Status
Call number
Series
Genres
Collections
Publication
Description
Fiction. Romance. Humor (Fiction.) LGBTQIA+ (Fiction.) 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 someone who has never inspired a moment of scandal in his life. In other words, he's 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 settles. 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 th… (more)
User reviews
While also a very lovely and sexy romance, the true best quality of Boyfriend Material is its impeccable humor. The hilarious but totally believable friends and family, the wacky scenarios, the absolute best in top-notch, utterly ridiculous British naming conventions, the completely empty-headed posh coworkers—perfection!
All of this laugh-out-loud humor is somehow perfectly combined with the exploration of the serious issue of trust and vulnerability in relationships—familial, friendly, and romantic—and overcoming childhood trauma to form healthy adult connections. I'm pretty sure it's some kind of magic trick.
The basis of the story is that Luc has a bad-boy reputation and its suggested he get a fake boyfriend to repair that prior to a fundraising event. Cue Oliver. He has his own need for a fake boyfriend and together, the plot thickens.
The supporting cast of characters was amazing as well. Each well defined and comedic in their own way and added to the story. Ultimately though, it was the writing that had me nearly in tears and constantly with the smile on my face. I couldn't stop laughing out loud. Alexis Hall's witty writing was hilarious and heartfelt at the same time. I genuinely was rooting for everyone involved.
I'd have to say that Luc's mother was my favorite character, by the way. She was so supportive and hilarious! Brig might be a close second! Her friendship with Luc was fabulous and her husband sweet and understanding!
While I'm at it, let me throw in that the narrator totally helped MAKE this book as amazing as it already was. Hearing the way the narrator voiced each character, the quirks given to everyone, and the way in which he read the lines... even when reading the ebook, I just wanted to hear it from the narrator instead.
Thank you Netgalley, Libro.fm, and Sourcebooks for allowing me to read this treasure and give my honest opinion! I hope there is more to this series!!!⠀
"Where the shit were you on Saturday?" She hopped onto the table and glared at me. "We were supposed to be in the corner judging people."
I have 7 pages of highlights. SEVEN. It is one more than 6 and one less than 8. Seven is not the amount of times I laughed out
And that's the power. Because underneath the laughter, Luc and Oliver are hurting. Really hurting. Luc's got this powerful array of friends (with a constantly changing WhatsApp group name) and a spitfire mother (and a Judy!) behind him. Luc appears to be more of a mess than not, despite this. And well, kind of a dick. (This is told in first person POV) He's unnecessarily caustic to his friends and immediately apologizes. His friends are this mix of usefully antagonistic and sarcastic to tender, loving, and enthusiastic.
Luc also has a terribly entertaining office of coworkers, many chapters begin with a conversation between Luc and his upper-crust coworker who is a flake at best. I didn't want to leave them out because this book really does have all the dimensions.
I'd met Oliver Blackwood exactly twice. The first time, we'd been the only two gay men at one of Bridget's work parties. Someone had come up to us and asked if we were a couple, and Oliver had looked utterly disgusted and replied, "No this is just another homosexual I'm standing next to."
Oliver is my very definition of unintentionally hilarious. And if you think you like the stuffy, ethical, perfect type--well, you might just love this. Hall brilliantly showcases the cracks (or chasms at times) of vulnerability of Oliver's, which is why this novel is effective for me.
"Are you wearing eyeliner?" he asked.
"What? No."
"Really?"
"Well it's the kind of thing I think I'd remember. I'm pretty sure this is just what my eyes look like." He looked slightly affronted. "That's ridiculous."
Oliver and Luc enter into a fake relationship- because of course that always works-to bring Luc some respectability and Oliver, for some unknown reason, agrees.
And of course, what follows is heartache, laughs, and character growth. The pacing of this was interesting, but ultimately "Hall-like" in formula - like the kind where you get a bit shredded, kind of slowly, until that point you get sucker punched and you kind of barely get stitched back together but you know it'll heal just fine and well, my heart is still flipping so...
it's a bit like falling in love.
I'm about done with 2020 and its shuddering horrors. I opened this library book to get away from nastiness and grimness. It was a pretty good decision. I slept four hours & even dreamed of these two. The pace dragged twice,
I loved laughing so hard it hurt, I loved misting up because the foolish boys couldn't find their common sense with both hands, and mostly I loved and treasured my time away from reality and its ugliness.
While there was, thankfully!, no redemption for the dreadful, awful people here, there was also a bit more "aren't men dumb, when they aren't awful" stuff that didn't ring true to the genre of M/M romance. Not confined to the screwed-up main characters, I mean, that's the entire joke of the book so no downs on that. The mens' fathers, for example, were insensitive boorish users. Yes, one of the mothers was truly ghastly and irredeemable too. But the arch-twit Alex, the caricature hair-trigger Welshman, the delightfully dotty old Earl, well...it felt like there was a really short supply of nuance outside the PoV couple.
But you know what? I laughed so hard it hurt more than once, and if these absurd wankers come around again I will definitely read their further fuck-ups with great hopes and expectations. This is a solid hit. Someone give it to Henry Cavill and tell him to study up on Oliver.
Hilarity ensues. I'm not sure I've laughed out loud so much with a book in ages. Almost every paragraph of dialogue is witty British humor, sometimes subtle and sometimes slapstick, but always very funny. There's also a very sweet romance with a lot of twists that keep the reader guessing up to the last moment on whether or not there'll be a HEA. Honestly, I was worried it could go either way. The characterizations are sharp and feel very real, including all the secondary characters. There are some sad moments with Luc dealing with his father as well as Oliver having unsuspected issues with his own family (the story is told from Luc's POV and Oliver is pretty secretive about some things).
I really loved this book, and now I've definitely grabbed some of the author's other books. I recommend this book highly: 2020 has been a crappy year, but this will definitely cheer you up.
Although the plot is predictable, the pace was fast and there was enough tension that it made the book hard to put down. It was further helped by a cast of hilarious characters: an East Indian lesbian who makes iron sculptures, a clueless overeducated male secretary, a women who is perpetually late and constantly in crisis from work, a French-Irish mother, a couple with the same name, etc. The interactions between the various characters and the situations they get themselves in are hilarious. My only complaint is that I found Luc O'Donnell's character to be more "over the top" than I like.
Stopped at chapter 8.
If this was written by anyone else I'd probably just DNF and forget about it. Since it's Alexis Hall, I'm putting it on hold and hoping that I'll one day be in the mood for a romcom in book form. I don't even like watching romcoms, so chances are slim but I
October 24, 2020
You know what? I'm never going to read this. It's not a case of not being in the mood, it the case of "every time this book crosses my GR feed I kind of cringe and feel guilty for cringing at an Alexis Hall book". The self-inflicted guilt-trip is exhausting. I'm not even going to entertain the idea of a possibility of maybe wanting to read this at some point in the future. Adding to DNF.
Luc and Oliver are the main characters and the way their romance unfolds is sweet/fabulous/real.
All the supporting characters are
This could be a standalone... but I'm so happy that a sequel is expect this year: Husband Material.
This was one of the cutest most hilarious books I've ever read and I absolutely loved every second of it!!!!!!!!!!
Luc's character, British dry humour and overall existence are
The writing style was great, I flew through the pages and didn't even feel the time pass by.
Overall this was an amazing book and I'm really happy I got the chance to read it!
British contemporary M-M romantic comedy. New adult attitudes.
Lucien: Late 20’s, moody, insecure and still dealing with abandonment issues.
“You’ve been through a lot today,” he [friend] said. “There’s no need to diminish it.”
“Yeah but if I don’t
Oliver: a barrister, and fit vegetarian. Smart but failing at long term relationships.
A mutual friend puts the two together and they agree to have a fake romance for specific professional reasons. They soon find themselves enamored with each other but finding their way slowly as they get to know each other.
Some great humor via texting between Lucien, Oliver and Bridget.
The enjoyment was in the friends being supportive multiple times throughout the story. And of course, it’s a romance so we know it ends well. But it’s torture until it happens although Lucien surprised me with his maturity at the end.
If I hadn’t made a commitment to read this, I would have quit at 25%. Several times over. But so many people said how much they loved the book, so I continued.
I don’t know why anyone likes Lucien, much less his friends. He’s mean, rude and self centered.
So saying, he eventually does straighten up and eventually Lucien and Oliver make an adorable couple.
In the end it was too much angst for me and not enough charm.
I received a copy of this from NetGalley.
I had an unexpectedly good time with this. I'd gotten it from the library at one point last year and didn't get around to it then, but I'm so happy that I gave it another go. It was really ridiculously silly (some of the characters were really over-the-top), but it threaded that line really well for me. Definitely a fade-to-black romance, which I also did like. It looks like there should be another book in this series coming out next year, and I fully intend to pick it up.
Also, I adore Luc's mom.
Awards
Language
Original publication date
Local notes
Very sweet.