'Boyfriend Material' by Alexis Hall

Boyfriend Material

Author: Alexis Hall

Rating: B

Vibe: : A delightful comfort read that knows exactly what it is—and delivers.

Some books ask you to think deeply about the human condition. Others ask you to curl up on the couch with hot chocolate and enjoy watching two people figure their shit out. Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall is firmly in the second category, and I mean that as a compliment.

Luc O'Donnell is a disaster. His rock star father abandoned him, his career is stalling, and his latest paparazzi photo has gone viral—again. Enter Oliver Blackwood: a buttoned-up, impossibly proper barrister who needs a respectable boyfriend for a family event. Luc needs good press. The pair decide to launch a fake relationship.  

Let's be clear, this is a rom-com with one of those premises that doesn't happen in real life but shows up constantly in Hallmark movies. If you're looking for anything that would resemble real-world scenarios, you're in the wrong place. But if you know what you're signing up for—and you're in the mood for it—Boyfriend Material absolutely delivers.

What I appreciated most was Luc. He's been through genuinely traumatic stuff: public abandonment, years of being defined by someone else's life, deep-seated fears about being left again. And it's affected him. Hall doesn't hand-wave that away. Watching Luc become a better person over the course of the book felt a little more grounded than some of the rest of the book—not because Oliver magically fixed him (he doesn't), but because dating someone who actually shows up becomes a kind of catalyst for Luc to do the work himself.

The rapid-fire banter is what keeps this book moving. Hall's comedic voice is fast—pop culture references, witty asides, almost sitcom-like timing. It works. The dialogue crackles, and the scenes where Luc and Oliver each stand up for the other are adorable. Those moments felt genuine and sweet without tipping into saccharine.

Are there convenient plot beats? Of course. This is a rom-com. The fake-to-real progression hits some predictable notes, but I didn't mind because the execution was strong enough to carry it. The one subplot that felt a little off to me was Luc's relationship with his absent father. It wrapped up in a way that felt... odd. A bit too convenient, a little out of sorts with the emotional weight the book had been building. I didn't love it. But it served the plot, and I moved on.

Here's the thing, Boyfriend Material isn't going to leave you thinking for days. It's not trying to. It's comfort reading in the best sense—a book you reach for after a stressful day when you want something warm, funny, and hopeful. It's hot chocolate in book form. And sometimes, that's exactly what you need.