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Review: Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall

Review: Boyfriend Material by Alexis HallBoyfriend Material by Alexis Hall
Series: Boyfriend Material #1
Published by Sourcebooks Casablanca on July 7, 2020
Pages: 427
Format: Paperback
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five-stars

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.

This book owns my whole heart. I loved everything about it. I loved Luc and Oliver. I loved the humor – I was laughing out loud for over half the book. I loved the plot. I loved the fact that, while reading it, I found out there’s going to be a sequel (!!!!!!!!!!). I just.. Omg. Just so so so so good.

Luc was incredibly relatable. I both loved how self-deprecating he was – because same – and also wanted to give him a giant hug and punch everyone who had hurt him. I also adored Oliver. He was so careful about keeping his true self from Luc, for fear Luc would hate what he saw. But those moments when he let his walls down? Just yes. So much yes. TBH, I kind of wanted to smack both of them and yell at them to let each other in. But I could also relate to both of them – Luc a little more than Oliver – so I understood why they felt and behaved the way they did. My heart broke for them near the end, and I nearly threw the book and started sobbing. Thankfully, the HEA was worth the angst and temporary heartache.

The humor in this book had me completely laughing out loud. I can’t remember the last time a book made me laugh as hard as Boyfriend Material did. The banter between Luc and Oliver just had me grinning like an idiot.

I seriously don’t know how I’m going to survive until the sequel comes out in 2022. I guess I’ll just have to re-read Boyfriend Material a couple times to hold me over!

So.. Yeah. That review was mostly incomprehensible rambling and fangirling. So if you couldn’t tell, I loved this book more than I can put into words. And I HIGHLY recommend it if you enjoy enemies-to-lovers and fake dating.

five-stars