything that came before.

This was a good, but at times frustrating, book. I loved Boyfriend Material but this one fell a little short in comparison although it still had enjoyable moments. I felt like the book was constantly going in circles and was a bit repetitive. I plan to still read the rest of the series since I love the characters, but I don't feel like it added a whole lot to the story.

Husband Material is the continuation of Lucien and Oliver's love story that we were introduced to in Boyfriend Material.

I thoroughly enjoyed Boyfriend Material in all of it's silly and romantic trope-ness. I can't say the same for Husband Material. It felt like the same thing over and over again. A fight...a make up...a fight...a make up. Lucien was also pretty insufferable. Oliver should have ran for the hills.

I was given this book in exchange for my honest review. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

This had some laugh out loud moments. But it just wasn’t as good as the first. I don’t think it was necessary to have a second book. I’m a bit disappointed. I absolutely loved the first and it was nice to have the same banter and the jokes that one character still never understand. But it seemed like a lot of unnecessary drama and not enough spice or anything real happening. I wanted more depth to this one.

This book had a few too many plot lines going on, and served as a rather unenthusiastic sequel to Boyfriend Material. Hardly any of the loose ends were tied up, and the ending ruined all the character development this far.

100% Honesty here, I think reading Red, White, and Royal Blue first ruined this book for me. I just couldn't get into it. What I did read of it was good, and I like the book for its LGBTQ+ representation, but I think other books ruined my true enjoyment of this one.

I really enjoyed this sequel to Boyfriend Material and am so excited we're getting even more books in this series including PARENT MARERIAL! After going to a series of friends weddings, Luc and Oliver decide to get married themselves. But the stress of wedding planning might just ruin their happy day--and their relationship. I thought Hall did a good job of creating a lot of tension despite the fact that Luc and Oliver are already in a committed relationship at the start of the novel. A fun read for anyone who couldn't get enough of this duo in Boyfriend Material and want to continue to watch their relationship grow.

Alexis Hall stuns and amazes with the second installment of their 'London Calling' series in HUSBAND MATERIAL.

Readers are catching up with Luc and Oliver two years after BOYFRIEND MATERIAL and the two have seemingly slipped into the comfortable place couples enter once the shine and newness have long worn out. The novel begins with the mundane: cooking, sleeping, clothes, and orienting yourself into another person's space and life. We get to watch Luc stress over his neurotic behavior and a disastrous cooking episode that's full of heart and humor.

But it's not long (five chapters, if I'm recalling that right) before Hall hits us with the first of many obstacles the boys must either work through or not...

Without delving into the spoiler-y territory, all I can promise if your jaw will hit the floor multiple times, and then STAY THERE after the last page.

What a disappointment! I absolutely loved "Boyfriend Material" and I almost wish I wouldn't have read this sequel. There are occasional funny bits, but it is mostly an endlessly long sequence of the same argument happening again and again. Would not recommend as a standalone.

PS. Oliver deserves better.

Thank you to NetGalley & the publisher for providing an eARC for review.

As a big fan of the first book I have to say that I like Husband Material but I don’t really love it as I expected.

As the first one we have our dose of drama and cute and funny moments between Luc and Oliver while we see them living on this point of their relationship where everything is relatively stable because their friends have begun to settle down, so that makes them question what they want for their relationship in the future.

Luc and Oliver were perfect, they gave me beautiful moments. Luc is like in the first book, dramatic, irreverent, spontaneous and funny, and Oliver being his counterpart being charming and correct. They are perfect together with all their imperfections.

My problem with this book is that I felt that it was just past the half of this and there wasn’t any point in all the things that were happening. It's like mini stories put together to connect with the other half of the book where finally we can understand and see the real conflict between Luc and Oliver. And if I can rate this book because that half of the book I think it would be very good. That brings my other problem with this book, even though they say they have 2 years together they fight for the same problems that they had in the first book. I know they have their problems and this is a process that takes time, but the communication my friends!! Communication is really important and to be in a relationship for 2 years it seems that they haven't learned that.

As I said this book was good, but not perfect as Boyfriend Material. The characters as always saved the day with all their charm and their precious moments together.

A solid follow-up to Boyfriend Material, and a good chance to explore a more established relationship. I liked the couple's ultimate decision on what was right for them; it's nice to see non-traditional, non-marriage paths taken in romance.

Our favorite disaster gays are back! It was wonderful to see the crew again.

That being said. Generally speaking I did enjoy this book, but I liked it less as it went along. Luc's sense of tension, anxiety, and being unsure was a bit too palpable. The first book succeeded because Luc's feelings were portrayed as realistic without being over the top, and I think this one went too far in that regard. There was significantly less humor and significantly more bickering. Like. I get wanting to portray characters as genuine people, but it didn't feel like a book in the same series. This one felt a lot more General Fiction than Romance, if that makes sense. If there are more books in this series, I hope that the natural humor finds its way back. I missed it a lot.

Thank you to NetGalley for a preview copy of the ebook in exchange for an honest review.

Sequels are always tough, especially when the first book is so great, and ends satisfyingly. Unfortunately with HUSBAND MATERIAL, that is how I felt. I very much enjoyed BOYFRIEND MATERIAL so when the sequel was announced I was ecstatic and the nervous.

This addition to the story fell flat for me. It felt like 300 pages of Luc talking to his coworkers about things that never added to the story and were always long and drawn out for the gimmick or joke but really, for me, took away from the only interesting relationships in the book. This aspect of HUSBAND MATERIAL made it a grueling reading experience because I did not care for his coworkers and was just waiting for those scenes to be over.

The ending of the book also just felt like the first however many pages we read were a waste of time because we were essentially back where we started,

Not for me sadly, but I still love Alexis Hall!

Thank you NetGalley, author, and publisher for giving me this arc in exchange for my honest review. What an addicting story! I fell in love with the characters. Quick read!

Still utterly hilarious, Alexis Hall is a consistent and stunning writer. I will say I struggled with this book being about an established couple, Of course, they had their conflict, but I always assumed it would be worked out so I didn't find myself fully invested. That said, still utterly charming.