You’ve probably read – or heard of – Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall. It’s a lovely blend of sweet, fluffy romance, truly bizarre character portrayal (think Oscar Wilde), class and satire. Truly, a delight, and a book I’d definitely recommend if you haven’t read it yet.
After reading this for the first time last summer (yes I’ve read it twice now), I got curious about the author and after some googling, found out that he writes both gay romance and fantasy novels. I decided to see if I’d like his other works, and let me tell you, I was not disappointed. Here are the books I’ve read by him so far:
How to Bang a Billionaire
I picked this up solely because of the unapologetic title and went in without any idea of what the book contains – but let me tell you, it’s a lot! This queer romance trilogy is essentially Fifty Shades satire, WHICH I ABSOLUTELY LOVE. Now, if you’ve read Fifty Shades (whether you like it or not), you must admit, a lot of the stuff is problematic to say the least. There’s this horrible blend of glorifying abuse and kink-bashing and all kinds of different issues – but I’m not going to go in depth here. What How to Bang a Billionare does, though, is this: it takes the story and really explores the themes of abuse, consent, trauma, consent, shame and kink in a very responsible fashion. It both mocks Fifty Shades (the satire is absolutely fantastic) and really gets into what is problematic in the series. At the same time, though, it’s a delightful, adventurous romance with a fantastic range of characters in its own right.
How to Bang a Billionaire does not demonise kink. Rather, it celebrates it, while looking at the complex intersections between trauma and sexuality. There is a fair amount of graphic content in this series and I really recommend taking a look at the TW (could not find a list by the author, but this looks accurate). What I absolutely love, though, is that BDSM is treated as something beautiful and loving. The series explores kinky sex in a way that is sensual, funny and achingly real. I’ll admit that explicit sexual content often makes me uncomfortable but Hall’s writing feels so much more in-depth than wanking material (and really, don’t get me wrong, reading something for the sheer hotness is completely alright) – it’s a study of intimacy in all it’s complexity, and the narrative discussion of kink and emotion is there, throughout the hot sex and all.
What I’m saying is, definitely give this one a go. It’s a fantastic mix of satire, romance, in-depth exploration of serious themes and character growth. It’s both an erotic romance novel that unapologetically revels in its genre – the exuberant language, the drama, the sensuality – and an incredibly close look at love and BDSM. Also, the protagonist, Arden, is a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful character.
For Real
I don’t think I’ve ever read anything as… well, hardcore as For Real. But equally, this is one of the absolutely sweetest novels I’ve ever encountered. Meet Tony, a 19-year-old dominant, who no one is taking seriously because of his age. One night at a BDSM club, he meets Laurence, a 37-year old surgeon and submissive completely fed up with the kink scene and, well, his life, really. There’s an unexpected chemistry between the two, which leads into a complex but beautiful relationship.
Let me just say, this novel really gets into the exploration of dominant/ submissive and sadist/ masochist relationship. Hall discusses pain and servitude and power in a way that is beautiful, in-depth and, of course, funny. There is rather a lot of graphic things, like whipping and BDSM sex toys and a lot of, well, pain, but in a very beautiful and consensual manner. Nevertheless, see TW by the author. I was wondering about the lack of safe-word but that, too, is a discussion in the novel. I feel like with Hall, you can trust that when you get into very difficult topics, they are explored in a responsible fashion and not just glossed over. There is a lot of other stuff going on in the novel, too; growing up, getting over someone, family dynamics and death. There is a lot of darkness in this novel, but never in a way that overwhelms.
Hall also has some non-BDSM romance like the abovementioned Boyfriend Material and Glitterland – which is absolutely fantastic BTW – and will be covered later in this series. Bottom line is, if you’re looking for beautiful, funny, thought-provoking queer BDSM romance, pick up an Alexander Hall book. Oh, and he writes fantasy novels, too, so those might also be interesting to check out though I’m yet to read those.