Alexis J. HallCritiques

I am giving this a 4.5 stars. I loved most parts, didn’t like some, but for a book that was published almost 8 years ago, I think I had a wonderful time

Even though I was disappointed by the last book I read from Alexis Hall, Husband Material, I decided to give this one a shot. It is a spinoff of a character who was introduced in Husband Material. I understand that it may be a part of another series that the author intends to continue called Material World.

I liked this book nearly as much as I liked Boyfriend Material. The characters take a while to warm up to. It seems like the author likes to write broody characters. Lucien and Oliver are very similar to Sam and Jonathan. Like with Boyfriend Material, it took me a while to warmup to the secondary partner. Oliver was nearly as dislikeable as Jonathan was.

The author had an interesting concept where the main character fakes having amnesia in order to try and save his job. His boss ends up taking care of him and they become a complicated couple. The book was interesting and kept me entertained until the end. I do not feel that there were any slow parts in the book. I would be interested in reading book 2 if Hall was willing to continue on with the series.

★★★★

I had a love hate relationship with the first book, Boyfriend Material, in the end decided I really liked it. I was excited to jump in to book two of the London’s Calling series by Alexis Hall. However, Husband Material was a huge disappointment. I honestly can’t say I’d recommend it.

In the first book, the banter between Lucien and Oliver was slightly annoying but they ended up working out and Oliver grew on me as a character. In the second book, they were both so dislikeable it was hard to read. The whole book they were at odds with each other, both were very selfish, and seemed to have a quite dysfunctional relationship.

The odd layout of this book also was annoying. The first book was a start to end, clear storyline. This book was a series of events brought on by other characters (weddings and funerals). And Lucien and Oliver attended them.

This book also put the gay community in a really bad light. I can’t say as a member of the community that I support half of the drama Hall presents in it. And the ending was not good. It was just a huge let down. I will read Father Material when it comes out in hopes that Hall writes it more like the first one and sheds the couple in a brighter light.

★ I would recommend the first book, but not the sequel.

Funny and sweet. I enjoyed every chapter!

The main character of the story is originally from Liverpool, so the audiobook is read by Will Watt in a Scouse accent. It's a nice touch that adds character to the reading.

A fun and witty, sweet LGBTQ romance. Romances are one of my favorite escapist reads. There’s just something about spending a few hours with interesting people working out their differences and finding happy times that fills my brain with endorphins.

I really enjoyed the banter between the two protagonists. Sometimes I even ended up laughing out loud as I read!

Apparently March my theme was LGBTQ Romance. Most of the books I read fell into this category. I’ve actually had this series on my shelf for a while. Amazon recommended it to me after reading Red, White & Royal Blue (Which I absolutely loved).
Boyfriend Material is based around the main character, Lucien, who is a very insecure guy who needs to find a fake boyfriend for an event to boost is reputation. The fake boyfriend, Oliver, is a barrister who can’t seem to keep boyfriends and has his own amount of insecurities, but also needs a date for an event. The two learn to get along with each other and grow into having an actual relationship despite their faults.
The story is a good balance of serious and comedy and I would definitely recommend the read. Oliver was a little bit dislikeable for me for most of the book, but he grew on me. Hall has a good writing style and keeps the reader engaged.
★★★★ I would put this one second on my top LGBT list. Red, White, & Royal Blue still in #1.

One thing I always appreciate about Alexis Hall's writing is the fully fleshed out and often delightful secondary characters who encourage personal growth in the MC's.

3.5 Stars

Very very solid romance novel, skipping all the obvious caveats about how romance novels are not real life. I wish I hadn't stayed up to finish it though, because it ended on a slightly discomfiting note and then I lay in bed having Thoughts and Feelings.

Good! There were a few places where the pacing almost lost me, but it ended well.

I had a real stretch of books for a while that didn't just make me sad, they broke me and made me think humanity (or maybe sentience?) was a mistake, and this is the book I turned to to break that streak. This is the sequel to Boyfriend Material, which I absolutely loved, and I spent a lot of time while reading this one being reminded why and wanting to reread the first one again.

This is a bit unconventional as a romance novel, for many reasons but primarily because Luc and Oliver are together at the beginning of the novel and together at the end. (WHAT! THIS IS STILL A ROMANCE NOVEL, THIS IS NOT A SPOILER.) Luc & Oliver love each other, but they are both struggling with a number of issues, mostly due to some subpar parenting (to put it mildly), and in this second volume they work through many of those while also attending four weddings and funeral (yes, that is a deliberate reference.)

I loved that the partner who seems more together outwardly is actually the one with more to unpack here. I love that both of them have some fist-pumping moments of triumph along the way. I love that this book still managed to surprise me in the end.

It's one of those books that will sneak up on you and before you know it you are halfway through and still have lots to learn. I found that I knew very little about Sam because he conceals so much... partly because he’s pretending to have amnesia so has to be careful about what he tells Jonathan, and partly because he’s deliberately locked away some very painful things he doesn’t want to think about. Alexis Hall does a great job of throwing around little hints throughout the story so that it’s not difficult to guess what Sam is running away from, but it still hits hard when it’s revealed near the end, and we finally fit together all the pieces and understand what Sam has been going through and why he is the way he is, especially concerning his job and the people he works with. I read it and enjoyed it, but it was only when I started to really think about it and go back through the highlights that I realized just how much the author had packed into what seemed, at first, to be a light-hearted story full of snarky talk, an ugly kitty and an oversized Christmas tree. Along with the romance, it's a story about connecting and re-connecting...about being true to yourself... and not being afraid to show that you care. One of the many things Alexis Hall does so well is to let his characters experience growth while remaining essentially the same people, and this was certainly true of Sam and Jonathan. Sam was still the upbeat guy that is so very prone to wearing his heart on his sleeve, and Jonathan is still the gruff, aloft, and anxious one...but they’ve found in one another, that "special someone" who complements them...who understands them...and who accepts them and loves them for who they are. They learn that together, they’re not necessarily different, but they are "better". I thought that the fake amnesia plot was a little shaky, and it went on too long, but it absolutely does NOT spoil the story. The book is a mixture of the "crazy and the meaningful" all wrapped up in a romance that's filled with humor that really works well. I consider this one to be a keeper.½

Now that they've been dating for two years what is the next step for Luc and Oliver?

Again, very funny and I would love to read more about their lives although I'm not particularly invested in them as a couple.½

After celeb-adjacent Luc O'Donnell appears in the tabloids once too often, he finds his job as fundraiser for an obscure charity devoted to the dung beetle in jeopardy unless he can find a presentable boyfriend. A friend of a friend agrees to be his fake boyfriend if Luc returns the favour at a family gathering.

This romcom was great at the com - it had me howling with laughter at times - but the rom part was more of a meh - I just didn't care about Luc and Oliver as a couple.

I feel compelled to write a review for this one because my response is complicated.

The Four Weddings and a Funeral structure was cute, but distracted from the relationship development, which is what I wanted to read about. It's a structure that works well for an initial romance, rather than the development of a complex relationship between two people who both have big huge issues.

I don't know whether it says more about me, Alexis Hall, or what, that I found the most engaging and satisfying section of the book to be the funeral, and I think that might just be because it was the only section of the book where Luc actually focused on Oliver. So much of the rest of the book was very angsty, which, unless they're working through it, as Luc did in the first book, is not something I enjoy in my MCs in first person narratives.

The humour, the banter, the irreverence were all there. The secondary characters were fabulous - I adore the quirky wisdom of Luc's mom, the ott and more mature best-friending, the co-workers...

The thing is that through each wedding, Luc's pov grated even more, as did his absolute certainty that the vast majority of the conflict was "Oliver problems, not me problems," which felt deliberately delusional. It felt like all the character development took place in the last bit of the book, and it took place far too quickly for me to be convinced, especially since there seemed to be so little in the two years between the last book and this one.

What saved the book for me was the actual ending - it brought together what I felt were the themes that kind of popped up throughout the book but I couldn't really see through all the angst. And they are themes I absolutely love: Self-differentiation, self-exploration, authenticity...

And SPOILER now:

I just really really wish there had been more exploration of alternatives to weddings/marriage than the brief conversations with Pryia and her partners, the mother, and the very last couple of pages. I also wish there was more room for Lucien to face that the "Oliver problems, not me problems" were actually his own damned problems all along. If it had, this book could have been a brilliant satire about heteronormativity and convention. The entire discussion over the rainbow arch could have become a truly enlightening exploration on the conventions of the perfomance of queerness. Instead, it was an "OIiver problem" and got left at that, with only a glimpse that it could be more.

I do however, love that they walked out on their own wedding. Like, really really love it.

I was overjoyed to read a book that ends with a clear hea that doesn't require a formal commitment ceremony - this is something that is very counter-genre, and unlike many readers who freaked out about it, I am so very much here for the subversion.


So yeah... complicated response to this one.½

Read this as mixed audiobook and actual reading.

What a delight of a romance! Two charming lead characters, funny, sweet, just a little bit steamy, just a little bit serious.

I can’t wait until Book 2 comes out.

Ummmm

I have no words for where this one went.

Split between audio and kindle.

LGBTQ rom-com starring the contestants in a Great British Bake Off type show. Enjoyed the plot and the characters and am pleased to discover that I like this author just as much as I did when reading Boyfriend Material.

It wouldn't make much sense to a non-MMO gamer, but for someone who has played a lot of MMORPGs, it was a delightful romance set partly in-game and partly "in real life".

Sci-fi mystery. Not my jam.

Fun, well written, interesting characters, but the resolution at the end felt too easy½

Do you ever read an entire book and reach the end and have absolutely no idea what happened the entire book? That was this book.

It took me absolutely forever to read this but I loved it!

Romance novels are all about wish fulfillment and this delivers. It's angsty, of course, but there are some laughs, especially from the supporting cast. Alexis Hall is great at creating groups of friends who know each other well and banter with aplomb. The trope here is friends-to-lovers in a way that is especially suited to a post-war setting and a trans woman main character.

The only criticism I have is that it felt really long. I thought a certain scene near the end of the book was unnecessary, unamusing, and overly melodramatic even for a romance novel (it takes place at a brothel with the villain just being extra extra villainous).

Does it feel like modern sensibilities are super prominent with little regard for historical accuracy? Yes, absolutely. I have no problem with that. If you like Shonda Rhimes' Bridgerton (and wish it had more LGBTQ rep) you will probably like this.

Utterly delightful.