Boyfriend Material: An MM Fake Dating Romance (London Calling, 1)
A feel-good queer romantic comedy that New York Times and USA Today bestselling author CHRISTINA LAUREN calls "hilarious, witty, tender, and stunning."
Luc needs a fake boyfriend. Oliver needs a date. It's the perfect plan... until real feelings get involved.
Luc O'Donnell is a certified disaster. Tabloid drama, a wayward rock-star dad, and a trail of messy relationships have left his public image in ruins. The fix? A staged romance with the most respectable man he knows: Oliver Blackwood--uptight, principled, and infuriatingly perfect.
It's supposed to be fake. Neither of them expects the awkward photo ops and staged brunches to turn into something that feels real. But as the lines blur, and secrets slip through carefully built walls, Luc must face the question he's always avoided: what if someone could love him--exactly as he is?
You'll love its brilliantly British rom-com voice, full of sharp humor and emotional vulnerability and authentic LGBTQIA+ representation. It's perfect for fans of Red, White & Royal Blue and The Charm Offensive, with its grumpy/sunshine dynamics and slow-burn chemistry.
"It's a fun, frothy quintessentially British romcom about a certified chaos demon and a stern brunch daddy with a heart of gold faking a relationship."--New York Times bestselling author Talia Hibbert
AMAZON BEST BOOK OF THE MONTH
Named a best book of the year by Oprah Magazine, Entertainment Weekly, Goodreads, The Washington Post, and more!
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Community Reviews
What Bookclubbers are saying about this book
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Readers say *Boyfriend Material* charms with its witty banter, heartfelt character growth, and a compelling fake-dating trope, making it a favorite LG...
Luc is such a fun go with the flow personality. He has the best relationship with his mom who is hilarious throughout the book and just loves and supports him to the max. Oliver is a bit on the quiet conservative type who's parents don't really see him for who he truly is and all he's become. Oliver and Luc balance each other out. Oliver grounds Luc when he starts to spiral out while Luc pushes Oliver to be a bit more spontaneous. The two of them together make a perfect pair.
This is definitely one of the best contemporary rom coms I've read this year! It's got the quickly and witty banter I strive for in a good rom com. There's a bit of hate to love within this fake dating trope but you quickly realize that despite how much Oliver and Luc fight their feelings behind the facade of a fake relationship they are totally meant for each other! I highly recommend this one to anyone looking for a fantastic LGBTQ+ Adult Rom Com!
Boyfriend Material is sweet, funny, charming, angsty, poignant, adorable, snarky, heartbreaking...how many more adjectives can I throw at it?? It's a warm mug of tea on a foggy day. I loved everything about it (outside of the fade-to-blank sexy times, but I can overlook that ;) ).
Told only from Luc's POV, the book deftly follows his character growth as he comes to terms with how his childhood, as the famous-adjacent son of an absentee rock-star father, has affected his life and relationships. He's been in a bit of a rough patch the last few years and needs to present a more suitable face ahead of a major fundraising gig or else he'll be fired, so along comes clean-cut barrister Oliver to provide a grounding presence as Luc's fake boyfriend.
This is my first fake-dating trope in the romance genre and I loved it, especially because Luc & Oliver already had a bit of history.
Someone had come up to us and asked if we were a couple, and Oliver had looked utterly disgusted, and replied "No, this is just another homosexual I'm standing next to."
Neither are each others' type, but as they spend more time being fake-boyfriends, the lines begin to blur as they each work through their own struggles & flaws, and finally begin to realize how good they are for one another.
"Are we really bad at this?" I asked. "We've been fake dating for three days and we've already fake broken up once."
"Yes, but we fake resolved our difficulties and fake got back together, and I'm hoping it's made us fake stronger."
Anyways, fake relationship aside, there is so much more to this story, including a wonderful cast of supporting characters, some really funny inside jokes (in particular, one revolving around some Dick pics), and working through some ingrained abandonment issues. I can't wait to see where Luc & Oliver's story goes in the next one!
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