Review: Boyfriend Material by Ilsa Madden-Mills

Boyfriend Material by Ilsa Madden-Mills

Publication Date: July 25, 2022

Eric’s not Boyfriend Material. Or is he?

#1 Amazon bestselling author Ilsa Madden-Mills delivers an all-new, enemies-to-lovers sports romance, a breathtaking tale of passion, heartbreak, and love…

Skyscraper cheekbones, lush lips, and magnetic topaz eyes.
I’m talking about Eric Hansen.
Rich prick.
Glorified hockey star.
Thinks he’s amazing.
Yeah. The Golden Boy and I are well acquainted. In prep school he trampled on my heart and kept right on going.

Three years later, he’s living the high life with frat parties and puck bunnies at Hawthorne University. On the other hand, people barely notice me. I’m the nobody, surviving in the seedy part of town as I struggle to keep my head above treacherous waters.

The avoidance game we’ve been playing was working—until he rescues me from a bad guy and claims he wants to help me more. Hello. I don’t need a knight in shining armor. This girl saves herself.

Yet, I’m not sure how long I can ignore the undeniable spark between us.
(It’s not even a spark; it’s a full-fledged, blazing fire.)

Can this hockey player prove he’s boyfriend material, or will this be a game we both lose?

Review

Boyfriend Material by Ilsa Madden-Mills

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Unending Angst Weighs Down This Romance

CW: drug abuse and addiction, attempted rape, accidental shooting death, sexual assault, forcible confinement, hazing

Julia has a past with Eric. They dated in Prep School, he slept with her (her first) and then dumped her. She kind of hates him. And during her senior year at Hawthorne University she’s really not doing well. She’s stripping to earn money to pay back a loan shark. Her Mom is homeless and a drug addict. Her evil frat boy ex is constantly texting her to try to get her back. Eric has his own issues as well, stemming from the death of his brother. His parents are both negligent and uncaring of his own desires for his future.

One particularly difficult night, Julia runs into Eric and he ends up helping her. Bad things happen to both of them and it slowly leads them to one another. Ultimately they both have to fight against their pasts, a fraternity and parental pressures to get their HEA.

This is a very angsty and somewhat dark romance. The first half of the book is mostly about how both Eric and Julia’s lives are terrible. It’s a lot. There’s very few light moments in this romance. The book was presented without any trigger or content warnings so please keep that in mind. The CWs I’ve included are my own and I hope I’ve included all of them.

In “Boyfriend Material”, the romance is buried under the tidal wave of very bad things that are happening to Eric and Julia. The main antagonist is an evil frat bro who tries to rape Julia and almost kills one of Eric’s hockey team mates.

This book was not for me. The angst and hardships that the protagonists face made it difficult to enjoy. Others who enjoy angsty romance may like it. It just left me depressed.

Genre: Contemporary romance, New Adult
Narration: dual POVs
Publication Date: July 25
Number 2 in series