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 and 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 aa 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.
I will say, it took me a hot second to be fully surrounded by this narrative. I don't think I've read a book with this type of humor before, and it took a while for me to determine what were jokes and what were serious doubts/thoughts/etc. Once I felt that I understood Luc's inner monologue and the way he walked through the world, I had a lot of fun reading Boyfriend Material! There is a lot that goes on between the pages outside of the romance—Luc and Oliver both have difficult family dynamics to navigate, careers they want to do well by, and friendships to keep up with in between. Despite all of this, I felt that the romance and self-growth narratives were very much at the center, and made for a very enjoyable read.
Fake dating is one of my very favorite romance tropes, and I loved how it was done in Boyfriend Material. As in, it doesn't take very long for it to stop feeling fake. The lines between Oliver's and Luc's arrangement blur very quickly, and it makes for a read where you're rooting so hard for them to get together before they even realize that they've been acting like they're really together. I was pleasantly surprised by the way it felt like a slow burn, too. They don't really throw off the pretenses until much later, which means they're both yearning for quite a long time before they realize they don't want it to be fake, too. Basically, the combination of tropes here was well done and made for an engaging romance!
One thing I really wanted, and what would have put this book at exactly five stars for me, was Oliver's point of view. I struggled with Luc's narration sometimes—even after I grasped the narration style—and what I really needed to believe in their romance was Oliver's side of the story. I wanted to know why he didn't share the details of his relationship with his parents with Luc sooner, especially after all the times Luc was vulnerable with him. I wanted to see Oliver in court, thinking about everything that had gone on between him and Luc the night before. I wanted to feel the yearning and excitement from his side, too, and to see from his eyes what he saw in Luc. I needed to see all the action from Oliver's point of view, too, in order to fully believe in the romance, especially after the ending where he shot Luc down several times before coming around (seriously, what was happening in his head?!). Since we weren't privy to Oliver's thought processes, there will always be a part of me that wonders what Oliver was thinking and how he fell in love with Luc, too.
Meghan might make me read the next one in the series, but until then, you can find Alexis Hall online at quicunquevult.com.
*This review can also be found on my Goodreads page*
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