Luc O’Donnell’s Diary

This recommendation came from a friend on Twitter who commented about the reference to Welcome to Night Vale that was in the story.  Me, being the huge nerd I am, immediately replied to ask what they were reading, and they said Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall.  I had credits on my Audible account, so I bought it.

Here’s the summary of the story: Lucian “Luc” O’Donnell son of an aging rock star and a French 80’s pop icon who is now a recluse.  Luc, who works at a non-profit group to aid the dung beetles, a group whose initials literally spell out CRAP, gets caught by the paparazzi in what they call leaving a drug-fueled, sex orgy. Terrified of getting fired because he’s not “the right kind of gay” and needing to clean up his image and keep their sponsors before the “Beetle Drive” a charity event gala held every year, Luc needs to “clean up his image”. 

Enter, Oliver Blackwood: a criminal law barrister. Rich, handsome, shy, awkward, but seems cold, aloof, snotty. Luc friend Bridget (yes, Bridget) sets the two of them up on a date and in turn they strike a deal to fake date for two months, enough time for Oliver to be seen with Luc to clean up his image and to be his date to the Beetle Drive and for Luc to be Oliver’s date to his parent’s anniversary dinner.

From there, negotiations, a friendship, and eventually love ensues. 

Let me just say, I love Oliver.  So much.  He is, by far, my favorite character in this story…other than Judy, Luc’s mother’s best friend. This entire story has Bridget Jones’ vibes and Oliver is 150% Mark Darcy if Mark Darcy were gay and single. The difference was Bridget was a hot mess in that “oh sweetie, what the hell are you doing?” way where Luc is a hot mess in a “why are you such an asshole?”  way.  In fact Luc’s entire attitude can be summed up in a quote in Chapter 31 when Luc tells Oliver, “It’s easier to push people away than to watch them leave.” Luc does exactly that, he pushes people away. His group of friends, his co-workers, Oliver, his father (who deserves it: it’s a classic “I learned it from you” scenario). By the end, of course I was silently cheering Luc on in his mission and did cheer at the end of the story when everyone gets together, but it was a chore to get there, to that point where you wanted to see Luc succeed, where you wanted him to be the main character of his own story.  He got there; it just took some time.

 I didn’t think I’d like the fake dating trope. Usually when I read them, they are utterly transparent, the writers seem to be trying to get to the bedroom scenes where they finally have sex right before it all falls apart.  And thinking back on the story as I write this, this story followed that as well.  But it didn’t seem like it.  I think it was a secondary plot in this story that helped it out.  Luc father, John Fleming, the aging rock star who left Luc and his mother when Luc was a child, has cancer.  He decided that he wants to spend time with his son.  Who, as most abandoned children, is not on board with this plan.

While this story was cute, I connected more with the side characters.  Bridget, Luc’s best friend and the only straight one in the group who worked for a publishing company and seemed to have a end of the world crisis every time anyone called, yet was always there for Luc when he needed her.  The utterly adorable couple, James Royce Royce and James Royce Royce. Oliver.  And oh my god, if the Night Vale reference wasn’t enough (seriously I giggled through that entire scene), Oliver’s friends Ben and Sophie had me screaming.  Ben is tall and thin and a stay-at-home dad for their twins while Sophie is a corporate barrister for huge multimillion-dollar companies.  She’s a stone-cold bitch, I love her and it’s obvious that the two love each other.  I don’t know if I’m reading something into it, but if I’m not, I see what you did there, Alexis, and I screamed at their introduction.

Here’s my only concern with the story and the reason I had to force myself through the first few chapters with Luc before Oliver showed up on the scene.  Luc is an unlovable character.  He’s a huge asshole.  In the first chapter there’s a hint of the fact that he’s supposed to be a huge bad boy, the tabloids all refer to his drug fueled and sex filled past, but outside the explanation of Luc’s ex-boyfriend who sold a tell all that included X-rated pictures to tabloids and the picture that hinted at “drunken drug fueled sex dungeon” when in actuality it was Luc wearing bunny ears for a fancy dress party and tripping over something on the street and falling down, there really isn’t an explanation of this “bad boy” he’s supposed to be.  Even when he explains it to Oliver later, he admits to drinking and drugs and sleeping around, but it wasn’t really anything that could’ve caused a scandal. If anything, Luc is an introvert that the tabloids want to post all his father’s past scandals on.  Especially not that his father is come back on a talent show as the “reformed bad boy turned Zen dad.”

Had this story been in the point of view of Oliver, I think I would have eaten it up with a spoon.  Oliver by far was the more interesting character and I wanted to know more about him, I sympathized with him so much more and where John Fleming was an asshole, Oliver’s parents were the worst sort of parents, the ones who openly demean their child because he doesn’t conform to their tailored lifestyle. 

In the end, I did like the story and I’m glad I read it. I would recommend it to others, and I just found out this week that Alexis has a sequel, “Husband Material”, coming out soon (Summer 2022!).  And, yes, I am absolutely buying it because I need more Oliver Blackwood in my life.

That’s it for this month my friends.  I hope everyone enjoys/ed Pride month and happy Summer!  Remember when you’re sitting out at the poolside, to make sure you have your sunscreen, your cold drink and a good book.