This was a cute little Christmas-y romp! I felt like Sam's character develpoment/background could have been a little stronger, but I loved the almost slow-burn nature of the relationship, as well as the genuine enemies to lovers aspect.

Thanks @netgalley @sourcebookscasa and Alexis Hall for the chance to read an ARC of Ten Things That Never Happened. It’s out on October 17, 2023.

If you loved Boyfriend Material, then you’ll love this book too. Alexis Hall has such an incredible voice and his writing just zings on the page. I always laugh out loud reading his work.

Sam Becker is a manager at a bed and bath store. He gets called into the headquarters by his dickish boss Jonathan Forest who tells him that he has to cut expenses and fires him before Sam accidentally gets a head injury (trust me—it works) and fakes amnesia (okay, I know we are getting far fetched here, but it works) and decides to move in with Jonathan Forest in order to make him see reason and keep his job and protect his employees. What started as a little lie gets more complicated as they start to get to know each other and develop feelings. I found myself rooting for both of them throughout the book and their HEA is hard won.

Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Steam: 🔥
Tropes: amnesia, forced proximity, boss/employee, holiday

I absolutely adore Alexis Hall. They wrote beautifully, their books are always full of humor, their characters are always so well fleshed-out and charming. However, the plot of this one is a miss for me. I absolutely LOVED it until the amnesia part and the ends didn’t justify the means for me. I can suspend my disbelief but this was a little too much even for me.

No matter, I will read anything by Alexis Hall so I look forward to the next. Can’t wait to see what they come up with!

Thank you to Sourcebooks for the ARC!

I thoroughly enjoyed this sweet and funny romcom. Set in the Boyfriend Material universe, Sam is the manager of a branch of Splashes & Snuggles, a bed and bath chain store. He places more importance on caring for his found family of store staff than on profits, which lands him in hot water with the company owner. Jonathan calls Sam to the flagship store for a lesson in management, but when Sam gets a concussion, he makes the impulsive decision to fake amnesia to distract Jonathan from firing his team. With no other choices, Jonathan brings Sam home to watch over him as he heals.

Jonathan was a difficult character to like at first, but this was a persistent grumpy/sunshine pairing that paid off in the end. I loved watching the two of them slowly develop a friendship that eventually turned into more, although the relationship was less sparks-flying and more like a cozy radiator warming up the room. Sam brings warmth to Jonathan’s life and helps him appreciate his boisterous family, which was heartwarming.

I usually don’t enjoy it when characters keep secrets from each other, so I thought I wouldn’t like Sam’s amnesia deception, but this worked for me. His mistake was understandable and his desire to protect his team was admirable. His background remained a mystery for much of the book which added to the amnesia-ish atmosphere, and the reveal was masterfully done which gave me all the feelings.

All in all, this was lovely and although the Boyfriend Material connection was loose at best (Jonathan went to school with Luc) it gave me a good idea of what to expect from this book. Steam level was low/medium, just barely open door but not graphic.

Thank you so much Sourcebooks Casablanca for approving my request! One of my most anticipated reads this year!

This one I can describe as charming and achingly slow burn romance that Alexis Hall just hits right.

I am a huge fan of Alexis Hall and I really highly recommend to give this one a go as I enjoyed it as much as Boyfriend Material!

This was a fun, quick paced holiday romcom read from Alexis Hall - which had some While You Were Sleeping and Superstore vibes for me. I love a 90s romcom feel, and a quirky workplace comedy element 🤗 Fake amnesia, forced proximity, an oddball work group, a grumpy boss, and holidays with a dramatic family? Yes please!

Sam and Jonathan were such an interesting pairing - I love a slow burn, sunshine / grump storyline and these two definitely delivered. I loved the build up and the banter between the two.

The book itself is on the longer side, but it felt like it went so quickly when I was reading. Yes, I was into the slow burn romance, but I was also enjoying slowly peeling back the story of each of these two characters individually and finding out how they ended up here.

In addition to our two mains, we got a great supporting cast - with Gollum the cranky cat, Sam’s ragtag staff / ‘friends’ from work, and of course Jonathan’s family. The coworkers and family definitely added some funny moments and antics throughout.

Definitely a feel good holiday read, but with some heart. I really loved that the author managed to deliver a romcom but also touch around issues - wealth, loss, identity… at the same time.

Overall, one I really enjoyed. As I said at the beginning it had vibes of two of my favorite movie / shows and I was here for it. I could definitely see this one as a holiday romcom and I would love to watch. 😊

Thank you to Sourcebooks Casablanca for the chance to read and review an early copy! 💜 All thoughts and opinions are my own and freely offered.

4.5 ⭐️

10 Things That Never Happened was so frivolously fun and over the top. The premise of the novel (amnesia romance) is pretty cliched, but 10 Things managed to stay super refreshing just out of sheer charm. It's the little things, really, like the retail team antics (it was very true to life and I found myself imagining that if Alexis Hall didn't have previous retail experience, then he must have decided to get some just for this book) and the commitment to the bit of naming every bed & bath product with its full retail naming convention. The conflict of the story was left unresolved until quite late, which ended up being a little bit anxiety-inducing, but actually worked quite well for these characters. Also, it's a Christmas book, and I'm already excited to reread this in December.

Thanks to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for the arc!

4.5⭐️

Sam is a likable person, but a mediocre manager. Jonathan is an unlikable person, but a successful business owner. This grumpy sunshine forced proximity romance is witty banter wrapped in a hug, even if it is predictable.

Sam is the manager of a bed & bath retail store that Jonathan owns. Jonathan threatens to fire Sam and his entire staff only a few weeks before Christmas. When Sam has an accident at Jonathan’s store, he decides to fake amnesia in hopes of buying time to convince Jonathan to save his store from being shut down.

Alexis Hall books have historically been hit or miss for me but thankfully this one was a hit! I enjoyed Sam and Jonathan a lot and found the fake amnesia premise delightful in that “only in a romcom” way. The supporting cast of characters was also a lot of fun, though I think in the third act they got in the way of the central romance a bit. Overall very enjoyable!

Thank you Sourcebooks Casablanca and NetGalley for the ARC!

10 Things That Never Happened was a sweet little gem of a book. The "enemies to lovers" trope is alive and well in this story, and it is so charming! Samwise and Jonathan bring out the worst in each other, but through some strange events, they become immersed in each other's lives.

I found this book so lovely and positive and I was so sad when it was over. I can't wait to read more of Alexis Hall's backlog. Thank you again for this wonderful book!

1 Sentence Summary: While Sam Becker may not love his job of managing a bed and bath retailer, he owes it to his ragtag group of employees to keep his job so that they can keep theirs too; that’s why when the infuriating boss, Jonathan Forest, fires him, Sam panics, tripping and hitting his head and accidentally implying he has amnesia, and then decides to go along with it—it’s like a second chance, and nothing could go wrong with pretending to have amnesia, right?

My Thoughts: Okay, this might be my favorite Alexis Hall book yet! The character development was just so phenomenal. Alexis Hall is really good at making you care about the characters. And not just the main characters, but all of the secondary characters as well! I was so invested and felt all the emotions and my heart was in pain, but, like, in a good way.

Alexis Hall is also really good at writing believable chemistry between characters. I feel like in a lot of romance novels the love interests only get together because the author makes them get together and because that’s the whole point of a romance novel. But here it felt so believable and realistic and natural. It’s not that the story per say was realistic, because I’m pretty sure nobody could reasonably pull off fake amnesia for as long as Sam did, but the characters and their interactions and relationship felt realistic.

I did have a few complaints, the main one being that the ending felt a bit rushed, but I enjoyed this so much I’m giving it 5 stars anyway!

Recommend to: People who enjoy surprisingly sweet romcoms that include feral but loving cats, enemies to lovers, Christmas shenanigans, British slang, loneliness, and incompetent but endearing groups of employees.

(Warnings: swearing; sexual content; mentions of death)

I was not sure what to expect from this newest Alexis Hall book, but I was pleasantly surprised! I very much enjoyed Boyfriend Material, but felt Husband Material was a little bit of a let down. 10 Things That Never Happened, thankfully, was very cute!



Samwise Becker (yes, really) is the manager of a bed and bath shop filled with a ragtag group of employees. They’re not the best employees, but Sam cares for them just the same. When he is summoned by his boss (who no one seems to like) to London to learn how to “properly” manage his store, he has an accident in store that may or may not have involved a sliding door and his job termination. In the hospital, Sam makes a joke that has the doctor and his boss thinking his concussion and memory loss is worse than what it actually is. But maybe this fake memory loss will work in his favor, especially forgetting the part where he may or may not have gotten fired. As Sam fumbles through his “memory loss” under the care of his boss Jonathan, he learns a lot more about Jonathan than he knew before. And it turns out, Jonathan may not be as bad as Sam originally thought he was.



Alexis Hall’s books have been hit or miss for me, but this felt like a cute holiday read. I enjoyed the humor in the story and both Sam and Jonathan’s character growth. Definitely add this to your list if you’re looking for a good laugh!



Thank you to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for the arc!

I love the grumpy/sunshine trope and the subtle hints of Christmas in the book. However, I had trouble really getting into the story. I will most definitely reread it in order to enjoy it more!

Bed and bath store manager Sam Becker does his best to provide a great work environment for his employees. But where they benefit from Sam's relaxed leadership and refusal to cut costs, the branch runs the risk of upsetting company owner, Jonathan Forest. When a meeting with Jonathan goes downhill, Sam uses a head injury as an opportunity to fake amnesia and pretend he does not remember being fired. Using Jonathan's newfound sympathy, Sam undertakes a mission to save his job and staff from a boss he is starting to realize is not as bad as he first thought.

This book was a really quick read. Though I see it logged on Goodreads at just over 430 pages, reading it digitally it definitely didn't feel like it. Sometimes longer books can feel more daunting to read, but that certainly was not the case for 10 Things That Never Happened. That could be in part because it was a very fast paced plot, so not much seemed to drag on in a way that could lead the audience to get bored.

While I enjoyed it, I didn't give this book five stars because I felt like it was lacking a little bit of substance. Having read other books by Alexis Hall and knowing what he created previously, I was slightly let down. There seemed not to be any main point coming out of the story. Without a strong moral or purpose, it was left relying on the central romantic plot, which was not developed in a way that made me feel particularly invested. The love interests didn't have strong chemistry and the buildup to them getting together felt anticlimactic. As I write this review the only potential purpose I could see was a slight discussion about capitalism and worker exploitation? But again, there was no clear point on that front, just little things mentioned here and there about Jonathan being cruel and cutting costs without considering his employee's livelihoods.

All in all, the story was entertaining but I failed to find any more depth to it than the surface level enjoyment. Would I still recommend it to all the fans of gay British rom-coms out there? For sure. I think it is also a great option for someone who is in a reading slump and needs something fast paced to get them back into the groove.

Not my favorite by this author but still a cute and fun read! Some parts felt a bit rushed or maybe disjointed to me. I also know I am a big mood reader so I want to come back to this again in a few months to see if I feel any different.

This feels like a return to the Alexis Hall of Boyfriend Material. Endearingly flawed narrator who falls for a snobby guy but doesn't realize it. Excellent supporting characters. Very funny. Hall's use of regional accents and humor too.

Did I love it as much as Boyfriend Material? No, but that's one of my top-ten romances, so coming up short isn't bad. A solid four stars, and I'll definitely reread it.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I have a soft spot for the Grumpy x Sunshine trope, and Jonathan Forest is the grumpiest grump I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading about.

Sam Becker learns that his boss wants to fire pretty much everyone under employment by Sam, and he does the only thing he can think of... he fakes amnesia. While staying with his boss Jonathan Forest, he realizes that maybe his grumpy boss isn’t so bad after all…

I adored this book by Alexis Hall, and this is the ultimate grumpy x sunshine novel. I fell in love with every single character, and loved the way they developed throughout the story. I particularly love that while Jonathan slowly comes out of his shell and becomes less grumpy, he still feels like himself at the end of the novel.

I was nervous about how the whole amnesia plot was going to be dealt with, but I obviously shouldn’t have worried, because Alexis Hall did an excellent job of handling it.

I’d recommend this book to people who enjoyed her previous novel Boyfriend Material, or people who are just looking for a cute grumpy x sunshine novel. I’ll be sure to request that the bookstore I work in, order a couple copies when it comes out!

A huge thanks to Netgalley, Sourcebooks Casablanca and the author Alexis Hall for allowing me to read an E-Arc of this novel.

(Review on Goodreads will be published closer to the release of the novel: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5735585227)

STRONG 4.5 stars

*VERY MILD SPOILERS AHEAD!*

I really enjoyed this book! I have been so excited for it, and it did not disappoint. After very briefly meeting Jonathan in Husband Material and then the little snippets AJH has shared with us, I couldn’t wait to really meet the characters and see what he did with them.

I swear, Jonathan might be the grumpiest grump I’ve ever read. He really is quite terrible. And, in true AJH fashion, Jonathan was still a grumpy grump at the end, though maybe with his edges worn slightly down. I think that’s one of the things I love so much about AJH’s books: he writes very flawed characters who still have those flaws at the end of the book, but they’ve found a someone who can compliment them and who accepts them and loves them, and it is just the best.

So, at the start of the book we have Sam, who is running a branch of Jonathan’s successful bed and bath superstores. Sam is pretty laid back, Jonathan absolutely is not, and these incompatible management styles leads to Jonathan threatening to fire Sam and Sam faking amnesia to avoid being fired (and hopefully keep the rest of his staff from also being fired). Forced proximity and everything that goes with that ensues.

There is a lot of semi-heavy family stuff in this book, for both characters. Throughout the book it’s quite clear how family has impacted on the decisions made by both Jonathan and Sam.

Overall, this is a book about how two very lonely people find each other due to a set of rather absurd circumstances. It’s also technically a holiday book, but it didn’t really feel like a holiday book. I think the reason it didn’t feel like a holiday book is because, yes, it’s taking place over Christmas, and that does play a role, but it doesn’t feel as prominent as most holiday books that I’ve read? I don’t know if that makes sense? 😅

Also, also, Gollum and Jonathan are basically the best, I love everything about that, it is fucking adorable.

3.5/5 stars

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!!

It is basically an Office Romance as Sam works for Jonathan who is not liked by anyone in his company. I loved the Humour a lot in this book as the interactions of the couple were amazing. As Jonathan wanted to fire Sam and also the people who work under Sam, Sam had to come up with this whole amnesia thing to stop that from happening. Jonathan took Sam to his house to take care of him and that's when they started falling for each other.

Jonathan is extremely rude, selfish and extremely particular about everything whereas Sam cares about people and is easy going. This created an interesting dynamic between them. There was a lot of family drama in this book as Jonathan didn't have a good relationship with them so Sam helped him get over that.

What this book lacked for me was that intense feeling of love and it had too many interactions including the family members which I personally did not enjoy.

Overall a fun Christmas holiday romcom book to read if you enjoy reading about employee and boss romance with a lot of humour. Though the second half could have been better.

Thank You Netgalley and Sourcebooks, for the e-Galley.

I am sorry to say that this was just an okay book. I'm not sure I liked the main charcters Sam & Jonathan and the romance between the two felt a little forced.
Usually, I love a grumpy/sunshine or grumpy/whatever romance but this one just didn't do not work for me. They both kinda came across as gits.

Both Jonathan's family and Sam's colleagues added warmth and entertainment, but still felt like it was missing something....not entirely sure what but something.