Title: Boyfriend Material
Author: Alexis Hall
Source: My shelves.
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Trope: Fake Dating, Found family
Trigger Warnings: Parental abandonment, homophobia and verbal abuse.
Explicit? Yep
Summary: 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 is still as smart, funny, heartwarming and rage inducing as it was when I started reading it.

I adore a fake dating book, or fic, or TV show. Basically if it’s fake dating I’m in, unless it’s my real life.

Luc is one of the biggest messes I can remember reading about in fiction, but oh god do I feel for him (being a pretty big mess myself). I luckily do not have the burden of being related to someone famous. The complete lack of privacy he is afforded from the beginning of the book, all the way through to the end is something that stuck with me as I was reading. It explains, but does not excuse his actions which can often be selfish and thoughtless. He is not a perfect person, not even close to one but god do I love him. I also relate to him, in not realizing that depression, and mental illness can be what is holding you back in life.

Oliver is so well put together you would have to look really closely to see the cracks if you didn’t know him. But oh boy do Luc and the readers of this book get to know him. He does his job, and does it well, but he’s been told not to take pride in it because of who he defends in court. He is protective of Luc in a way that made me want to remind him that he is also willing of that protection.

The cast of characters within this novel will make you laugh, then cry and then cry from sadness. They are hilarious and out there, and entertainment for days.

There is funny moments, sad ones, angry ones and overall this book will leave you feeling good, and perhaps learning more about dung beetles than you ever wished to. I cannot illustrate how much I love this book even on my third read.