Husband Material

- Alexis Hall

GOODREADS BOOK BLURB:

Wanted:
One (very real) husband
Nowhere near perfect but desperately trying his best


In Boyfriend Material, Luc and Oliver met, pretended to fall in love, fell in love for real, dealt with heartbreak and disappointment and family and friends…and somehow figured out a way to make it work. Now it seems like everyone around them is getting married, and Luc’s feeling the social pressure to propose. But it’ll take more than four weddings, a funeral, and a bowl full of special curry to get these two from I don’t know what I’m doing to I do.

Good thing Oliver is such perfect Husband Material.

This Summer 2022, you’re invited to the event(s) of the season.

SERIES / GENRES:

FIRST WORDS:

I’ve never seen the point of hen parties. Though given my experience of garden parties, dinner parties, and fancy dress parties, it might be that I just don’t like parties in general. Which, in retrospect, might explain why I spent so much of my party-boy years being miserable and hating myself. Personal growth. I was nailing it.

MY REVIEW:

solid, good read:
4/5
It’s pretty unusual to have a direct sequel to a romance novel. They’re usually all ‘happily ever after, now don’t look too closely at what comes next‘. So it was a refreshing change to jump ahead two years and check in with Luc and Oliver.

I enjoyed Husband Material; Oliver and Luc’s relationship was exactly what you’d expect after two years together. It was a relief to see they hadn’t changed too much, although one would hope that Luc’s need to make everything about himself and his insecurities would have calmed down a little. Oliver is too good at taking everything in stride and getting to the heart of a situation; while he may not be great at analysing his own actions (or reactions) at first, he’s always more than fair when Luc is finally able to get to the point and bring it to his attention.

I have to admit I’m a little disappointed to have no Oliver POVs. Considering Boyfriend Material was all from Luc’s perspective, I’m not sure why I thought we’d get something different this time, but maybe one day Hall will throw us a bone with an Oliver epilogue or something.

Once again, a lot of the joy of the narrative comes from the excellent cast of side characters. While I did feel they were a little more absent in Husband Material than they were in Boyfriend Material – poor Oliver seemed mostly abandoned by his friends – there is nothing better than a confusing conversation between Luc’s colleagues, or a quick WhatsApp group chat. And, of course, I don’t think I could ever get enough of Odile and Judy.

It’s true that some of Oliver and Luc’s conversations start to feel a bit repetitive (get over the balloon arch already), and Luc’s quick jump to self-sabotage and assuming the worst mixed with Oliver’s tendency to withdraw or start acting superior begins to feel like a much too familiar pattern. But it was nice to see that if someone made an off-handed comment or a quick judgment, it wasn’t often allowed to just lie. Oliver and Luc are really good at digging deeper to figure out what caused a specific outcome or why something may not be going as expected. And I like that it’s okay for them to come back to something later and add context or understanding. It showed that while they may not have outgrown their initial defensive actions, they have grown in their relationship and know how to take things seriously when necessary.

I was surprised when I found out there was a second book in this series, but I’m relieved that there will eventually be a third one. I was definitely left wanting more at the end of Husband Material.

SUGGESTED TAGS:

OTHER BOOKS IN THIS SERIES:

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

See All Reviews   |   Quotes   |   Sort Reviews By:    # of Pages   |   Author [ Name | Gender | Nationality ]   |   DNF   |   Genre   |   Rating   |   Series   |   Title   |   Year Published

Share!

Like this:

Like Loading...
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment!x
%d bloggers like this: