Jackie Lau’s Not Your Valentine reminded me how much I love these short novellas! This was a fun read that featured the popular grumpy-sunshine, friends to lovers, and fake dating tropes. Easily consumable in one sitting.

This was my first time reading Lau’s writing. I found her style to be the perfect balance of vulnerable and entertaining, although at times I found Helen to be unlike me, and wasn’t really rooting for her happy ending because of her constant bad attitude throughout the entire book.

Overall, very short and easy read. Cute story line, but the love story in this novella didn’t have me turning to mush.

This was exactly the right level of cheese! Our FMC has no wishes or plans to date going into the New Year, or does she? Helen has beef with Valentine's Day due an embarrassingly viral break up, but luckily her longtime friend Taylor has no problem standing in as her fake boyfriend to get her loved ones off her back. This is a short novella, but even so it was clear right off the bat that Taylor had no fake plans about this, mans plays the long game.

Sadly, there were some things in this novella that bothered me. The main one being that everyone in her life is so concerned with her being a 'spinster'. Helen is 29 for crying out loud. This detail though it drives the plot feels outdated, very 2000s. This especially came into play in the female interactions; I know it's a romcom, but not a single conversation passed the Bechdel test. The other thing has to be that while I love an MC that is introspective, here it is used to open the story in a very slow way.

Do not read if you don't wish to or are too young to read a healthy level of spice. One of my favorite things about Helen is that she owns her sexuality, and honestly her whole personality; other than her dating life she does not let other's opinions change how she wants to live. I lived for the spice scenes, that cabin! Taylor is so well written, at times even better than Helen. He is emotionally vulnerable, clear about his intentions, and always there to listen. Read this if you want a novella that is equivalent to a decadent heart- shaped cake for two.

Read through NetGalley

Helen and Taylor have been friends for years. After a humiliating public breakup with her ex ala “it’s not me, it’s you”, Helen is sick of hearing her family and friends ask when she’s going to date again. She concocts a scheme to get them off her back, but when a fake relationship turns into real love, she’ll have to open up and allow Taylor to show her that she deserves to be loved.

I received this book as an ARC via NetGalley, and sadly, haven’t had much luck with them lately, but I really enjoyed this book! The story flowed well, Helen and Taylor, the two main characters had great chemistry and it was a quick read. I will definitely be reading more from this author.

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

Thank you to Netgalley and Kobo for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Not your Valentine was such a quick read - perfect for an evening in February! The main tropes are pretty well balanced between fake dating, grumpy/sunshine, and friends to lovers.

I feel like Lau did a great job of making the plot and features of the characters realistic and relatable with our female main character, Helen, being a bit grumpy and pessimistic and our MMC was shorter than "traditional" MMCs in other rom-coms. Our MMC was also our "sunshine" which I loved! It's so rare to find a romance without a brooding guy.

This is a story with a Happily Ever After and I enjoyed that it wasn't exclusively a Valentine's novel with Lunar New Year playing a role in the story. It did feel a little all over the place at times, but it could just be that I don't quite mesh with the author's writing style.

Overall, it was a fun read and will do the job if you're looking for a shorter Valentine's romance!

✨Thank you to Kobo Books & Jackie Lau for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!! ✨

3.5⭐️ rounding up to 4

This short & sweet Valentine’s romance was just what I needed to start off Valentines month! Who doesn’t love a bit of a fake dating trope? As far as the characters are concerned, Helen was a bit difficult to like at first but by the middle I found myself cheering for her & hoping for the best. Taylor is a sweet guy right from the word go & I only wish I could have heard this story from his perspective as well. The side characters of Helen’s friends & mom were a cute little addition although they didn’t add a ton to drive the story. Overall this was a fun & short read that doesn’t require too much thinking & I would certainly suggest it to anyone looking for a romance!

Thank you NetGalley, Jackie Lau, and Kobo Originals for letting me read this wonderful ARC! Was it short or did I really just sit here and read it all day? I guess it was so great that I only did the necessary things to keep my kids happy while I sat in the chair and read this book today. It was cute, and funny, and I loved it all!!

Special shout-out to NetGalley for the ARC!!!

Okay let’s get into it! Helen is totally anti valentine’s day because of her unfortunate breakup last year that went viral! Ever since then she has sworn off dating, but her friends and family just can’t seem to stop hounding her about getting back out there. So, she decides to tell everyone her long term best guy friend and her are dating! It was a quick read and fun, but the story lost my interest a bit due to how predictable it came to be.

spoiler alert: She falls for her best friend lol. Thanks for the opportunity to read this copy early and if you’re looking for a cute fast paced read for valentine’s check this one out!

This was a cute, wholesome and relatable story that I thoroughly enjoyed reading. Not because I, like Helen Tsang, our protagonist who in efforts to assuage her friends’ and family’s fears about her not dating after a horrible public breakup that went viral, decides to ask one of her closest friends to be her fake boyfriend in time for the upcoming Valentine’s Day. No, unfortunately, I have yet to experience a fake dating trope (emphasis on the yet). But her relatability comes from the themes of her fears and experiences; her laments about navigating STEM environments, especially post-grad, especially in Toronto (trying to find jobs in a non-engineering STEM field is not for the faint-hearted). Her commentary about the TTC had me screaming “ME TOO”; a character who gets the annoyances about transferring at Bloor-Yonge and timing when to send texts when you get service again (Davisville on the east end on Line 1) is one I can get behind. Though initially I was a bit impartial to Helen as a character, she grew on me quickly, as the story gives her more dimension through its analysis on her. She is a humorous character and I loved how this story was written so we can get more intel on her thoughts.

This was an honest and heartfelt story about finding love in Toronto. This story’s realism and its insight into important concepts such as racism, xenophobia and issues within the healthcare system (i.e. Taylor’s frustrations about funding cuts affecting social services he refers patients to - a very prevalent issue in Toronto at the moment), just to name a few, had me appreciating this story even more. I loved how the more you read, the more you can see yourself in these characters; whether it is Helen’s discontent with navigating the abysmal dating scene in Toronto (something I HEAVILY understood), Taylor’s passion but also his fears about being alone, or maybe it’s the subtle complaints about transit or praises about food spots that does it for you. Whatever it may be, there is something for everyone to take from this story and that is the beauty of this novella.

This story felt like one of my closest friends from uni was telling me what had been happening in her love life since the last time we spoke, as we catch up over coffee. I enjoyed every second reading this novella. Thank you NetGalley for letting me read “Not Your Valentine” in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a cute and good romance story. It’s short and I read it in one setting.
Helen had her heart broken on Valentine’s Day a year before and the whole thing gone viral.
This year, she has to do with a fake relationship with her old friend, Taylor .
The story is full of witty moments and some hilarious scenes. I loved how the author always includes humour in between some heavy topics.
If you’re looking for a pick me up romance, don’t miss Not your Valentine.

Very grateful to the publisher for my review copy through NetGalley

A cute RomCom just in time for Valentine's Day. I enjoyed their story, but would have liked more. A very large portion of this read is mostly Helen's thoughts. I would have liked to have "seen" more actually happening because the Helen and Taylor scenes are so cute. All-in-all, a cute read. ♡

A short and sweet fake dating story about Helen Tsang who hates Valentine's Day. After a very public break-up gone viral during her last Valentine's Day, Helen no longer cares for the pity from her friends and family. She comes up with a plan to ask a long-time high school friend to be her fake boyfriend until after Valentine's Day. I think the rest is glaringly obvious.

I thought it was a cute little read, especially with Valentine's Day right around the corner, but there was just nothing new and exciting about it. Also for being such a short book, there were so many random, and seemingly irrelevant details, thrown in.

Thank you @Netgalley and Kobo Originals for providing me with an eARC for my honest review!

A grumpy sunshine, friends to lovers, fake dating anti Valentine’s Day romance.
❤️‍🩹
Helen Tsang had her heart broken last Valentine’s Day when her ex broke up with her in a very public way and it went viral. Now Helen has sworn off love, but those around her keep bugging her to get back into the dating game. In order to save face she enlists her friend, Taylor Li, to be her fake boyfriend for the upcoming holiday. The problem is Taylor loves Valentine’s Day and all the romance that goes with it. Soon Helen is wishing this relationship was real.
❤️
This was a quick romance that is perfect for valentines day & lunar new year It will warm even the coldest of hearts as grumpy Helen falls for sunshine Taylor throughout the book. I loved the representation and want to read more by this author!

CW: cyberbullying

Thank you NetGalley for the book! ♥️

This was a perfect read for valentines month. A girl who was heart broken (and publicly shamed) realizes she doesn’t hate valentines so much after all. A great and easy read I would recommend to all.

Thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary e-ARC. All opinions provided are my own.

Jackie Lau’s Not Your Valentine delivered on the best of Valentine’s Day with so much of the good stuff: a grumpy heroine, a nice guy hero; some forearms lusting; a friends to lovers arc; steam that had me thinking in blush emojis.

I ate this novella up!

It’s fun & easy to jump into, even on a night when I didn’t feel like I could concentrate that well.

There’s so much work an author has to do to make a convincing romance novella but Lau made it possible for me to how leads Helen & Taylor might change their relationship so quickly because of how she writes the care they have for one another as friends.

There are some unexpected details thrown in too that I loved & might be new to me in a romance, including some labia insecurity and a 5’5” hero.

Check this one out—it’s really great.

5⭐️. Out now!

CWs: references to racism; reference to parental abandonment.
[ID: a red dress is on a white quilt; on top of the dress is a pink heart garland & the ebook on top of an open hardback.]

Okay I’m a sucker for fake dating 😅 this book was written so sweetly and it was easy to follow. Nice short book I finished in an afternoon. Once I started I must admit it was so sweet I couldn’t put it down! I loved each and every character, everything had a place and didn’t drag on. Definitely one to add to your valentines tbr list!

It pains me to say this but something about this book didn't work for me. I can usually deal with an unlikable heroine but Helen was sometimes so blunt that it came off as rude and I had a super hard time with that. I absolutely did not buy her and Taylor as dating, fake or otherwise. I did like Helen's relationship with her mother but overall, I think that because it was so short and Helen was so awful most of the story, it was not my favorite by this author.

3.75⭐️ I liked Jackie Lau’s previous books so I was looking forward to this one. It follows Helen who, last Valentine’s Day, got dumped during dinner and of course it was recorded and it went viral. So she has sworn off love. New Year’s comes and everyone is bugging her about dating again, why doesn’t she have a boyfriend, etc etc so she draws up a plan to ‘fake date’ her friend from high school, Taylor. To her surprise he agrees and they start ‘dating’ and plan to break up after Valentine’s Day. The dates are romantic, and wonderful, Taylor is the perfect boyfriend….and to complicate matters she starts having feelings for him. Will they still plan to break up after Valentine’s Day or does he have feelings too? You’ll have to read to find out. It would have got more stars from me but sometimes the language didn’t match (ie too much swearing as the book went along…which was unnecessary imo) because it came out of the blue and didn’t start out like that.
Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

this is really cute!!!

but low-key, it would have been way better if it was longer because it was so short the characters felt really one one-dimensionial and flat. and it would have been easier to root for the coupl,e if there was more pages of the interacting and growing really close.

Not Your Valentine is a sweet, fake dating romance that’s a quick read perfect as a Valentine’s Day read. After a traumatic, public break-up the previous year, Helen is tired of questions from her friends and family about when she’s going to start dating again. Cue reaching out to an old friend from high school to ask him to pretend to be her boyfriend. To her surprise, he’s quick to agree.

This whole story was sweet. The romance between Helen and Taylor developed beautifully, and though the story was predictable in its plot points, it didn’t take away from the emotional moments and the tension in the fake dating relationship. This is a short book, and I wish it would have lasted a little longer, but it hit so many of the wants for a fake dating romance.

This was my first Jackie Lau read, and I’m sure I’ll be keeping an eye out for other romances from her.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the advanced digital copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Super cute and super fun this was a very enjoyable read. I personally finished this book in one sitting and its lovely to cozy up to and read, Perfect for valentines day!