This book was cute. Helen and Taylor's fake relationship was very cute. The way she slowly fell for him. It was easy for me to see that he liked her as more than a friend but I really enjoyed how she couldn't tell.

This was a great take on the fake relationship trope.

First, thank you to Netgalley and Kobo Originals for the access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review of the book.

Helen Tsang is struggling in the 'romance' department after her last breakup not only occurred on the most romantic day of the year, Valentine's Day, but it was also recorded and went viral. How brutal. The story picks up a year later when everyone in Helen's life is inquiring about her next steps on landing a boyfriend... or at the very least, someone to introduce to her family. Having zero luck and zero leads, her desperation leaves her seeking a faux boyfriend to fill the void. Helen finds herself asking her long-time friend, Taylor, to play the role. Interestingly enough, the fake relationship ends up taking her places she was not quite expecting.

This book was a quick, easy ready for any reader that is looking for a bit of romantic, stress-free fun. The plot is simple and there are bits of humor sprinkled throughout. I enjoyed the female main character being a bit grumpy and pessimistic, which I don't always see. The story is light-hearted and a nice break from your average day-to-day romantic comedy.

However, I was a bit disappointed in the level of writing. Being totally aware that it is an ARC, I am not referring to spelling/grammatical errors, but more so the lack of complexity within the writing itself. Throughout the book, the main character jumps from one thought to another and it was a bit messy at times and hard to follow. I hoped to see more fluidity in the thought processes of the character; without the flow of thought and conversation, it felt unnatural and made it difficult to relate to the characters. The overall plot is predictable and felt rushed.

AHHH!! I loved this book so much!! The friends to lovers trope owns my heart. FAKE DATING!!! I loved the tension, the goopy sentiments. I wish we got to see more of the friendship with Helens girl friends but I loved how they came to her help without her even asking but it makes sense since it was such a quick read. Helen truly deserved everything that Taylor gave her. He treated her like the queen she is and to me it didn't really seem like he was faking it. The SPICY SCENES!!!! Totally wouldn't think it was spicy based on the cover but overall this book was so cute and the smile on my face never faded. This is a perfect quick read.

Not Your Valentine by Jackie Lau is an adult contemporary romance novella that follows Helen and Taylor, two friends who have known each other for a while and end up fake dating. The year before the story starts, Helen’s ex-boyfriend dumped her on Valentine’s Day in public, and the breakup went viral. Ever since then, all of Helen’s friends and family have been bringing it up and pitying her, and she gets sick of it and tells them she has a boyfriend even though she doesn’t – which gives her the idea to pretend to date Taylor because he’s one of her friends.

I love best friends to lovers and fake dating, so I was excited to dive into this story. It unfortunately didn’t really work for me because I never quite felt an emotional connection between Taylor and Helen. They aren’t really close friends so a lot of the conversations between them feels stilted and unnatural, and it doesn’t really get better during the story. They have some chemistry and a bit of a connection, but it never quite reached the level that I like in a romance.

I also felt like the characters were a little under-developed. We only get Helen’s point of view, which makes sense since it’s a novella, but it feels like we never get to know Taylor. He’s really sweet, kind, and caring, so I really liked him but I just wish I could have learned more about him.
That being said, it is a novella and it’s a really quick read, and I do think it’s a cute romance if you want something set around Valentine’s Day. There were some adorable moments between the two main characters and it was great to watch Helen open up to love again.

Jackie Lau's Not Your Valentine was an uncomfortable read for me. I wanted to like this Chinese-Canadian love story, but the author never let me fall in love with Helen and I kept hoping to get to "like" at least by the end. Helen's awkwardness made me wonder if she's autistic.

As I picked this up during Lunar New Year and we're heading into Valentine's, I was excited about getting into the mood with this story told through an Asian lens in Toronto. I appreciated the callouts wherever I saw a familiar name (Markham! Yonge!), but the storytelling didn't quite work for me.

We need more diverse books out there. I want to support Asian authors, but this work disappointed.

Not Your Valentine by Jackie Lau
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I got this one on a whim from the Netgalley read now section after seeing it there for a few days in a row. I told myself “you have too many netgalleys to read, do NOT get another one.
But I couldn’t help myself because this looked so cute.
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I regret nothing.
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Helen Tsang is tired of the pitying looks. After a painful breakup on Valentine’s Day last year, she is sworn off love. But is tired of her family and friends asking when she will finally start dating again. So she decides to make up a fake boyfriend, and ask her good friend to fill the role.
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This was such a cute read that packed a little emotional punch towards the end for me. I was tearing up and had to hold my kindle up so I could see through my tears to finish reading it.
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Also for a novella length book this fits a surprising amount of spice.
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4.5⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

This was a cute fast paced read about fake dating and Valentine’s Day. Perfect if you need to get out of a reading slump and want a romance. However for me personally I didn’t connect to any of the characters due to the writing

This was an entertaining, well-written book. It was fun, sweet and kept me reading. I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to others.

Helen lives in Toronto and is dreading Valentine’s Day. Last year her boyfriend broke up with on the holiday while someone live streaming. It went viral and she hasn’t been on a date since. Now to get everyone including her mother to stop being concerned for her she decides to ask an old high school friend to be her fake boyfriend. This is a typical kind of set up and there is nothing wrong with it but there isn’t anything fun about it either. Usually in fake dating the focus is on convincing others you’re together. Instead here they actually date and she puts out things on social media. He does meet her family and her friends but he gets along with everyone so there is no risk to the ruse. About the only question is how long till she realizes she has feelings for Taylor. This is a novella (136 pages) and does have some heat and nice conversations. But I found the tone kind of moody and not fun or playful. Thank you to NetGalley and Kobo Originals for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely love the cover! If this cover doesn't convince you to pick the book I do not know what will.

Not Your Valentine is a rom-com perfect for fans of strong heroines, love stories set around Valentines and fake-dating. The book follows who is all of us when setting New Year's Resolutions she skips the goal settings we frequent such as weight loss , save money and she also is not looking for love. She is a 'mild grump' in that she suffered a very public humiliation on Valentine's day so she is not looking for love (but do we ever truly hope to not find love?) . So to silence her family and friends she decides to fake date her friend Taylor. We all know what happens when two friends (one grumpy and one such a mushy heart person) fake date. I enjoyed that the book brought out friendship , love and how it's not some fast progression and allowed us to love the characters. This is my first Jackie Lau and cannot wait for some of her other books.

I received a complimentary copy from Kobo Originals and all opinions expressed are entirely my own.

Actual rating: 3.75

3 Stars! Cute, sweet, quick, friends to lovers, rom-com read. It’s a pretty predictable read but I still enjoyed the book. The main characters are Helen & Taylor. She’s kind of grumpy but lovable. He is sweet and very lovable. Kind of an ‘opposites attract’, friends to lovers book that was an interesting read. Helen needed to get over what he douchey ex said and move on. Also, people put so much time and energy into their social media profiles and it’s all only ever good things. You never see someone post that their husband is leaving and wants full custody of the kids. They tend to cherry pick the best bits to make everyone jealous. I don’t do this but a lot of people do. It’s annoying, don’t even get me started. I don’t know about racism towards Asians in Canada but this book mentioned it a few times, so I guess it’s a big thing there? Anyway, it’s a short read and the writing is done well, so worth checking out, as long as you don’t mind a predictable book.
*I received this at no charge & I voluntarily left this review.*

It was short and sweet, and just what I needed to get that more excited for Valentines day! I was grateful to get a copy through net gallery. I devoured this in a couple days, and adored the main character immensely. I completely understood her idea on love, and being hurt. Her idea was out there, but so excited that this friend's to lovers romance got spicy and adorable. She kept denying her feelings, but you could completely see past them. Throughout, you constantly wanted her to just blurt out how she was feeling towards Taylor. In all honesty, I wish this novel was a tad longer but I'm also believe that it gave quite the punch in a short time span. It was beautiful, and I wish it will come out as a physical copy so I can buy a copy.

✨ Review ✨ Not Your Valentine by Jackie Lau

This was a super cute read centered around Valentine's Day and Lunar New Year, set in Toronto. After having a terrible breakup go viral last Valentine's Day, Helen's hesitant to get back out there. To stop her friends and family hassle her about dating, she asks her old friend from high school, Taylor, if he'll be her fake boyfriend. After he agrees enthusiastically, they start going on a series of super cute dates. Their grumpy-sunshine dynamic (she's the grumpy one) is a delight; they're constantly talking about chocolate cake (yum!), and I loved this all so much!

This is a sweet and steamy novella that will have you wishing the book was even longer. I LOVED this, and can't wait to read more books by Lau!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: contemporary f/m romance novella (fake dating, grumpy-sunshine)
Location: Toronto
Pub Date: Jan 24 (out now!)

Read this if you like:
⭕️ chocolate cake
⭕️ sweet + steamy romances
⭕️ seasonal dates (holiday lights) and delicious food
⭕️ novellas

Thanks to Kobo Originals and #netgalley for an advanced e-copy of this book!

Fake dating friends to lovers?? sign me upppp
This book had everything i wanted to reas right now, it was a short, funny and adorable read. I liked that helen changed her perspective on love while staying true to herself at the same time, and the fact that taylor wasn’t in love with her since high school, it felt like a true friends to lovers.
The only perk I find is that there weren’t any Taylor povs, would’ve loved to see his thoughts.

Thanks so much to the publisher for an eARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC!

Helen was broken up with last Valentine’s Day and in a horrific turn of events it was recorded and went viral. She’s now our Grump who finds Taylor, our Sunshine and old school friend, to be her fake boyfriend to get her concerned friends and family off her back.

Sadly I had to DNF because how oblivious the FMC was to her own feelings and of Taylor’s. I was trying to push through because the book is written fairly well and has so much potential but sadly during a sex scene Helen mentions how insecure she is about her uneven labia (even though Google says it’s normal!) and it took me completely out of the scene AND the book.

Adorable. This book was perfect - I loved the relationship with Helen and Taylor. Her family were great side characters - her mom was so funny, threatening violence on anyone causing problems. In todays day and age, Helen’s public humiliation is so relatable. I will be hunting up another book by Jackie now!

I really enjoyed this cute Valentine's Day themed book!
This was my first Jackie Lau book and it didn't disappoint!
Helen is a 29 yr old who has been through the ringer when it comes to romantic relationships. After a very public breakup that led to a viral video and loads of humiliation, she has sworn off love and romantic relationships. After a year of being hounded by family and friends she enters a fake dating relationship with one if her close friends, Taylor, to appease the masses.
This book was super cute and had all the elements of a fake dating rom com that you need! I only wish there would have been a little more involvement with her girl friends, maybe one of them was in on it or something of the sort?
There are definitely some very spicy scenes in, so if spice isn't your thing this book isn't for you!
All in All, I enjoyed this book and can't wait to read more for Jackie Lau!

I was lucky enough to get an ARC from NetGalley for this unique collection of poetry. Your Therapist Says It’s Magical Thinking is divided into three parts, Coping Strategies, Surrey Girls, and Alternate Timelines. I didn’t really feel like the sections flowed together as well as they could have, but I did like specific things about each section. Overall I believe this collection of poems does a great job at expressing the thought processes of someone with a mental illness in both past and present day.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

This does exactly what it says on the box! A sweet, standing fake-dating romance. Easy to read, easy to get swept away, with a charming lead love interest.

It was very short, and I wish there had been more time invested in building Helen as a character. She seemed flat compared to Taylor. And there was so much potential for friend and family shenanigans! I wanted more of them too.

But hey. Do you want a simple, cute Valentine’s Day themed romance with one of the greatest tropes ever? Then you’ve got yourself a winner!

3.5

Helen Tsang is a grumpy, anti Valentine’s Day, no romantic love type of women after her boyfriend dumps her on Valentine’s Day saying “it’s not me, it’s you” and it goes viral after someone records the whole thing!!!!

To get her friends and family to stop pitying her and trying to set her up with someone she decides to ask her best friend since high school to become her fake boyfriend, which seems to stop all her problems, until she starts to see Taylor in a completely new light.

Jackie Lau has created a sweet rom-com novel that makes the reader feel good, it’s cute, funny, it makes us root for romance and has smut, who needs anything else?