When Aurora Evans, Rory, was a teenager, she worked at a coffeeshop in the Mall of America. It made her feel normal to work there. And that was where she met her Canadian boyfriend, Mike. He had been there with his friend Erik, and they only got a minute to talk before the guys had to leave. But that moment stayed with Rory.

Rory’s mother insisted that she get straight As in her classes and was obsessed with her daughter’s ballet career. Even though Rory was still just in high school, her mother controlled her eating habits and her time so strictly that there was already a professionalism about her. That maturity put a wall between her and the other kids, so she didn’t really have friends. She didn’t get invited to parties or prom. But it was okay, because she had her Canadian boyfriend. Mike acted as her excuse not to take part in high school social activities, and she wrote letters to him about her life and her feelings, so she got to use the idea of him as an emotional outlet too.

When Rory finally decided she needed to quit ballet, after more years of schooling and practice and starving herself, she also stopped writing to Mike. She put aside all her delusions, all of the things she’d been using as a crutch to help her through those difficult years.

Years later, Rory works at a small dance studio in Minnetonka when Olivia comes back to class after several months away. Her mother had died in a car accident, and her father had pulled her from school and dance classes for a while to grieve and heal. But now, Olivia is back with her father, and all the other moms are very interested in him. He’s a professional hockey player from Canada, and his name is Mike.

Almost immediately Rory suspects that he is the same Mike as she met as a teenager, her imaginary Canadian boyfriend back in her life. Only, he doesn’t know anything about their fake relationship. All he knows is that Rory makes his daughter happy. That’s all he cares about. So he asks Rory to spend more time with him and Olivia, hoping her brightness will help Olivia in this first school year without her mother. But what he doesn’t expect is that Rory brightens his life too.

As Mike works through his grief and anger at his wife’s death, and Rory works through her own difficult relationships with food, ballet, and her mother, they find acceptance and peacefulness with each other. But as they get closer to each other, can they overcome their pasts to find their way to a future?

Canadian Boyfriend is a charming rom com with characters you can’t help but root for and a premise that is hard not to love. Both Rory and Mike are shimmering with charm and likability, and if that’s not enough, there is also a dog with wheels for back paws, pies for taste testing, a ball pit, and lots of kissing.

I loved this book from the first page. I found Rory so compelling, even as a teenager, but especially as an adult trying to figure out how to move on from the mistakes of her past and finding her passion as an adult. As someone who suffers from panic attacks myself, I felt like the anxiety scenes were well written and kind (however, if you feel that might be triggering, you may want to hold off on this book until you are feeling more grounded). But Canadian Boyfriend, overall, is witty, sweet, fun, smart, and so enchanting that I want everyone to read it and love it too.

Egalleys for Canadian Boyfriend were provided by Forever through NetGalley, with many thanks.

Canadian Boyfriend by Jenny Holiday
Contemporary romance. Alternating first person POV.
Rory worked at a coffee shop as a teen in the Mall of America. One afternoon she met a boy. There was something in his eyes that sparked something within her. She didn’t see that boy again, but it was a pivotal moment for her. In her busy life, with too many rules and restrictions, she decided he was going to be her boyfriend if anyone at school asked and she was going to write him letters. They wouldn’t get mailed, of course. She only knew his name. And that he played hockey.
Many years later Mike Martin brings his daughter into her tap dance class and meets the teacher, Aurora Evans. His wife has passed away and the dance class was one of the things that Olivia wanted to continue. Rory thinks he may be the same person, but she needs to teach her class and help get him away from the other dance moms. After a ride home and shared ice cream with the three of them, their outings get to be a habit and soon Rory is acting as nanny. She needs to tell him they’ve met before but it’s not the right time yet. Cue the drama card.

Ok, sure there was some drama, and I hate that she didn’t tell him earlier. She had soooo many opportunities! But it’s a romance and we don’t want it to end before it gets going! The author handled the situation well with Mike’ Martin’s self analysis and I actually agreed in the end.
Family, children, and romance troupes, all favorites and this book was sweet, adorable and a pleasure to read. All the feels.
And not knowing much about dance, I learned a few new words such as Glissades.
A quirk I found interesting - she calls him Mike Martin through the entire book. Not Mike. Mike Martin. A Canadian thing? Or a Rory thing? I don’t know but it was kind of cute.
Reading guide included at the end

I received a copy of this from NetGalley.

Thank you Forever and Hachette for the ARC!

I really appreciated the way Olivia and Mike's grief were explored in this book, especially how their grief related to their relationship with each other. I also appreciated how Rory's relationship with her mom, her past and her eating disorder were explored. I think all of these topics were handled maturely, realistically and in a way that can be relatable for those who have faced similar experiences. I loved the on page therapy, I think it was done well and added a lot to the story and reinforced the normalcy of therapy.

I didn't love Mike as a character. In fact I quite seriously disliked him. He was great as a dad with Olivia, and was great at consent, but those were his only redeeming qualities for me. I hated the way he referred to anything slightly spiritual as "woo-woo" and some of the things he said/thought were leaning towards misogynistic. I found his character to be immature, which he made improvements on in therapy like when he realized all of the emotional labor Sarah was doing, but especially in the way he handled the third act conflict.

The third act conflict felt unnecessary and didn't really make sense to me. I found the justification for both of their reactions, guilt, anger and the subsequent breakup weak and the overall issue clunky. I liked the concept of what was trying to be done, but found the execution to be lack luster. I think with better execution of the third act conflict the overall pacing of the book would have been better as well. I found the pacing to be quite slow and felt like the book was 50-75 pages too long and the resolution too quick.

I found the cover art and the marketing of this book to be slightly misleading. Yes, this is a book about grief, self-love and overcoming personal demons, but it is not a hockey romance. Mike may be a hockey player, but this book was only hockey adjacent. There was not enough about the details, logistics or game play for this to be a hockey romance.

I wanted to love this book, I was really excited to read it, but it didn't hit the mark for me.

MY REVIEW
I received an E-Arc from the publisher and Netgalley for an honest review!

I know the book is out today and my review is on time, right?? 

Anyways, I could not stop reading this story. It took me a little time to read it because of life throwing things at me. Go figure!  The story was cute, fun and a healing process for the main characters. I love the connection between Mike and Aurora.  They just fit nicely together, listened to each other and helped each other out when needed. Of course it was not perfect. 

Mike and Aurora had a few own personal things to deal. Do they overcome it? Do they share it? There is lots to unload here from both which made the story interesting to me. To talk about these things and to trust someone with them, takes courage.  Some of the issues are panic disorders, eating disorder, grief, and car accident. Therapy is mentioned in the story which I thought was nice to see. Just letting you know that some families that can be overbearing and that said, it's mentioned in the story.  I really did not like Aurora's mother at all. Mike's family on the other hand was pretty chill.

Hockey, dancing, doing errands for a kid, healing, romance and so much was happening in this story. I think the author balances well in topics that can be fun, light, heart warming and heavy. Besides isn't life like that too? I will say there are a few steamy moments which I thought fit nice into the story.  I thought the making out bits were lovely too. Sometimes it's nice to have a mixture of things in that department.

I would recommend to go pick this book up today if you are looking for something different to read. There are some triggers so be prepared.

I'm glad I got to read this unique story. Go get it now!

Jenny has written a laugh-out-loud instant classic that I will return to again and again for all the feels.

I love Canadian Boyfriend and Aurora and Mike. These two and their cast of friends and family made me laugh and sigh. Aurora (or Rory as she prefers to be called) is feisty, poignant and in her healing era after some trauma. Mike is an NHL star and recent widow. On paper, the two have little in common. But when Rory ends up kind of nannying for Mike and then living with him to help take care of his pre-teen daughter, Olivia, there’s some serious sparks, along with some laughter, healing and a lot of food. There story is sweet and layered, as you expect from a Jenny Holiday story, and has her fabulous swoony intimacy as well. I already can’t wait to read this story again and hang out with Mike and Rory.

Mike and Rory are standout characters and I am so glad that they both get a POV in this story. We need to be in both of their heads to understand where they are coming from. Mike is a Canadian hockey player who made it semi-big in the NHL. He’s sweet, hard working and doesn’t take his life for granted. Rory was a dancer who was pushed into a professional career by her dance mom who expected her to sacrifice everything to achieve excellence. Rory, however, came away with an eating disorder and some severe anxiety, and some serious issues with her mother-daughter relationship and boundaries. Rory, also is carrying a secret - because she was away so much as a teen at dance competitions and shows, she was a bit of a loner at school. Being lonely, she made up a boyfriend who she would write letters to, to keep herself company. He was based off of a cute boy she met as a teen in the mall coffee shop she worked at. When she realizes that Mike is that boy, and that she’s now falling for him in real life, she is seriously freaked out. A good chunk of their story is about boundaries and respect and consent. It explores grief and trauma and how we rebuild our lives and how we don’t have to be defined by one moment. It’s a powerful story line that is deftly woven in between their charming story.

The book takes readers through Minnesota and Manitoba. It will let Americans learn the definition of Canadian phrases such as “hoser”, “Toque” and “Double Double” while highlighting some of the cultural similarities and differences between our two countries. Like other past favourite Jenny books, Canadian Boyfriend has a fantastic cast of characters that support and push Rory and Mike as needed. Olivia, Mike’s middle-grade aged daughter is an absolute delight. She helps push the plot forward but is never a distraction. She helps both Rory and Mike grow and also keeps them on their toes.

Canadian Boyfriend is a must read romance, best served with a double double and a side of maple syrup!

Canadian Boyfriend was such a sweet interpretation of us finding light in the darkness. You touched on some serious topics, and as someone who carries grief and deals with their own anxieties, you did this so gracefully!
I highly recommend picking up this book, especially if you are someone who may be dealing with your own hard times. Seeing yourself reflected in such endearing characters can help you feel less alone, and for that, I would recommend this again and again!

I got a copy of Canadian Boyfriend and I got sucked in quickly. It is an adorable romcom about a girl who briefly met a hockey player as a teen while working at my favorite place, Caribou Coffee. For years, despite not having any relationship or any contact at all, she pretended he was her Canadian boyfriend. Fast forward to when she is an adult and he is now the widower dad of one of the students in her dance class. This book was so adorable. The banter was cute, the romance was sweet, and everyone was just likable. They tackled some childhood issues but overall, it was just frothy fun. Perfect to read before bed after a stressful workday.

I really enjoyed this book. We have a widowed father, Mike, who is also a professional hockey player who gets friendly with his daughter's dance instructor, Aurora. We see this relationship blossom from friendly banter to two adults who are finding refuge within each other. Mike, trying to navigate this new life as a single father and dealing with not only his only grief but also his daughter Olivia's. Aurora is dealing with some financial struggles, triggered anxiety, and a recovering relationship with food. I really enjoyed how this relationship progressed and how it also involved Mike's daughter. It was great to see this little group become a family without them even meaning to. The only issue I had with this book was that i was not in love with the underlying plot of Aurora having met Mike previously and how she imagined his persona as her fake boyfriend as a teenager. It came off odd to me and I feel like if that one plot point was something different in addition to everything else i loved, this wouldve been a five star read for me.

This is an overall cute romance that does deal with emotions in a satisfying way. Aurora, Isabelle teacher and Mike is a hockey player and they meet in the present because of Mike’s daughter. Laura has secrets which she’s worried will interfere with her possible future with Mike. it’s very interesting to see how things innocently say when we were younger can come back in the future. It’s a romance with heart and there is some angst but overall it’s a cute story.

Canadian Boyfriend is a fun sports romance with steam. Aurora is a former ballerina turned dance instructor and single dad Mike is a hockey player. Aurora and Mike were likable characters with good chemistry. I liked that they were supportive of each other.

The story showed growth and healing of both characters. Issues of grief and mental health were handled realistically. Lots of emotion. I had mixed feelings about the ending though. I didn't care for the third act break up as the supposed reason was very thin. Otherwise I really enjoyed this one.

Pick this one up if you enjoy:
--sports romance
--single Dad
--forced proximity
--slow burn

I'm looking forward to Gretchen's story next year. Thank you to the publisher for my ecopy of this book.

I LOVE THIS BOOK SO MUCH MY REVIEW WILL COME SO SO SOON TRUST ME.
I JUST NEEDED TO REREAD


Thank you NetGalley for this eARC!!! I am SO SO IN LOVE with this book!!!


I've been cramping in my study cave so we'll keep this review short!
You cannot go wrong with picking up Jenny Holiday's book. You literally can't. From fighting with disorders and fake boyfriends to dealing with grief and the reality of never getting the right answers, this book is THE hot thing. Not only is it the cutest fluffiest romance I have ever laid my hands on, it is also so so emotional and I have definitely cried a couple of times because of it.
I do wish the hockey element was a little more pushed through but the vibes were good enough for me!! I loved the dynamics of all the characters, Mike and his daughter were THE CUTEST - my heart aches for them and watching their relationship grow warmed my heart.
Aurora was so so personal to me- from her battles with her mother and her own problems to the way she stuck so true to both Mike and his kid :( I LOVE A GOOD SINGLE DAD x NANNY ROMANCE GAAAAH JENNY HOLIDAY !!! You put witchcraft into this book I just know it!!
I loved how perfectly well Aurora's creation of The Canadian Boyfriend lined up soo well with her relationship development with Mike and and the TWISTS the TURNS.
I loved watching Aurora grow D: I loved seeing Mike being there for her as she grew!!! Even when he didn't know it! I loved how throughout the book you can see her growing into her skin and learning to live for herself.
My favourite part was how thoroughly played out Aurora's problems were- you didn't just see it for a few chapters or when it was convenient. It was a part of her every day life and it SHOWED in the writing. It made me happy.


Jenny Holiday....you have blessed the world with this book, I love you and I love Mike and Aurora dearly and with my whole heart.
If you're looking for a good single dad x nanny romance with twists, personal struggles and all the emotional feels, Canadian Boyfriend IS your book. From dealing with grief, EDs, kids and sizzling hot chemistry, this book had me GIGGLING and crying within 5 minutes of each other.
The most swoonworthy, heartwarming book to ever exist, I can't stop giggling and smiling like a fool whenever I think about Mike and Aurora.
Yeah yeah, this is your book.

As a Canadian, I was simply intrigued by the title of Jenny Holiday's newest book, Canadian Boyfriend, and I had to get it in my hands!

-single dad trope
-sweet with touches of spice
-sports romance on the side (although hockey was cleverly not often on page)
-emotionally intelligent characters (who successfully put their therapy skills to use)
-Canadianism (that mention of Kenora, though)
-Canadian vs American differences (Holiday grew up in Minnesota and now lives in London, Ontario)

The lust between Aurora and Mike was more of the fated lovers meets forced proximity variety rather than the burning desire to rip your clothes off type that I typically devour, but this didn’t detract from my overall love of their relationship.

Audiobook notes: I loved the character depth Emily Ellet and Joshua Jackson added to the story; when Jackson spoke, I could hear the loss and sadness in his voice, when it was Ellet’s turn, she conveyed empathy and compassion to others. In all honesty, once I learned it was Jackson narrating Mike, I loved Mike even more; this small nod that Jackson is a Canadian narrating a Canadian character was an added bonus! My small gripe is that there were a couple times Ellet's pronunciations or inflections were off, making nouns sound foreign on her tongue – but I'm not sure anyone else would notice this. The audiobook production value is next level and it was more like watching a TV show than reading (with the obvious advantage of internal character monologs)! There were text message dings!!! More importantly though, it was narrated in my absolute favourite way: no matter who's POV it was, that narrator voiced what was spoken for their characters’ dialog for the books entirety; meaning it was impossible to lose sight of who was speaking. Although this is only the second book I have heard narrated this way, it just makes sense!

Holiday, you have a new fan in me - four stars all day long!!!

Thank you NetGalley, Forever (Grand Central Publishing) and Hachette Audio for the complimentary copies to read and review.

This was a case of “the title and cover made me read it.” The secondary characters were good - I really liked Olivia, Mike’s daughter. She was such a realistic child. Aurora has some strong character growth and I found her highly relatable. The ending felt a bit too conflict for conflicts sake but I enjoyed it either way. This definitely would have benefitted from some spice in my eyes but I know it’s not for everyone.

Utterly pathetic confession: I cried reading Holiday’s Canadian Boyfriend and not because the hero and heroine’s backstories are tear-worthy (they are). Holiday managed to make Canada and Canadians and my favourite from-the-couch sport, hockey, sound wonderful and funny and worthy of a romance setting; hence, the blubbering. (Holiday even got the right Montreal trauma hospital when there was an accident to a character.) I enjoyed Canadian Boyfriend in every way, the Canadian “stuff” just stood out. And speaking of, what is this baby about, MissB? Well, to start, what a cool premise: years of dealing with social anxiety, disordered eating, and a barracuda of a mother thanks to a pretend boyfriend, who happens to be conveniently Canadian. The publisher’s blurb will orient us further, but doesn’t do the romance justice (note the CW, please):

Once upon a time teenage Aurora Evans met a hockey player at the Mall of America. He was from Canada. And soon, he was the perfect fake boyfriend, a get-out-of-jail-free card for all kinds of sticky situations. I can’t go to prom. I’m going to be visiting my boyfriend in Canada. He was just what she needed to cover her social awkwardness. He never had to know. It wasn’t like she was ever going to see him again…

Years later, Aurora is teaching kids’ dance classes and battling panic and eating disorders—souvenirs from her failed ballet career—when pro hockey player Mike Martin walks in with his daughter. Mike’s honesty about his struggles with widowhood helps Aurora confront some of her own demons, and the two forge an unlikely friendship. There’s just one problem: Mike is the boy she spent years pretending was her “Canadian boyfriend.”

The longer she keeps her secret, the more she knows it will shatter the trust between them. But to have the life she wants, she needs to tackle the most important thing of all—believing in herself.

Content guidance: references to disordered eating and death of a spouse that happened in events before the start of this book.

If there’s one thing I dread, it’s a publisher’s notice I can’t quote from an ARC. I get the reasons why, but it’s disappointing with a writer as adept at banter and emotional stakes as Holiday. Here we go then, I’ll do my best to talk about, well talk more about, the things I liked about Holiday’s serious, but with funny stuff and banter, romance. Told in alternating chapters of first-person narration, we get to enjoy Aurora and Mike’s POVs. Their engaging, likeable voices, heartbreaking back stories and the affectionate ease of their relationship make for an engaging, droll, yet moving story. Add an interspersed-in-the-narrative series of letters from Aurora’s teenage self to her pretend boyfriend and this is a narrative that offers a lot.

Holiday seamlessly connects Aurora’s and Mike’s past and present: his loving, steady family, her “mommy dearest”, his successful hockey career, her failed ballet one; his widowhood, her failed relationships. But it’s Aurora and Mike’s present I loved: how they laugh, take care of Mike’s daughter Olivia, what they share and how they interact lovingly, teasingly, with affection and sensitivity. I also loved Holiday’s portraits of two sympathetic, super-smart therapists: as Mike comes to terms with grief and single parenthood, how Aurora gains in strength, eats some ice cream (chocolate mint; kudos to intuitive eating), and tells her mother to stuff things in sunless places.

To add, if you’re ever in Montreal during hockey season, move heaven and earth to get tickets to a Habs game. While our Habsies are stumbling along at best, abysmal at worst, the experience of going to a hockey game at the Bell Centre is enthrallingly electric. Why the digression? Because: when Mike asks Aurora to sit with Olivia at one of his home games, Holiday perfectly captures the game’s exhilaration: the whooshy skate sounds, the ice shavings flying, young men at the peak of physical ability, a clever pass of the puck, an elegant shot, a goal!, a goalie’s wide-splayed-leg stop… Okay, some of these are mine and not Holiday’s, but still. Aurora and Olivia are definitely carried away by the game and Holiday does it justice.

This brings me to another aspect of Holiday’s romance I loved: two characters, despite Aurora’s struggles with food, to portray the joy in the physicality of a beloved sport/dance. In the end, while Mike is competent and successful and Aurora is a bowed-out ballerina, what they love about their careers is the freedom of movement. I especially loved the scenes in Mike’s backyard rink, with everyone enjoying a skate, a fire-pit and, as Aurora notes, though in Minnesota, the sheer Canadian-ness of it. Add Mike’s maple syrup expertise (yes, Quebec reigns), how to order coffee at Tim Hortons, a side-trip to Canadian Tire for a headlamp (for backcountry camping of course), and quoting Leonard Cohen.

Other than my delight with Holiday’s all-things-Canadian, Mike and Aurora are characters who can be open about their feelings, struggles, and still laugh and have fun. They’re decent and loving and, most importantly, know how to talk things through and forgive. The impediments to being together are believable, the “stakes”, as Aurora calls them, are “low” for kissing, enormous for their hearts. But they make their way to happiness in their own way, by loving and compromising. A Holiday romance is always a treat and no less is Canadian Boyfriend, maybe a tad more because he’s Canadian! With Miss Austen, we’d say in Canadian Boyfriend is “a mind lively and at ease,” Emma.

Jenny Holiday’s Canadian Boyfriend is published by Forever and releases today, January 30th. I received an e-galley from Forever, via Netgalley. This does not impede the free expression of my opinion, which is not aided in any way by AI.

This book was the perfect combination of ridiculous plot line fun and deeper topics that were handled so well. Aurora and Mike are perfect together, even as they navigate really tricky subjects. His grief, trying to be a single parent and deal with all that entails. Her anxiety and recovery from an eating disorder and complicated relationship with her mother. I don’t think they fix each other by any means, but I do think that they’re open with each other in a way that allows them to be truly honest in their lives and evolve in a natural way. I really enjoyed that aspect of this book. They’re better together but not because of each other.

I liked the pacing, that the novel took place over months so that neither of that was rushing into something they weren’t ready for. But by the end of the book, I thought it felt a little bit dragged out that they were still pushing each other away. I understand the on and off of their flirtation at first, but I think it went just one time too many and may have been more effective if it wrapped up a little sooner.

But overall, I just really liked the characters, the growth, the realistic tackling of hard subjects. These people both felt like real adults, which was exactly what their romance needed. Highly recommend.

Adorable! I loved both Mike and Aurora and enjoyed the time I spent with them. This had all the components I love about romance novels and this was a feel-good story. There was more here than the romance; both have other issues to deal with, which adds heft to the story. The addition of the letters she wrote were both heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time; getting to know Aurora through her letters to her Canadian Boyfriend gave us a glimpse into the tough ballet world and her loneliness. Meanwhile, his journey through grief and loss while raising a teenager, is also insightful.

This was a fun and cute read. I truly loved the length and the friendship Rory and Mike had before becoming intimate. After losing a wife, I loved how the length of time and therapy was displayed. There was true healing before entering a new relationship.
We miss a lot of firsts that I really think would have helped the storyline and the chemistry between the characters. First kiss and first time 👀 being a few... While the book was not super spicy, I found it odd that we didn't get to see those two scenes. Especially when we get a spicy scene later in the book. I also didn't love the third act breakup.
I loved the hockey player/dancer element here of two people who know the pressure of being an athlete. This book has a lot going on with a widower and a young girl grieving her mother and unhealthy relationships but it all worked so well together. The hockey players were great and I'm looking forward to reading more. I liked seeing Aurora and Mike Martin become friends and then more then friends. The Laura Ingalls Wilder aspect had me so happy!
Thank you to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

“Canadian Boyfriend” is story that unfolds from strangers to friends to lovers in the realm of sports romance, featuring a single hockey dad and a dance teacher, both wrestling with personal emotional baggage.

Approaching the book blindly, I found myself engrossed in every chapter, observing how Aurora and Mike navigate their evolving friendship with a commendable level of maturity. Jenny Holiday’s careful handling of themes such as anxiety, panic attacks, and grief deserves applause, particularly for her thoughtful portrayal of therapy. Despite delving into serious topics, the romance retains a light, humorous, and overall entertaining tone.

Simply put: I adored Mike and Rory. The close proximity and meaningful conversations exchanges between them intensified the depth of their chemistry. The small details they discovered about each other, their quirks, Rory’s diary entries to her “boyfriend”, and their cozy (and steamy) moments made me swoon swoon swoon. Witnessing the growth of Mike and Olivia as individuals and in their father-daughter relationship, as well as the development between Rory and Mike, was a highlight. While I wished Mike had responded differently to one aspect, ultimately, this book left me with a signer book hangover.

Even if hockey, dancing, camping, ice-skating on a lake, or staying awake to see the Northern Lights aren’t you usual interests, rest assured that all the elements of this romance will melt your heart — even with its unmistakable Canadian flair. While some aspects may lean towards stereotypes (not everyone likes hockey and drinks sweet coffee), the story itself is a gem of fiction.

As someone who grew up doing ballet, if a book has a ballerina, it's pretty much a must-read. Add in a hockey player, and I am SOLD, and then add in an author whose every book I have loved?! I don't think that combination could get any better, and thankfully CANADIAN BOYFRIEND lived up to every expectation I could have had.

This book shows that in a fictional world, our flaws can make us perfect for one another, Mike and Aurora were the characters I didn't know my heart needed, and I'm feeling incredibly lucky to have found them in these pages. From their friendship and discovery of one another to the way they put Olivia first, I loved how these two found love through the pressure of being athletes, difficult family situations, and their complicated pasts. Their growth individually as characters, with Aurora learning how to choose herself beyond her eating disorder and the pressure from her mom, and Mike moving on from the death of his wife was written in such a messy, real way that worked for me and made this an endearing romance I really enjoyed.

Thank you to Forever Publishing for the ARC, I'm already looking forward to rereading this one and it'll have to be the audiobook because just the idea of Joshua Jackson narratoring the male lead has me swooning. Not to mention it's a series?! Yes, PLEASE.

I think it was sometime last October that the delightful Estelle Hallick at Forever shared the ARC of Canadian Boyfriend with me and was singing its praises. It sounded right up my alley, but I had a few library books to finish and then I was diving into my holiday reads, so I didn’t get around to it until this month. Now that I have read it, I know why she was raving about it. This book is so cute and charming but also feels genuine, with a lot of emotional depth to it.

I confess that I kind of expected this book to be another spicy hockey romance. Don’t get me wrong --- that would not have been a problem --- but that is not what this is. This was a giant hug of a romcom that is character-driven, with flawed yet lovable MCs, emotional growth, tons of humor, found family, positive therapy representation, and a moderate dose of steam. I am not going to regurgitate the synopsis here nor am I going to divulge too much about the story arc, because I don’t want to give anything away.

There was one minor detail that took me out of the story a little bit, but it didn’t keep me from loving this book. The thing that drove me slightly cuckoo was the overuse of the male MC’s full name whenever the female MC was speaking of him or referring to him.

You may have heard that Joshua Jackson is co-narrating the audio book? Y’all – I was irrationally excited about this announcement!! JJ is the celebrity crush of my youth AND, get this, he’s my EXACT birthday twin (same day, same year)!! I am one of those people who primarily listen to non-fiction books or re-reads on audio because I have a hard time keeping the details of the story in mind when I listen to fiction. Now that I have read this book once-through, I can’t wait to listen to the audio book.

A perfect read if you like:
- Heartfelt romantic comedies
- Sports romance (this one is hockey/ballet)
- Found family
- Forced proximity
- Friends to lovers
- Single Dad

Read with caution if you are sensitive to:
- sudden loss of a loved one due to car accident (prior to start of story but a major thread)
- overcoming grief
- healing from emotional abuse and eating disorders
- Panic attacks

Hot Tip: Have Ice Cream handy while reading this book ; )