Thanks for the chance to read!
Short and (fairly) sweet romance set in the run up to Valentine’s Day. Helen and Taylor are high school friends living in Toronto. Helen was dumped last February 14th in a restaurant, a experience which went viral online. To get friends and family off her back, she asks Taylor to pretend to be her boyfriend but (obviously) they fall for each other.
It’s a nice easy read but I did find it a bit too graphic in places (unexpectedly so, it felt a bit jarring) and I’m not a big fan of gratuitous swearing in books. It also wasn’t very convincing that Helen wouldn’t believe Taylor actually liked her given all the very clear signs he was giving! Redeeming features are the foodie aspect, Toronto setting (makes a change from London or New York) and fast pace,

Thank you NetGalley & Jackie Lau for letting me read
"Not Your Valentine" in exchange for an honest review.
This was a very short & sweet read. When I say short... mean it almost felt like a novella. This made it a very quick read though & I was done in no time. The storyline was straight to the point & predictable, but I still found myself falling in love. This is my first ever Jackie Lau book but she sure does know how to write a grumpy female character in such a way that still made her relatable & easy to root for What a cute book!
Perfect for a valentine's day themed palette cleanser!

Thank you to the publisher, Jackie Lau, and NetGalley for allowing me to read a copy of “Not Your Valentine.” In “Not Your Valentine,” Helen decides a fake boyfriend is the answer to her problems so she enlists her oldest friend Taylor to help her. However feelings soon develop and it’s not clear to Helen what is real and what is fake. This was a fast read, but with more emotional depth than you usually find in a novella length story. I enjoyed the development of Helen and Taylor’s relationship and was rooting for them as a couple. 4 stars.

I am bit torn with this book, I can’t tell if I liked it or not.

On one hand, I found it funny, entertaining and well-paced. It is a short, pleasant read. However, there was something lacking with the love interest (though Taylor is very sweet and cute, I just wanted a little more from him), and I found Helen’s obliviousness annoying at times, repetitive.

The writing was also at times a bit too « matter of fact », throwing descriptions in your face without really weaving it into the story.

However, if you’re a foodie, like the grumpy x sunshine trope and some good pining/angst, then this is the book for you!

Thank you to Netgalley and publisher for an ARC of this book.

This was a cute little rom-com about friends Helen and Taylor. Helen was dumped last Valentine’s Day in public and has not dated since. Her family and friends want her to return back to the dating world but she just does not feel ready. To get her friends and family off her back she asks her high school Taylor to fake date her until after Valentine’s Day. During the course of their fake dating Helen an Taylor fall for each other, making it your perfect rom com!

This is a sweet and spicy valentine romance based in Toronto with a fake dating & friends to lovers trope. I liked how the story brought awareness to Asian representation and racism.

Usually I'm one for the fake dating trope but I just couldn't get into it. The fake dating didn't enhance the story experience like the way I wish it did. I really wanted to like this book but it was awkward and at times I felt the second hand embarrassment through the pages.

It is also very insta lovey. Basically Helen babbles on about how her last boyfriend broke up with her on valentine's day. And somehow the break up got uploaded to internet which led to it traumatizing valentine's day for her for. Many months later it still haunts her.

Taylor aka her childhood friend is in town and they catch up over dinner. She's sick of her family giving her sympathetic looks because of how her last relationship ended so she bluntly asks him to be her pretend boyfriend. He surprisingly agrees.

Not much goes on other than her pining over her fake boyfriend. Basically she very much craves for a man's attention and Taylor seems to be the only man in her proximity.

Taylor is kind, sweet and great boyfriend material for Helen but he's also like a sugar cookie with no sugar. I wish there was more chemistry between them. I couldn't help but feel that everything between them felt transactional.

However, if you want a quick, face-paced valentine's romance then this book is for you. Overall, it was a cute valentine's day read but just wasn't my cup of tea.

Thanks for the arc, netgalley!

Another great Valentines-themed read from NetGalley!

"Not Your Valentine", written by Jackie Lau, focuses on the story of Helen & Taylor, who are longtime friends (since grade school). It's been almost a year since Helen has endured a very painful, not to mention public breakup with her ex-boyfriend Charlie. It has affected her so much that she is reluctant to allow herself to be loved. Her friends & family members won't get off her back about her desire to be alone, so she asks Taylor to play the role of her fake boyfriend. But does becoming Helen's fake boyfriend create fake or real feelings between the two of them?

Overall, I rated this novel 4.5/5 stars!

Not Your Valentine | Jackie Lau
Fake date for Valentine’s Day, plus lots of heart-shaped cake

Helen is sick and tired of the pitying looks. So, what if last year’s Valentine’s went viral in the worst possible way? Carrying the trauma and humiliation into the following year, Helen needs a break from the knowing looks and encouragement from friends and family to “get back out there!” – Helen can’t face another humiliating Valentine’s Day. A slip of the tongue at her local boba shop leads her to devise a brilliant plan: a fake boyfriend! Her old friend Taylor would be the perfect cheerful companion, and after February, they could wrap things up in a tidy little bow and move on with their lives and friendship, right?! What’s a couple of dinners and a few Instagram posts between friends?

Not Your Valentine is short, sweet, and right to the point. I often feel that novellas lack my favorite romance elements of depth, chemistry, and pining; this one was no exception. All the cornerstones were there with great friends to fake-date to something more, but it came across as a bit formulaic. Helena’s anxious and overthinking nature needed some balance as a lot of the anxiety seemed to hop off the page and right into my heart! I was looking for more of the ease and heat that comes with the natural development of a relationship on the page, but we didn’t get to hear from Taylor enough to get a sense of the push and pull of things.

This was a super fun theme read for February! I am a big-time mood reader and always on the hunt for short, spicy, and sweet. I think this one needed some more fleshing out to land on my favorites list but still well worth the indulgence – and it made me want some red velvet cake as soon as I turned the last page! Yum!

3/5 stars
Big thanks to NetGalley, Jackie Lau, and Kobo Originals for the ARC for review!

This was such a sweet book. I appreciate how the female character was the "grumpy" to the male character's "sunshine". Also, I enjoyed how Taylor wasn't your typical romance male lead. He was shorter then most, he had longer hair and he had a normal body build. It was refreshing to see more male body diversity. The book had some good introspective moments from Helen's point of view. I would have liked to have gotten some chapters with Taylor's point of view. I do think some of her thoughts were repetitive. Some could have been edited out.

All around, a nice short read.

Not Your Valentine written by Jackie Lau was a good book to kick off the month of February with, the month of love and Valentine's Day soon approaching this book is a must read. Although I didn't love this book it was still enjoyable. This was a cute short book, highly sweet, but very predictable. The fake dating trope is involved in this book, normally fake dating doesn't intrigue me, but with this book it worked very well, even though it was still very predictable of what was going to happen. Although the characters didn't relate to me in anyway, they still had some realistic life struggles. Taylor, one of the main characters was like a delicious cinnamon roll. I didn't love this book, but it was still adorable, so please do yourself a favor and grab a copy of this book. Let me just say, the cover really made me want to read this book the most, with the baking utensils, I mean I love baking, but at the same time i'm the type of person who eats raw cookie dough. I have never read a book written by Jackie Lau before this one, but I think maybe in the near future I will definitely check out her other books. If you want something short and cute, then this is the type of book you need to read.

THANK YOU TO NETGALLEY AND KOBO ORIGINALS FOR AN ARC OF THIS BOOK IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW!!!!!!

Helen Tsang absolutely hates Valentine's Day, when her ex-boyfriend Charlie broke up with her on Valentine's Day outside a restaurant saying, "it's not me, it's you, you're holding me back", a nosy restaurant goer decided to get this on video, that soon went viral. After this video of Helen getting broken up with,she receives plenty of hate and love on social media, Helen has sworn off love an dating. A year later with Valentine's Day approaching again, Helen is still swearing off love, but she is so sick of all the pitying looks around her, from her parents, her friends, and even the bubble tea shop guy who recognized Helen from the viral video. Helen is desperate to give everyone something else to talk about, so she asks her long time friend Taylor Li to be her fake boyfriend, just to prove that Helen has moved on again, and that she hasn't completely sworn off dating again.

Helen is quirky, she doesn't really talk to many people but her family and small group of friends. Helen even talks to her goldfish, Lucifer. Taylor and Helen have been friends since high school, and they always hang out as what friends normally do, so Helen decides Taylor is her best bet. What does Taylor decide to do? He decides to be Helen's fake boyfriend. Helen decides to tell her family and friends that she's in a relationship again, but what they don't know is that it's fake. Helen didn't expect how easy it would be to get Taylor on board and agree to fake dating. All Helen wanted was a few sickeningly sweet dates to fill her social feeds, but what Helen didn't expect, Taylor has sent her corny text messages of silly heart shaped cakes, and bouquets of flowers that harbor deeper meanings. Helen and Taylor were super cute, Helen was a grump because she got her heart broken on what was supposed to be a romantic Valentine's Day dinner, and Taylor is such a sunshine, always brightening Helen's mood.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kobo originals for this ARC! This is a perfect Valentines Day read and I highly recommend it. I loved the fake dating trope and how fast paced this book was. I didn’t feel that it dragged in any parts which I liked.

I enjoyed reading it because it's a short, funny and spicy novella but I though it was a foodie romance. However, at the end of the book I understood the cover reference, and it was really cute.

After a bad break up, Helen decides to fake date Tyler, her high school friend, being fed up with everyone's pity because of her nonexistent dating life.
I'm a sucker for the fake dating trope and in this book you can also find the reversed grumpy x sunshine one.

It's a very quick read, so if you are looking for a short romcom, this one is for you! Also, if you are new to reading romance, this book is a pretty good introduction to this genre.

I rated it 3 stars because I prefer douple POVs romance and I don't like books written in present tense.

The FMC ends up getting dumped and humiliated in the most emabassing and public way on Valentine’s Day going viral, which makes her swear off love. After badgering from all her love ones she propositions her long time friend to fake date.

This would have been a 5⭐️ read, but I found the FMC to be so insufferable with her anti love attitude. I get being jaded but at the halfway point I started getting annoyed and wanting to scream “go to therapy” and roll my eyes. She just came across as so immature and it was tough to read. The MMc was so sweet and such a cinnamon roll.

Stars: 3
POV: single
HEA?: yes
Cheating: no
Cliffhanger?: no
Stand-alone? Yes
Tropes: friends to lovers, cinnamon roll hero, novella, holiday read, Valentine’s Day

First, I wanted to say thank you to NetGalley, Jackie Lau, and Kobo Originals for the chance to read this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Not Your Valentine is the story of Helen, a 29-year-old that has sworn off dating after a public breakup goes viral. She decides the best plan of action to get her friends and family to stop worrying about her love life is to find a fake boyfriend.

So of course, the perfect choice would be Taylor, her longtime friend because they would never actually fall in love, right?

I did enjoy this novella, it was very fast-paced and had a bit of spice spread throughout. I will it had a little more detail and dove more into their friendship before the start of actually falling in love. Though I understand that this would be hard to do with it being a novella. If you like the reverse grumpy/sunshine trope, fake dating, or friends-to-lovers, this is the novella for you! Overall, I would give this 3.75 stars!

Firstly, thank you, NetGalley, Kobo Originals, and Jackie Lau, for providing a free digital copy of Not Your Valentine in exchange for an honest review!

Not Your Valentine follows Helen, a 29-year-old grump who, after having her public breakup go viral, has sworn off love. A year later, when Helen is still (willingly!) single and over her friends and family pitying her, she devises a plan to find a fake boyfriend just in time for Valentine's Day.

Enter Taylor, a long-time friend who would make the PERFECT fake boyfriend because she couldn't ever fall for him... right?

Overall, this sweet novella was a 3.5 star read for me. It was fast-paced with sprinkles of spice, and with tropes like reverse grumpy/sunshine, fake dating, and friends-to-lovers, it was a fun way to kick off my February reads!

First off I want to give a huge thank you to Kobo Originals, Jackie Lau, and Netgalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. Skip this review if you do not want spoilers.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Who could pass up this eye catching cover (which I might add is just ridiculously cute)? It immediately caught my attention and drew me in. But enough about the cover lets talk about the characters. Helen in the beginning was probably the most grumpy love hating women I had ever heard of. But respectively so! When your very public break up goes viral of your ex saying "It's not me, it's you. You're holding me back." Those words just do something to a girl. Flash forward a year later and all her friends and family are harassing her asking her when she is going to move on. But is she ready?

I will say I saw through the plan from the beginning just like her good friend Esther. Fake dating your high school friend is hard. Even if you are trying to make a point. Taylor is such an amazing friend to have said yes and stuck by Helen's side through it all, including the horrendous break up with Charlie. He is overly sweet just like Helen's favorite drink with extra marshmallows. The ended even had me in tears!

Helen Tsang is alone this new year and has sworn off dating after a very public breakup. Charlie Kang clearly has no remorse since he dumped her on the day of love, one meant for couples to spend time together, not say their final goodbyes and become a viral video. Helen is tired of people feeling sorry for her and giving her looks of pity, she has moved on and doesn’t need to date to be happy. As a university lab tech, she is already plenty busy and is happy with her friends, wine, and charcuterie chalets.

Taylor Li is a down-to-earth goofball with a big heart. Serving pancakes in bed after a breakup, checking in exactly when needed, and committing to any task at hand. He is a good guy, exactly what Helen needs.

After a craving for bubble tea somehow puts Helen in a sticky situation, she is now tasked with finding a new boyfriend. Taylor Li is a little too ready to put in the work and be the best fake boyfriend possible. As a lover of Valentine’s Day, he has plenty of tricks up his sleeve.

This was a short and pleasant read, a holiday novella with a little sweet and spicy mixed in. Valentine's Day can be a cheesy holiday so it was fitting that this read had a bit of cheesiness to it. There are three holidays celebrated but the goal for Helen and Taylor is to make it to Valentine's day which leaves you with the expectation of a short read and in the end, did not leave me feeling shorthanded. I was pleasantly surprised and would recommend this novella as a quick holiday filler if you need some mushy gushy writing in your life. Also, Helen is fairly straightforward and funny, all of the characters (other than Charlie) are pretty lovable!

P.S. I am also a soup disliker and disagree that it is an essential food group.

First, thanks NetGalley for my free copy in exchange of my honest review.
This is a 3 1/2 stars for me. It was such a cute fake relationship romance book. Short, straight to the point, simple story and really cute. I like her family and her friends, and how their fake relationships turns out being a real one. It was so cute the cake thing at the end and I will never forget the bowling shoes thing, that cracked me up. It’s a cute start for valentine’s month.

This was a super cute read. Helen’s character resonated with me. Taylor and Helen together were nothing short of adorable. My one gripe would be her nosy friend group that didn’t seem so friendly, but who am I to judge.

This book was a sweet novella! There was a good mixture of sentimental moments, spicy scenes, and growth for our lovely FMC Helen. I really enjoyed watching her fake relationship with Taylor grow from nothing into something. I did find Helen's grump persona a little annoying at times but I think it was just a lot at once because it was a novella so it was all mushed together. It was the perfect pre-valentines day read!