This was a quick, sweet & dash of spice. friends to lovers, grumpy/sunshine, & fake dating read. Helen being the grumpy one was new to me but I loved it. It was such a cute read that will be good for anyone just wanting a short Valentine’s Day pick up book!

This was such a quick and enjoyable read; I honestly felt like it could have been best as a full-length novel. The length made the timeline so much quicker, and I would have liked to see more of Taylor and Helen’s friendship before their fake-dating started, to fully flesh them out as individuals.

This was super cute, and sweet, and definitely a mostly light read in spite of a few more serious topics being addressed.

Thank you Jakie Lau, Kobo Originals & Netgalley for this Arc.
Such a cute fast read, friends to lover trope. It takes you through a seres of events, there's some spicy moments, parts where you wish Helen would hurry up;make up her mind and makes vou wish vou had a friend who comes to the rescue just like Taylor did!
Not Your Valentine is the perfect feel good, holiday read

This was a quick and sweet (and a little bit spicy) friends to lovers, grumpy/sunshine, fake dating read.

Helen (the grumpy half of the grumpy/sunshine) was publicly dumped last Valentine’s Day and had since sworn off relationships. Feeling the pressure from family and friends to move on and start dating again, Helen decides faking a new boyfriend is the best way to get everyone off her back. High school friend, Mr Sunshine himself, Taylor agrees to help Helen and pose as her boyfriend. We quickly learn that both want more from this fake relationship, but will either admit it to the other?

There are some cute interactions between Helen and Taylor throughout, but it did feel a little bit rushed (it is a novella, so I guess that’s to be expected). I wish we got to enjoy more of their friendship before it shifted into more.

I found Helen’s character to be a bit immature at times, and although they kept reminding us she’s ‘grumpy’, we didn’t see a great deal of it.

I like Taylor, but his character felt a little bit flat at times. I wish we got to learn more about him. Although, there is a part of his past revealed that made me feel incredibly sad for him.

Overall a quick, enjoyable read, especially if you enjoy the fake dating trope.

Thanks NetGalley and Kobo Originals for the opportunity to read this e-arc.

Not Your Valentine is a romance novella with friends to lovers and a fake dating trope. Helen has sworn off love after last year's Valentine's Day disaster and went viral for it. To avoid pity or concerned looks from the family, she comes up with the idea of faking dating her high school friend Taylor.

Helen is a grumpy character. She loves her family and friends and has a strong bond with them. Some of her actions were repetitive, like her inner monologue and mentioning her ex-boyfriend Charlie and what he did. She continuously reminds herself that she needs to upload something on Instagram to convince others that she’s dating Taylor—why does she even need to do that? Taylor is not a typical bookish romance hero in terms of appearance and physique, which is nice for a change. Taylor is a likeable character; he is charming and caring. He understands Helen’s situation. I liked Taylor and Helen’s relationship growth.

This book was a short and quick read. It was straightforward, with a predictable plot. It was a cute story, but there was nothing exciting about this book.

This is an ideal book if you are looking for a short and quick read during Valentine's season.

A sweet and sexy friends to lovers/ fake relationship trope romance with the author's trademark flair for adding delicious food into the mix!
Helen got dumped by her boyfriend on Valentine's Day in a scene that was unfortunately public and went viral. Now her friends and family are worried that she isn't getting back into the dating scene fast enough and to get them off her back she's asked her longtime friend Taylor if he'll be her pretend boyfriend for a few months, at least until after the next Valentine's day is over and then they can break up and go back to being friends.
But Taylor is such a sweet and caring guy and treats Helen so well that as they spend time together it dawns on her that she could see herself in an actual relationship with Taylor. I particularly loved that Taylor would tease Helen with heart shaped desserts, knowing she would roll her eyes at them. It's a slow burn romance that leads to some sexy scenes in the second half and the eventual satisfying happy ending.

This book was a typical fake dating rom-com– With the whole proposal and ''Oh no, I caught feelings". Although I felt like the writing felt a bit flat, it could be because of the character's personality, but I do see myself in her on some level. At times, her imagination was very wild, I ended up pausing for a moment to regain my sense, so that made this book more entertaining!

I liked that Helen and Taylor had conversations on serious topics like racism against mixed people, whilst this was a short book. Overall this was a decent read, so I would recommend this to someone who wants a quick fake-dating romance!

Thank you to NetGalley and Kobo for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

CW: racism, parental abandonment

This was a fun fake-dating, low-angst story. But warning have cake on hand because it will make you hungry when you eat.

Steam: 3

This was a cute story! I love Jackie Lau's books because they detail experiences of characters like me & also I enjoyed the Friends to Lovers fake dating that this novella brought. A great thing to pick up to get in a rom-com mood ahead of the Valentine's season.

This is the second book that I have read by Jackie Lau, both were Kobo Original stories. Not Your Valentine was a fun spin on a Valentine's themed story, though this was more focused on the time leading up to Valentine's Day, instead of the day itself. Something I love about Jackie Lau's books is the Asian rep that her stories include. Always a nice set of voices to read.

Unfortunately, this was a novella that I found to be a little too short. While there were many cute moments and things that made me smile while I was reading, I found that much of this was surface level and things moved way too fast. I found too much narrative, and not as much dialogue as I would have liked. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this book, however, I didn't find it to be amazing either.

The heroine of this story wasn't my favorite, though I did like the hero much more. I did like the fake dating trop between childhood friends that was included in this story. Overall, this book would be a good read if you're looking for a short, festive read around Valentine's Day.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a free e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Helen has sworn off dating after she was dumped on Valentines Day and it unfortunately went viral. To appease the pressure from her friends and family to start dating again, Helen decides to ask her long-time friend, Taylor, to be her fake boyfriend. And I’m sure you can figure out where it goes from there.

This is your standard fake dating and friends-to-lovers story. It was sweet with a touch of spice. I enjoyed it for what it was. This one’s a quick read to get you ready for Valentines Day!

Helen + Taylor

◆ Friends to Lovers
◆ Fake Dating
◆ Lab Tech h/ Social Worker H
◆ Grumpy (h)/ Sunshine (H)
◆ Multicultural Aspect
◆ HFN

Cute book! Loved the friends to lovers trope! Nice guilty pleasure read!ladies will enjoy this quick dose of romance for sure!

I loved The Unmatchmakers by the same author so I was excited to read this one and it was adorable! Fake dating and friends to lovers are two of my favourite tropes and they were implemented perfectly in this book. The story is short but enough to get everything I want without unnecessary details. Would totally recommend to read this during valentine's day!

I had a hard time rating this book. It was a quick read but it felt longer because it took a while for me to be pulled into the story. I usually love Jackie Lau’s brand of unconventional heroines, dare I say unlikeable at times, but I really just didn’t click with Helen. And because the book was entirely from her POV, I had a hard time getting a read on Taylor. Add that to fake relationships not being my favorite and I think I’ve figured out why this wasn’t my favorite Jackie Lau book. That said, there were adorable moments and chances for Helen and Taylor to bond even more than their previous friendship. I’m not sure I bought the reasoning behind Helen deciding she needed a fake boyfriend. I felt that she should have been able to tell her friends to get off her back and if they were true friends, they should have respected that. As usual, this book made me want to explore Toronto’s food scene and I thought the heart shaped cakes were a funny addition to the story. And there were moments that were pleasantly steamy. I’d say, if you like fake relationships and prickly heroines, pick this one up. If not, it’s okay to skip.

A perfect quick, cute and steamy read to get readers ready for Valentine's day. Loved the characters, the fake dating premise turned to love and good pacing and dialogue.

Oh My God.

This book is so CUTEEEEEEE I AM OBSESSED

Its got all of my favourite tropes friends to lovers and fake dating. And I cannot believe that someone would be so malicious as breaking up with someone on a Valentines date, in PUBLIC AND TELL THEM THAT "ITS NOT ME ITS YOU" BRUTAL but she deserved so much better and boy did we get that!

This is a super quick read, was no more than 150 pages on my iPad and I was hooked from the front cover all the way through.
I wanted to thank Netgalley and the publishers of this book for allowing me to ARC read this beautiful book, and thank you to Jackie Lau for writing this. I had so much fun reading it!

Not Your Valentine was a quick read that is as predicable as they come. Helen gets humiliated on Valentine’s Day when her break up goes viral. She swears off dating, despite the pressure from friends and family. Helen gets the great idea to ask her friend to fake-date her so that it will get everyone off her back and give her some peace. Her long-time friend, Taylor, agrees to be her fake boyfriend, going so far as sending flowers, taking her out on dates, and meeting her family. You can anticipate the rest from here.

While I liked some of the witty banter, the scenes with Helen’s family, and typically love a fake dating trope, this just didn't do it for me. My biggest issue was how Helen went from a cynical anti-dater to a horny-as-hell sex dreamer in a matter of pages. I am no prude, but it was a little much, seemed out of character (pun intended), and changed the whole focus of the story. I did love the charcuterie chalet, however, that was the best part of the story for me.

Thank you @netgalley and @kobobooks for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Helen is totally anti Valentine’s Day after last year’s debacle where she got dumped in a very public way and it then when viral. Since then her family and friends have been on her case to get back out there again and find someone but she’s not interested in dating after her last relationship. So she comes up with a plan to ask her longtime friend Taylor to be her fake boyfriend in order to get them all off her back and then after a few weeks they can end the relationship and go back to being just friends. Of course, in the meantime, they both catch feelings for each other and now they have to figure out what to do about it and where to go from here. There’s lots of steam packed into this short story and it was fun and easy read. .
Thanks to Kobo Originals and NetGalley for this eArc in exchange for my review.

fake dating trope with Asian characters? yes please.

thank you for such a cute read! I couldn’t put it down until 3am last night but had to, because i’m a responsible adult with a job. and i couldn’t wait to continue this morning.

i think i’m going to start a backlist of Jackie Lau’s book and i’m going to need Taylor’s POV to complete my life.