Author | Alexis Hall |
---|---|
Language | English |
Series | London's Calling |
Genre | |
Publication date | 7 July 2020 [1] |
ISBN | 1728206146 |
Followed by | Husband Material |
Boyfriend Material is a 2020 contemporary romance novel by Alexis Hall. It centers on the character of Luc O'Donnell, the only child of two 1980s rock stars, and his romantic relationship with Oliver Blackwood, a barrister.
Hall has stated that the novel was directly inspired by the Richard Curtis rom-coms of the 1990s and early 2000s, such as Notting Hill , Four Weddings and a Funeral , and Love Actually . [2]
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.
Entertainment Weekly , Business Insider , and Bustle all named Boyfriend Material one of the Best Romance Novels of 2020. [3] [4] [5] The novel was nominated for the Goodreads Choice Award for Best Romance, coming in fifth place. [6]
A Publishers Weekly review called it "a triumph" and said that "Hall breathes new life into the fake dating trope with this effervescent queer rom-com." [7]
Olivia Waite, from The New York Times, called the series, "...terrifically funny. Not just tonally upbeat in the way of many so-called rom-coms, but text-your-friends, chortle-'til-you-cry funny." [8]
The novel's sequel, titled Husband Material, was released in August 2022. [9] [10] A third novel, entitled Father Material, will be released in March 2026, completing the trilogy. [11]
10 Things That Never Happened, a spin-off novel following different characters, including one who was introduced in Husband Material, was released in October 2023. [12]
Chandler Muriel Bing is a fictional character from the NBC sitcom Friends, portrayed by Matthew Perry. Chandler was born to Nora Tyler Bing, an erotic romance novelist, and Charles Bing, a gay female impersonator and star of a Las Vegas drag show called "Viva Las Gay-gas" as Helena Handbasket. It is revealed in season 1 that he went to an all-boys high school.
Gay Divorce is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter and book by Dwight Taylor, adapted by Kenneth Webb and Samuel Hoffenstein. It was Fred Astaire's last Broadway show and featured the hit song "Night and Day" in which Astaire danced with co-star Claire Luce.
The Amazing Mr. X, also known as The Spiritualist, is a 1948 American horror thriller film noir directed by Bernard Vorhaus with cinematography by John Alton. The film tells the story of a phony spiritualist racket. The film is prominently featured in Alton's book on cinematography Painting with Light (1949).
Lady Caroline Blackwood was an English writer, socialite, and muse. Her novels have been praised for their wit and intelligence. One of her works is an autobiography, which detailed her wealthy but unhappy childhood. She was born into an aristocratic British family, the eldest child of the 4th Marquess of Dufferin and Ava and of Maureen Constance Guinness. All three of her husbands were famous personalities in their own right.
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 is a 2008 American comedy-drama film and a sequel to the 2005 film The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. The original cast return to star in the film. It was directed by Sanaa Hamri and written by Elizabeth Chandler, who wrote the previous film. The film is based upon the fourth novel in the book series: Forever in Blue (2007), but incorporates scenes and storylines from The Second Summer of the Sisterhood (2003) and Girls in Pants (2004).
Christina Lauren, the combined pen name of Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings, is an American author duo of contemporary fiction, teen fiction and romance novels.
Keiynan Lonsdale is an Australian actor, dancer, and singer-songwriter. He is known for roles such as Oliver Lloyd in the ABC series Dance Academy (2012–2013), Wally West/Kid Flash in the CW series The Flash (2015–2023) and Legends of Tomorrow (2017–2018), and Abraham "Bram" Greenfeld in the film Love, Simon (2018). His other films include The Divergent Series: Insurgent (2015) and The Finest Hours (2016). Lonsdale has also worked as an MTV VJ and released original music recordings, including a studio album in 2020.
Sarah Janet Maas, known as Sarah J. Maas is an American fantasy author known for her fantasy series Throne of Glass,A Court of Thorns and Roses, and Crescent City. As of 2024, she has sold over 38 million copies of her books and her work has been translated into 38 languages.
LGBT romance is a genre within gay literature and romance fiction focused on same-sex characters who fall in love and have a homosexual or homoromantic relationship. The genre has met with increasing acceptance and sales from the 1980s onward. Bussel, in Publishers Weekly, notes that as of 2020, presses that specialize in LGBTQ romance, mainstream publishers, and booksellers are expanding their offerings and inviting a more diverse authorship.
Alexis Hall is an English author of urban fantasy, science fiction, and LGBTQ romance. His novels include Boyfriend Material, The Affair of the Mysterious Letter, and others.
The Perfect Date is a 2019 American teen romantic comedy film, directed by Chris Nelson from a screenplay by Steve Bloom and Randall Green. It is based on the novel The Stand-In by Steve Bloom, published by Carolrohda Lab in October 2017. The film stars Noah Centineo, Laura Marano, Camila Mendes, Odiseas Georgiadis and Matt Walsh. It was released on April 12, 2019, by Netflix.
Casey McQuiston is an American author of romance novels in the new adult fiction genre, best known for their New York Times best-selling debut novel Red, White & Royal Blue, in which the son of America's first female president falls in love with a prince of England, and sophomore book One Last Stop. McQuiston made their debut in the young adult fiction genre with their book I Kissed Shara Wheeler which was released on May 3, 2022. They were included in Time magazine's 2022 Time 100 Next list.
Talia Hibbert is a British romance novelist. She writes contemporary and paranormal romance. Critics describe her as a writer of diverse narratives, with characters of varying race, ethnicity, body shape, sexual orientation, and life experience. She is best known for her 2019 novel Get a Life, Chloe Brown.
Get a Life, Chloe Brown is a 2019 romance novel written by Talia Hibbert and published by Avon Romance. It is Hibbert's first traditionally published book from and is the first book of a trilogy following the Brown sisters. The novel was followed by Take A Hint, Dani Brown in 2020 and Act Your Age, Eve Brown in 2021.
Sex/Life is an American erotic drama television series created by Stacy Rukeyser for Netflix. The series is inspired by the novel 44 Chapters About 4 Men by BB Easton and it premiered on June 25, 2021. In September 2021, the series was renewed for a second season, which was released on March 2, 2023. In April 2023, the series was canceled after two seasons.
Red, White & Royal Blue is an LGBT romance novel by American author Casey McQuiston, originally published on May 14, 2019, by St Martin's Griffin. It centres on the character of Alex Claremont-Diaz, a first son of the United States, and his romantic relationship with Prince Henry, a British prince. Upon release, the novel received positive reviews with praise given to the representation of a queer male relationship. A film adaptation was released on August 11, 2023.
Travis John Klune is an American author of fantasy and romantic fiction featuring gay and LGBTQ+ characters. His fantasy novel The House in the Cerulean Sea is a New York Times best seller and winner of the 2021 Alex and Mythopoeic Awards. Klune has spoken about how his asexuality influences his writing. His novel Into This River I Drown won the Lambda Literary Award for Best Gay Romance in 2014.
Single All the Way is a 2021 Canadian Christmas romantic comedy film directed by Michael Mayer and written by Chad Hodge. The plot follows a man who convinces his best friend to pretend to be his boyfriend when he goes home for Christmas, only to be set up on a blind date by his mother. Luke Macfarlane, Barry Bostwick, Jennifer Robertson, and Jennifer Coolidge also star.
The Love Hypothesis is a romance novel by Ali Hazelwood, published September 14, 2021 by Berkley Books. Originally published online in 2018 as Head Over Feet, a Star Wars fan fiction work about the "Reylo" ship between Rey and Kylo Ren, the novel follows a Ph.D. candidate and a professor at Stanford University who pretend to be in a relationship.
Emily Henry is an American author who is best known for her New York Times bestselling romance novels Beach Read, People We Meet on Vacation, Book Lovers, Happy Place, and Funny Story.