I definitely enjoyed it the story. The romance scenes were steamy without being raunchy. The story was seamless, funny, and sweet. A very nice love story.

Thank you Kobo books for the free digital ARC. I appreciated the representation and discussion of racism. I am a big fan of fake dating romance but this one felt predictable and cliché. Nothing really interesting happens. There’s no conflict other than an assumption, which is always a let down in romcoms. There were also some scenes & dialogue that I didn’t like and it kind of took me out of the story. I will say, I love the idea of a donut bouquet for Valentine’s Day instead of flowers. The food aspect of the story was great; it made me want soup and donuts. Maybe I’ll even try cheesecake for breakfast. 😆

I loved this book and it’s super cute. It’s a quick read that leaves you wanting more of Helen and Taylor. It has a grumpy/sunshine trope which I love, and the FMC was the grumpy which I admire because you don’t see much of that! I also loved the diversity of the characters. I love reading books with diversity and representation. I would 100% recommend to anyone to give this a read.

Thank you to NetGalley, Kobo and Jackie Lau for the ARC! “Not Your Valentine” comes out this Tuesday, January 24th!

REVIEW: Not Your Valentine

Author: Jackie Lau
Genre: Romance
Format: Kindle
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆ (3.5)

Summary:

After a video of her getting dumped on Valentine’s Day last year goes viral, Helen is tired of all of her friends and family asking when she is going to put herself back out there. With Valentine’s Day quickly approaching, she is desperate to give everyone something else to talk about.

Helen asks her oldest friend, Taylor, to be her fake boyfriend just until after the holiday so that her loved ones will leave her alone. He is surprisingly on board and the best fake boyfriend she has ever had. However, as time goes on, she finds herself actually enjoying being in a relationship with Taylor, but does her feel the same way?

Review:

This was a super cute novella that is perfect for a quick read this Valentine’s Day! I loved the fact that this had the classic trope of grumpy/sunshine, but with the boy being the sunshine character.

I read this super quickly because it was just such a sweet story. Although the plot is pretty predictable, sometimes we just want a short and sweet romance! Definitely pick this one up when it comes out. 💞

I loved that this was cozy and cute even if the protagonist is grumpy and doesn't like that kind of thing. The relationship was #relationshipgoals for sure. For some reason the sex kind of felt like it came out of nowhere, not that it didn't make sense to the plot, but there was more detail than I expected from the beginning of the book. Even though it was perfectly usual and no more than I have read in many other books. It just kind of took me out of the cozy mood. But I think that's probably just me. And I loved the rest of it!

Honestly I’m ashamed of not reading a Jackie Lau book until now . She’s been on my radar just never bought a book from her .. *smacks self* This book was crazy , wickedly good. Like I got to 50% in no time good then boom done .. The realities that they faced in the book and the awareness it brought is eye opening / truthful. I truly enjoyed every minute of this book . The different culture . The way the characters were portrayed . The emotions and feelings . I just really can’t form words on how good this book is. A must read. 📚

It was a great book.
Helen is a woman who is going to start her thirties, she had a really bad break up before and she doesn´t want to know about love but she is also bored and annoyed that averyone is worried that she can never being in love again.
So that no one asks her again, Helen asks one of her best friends to be her fake boyfriend... and he agrees. And so this story begins where the line of friendship and love becomes blurred and feelings that had not been thought of come to the fore.
In this book you find funny and cute characters. Without anything deep but with a lot of desire to distract you.

I felt the story was very predictable, and everything happened so fast that they didn't let me assimilate what was happening between the two main characters.

I would have wanted it to be a little longer and have more things between the two, a little more fighting, but if you want a book that distracts you this weekend. You definitely have it.

Going into this book, I had high hopes that it was going to be one of the cutest stories I’ve read and it lived up to those. It was the perfect match up of characters and honestly, I started crushing on the love interest too. It was a very quick read!

It’s grumpyxsunshine, friends to lovers (which i’m normally not a fan of but it’s pulled off very well), and fake dating!

I’ll definitely be reading again!

Cute story, if a bit underwhelming for me personally. Helen is a proper grumpy heroine, justifiably so. I always enjoy too when a hero is gone for the heroine. The heart shaped cakes was a fun touch.

Thank you to the author and NetGalley for the ARC!

In the year since Helen Tsang's Valentine's Day breakup went viral, she got pitying looks from family, friends, and even the bubble tea shop guy. Ahead of this year's Valentine’s Day, she asks her friend Taylor Li to be her fake boyfriend. The only problem? Taylor just gets her, and fits into her life so well. Their "dates" to fill her social feeds feel too real, and she's dreaming about him. What if this isn't fake anymore?

I love how Helen is unapologetically her sarcastic and dour self. No one truly seeks to change her from who she is, and all the people that care about her genuinely wish her happiness. They know her so well that her out of character behavior lets them know what's up. Taylor isn't a faultless guy, but he's perfect for Helen because he's her opposite and lets her be herself. No one ever says that she's wrong for being prickly, or that she doesn't deserve love. If anything, they band together to tell her how she's a good person and shouldn't pity herself for what others have done. These friendships are wonderful, and I love seeing that in books. Her friends help her push through her hesitancy, and we get the happily ever after we love to read about. Another great novella.

RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
SPICE: 🔥🔥.5

A break-up gone viral has built a thick wall of ice around Helen Tsang's heart. It's been almost a year since her ex ceremoniously dumped her with a spectacular sound byte taken out of context, and many people, including her friends and family, cannot seem to stop talking about it as its anniversary creeps closer.

Fed up, she concocts a plan to recruit her friend Taylor Li to be her fake boyfriend to get everyone off her back. Much to her surprise, Taylor agrees without hesitation, and when his sunny disposition starts to melt that wall of ice, she finds herself in a dilemma: Should she continue with the sham or come clean with Taylor?

This book had a slow start as we get the background on Helen and her infamous breakup. The book does start picking up when Taylor buys into their fake relationship, and that romance train is full speed ahead.

Helen's grumpy attitude was relatable; when the world bears witness to one of the lowest points of your life, I can only imagine developing a little bit of hermit living. I absolutely love that she has friends and family who want the best for her and keep her from fully shutting down the world.

Taylor was just adorable. There is a predictability to his motives, but he is too darn cute that I will gladly ignore it. He had me at considerate and thoughtful, but he solidifies book boyfriend status by knowing the fun but unpretentious foodie spots. My heart broke for his backstory. As the Asian parent of a mixed-race child, I just wanted to give him the biggest hug for the heartache he had to deal with from his family.

As much as I loved Helen and Taylor, Helen's mom definitely stole the show for me. Her sayings made me laugh so hard I cried, and her infallible love for Helen and her family just made my heart sing. Especially since her love language -- food -- speaks to me. (NOTE: This book may make you hungry.)

This is a quick read that will breeze by once you get past the background chapters. It is a standalone, and if you love best-friends-to-lovers like I do, this is a fun read to pick up for Lunar New Year/Valentine's Day.

** I am voluntarily reviewing an advance copy of this book. Thank you to Jackie Lau, Kobo Books, and NetGalley for providing an ARC. **

I really liked the representation in Not Your Valentine but I wish I knew it was written in present tense before I requested it! Reading books in present tense just throws me off! Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the arc ebook in exchange for an honest review, all opinions expressed are my own.

On Valentine's Day of last year, Helen's boyfriend broke up with her in public, and the video someone took of the breakup went viral. Now it's New Year's Eve and she still isn't ready to get back on the dating scene. But she knows her friends and family are worried about her and want her to get back out there. So she decides to ask her oldest friend, Taylor, to be her fake boyfriend. He's sweet, he's dependable... and turns out, he's someone she could really see herself falling for. Not only does Taylor not seem to mind that Helen can be a bit prickly, it turns out that when he's around, things tend to annoy her a little less than normal.

Not Your Valentine is a beautiful look at what it means to not think you're enough (or to think that maybe you're too much) and what it's like to find someone who proves you wrong. It's sweet, and funny, and Helen's grumpiness with the world was definitely a bit relatable. This was my first Jacki Lau book and I will definitely be reading more.

I devoured this book! It was so good! I loved it!
I just reviewed Not Your Valentine by Jackie Lau. #NotYourValentine #NetGalley
[NetGalley URL]

In Jackie Lau's latest Kobo collaboration we meet heroine Helen who's sworn off love after her boyfriend's public dumping of her on Valentine's Day went viral. Unfortunately, even after a year, her friends and family can't stop giving her pitying looks, not believing she's moved on. So Helen hatches the perfect plan--ask her old friend Taylor to pretend to be her boyfriend for a few months, just to get people off her back. Of course, she doesn't count falling for him in the process.

Hoo boy. I am a huge Jackie Lau fan--Donut Fall In Love and The Stand-Up Groomsman made my top romances of 2021 and 2022 lists. But this book... I'm not sure if it's a really short novel or a kind of long novella. But its brief page count only exacerbates the lack of character and romantic development. On a whole, this story's biggest flaw is that absolutely nothing interesting happens. It is your standard fake-dating romance with absolutely no new spin on it. It's essentially a completely unnecessary book. And then every time the male lead's long ponytail was mentioned, it made my skin crawl--but, hey, I don't want to yuk anyone's yum, and his hairstyle isn't the reason my for rating. I just think Jackie Lau is a fabulous writer but this is not the book of hers to pick up.

Thanks to Kobo for my eARC! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

3 stars - 5/10

What a short and sweet romance! This had everything that makes a good romance - fake dating, friends to lovers, a little bit of spice - I just wish it were longer and more fleshed out. Everything felt a little bit too quick and predictable for me... not that that's a bad thing! If anything I view it as a good thing, I wanted more! The writing style was fun and I always love when there are text messages included in the story.

I really like Helen, we definitely need more grumpy FMCs in romances, and Taylor was an absolute sweetie.

single POV
3.5/5 stars ⭐️
2/5 spice level 🌶️

Thank you NetGalley, Jackie Lou, and Kobo Originals for the arc!

This is my first Jackie Lau book and I immensely enjoyed it. It’s a story of hard to love Helen trying to get over a traumatic Valentine’s Day. All she wants in life is to live it with the look of pity in everyone’s eyes. The only way to do this is to fake date her oldest friend Taylor. It was such a great story and I loved how Helen slowly found herself again as her relationship with Taylor grows. It also helps that I loved the Toronto references throughout the book. There will never be a Toronto without a raccoon mishap.

“Not Your Valentine” had a grip on me from the start. It is a classic fake dating story that I couldn’t put down. I found the main character, Helen, to be super relatable in so many ways. This book kept a smile on my face throughout reading. It contained a little sugar, plenty of spice, and everything nice. I would 100% recommend this book to anyone who will listen.

Thank you to NetGalley, Kobo Originals & Jackie Lau for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This was so adorable! I read this book so quick because I just enjoyed it that much.
It has the following tropes: friends to lovers and fake dating
The main character Helen was relatable, easy to like, and her close relationship with her family and friends was really sweet.
The love interest Taylor is the ideal boyfriend/friend. He said and did all the right things and showed with his actions how much he listened to Helen when she spoke about the things she enjoys.

Overall if you're looking for a cute, and quick read for Valentines day, this is the book for you!

Woah- I did not expect this book to be as short was it was, but it did have a satisfying ending.
I love Valentine’s Day, all of the roses, baked goods, candy and pink- I love it all.
Reading a book with a main character who hates it all, vs the love interest who likes it (or at least likes to tease her with it), was such a charming read.
This book follows Helen, our main character who is desperate to move on from the public incident last Valentine’s Day, and all of the pitying looks from her loved ones. So she does what any sane person would, and creates a fake boyfriend. She chooses her high school best friend, and one one that has been through it call, Taylor (the very adorable, sunshine, soup loving, fell first and harder boy).
I loved how they both progressed throughout this story, and how we could see hints of Taylor’s feelings while Helen was totally oblivious- too focused on bowling shoes.