Book Review: "Boyfriend Material"

Alexis Hall's queer romantic comedy is just the right mix of steamy, funny, and touching.

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Every so often, I think about just how lucky we are to be living in something of a golden age for gay romance, particularly when it comes to the book world. There are so many fun and fresh voices working in the field that it feels like a breath of fresh air, especially given the enormous animus that so many queer folks still feel in the real world. Sometimes, you just want to lose yourself in a fun and frothy world where cute boys fall in love with each other and somehow manage to live happily-ever-after. 

This brings me to Alexis Hall’s Boyfriend Material. This book has been sitting on my to-read list for quite some time and, as I work on my own queer rom-com novel, I’ve been sort of immersing myself in the genre (to help keep me inspired and motivated). As soon as I sat down and started reading it I knew that I was hooked, and it’s not an exaggeration to say that it’s one of those films which will definitely keep you up past your bedtime. 

When the book begins, Luc (short for Lucien) is the reprobate son of two former rock stars. His dissolute father has begun something of a comeback and, after discovering that he might have cancer, he decides to try to rekindle his bond with his distant son. Meanwhile, Luc also has to contend with pressures at his job–a charity dedicated to saving the dung beetle–and his antics in the papers means he has to find a solid fake boyfriend to bolster his image. 

Enter Oliver Blackwood, a very well-put-together bannister, handsome bloke, and all-around prig. 

It’s clear from the beginning that this is going to be your typical enemies-to-lovers sort of romance, and Hall hits the beats with exact precision. Luc and Oliver are the perfect match of opposites, for while the former is quite a mess, the latter seems to have his whole life put together with exact precision. Slowly but surely, however, it soon becomes clear that not only do these two young men want more than just a fake relationship with each other; they each have more emotional depth than they are willing to let the other see. 

Indeed, some of the best parts of the book are those in which Luc and Oliver just let down their guards and let themselves be open and honest with one another. It’s particularly refreshing to see this in a love story about two men since gay men are, after all, still men, with all of the emotional baggage that being male in this world of ours entails. It takes each of them quite a lot of work to feel comfortable letting their guard down enough to let the other man see them for who they really are.

There is, to be sure, quite a lot of humor in this book, and there were numerous times when I found myself laughing out loud. There’s a distinctly British wryness to the prose, and it certainly helps that Lucien is more than a little cynical as a result of both the numerous heartbreaks he’s endured and a life that’s been lived in the very bright light of public scrutiny. He’s also surrounded by some very…colorful…side characters, whether it’s the buffoonish Alex (a member of Britain’s foppish upper crust) or the gaggle of friends who support him no matter what he does. 

I’ve written before that I enjoy reading stories from the point of view of flawed characters, and Lucien is most definitely flawed. To be sure, much of his emotional baggage isn’t his fault, given that he didn’t ask to be the son of famous people. This has led him to be understandably nervous about letting anyone into his life, and that includes Oliver, and there are numerous times throughout the novel when he manages to screw things up so badly it’s something of a miracle that the other man is willing to stick with him at all. Yet this is precisely what makes their ultimate getting-together so emotionally satisfying. Since we’re so thoroughly sutured into Lucien’s point of view, we know how much work it takes him to be able to be so intimate with Oliver.

If I have one quibble with the book, it’s that it’s not a dual-perspective, as it would be nice to see how Oliver looks at this whole situation. He’s just such a perfect character and love interest that I found myself wanting to know more about him (Lucien also feels the same way, since Oliver is very circumspect about revealing too many of his own insecurities to anyone else, even someone that he clearly adores as much as he does Lucien). That said, there is also something nice about having Oliver be this sort of statuesque and beautiful and intelligent man that Lucien chases after. 

Hall is also quite talented at crafting the physical intimacy scenes. While Boyfriend Material isn’t quite as explicit or as steamy as some of the other gay romances I’ve been reading lately, there’s still enough here to get you going. Moreover, they don’t feel extraneous or added in merely to titillate. Instead, they serve the important purpose of showing just how much Lucien has come to trust and care for Oliver, that he is willing to give him his body in the boudoir. 

This radical openness is precisely what makes Boyfriend Material such a gem of a book. It shows just how powerful it can be when two people really fall in love with one another not by overlooking the flaws of the other person but instead by accepting them as a part of the whole. Given how quick people seem to be to throw someone aside just because of things they don’t like about them, this seems an even more radical idea. More importantly, Luc and Oliver are just so damn cute as a couple that you can’t help but cheer for them on their little emotional journey. 

I can’t wait to read about their further adventures in Husband Material. Stay tuned!