ARC Book Review: Husband Material

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Happy release day to Alexis Hall’s Husband Material, the much awaited sequel to Boyfriend Material! This was one of my most anticipated reads of the year after I devoured the first book in the series within a couple days.

Plot

In case anyone is wondering, yes, you need to read the first book in the series before this one. Husband Material is not a standalone novel and is a direct continuation of the relationships and storyline from Boyfriend Material. In this addition, Luc and Oliver have been together for a couple years now and we’re all about DOMESTICATION now.

Everyone around them seems to be getting married and Luc is feeling the social pressure big time as he nears thirty. But can a historically-renowned commitment-phobe like Lucien finally take the deep dive into a wedded bliss?

Characters

One of the biggest things I was hoping for in this follow up was to see all of Luc’s friends. I love the supporting characters in Boyfriend Material, so if you’re like me, rest assured that you’ll be getting a hefty dose of all of Luc’s friends, family, and even his CRAPP coworkers.

In fact, the first chunk of the book is Lucien fulfilling his duties as maid of honour to his bestie. And yes, it’s as cute as it sounds!

Spoiler-free Review

I’ll readily admit that I’m somewhat torn on this book. It’s so difficult to give a clear, levelheaded review when you feel connected to the characters. Hall’s witty banter and sarcastic, troubled lead are both relatable and hilarious. But while I initially felt so excited to jump back into the lives of Lucien and Oliver, I found myself getting bored with this book which didn’t happen once with the first book in the series.

This book falls into a lot of those annoying romance book cliches that my favorite romance books are moving beyond at this point. The endless antics and miscommunications started getting old quickly. Y’all, just talk. to. each. other. I loved Luc in the first book despite his flaws, but in the second book even I was getting sick of his shit and that is not a good sign.

I really think this was a modern take on Four Weddings and a Funeral (yes, the 90s rom-com) and some of the magic between Lucien and Oliver got lost in that. I just wanted more development from this, but it felt like we were stalled with an insecure lead that I didn’t want to be stuck with, even as a reader.

But it’s not all bad! All of the humorous elements from the first novel are fully intact, down to Lucien’s coworkers who wouldn’t understand a joke if it smacked them across the head. Another thing this book tackles is the history of Lucien and Oliver’s lives before they met each other. The concept of being a “good” gay which involves heavy partying and being a “bad” gay which involves settling down is something that Lucien and Oliver struggle with given their respective personal histories and I thought that was a really cool addition to the storyline.

In all, the first novel in this series was a 4 or 4.5 for me and this was more around a 3 to 3.5, so still a decent read which felt comfortable, but didn’t exactly meet prior expectations either.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for sharing an advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.