Review: Boyfriend Material by Alex Hall

 

Goodreads Overview:

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.

Review:

This was an addicting story that I didn't want to put down. Luc and Oliver have A LOT of drama in their fake dating lives. They don't always make the best decisions and I really wanted to shake them at times so they could see what was obvious to any reader. They literally had nothing in common and were polar opposites, but they have undeniable chemistry. You couldn't help but root for them when they seemed to do everything imaginable to destroy the one good thing in their lives, which was their relationship.

Oliver comes from a wealthy family with extremely high standards and expectations for him. He is a successful attorney and loves his job, but nothing is ever enough for his parents. Luc helps him see that it is okay to be his own person and to make decisions that make him happy instead of his parents. Being perfect isn't everything it is cracked up to be. 

Luc has a long history of drama. His ex boyfriend sold out to the tabloids, so Luc is constantly paranoid about the next thing that will appear on the front cover. He has a close group of friends, who make several appearances in the book, but he doesn't trust people. He is afraid to get too close to someone again because they will probably leave like his father did or use him to make a fast buck at his expense. 

The decision to "fake date" was a win win since Luc needed to clean up his reputation and Oliver was in need of a date to a family function. They just needed to stick things out until the dust settled. What they didn't count on was the fact that their mutual crush would lead to the most normal friendship and relationship either had experienced in a long time. They could see each others flaws and insecurities and weren't afraid to call each other out. They brought out the best in each other and their relationship began to flourish, but neither was really sure where they stood in this "fake relationship."

There were a number of laugh out loud quotes and scenes and I loved the British slang. I gave this book 5 stars and voted for it in every round of the Goodreads choice awards for best new romance of 2020.