Father Material
-
- $15.99
Publisher Description
First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes...what was that, exactly?
Luc and Oliver have been through it all: fake dating to save Luc's career, I-guess-this-is-actually-for-real dating when all of that blew up spectacularly, (briefly) breaking up over irreconcilable differences, (definitively) getting back together over perfectly reconcilable everything else, (almost) getting married, (finally) moving in together, and ultimately celebrating years of perfect domestic bliss.
But as all their very grown-up-now friends begin reaching new life milestones, advancing careers and having babies, Luc and Oliver decide it's time to open their hearts and lives to something new: a tiny, squirming, adorable bundle of furry joy named Spud.
And maybe now that hearts-and-lives are already open, there's room for someone else. Something more. Something that may require them to find in themselves a little father material.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Luc and Oliver have navigated almost all of life’s ups and downs, but they face their biggest challenge yet in the heartwarming final instalment of the London Calling rom-com trilogy. What started out as fake dating turned into real feelings, a breakup, an engagement, and more. So what’s the next logical step in their relationship? Adopting a dog, of course. A cute little pup named Spud, to be exact. But not only do Luc and Oliver have very different pet-parenting styles, they also end up fostering a teen girl who really tests them to their limits. Jam-packed with Alexis Hall’s trademark wit and hilarious banter and sprinkled with profound messages about love and relationships, Father Material really made us feel like we were on the journey with them, and we adored the lived-in and realistic energy of Luc and Oliver’s interactions. This satisfying conclusion is a reminder that we never stop learning, growing, and putting in the work—even after we’ve found “the one.”
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The final installment of Hall's London Calling series (after Boyfriend Material and Husband Material) delivers diminishing returns as, this time out, Luc and Oliver consider the next step in their relationship: caring for something more than each other. The couple gets a dog, Spud, to "take the first step towards building the life and the family that sort of never quite dared to hope for." The pet training, however, leads to disagreements, as Oliver is all about discipline and boundaries whereas Luc is characteristically more lax. Their different parenting styles become a source of even greater contention when the couple become foster dads to "porcupinish" 14-year-old Jasmine, aka Jaz. As Jaz gets in trouble with the neighbors, suspended from school, and implicated in car theft, Oliver fears he's a bad dad, while Luc is more open to the "learning process" of raising a sullen teenager. Adding to Luc's stresses, however, is that he may lose his job unless he can convince an obnoxious benefactor to support his dung beetle charity by staging a rock music festival. Hall crams in a few too many subplots and running gags that drag on far too long. There are some heartfelt messages about love and parenting along the way, but as a whole it's overlong and underwhelming.
