Romance

Boyfriend Material

Boyfriend Material

By: Alexis Hall

Blurb:

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.

Review:

Boyfriend Material is the fake boyfriend trope. It also has a bit of only one bed as well. It isn’t quite enemies to lovers, but they have a ton of misunderstandings at the beginning, mainly because Luc is suffering from my serious self-worth worth issues.

Luc is the son of a former rock star and finds himself frequently in the tabloids. Sometimes for things he’s done, sometimes for misunderstandings. He’s at rock bottom. Depressed and filled with self-loathing, he is not a very friendly person. He’s got a solid support system in his mother and close friends, but they haven’t been able to help him. I was kind of annoyed that no one ever seemed to recommend therapy. His issues definitely could have been helped if he’d gone that route.

Oliver is a barrister, vegetarian, and all-around eco-conscience individual, as well as superhot. A mutual friend has tried to hook them up before, but it didn’t work due to Luc’s issues. Then they both find themselves in need of a boyfriend. Luc because he works at a charity funded by homophobes and Luc because he doesn’t want to go to his parents’ anniversary by himself. Things go from there.

The romance was there right from the start. It was clear to the reader that they were both attracted to each other. Luc did everything in his power to push Oliver away and was frequently an asshole to him. He always assumed the worst, and there were a few awkward moments. Oliver ended up building up Luc’s confidence, and Luc started to come out of his depression. It did sort of bother me that Luc started improving because of a man, but at least it wasn’t because Oliver was pushing him to be better. Oliver always seemed to accept Luc for who he was.

The humor was very British, think Bridget Jones’s Diary. I didn’t get several references, and Luc was probably less of an asshole than I thought he was. I’m pretty sarcastic myself, but the British take it to a whole new level.

Boyfriend Material’s end was mostly satisfying. You find out some things about Oliver’s life that explains why he is the way he is. I liked that he ended up having to go to Luc. It was a nice role reversal. I wish there had been more justice with Luc’s father. At least Luc told him off at the very beginning. I also wish there had been an epilogue, maybe a glimpse at how they were doing a couple of months down the road. Something.

I ended up really enjoying Boyfriend Material. Even though it was long at no moment did I get bored or feel like it was lagging. The romance was super sweet, and I enjoyed the characters. It’s a one-shot, and unless Hall wants to continue their story, I don’t see this being the beginning of a story. I’m okay with that, though.

4/5

Are British Romance Books Longer?

This is super random, but I’m currently reading Boyfriend Material and it’s 421 pages. That seems pretty long for a modern romance. At least longer than usual. It reminded me of a book I’ve read recently that had British characters and seemed longer than usual. I can’t for the life of me remember the book, I’m not sure I finished it because I wasn’t a fan. Maybe it just felt longer because I didn’t like it?

Is this a thing? Or is it just me reading two flukes relatively close together? Are British romance books longer than American ones?? These are the things that pop into my mind when I should be doing something else.

10-11-20 Library Haul Update

The top book, Kiss My Cupcake by Helen Hunting is the the only book I picked up from the library. I thought I’d include everything I still have to read, though. Not pictured, Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall since that’s what I’m currently reading.

After this haul I’m hoping to try some more non-romance, or romance lite. I need a change of pace, I’m thinking Urban Fantasy. I’d love to read something similar to Ilona Andrews books. So if anyone has any recommendations please let me know in the comments.

You Had Me at Hola

You Had Me at Hola

By: Alexis Daria

Blurb:

Leading Ladies do not end up on tabloid covers. 

After a messy public breakup, soap opera darling Jasmine Lin Rodriguez finds her face splashed across the tabloids. When she returns to her hometown of New York City to film the starring role in a bilingual romantic comedy for the number one streaming service in the country, Jasmine figures her new “Leading Lady Plan” should be easy enough to follow—until a casting shake-up pairs her with telenovela hunk Ashton Suárez. 

Leading Ladies don’t need a man to be happy. 

After his last telenovela character was killed off, Ashton is worried his career is dead as well. Joining this new cast as a last-minute addition will give him the chance to show off his acting chops to American audiences and ping the radar of Hollywood casting agents. To make it work, he’ll need to generate smoking-hot on-screen chemistry with Jasmine. Easier said than done, especially when a disastrous first impression smothers the embers of whatever sexual heat they might have had. 

Leading Ladies do not rebound with their new costars. 

With their careers on the line, Jasmine and Ashton agree to rehearse in private. But rehearsal leads to kissing, and kissing leads to a behind-the-scenes romance worthy of a soap opera. While their on-screen performance improves, the media spotlight on Jasmine soon threatens to destroy her new image and expose Ashton’s most closely guarded secret.

Review:

I loved Jane the Virgin and after reading the blurb I was hoping for something similar. I was not disappointed. I’m really glad I recently picked Duilingo up because there was a fair amount of Spanish in this book and most of it was not explained. I didn’t always understand what was said by Ashton and his family, but I could get the general gist.

Jasmine is a soap opera star that has earned a starring role in a “Netflix” original series. She’s had an Emmy nod for her last role, but on the heels of that her rock star boyfriend dumps her by way of tabloid. Completely reprioritizing her life she makes a list of things she’s going to do so that she stops repeating a cycle of romantic doom.

Ashton has got bucket loads of anxiety and has seriously chosen the wrong career for the level of privacy he wants. He’s got a secret that he’s hiding from the rest of the world and after a traumatic experience with a stalker he’s not ready to share his secret with anyone. All of that and he’s got a goal to win an Oscar which means he’s taking a leading role in the “Netflix” telenovela adaption.

Sparks are instantaneous with the couple but they are able to resist for a while. It helps that Ashton has bad anxiety. Eventually, though, they overcome their struggles and start a relationship. Kind of. They’re physical, and spend some time in Jasmine’s room cuddling, but they keep it secret. Apart from work they don’t seem to spend much time together that isn’t physical. At least, it’s not shown in the book.

Jasmine does a pretty good job controlling her own anxieties but with everything that ends up happening Ashton basically explodes. He says some things that I felt like ended up being glossed over in his apology, but Jasmine forgives him quickly.

There were a lot I liked about You Had Me at Hola, namely the characters, story, and the setting. The few things I didn’t like, how fast Jasmine forgave and Ashton’s levels of anxiety (seriously dude after eight years he should have been talking to someone or medicated or both), were easy enough to set aside. All in all I’m hoping that this is made into a series and we get books about Ava, Michelle, and even some more for Ashton’s father.

4/5

The Duke Who Didn’t (Wedgeford Trials #1)

The Duke Who Didn’t (Wedgeford Trials #1)

By: Courtney Milan

Blurb:

Miss Chloe Fong has plans for her life, lists for her days, and absolutely no time for nonsense. Three years ago, she told her childhood sweetheart that he could talk to her once he planned to be serious. He disappeared that very night.

Except now he’s back. Jeremy Wentworth, the Duke of Lansing, has returned to the tiny village he once visited with the hope of wooing Chloe. In his defense, it took him years of attempting to be serious to realize that the endeavor was incompatible with his personality.

All he has to do is convince Chloe to make room for a mischievous trickster in her life, then disclose that in all the years they’ve known each other, he’s failed to mention his real name, his title… and the minor fact that he owns her entire village.

Only one thing can go wrong: Everything.

Review:

The Duke Who Didn’t was a much-anticipated book from Courtney Milan. She has quickly become one of my favorite authors, so I had this baby pre-ordered, and as soon as I caught up with my library books, I started reading.

Chloe lives in Wedgeford, a town famous for its trials. A complicated sounding, day-long quest to find specific medallions or tokens. I’m not sure about all the rules because this year, Chloe and Jeremy didn’t participate. Instead, Chloe helped her father introduce his life’s work, a special sauce, to all the trials’ participants. The plan was to sell the amazing sauce, build a sauce empire, and enact revenge on the racist pricks that stole her father’s original sauce before kicking him to the curb. I can completely get behind this plan.

Poor Jeremy wants nothing more than to make Chloe happy. He’s jovial to Chloe’s more serious nature. He’s learned to be that way after years of dealing with poisonous people. Humor seems to be a coping mechanism. It’s also something he’s good at. He’s been coming to Wedgeford for years because it’s the only place in all of Britain where he feels like he belongs. The only problem is he’s conveniently forgotten to tell them he’s the duke and owns their entire village.

I loved the ending to The Duke Who Didn’t so much. I loved that Chloe was the grouchy one of the two and that Jeremy was always trying to make her happy. I loved their relationship, not only with each other but with their family. I loved how Chloe reacted to the big reveal. I loved how everything played out. It was perfect.

I’m looking forward to learning more about Wedgeford and their trials. There were other characters mentioned and spoken to, but there was very little focus on them. The book was very much centered on Chloe and Jeremy. Still, that doesn’t make me any less excited for the rest of the series.

5/5