4 derivations and a funeral

 So, a while back, I bought a copy to Alexis Hall's Husband Material, since I enjoyed his previous volume a bit. 

We're back to listening to Lucian whine, although at this point, he and Oliver have been dating 2 years, so none of it is particularly high angst. We do, however, deal with Luc proposing and Oliver accepting, and then a mad dash through 3 weddings, a funeral, and Luc and Oliver's nuptials to round out the event. 

We start with best friend Bridge's wedding, which ends up being a trainwreck, as the venue burns down a week beforehand, which requires relocating to a friend of Luc's mom's estate. 

Then we get the gay wedding of Luc's ex, the one who sold him to the tabloids for a tidy sum. 

And the wedding of Luc's coworker, where we get a view of CoE wedding rites. 

Luc and Oliver have dinner with Oliver's parents, wherein Oliver finally tells his father what he can do to himself. Oliver's father responds by dying. 

Which leads to the funeral portion. 

And then we have Luc and Oliver's wedding, which doesn't quite go as planned. 

Honestly, while I didn't love this one, and indeed, got kind of annoyed with the finale, it was readable, and there were some rather cathartic moments tucked in with the bad rom-com set up. It's not perfect by any means, but it provided what I needed in a moment.

Meet/Cute with a bunch of silly

 So, one of the books I found myself browsing at work was Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall.Which once I realized was male male romance with a male author, I figured, Why not?

So, we're (self) centered around Lucien O'Donnel, the son of an Irish-French Folk Singer and a Prog Rock start who mostly seems to be a cypher of Ian Anderson. Luc is about to get fired from his job as a donation coordinator for a Dung Beetle charity after donors get wind of him passed out in a gutter after a party, particularly after the paparazzi takes pictures of said event. Needing reputational rehab, he gets his best friend Bridget to set him up with Oliver Blackwood, a straight laced criminal defense solicitor. As it turns out, Oliver needs a fake boyfriend to get through his parents' anniversary party. 

Which leads to a fake relationship that becomes much more real about halfway through. 

Well, ya know, except for the whole complications that crop up towards the end, leading to Richard Gere picking him up from his hovel....er...well....

I mean, we get solid portrayals of both men's emotional damages as the plot meanders on; Luc's dad left him for fame, and tries to reconcile now that he's dying of cancer and on a The Voice style competition, Oliver's parents are some of the most unintentionally cruel people this side of Harry Potter's Aunt and Uncle. It's appropriately sad at all the right points, and absurd bits of humor crop up at unexpected intervals. 

Yeah, it's a bit too frothy to be serious, and a bit too dark to be comedy. But it works and entertains.