Boyfriend Material

Alexis Hall

Jul 2020 · London Calling Book 1 · Sourcebooks, Inc.

About this ebook

"It's a fun, frothy quintessentially British romcom about a certified chaos demon and a stern brunch daddy with a heart of gold faking a relationship."—New York Times bestselling author Talia Hibbert

AMAZON BEST BOOK OF THE MONTH

Named a best book of the year by Oprah Magazine, Entertainment Weekly, Goodreads, The Washington Post, and more!

WANTED:

One (fake) boyfriend

Practically perfect in every way

Luc O'Donnell is tangentially—and reluctantly—famous. His rock star parents split when he was young, and the father he's never met spent the next twenty years cruising in and out of rehab. Now that his dad's making a comeback, Luc's back in the public eye, and one compromising photo is enough to ruin everything.

To clean up his image, Luc has to find a nice, normal relationship...and Oliver Blackwood is as nice and normal as they come. He's a barrister, an ethical vegetarian, and he's never inspired a moment of scandal in his life. In other words: perfect boyfriend material. Unfortunately, apart from being gay, single, and really, really in need of a date for a big event, Luc and Oliver have nothing in common. So they strike a deal to be publicity-friendly (fake) boyfriends until the dust has settled. Then they can go their separate ways and pretend it never happened.

But the thing about fake-dating is that it can feel a lot like real-dating. And that's when you get used to someone. Start falling for them. Don't ever want to let them go.

Discover the LGBT romance about exact opposites falling in perfectly imperfect love that New York Times and USA Today bestselling author CHRISTINA LAUREN calls "hilarious, witty, tender, and stunning."

Ratings and reviews

This wasn't a standout but it was a sorta kinda cute British romance. One of the key components about this novel I really liked was the opposites attract theme. Luc and Olivier worked out beautifully and it was great to watched them grow together. Besides that, there's not much to rave about. I liked the characters but the rest of the content… was a snoozefest. I just didn't care much about the storyline. It was dull and bland which is disappointing considering I had high hopes for this. Oh well, I guess you can't win them all.

4.5 stars — This one reminded me a LOT of Bridget Jones’s Diary in tone and snappy dialogue…I mean, the movies at least, it’s been so long since I read the book, I don’t remember what the writing was like. I was actually a little…put off? (or lost I think) by the fast pace of the external and internal dialogue, and all the UKisms. But as I continued to read, I got back into that groove and really enjoyed myself. I guess I just hadn’t been expecting it. I was also worried by the sheer level of snark and dryness and total lack of self-esteem that was Luc. It could be offputting at times how much he put himself down. But honestly? In the end I did connect with him in spite of that, and I guess I just figured out who Luc was, and loved him in spite of his deflections and fear of feelings. I think it made it really satisfying to see the places where he did end up growing, and I LOVED that he really truly did grow — perhaps because of Oliver, but he didn’t chuck it all when they hit the conflict. That was kind of awesome. Honestly, I feel odd saying this, but there were so many things that had me wary when I first started reading this book. I think I went into it fairly blind, no expectations, and I had to get used to a different set of characters than I was used to. I really truly am bummed that this wasn’t dual POV, because I really wanted inside Oliver’s head. It didn’t detract from the story necessarily, it still felt full…I’m just greedy. I had an initial hard time figuring Oliver out…but I think I got him as Luc was getting him. And he was really endearing in so many ways. But I also appreciated that he was messed up in his own ways, that may have seemed quite different from Luc’s hangups, but in the end came down to the same thing. Basically, the conflict and resolution ended up being strangely satisfying for me. And the two of them together put me through so much. I laughed so much at their witty banter, I ached with them as I saw them both feeling the feels, and I hurt for what they were going through individually as well as together. I thought their chemistry was pretty solid, though was a bit bummed at the mostly fade to black (again, greedy). And wow, were there ever a lot of seriously colourful secondary characters in this one. So many of them felt completely unbelievable and caricatures, and AGAIN, that threw me off initially…but then I just kind of rolled with it, and they added their little tidbits, and it was fun and zany, and…it just worked for me. Of course there were also some douchebags, but when aren’t there? And they were seriously douchey. So yeah. This book was a strange rollercoaster ride for me. Maybe it’s just a solid 4 stars…I can’t tell. I think I’m just impressed with how it burrowed under my skin and made me accept all sorts of weird things that put me off initially. So take from that what you will.

I had the pleasure of both reading and listening to this absolutely hilarious fake dating M/M romance. This is my first book by Alexis Hall, but I was immediately drawn in by the witty writing and laugh out loud humor. Luc and Oliver couldn't be more different, but their opposites attract/forced proximity romance completely worked. I loved seeing them slowly lower their walls and show a more vulnerable side to each other. The relationship grows and builds in the perfect way. It felt honest and true to the characters and I appreciated that the misteps were included right along with the milestones. I found this closed door romance incredibly sexy and sweet. The entire cast of characters was delightful. Even Jon Fleming played his role perfectly and I fell even more in love with Oliver during that first meeting with Luc's father. Luc's group of friends, coworkers, and mother were an absolute highlight of the book and so many times I laughed out loud while reading and listening. They were all so loyal and supportive in the most goofy ways and I'm pretty sure I cackled every time Odile was on the page. The narration by Joe Jameson could not have been more perfect and I am incredibly impressed by his performance. He gave each character (male and female) a wonderfully unique voice that truly fit with their personality and I had no trouble differentiating between who was speaking. His comedic timing was spot on and his delivery really made the audiobook truly one of the best I've listened to. Boyfriend Material was exactly the book my heart needed! Audiobook Review Overall 4.5 stars Performance 5+ stars Story 4 stars *I voluntarily read and listened to a review copy of this book. Thank you Libro.fm, Dreamscape Media, and Sourcebooks Casablanca.*

About the author

USA Today bestselling author Alexis Hall writes books in the southeast of England, where he lives entirely on a diet of tea and Jaffa Cakes. You can find him at http://www.quicunquevult.com/, on Twitter @quicunquevult, and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/quicunquevult