When she was sixteen and working at the Mall of America, Aurora met Mike, a cute hockey player who was in town for a tournament. She decided he would be her fake Canadian Boyfriend: the reason she didn’t go to the dances or parties like the other kids. But in reality, her life was consumed by ballet, and her mother wouldn’t allow any distractions.

Fast forward thirteen years and Aurora has quit ballet, much to the dismay of her mother. She’s working at a studio in a strip mall where their philosophy is that dancing is fun. When Olivia, one of her students, rejoins the class after her mom passed away, Aurora comes face-to-face with her dad, NHL hockey player Mike Martin, and while she’s not positive, she thinks he may be her fake Canadian Boyfriend.

I absolutely LOVE the premise of Canadian Boyfriend! What a great idea for a meet cute, and overall it really works. Holiday creates two soulful characters who are hurting and a bit damaged. At their cores, Aurora and Mike are amazing, caring people, which lays the foundation for a solid relationship and story. Canadian Boyfriend is a slow-burn friends-to-lovers story with so much heart. I loved watching each heal from horrendous emotional and mental wounds. It’s wonderful how they support one another in very healthy ways. I appreciate that Holiday takes the mental health of her characters so seriously. I loved the evolving friendship to lovers to love, and the hesitation to be anything more than friends with benefits.

With that said, I’m disappointed that the author takes a funny, original spin on meet cute and turns it into huge “lie.” It’s a tool for conflict when it never needed to be. I feel the story would have been just as emotionally powerful and satisfying, and possibly more fun, had Aurora shared her history instead of hidden it. But, I give props to Holiday who does wring out a lot of emotion from her characters and this reader when the conflict erupts. Although I didn’t love the fake boyfriend aspect being a huge secret, I appreciate how the author uses it so that the couple confronts their issues and fears in an impactful way.

In the end, I recommend Canadian Boyfriend for contemporary romance fans, especially those who appreciate a slow-burn journey. Holiday creates characters and a story that I truly enjoyed, and I’m pleased that she’s returning to the world for a follow-up story in 2025.

My Rating: B/B+

Thank you Grand Central Publishing and Netgalley for this EARC in exchange for my honest review

3.5 stars

I really enjoyed this book. I loved the characters and I love that it was a sports book. I really liked that it was ballet and hockey and you got to see both sides of different sports. It was a super easy read and I was wanting more. The only this I didn't like was Aurora's "secret". I feel like there could of been more details to it. I feel like there needed to more chapters about her childhood and how people reacted to this "fake boyfriend". Otherwise I really liked this book and would love to read more by this author

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 3.5/5
🌶️🌶️ 2/5

I thought that I was going to love this story right from the start. The concept seemed cute and I looked forward to seeing how this romance played out. I mean, a single-dad hockey romance seemed right up my alley!

However, the romance that blossomed came off very immature to me, even while there were many open-door scenes.

I understand why, as a teenager, Aurora created this imaginary boyfriend after meeting our MMC when they were young. I get it. This girl went through a lot. But after meeting one another more than ten years later and after Aurora eventually confirmed that this man was indeed the boy who sparked it all - she should have said something. And don’t get me started on how the third-act breakup panned out once he found out about this whole fake boyfriend drama. Totally irrational. In the end, I just cringed… a lot.

I did like how the story promoted the benefits of therapy. Both characters needed it for different issues and by going, they were able to actively work through many of their traumas.

I gave this story 3.5 stars because I did enjoy it for the first half, however, it really started to drag on and on. I really wanted to love this one, but it didn’t live up to my expectations and that’s on me.

Canadian Boyfriend will be published on January 30, 2024.

Thank you to Forever Pub and NetGalley for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

1.5/5
as a big fan of jenny holiday’s ‘princess for christmas’ series this was disappointing.

i was instantly hooked when i saw this was a romance between a hockey player and an ex-ballerina. the writing was really good at the beginning and i was instantly invested on where the story was heading but as it progressed i felt like i started to care less and less about their relationship.

i’ve read a lot of closed door romances but never a romance where it fades to black on their first kiss? that’s easily one of the best parts of a romance. all of their feelings have finally met in the middle and this is the result. it felt anticlimactic and was disappointing in my opinion. on a positive note it was nice to read about olivia, mike and auroras relationship and how the three of them grew through their feelings and really leaned on each other.

Mike Martin was the only Mike in the book. every time Aurora referred to him it was by his full name. i could understand if it was because she never got over actually being with/knowing her “Canadian boyfriend” but by 60% of the way through it got old.

overall this book was not my cup of tea which is disappointing as like i said, i really loved jenny holiday’s other work. this will not stop me from picking up her next book/recommending this one to friends. it just wasn’t for me.

thank you to netgalley and forever(grand central publishing) for an e-arc!

Jenny Holiday is back with a cute hockey romance. I really enjoyed the second chance nature of this and the way their childhood by-chance meeting is worked into their present relationship. If you’re a sucker for good banter and a cute, somewhat quirky story line, this is definitely one to check out.

I really enjoyed this contemporary romance with its emphasis on mental health, character growth through therapy, and deep emotional connection between the two main characters.
Mike is a professional hockey player who is working through the grief of losing his wife unexpectedly from a car crash. To complicate his grief, his deceased wife’s parents’ challenged his custodial claims to his tween step-daughter he has raised since she was one year old. He needs a nanny and turns to Aurora, his daughter’s favorite dance teacher. Rory agrees to help Mike as she is also struggling financially to pay off her prestigious dance company tuition after quitting the company and moving home. Over time, these two form a close friendship; they discuss Mike’s hesitancy to embrace his fame, Rory’s traumatic relationship with her dance mom and disordered eating. They work together to support Olivia and her own grief. There are lengthy text exchanges, ice ream runs, ice skating lessons, shared dinners, and dance parties. Mike and Rory fall into a comfortable companionship that blossoms into something much more serious. After crossing physical boundary lines when Olivia was away visiting her grandparents, both Mike and Aurora have to contemplate if they are ready for a new relationship or commitment. Their journey to a HEA is one filled with beautiful moments and sometimes uncomfortable tears or conversations! But I really enjoyed how Holiday emphasized boundary setting, relying on medical professionals for therapy, and communication in and out of the bedroom! Mike and Aurora were LOVELY characters with great banter, chemistry, and so easy to root for as a couple!

Thank you to Forever Publishing for my e-arc in exchange for my review. This romance book is releasing on Jan. 30, 2024!

I love a hockey romance. This one had a pace. He is a widower with a preteen who attends a dance school.

Aurora, the teacher and main character has a lot of baggage that she works through as an ex ballerina. She has panic attacks, an eating disorder and an extremely toxic mother.

Mike, the hockey player is a widower with an 11 year old moody preteen who is struggling.

The story is slow moving but not a slow burn. It moves organically as they work through their issues and develop a friendship and eventually a romantic relationship.

Relationships take time and this book reflects that.

Growing up as a ballerina, Aurora (Rory) felt isolated and lonely. While working in the mall, she meets Mike, a Canadian hockey player. At school Rory starts telling people she has a boyfriend named Mike. Now grown up, Mike and Aurora's paths cross again. Mike is a new widow with a daughter, and Rory is her dance teacher.

This book was more than just a typical, I know how this ends romance story. Both main characters have big flaws, but they balance each other. There is some heavy topics throughout the book, including, abuse, eating disorders, death, and therapy. I really enjoyed how the flow of their romance story went. It felt genuine and the spicy stuff didn't seem forced.

Thank you to Netgalley, Jenny Holiday, and the publishers for this free ebook. This review is 100% my own and honest opinion.

Thank you Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for my copy! All thoughts are my own.

I saw this cover and heard “ballerina + hockey player” and I was immediately sold. It was so much more than I could have imagined from the cute cover and tropes. I was particularly happy to read the therapy representation in this book and loved that it was a juicy, sexy, sweet romance paired with fully realized characters going through very real things in their life. I love a good frothy book but there’s just something a book that can give you both!

Synopsis:

“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.” —NetGalley

What I Liked:

The Internal Dialogue—I loved the individual journeys both Rory and Mike went on. The grief, dealing with parents, the self discovery, therapy representation, Rory’s disordered eating and relationship ballet were all so powerful in their quietness. It was a great example of two characters working through their own things and working through things together.

The Concept—I thought it was such a fun idea! I wish there had been a few more letters or maybe a few more flashbacks to young Rory and her letters.

The Setting—I’m a sucker for lakes! I don’t think I’ve read a lot of books set in Minnesota and I loved it. Plus I thought the Little House references were fun too. It made me want to watch the show!

What Didn’t Work For Me:

The 3rd Act Break Up—I kept looking at my reading percentage on my kindle, dreading when the 3rd act break up would happen. Now that I’m writing this, it’s not that I hated that it happened, it just felt like Mike’s reaction was really out of character. Still had a great time reading the book!

Character Authenticity: 4/5 Spice Rating: 1/5 Overall Rating: 4.5/5

Content Warnings:

Disordered eating, strained parent/child relationship, death of a spouse, grief, anxiety, panic attacks (on the page), death of a parent

Aurora "Rory" Evans is a failed ballerina working at a strip mall dance studio by night and Starbucks by day after flaming out of a famous ballet school in NYC. She's just been dumped and can't afford the apartment she shared with her now-ex, and she has a toxic mother and history of disordered eating. What she least expects is to cross paths again with the handsome Canadian hockey player Mike that she met briefly as a teenager and crafted a whole imaginary relationship with. The real Mike is all grown up with his own baggage - he's a recent widower trying to keep his daughter Olivia's life from unraveling. When Mike asks Rory to move in and help him take care of his daughter while he is at away games, she agrees, but as time goes on, their arrangement gets complicated and lines begin to blur.

I was not expecting to love this one so much, but I did! Rory has been through SO MUCH in her life and her strength is so admirable. The way she and Mike just got each other and supported each other was heartwarming. I loved how much Mike fought for his daughter and to give her as normal of a life as he could, and how he put her first in every aspect. The way that Rory and Mike were just so steadfast for each other gave me all the feels and I loved seeing their relationship progress and their feelings deepen.

TW: Death of a spouse, mention of car accident, parental abandonment, toxic family dynamics, mention of eating disorder

4.5 stars

I really enjoyed this one. It was a thoughtful representation of life after loss and overcoming emotional trauma.

Mike and Rory both had interesting backstories and POV. Mike is dealing with the recent loss of his wife while caring for an emotional preteen daughter. Rory is a dance teacher who is dealing with her mom’s emotional abuse and overcoming an eating disorder. They meet and are instantly drawn to each other.

I loved their friendship! They were both so mature and good for each other. The romance is a slow burn, which really does their characters justice. I enjoyed their romantic relationship, but I liked their friendship even better.

There are so many fun quirks in this book that balance out the heavier topics (Dance Momsᵗᵐ, Rory calling Mike by his full name in her head, Canadianisms, and so many more!).

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝗼𝐮 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞:
👩‍❤️‍👨 Dual POV
🏒/🩰 Hockey Player + Dancer
👨‍👧 Single Dad
❤️‍🩹 Emotional topics
🏘️ Minnesota setting
🌶️.5

I wanted to like this book SO bad. The idea was definitely there but I had the hardest time staying engaged. And found the characters not likable. Just not for me.

Who doesn’t love a good hockey, single dad romance? This one really hit me in all my feels and had me on an emotional roller coaster. I loved Rory’s character and enjoyed her point of view. She did seem a bit immature at times but I still loved her. My heart broke for Mike and his daughter and their grief with the loss of their wife/mom. This book deals with some heavy topics but also has some fun and lighthearted moments. One of my favorite parts of the story was Rory’s relationship with Olivia, Mike’s daughter. I also appreciated the fact that Rory and Mike became friends before lovers. The only thing I didn’t care for was the third act break up. I felt like Mike’s reaction was over the top. He could have handled things better. Overall this was a great read that I really enjoyed!

Aurora(Rory) is a former ballet dancer turned dance teacher while Mike Martin is a professional hockey player. He is a single father dealing with grief from losing his wife. Years ago, Rory met Mike and had turned him into her invisible Canadian boyfriend so she would seem less like a loner in school. When Rory and Mike start a relationship she misses the opportunity to tell him about what she had done, when one of the things Mike really liked about her was that she had no idea who he was.
I was really impressed with the way the author tackled several mental health issues, including grief, eating disorders, panic attacks. The book was very organic, heartfelt, emotional, and enjoyable. The only thing I would have changed was how the end of the book seemed a little rushed, other then that I really enjoyed it.
Thank you to NetGalley, Forever (Grand Central Publishing) and Jenny Holiday for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
This book publishes on January 30, 2024

4.5 Stars! Winsome, warm, and uplifting!

Canadian Boyfriend is an absorbing, heartfelt tale that takes you into the lives of two main characters. Mike Martin, a professional hockey player and widower whose main focus is raising his daughter the best way he can, and Aurora Evans, a former ballerina turned dance teacher who, after pretending to date a Canadian hockey player for years as a teen, may have finally just stumbled across the man himself in real life.

The writing is light and tender. The characters are supportive, kind, and genuine. And the plot is an entertaining, amusing mix of life, love, family, friendship, grief, trust, compassion, happiness, healing, self-reflection, tricky moments, undeniable attraction, and romance.

Overall, Canadian Boyfriend is a cosy, sweet, heart-tugging tale by Holiday with characters I couldn’t help but fall in love with, a push-pull storyline that kept me engaged from start to finish, and a happy-ever-after ending that made me swoon.

I was expecting a silly little hockey romance, but this book was much more than that. Yes, there is an incredibly sweet romance between Aurora (Rory) and Mike. However, I think this book is more about grief and healing from pain, and Jenny Holiday does a beautiful job of illustrating that. We see Mike healing from the loss of his wife and healing the relationship with his daughter. We also see Rory heal from the abuse she experienced as a child and the eating disorder she had as a result. Most books tend to rush through the healing process and show the characters as magically fixed once they meet their love interest, but that wasn't the case in this book. Rory and Mike took their time, and we saw the progress as it was made.
Plus, the relationship between Aurora and Mike was adorable.
The book dragged a bit for me, and I got bored throughout the middle. So, I think it could have been shorter. There were also a few plot points that seemingly disappeared (especially the custody/adoption case), and I think the fake Canadian Boyfriend aspect wasn't highlighted as much as it could have been.
Overall, this is a really cute yet also heartfelt yet also cringe read.

Thank you Netgalley for the advanced reading copy! So full disclosure, I LOVE Jenny Holiday, but have only read her holiday romances, so I was very excited to give a more traditional romance a try. This book was amazing, thoughtful, and sweet, really bringing out the stunning nature of Holiday’s writing. Aurora (Rory) is a ballerina who moved back to Minnesota after a failed professional career, when she connects with Mike, a hockey star, single dad, who is reeling after the death of his wife. But as their life gets intertwined, particularly with helping his kid Olivia, Rory realizes that he’s the same man/boy that she made up as a fake boyfriend when she was a teenager. This is a romance, but it’s heavy. I love romances, and this is a great one, with a traditional HEA, BUT be sure you read those content warnings because oof, they’ make this story hard to read sometimes. Rory was sooooo mistreated by her mom and her eating struggles were the hardest for me to absorb, BUT I think this was portrayed with grace and empathy. I thought about giving this book 4 stars only because it felt a little long and there is a part at the end that kind of threw me in terms of character traits, but overall this book is great and I think deserves 5 stars because of its great writing and it brought me to tears in a great way multiple times. The writing is great, the characters are great, and my favorite part, the growth and love the characters have for each other builds over a long period of time. Have I used the word “great” enough? Holiday is a master of building love and relationships over a reasonable amount of time and giving the characters their happy endings WITH hard personal growth and work in therapy. I love her writing and I hope that other people find this book and love it too. I highly recommend this book for fans of Holiday, contemporary romance, and sports (though this is definitely not a dominating theme).

Thank you so much Forever (Grand Central Publishing), NetGalley and Jenny Holiday for this arc in exchange for an honest review!

I loved this book SO much! The chemistry between Aurora and Mike was perfect and I love how mature and honest they both were with each other! As a fellow Canadian I think Jenny Holiday did an excellent job at really encapsulating us Canadians. Tim Hortons, Hockey, Toques, and saying sorry all the time.. yup she pretty much nailed it! Jenny also does a really great job with discussions of mental health and eating disorders in this book. Overall if you’re looking for a cute, funny and hopeful read..this one is for you!

3.5/5 (rounded to 4)

I thought Canadian Boyfriend was an easy and quick read. I really loved the concept, former ballet dancer and a hockey player, literally was solely into this book because of the hockey!
There are other things I loved too.
Both Aurora and Mike going to therapy, working on themselves, and the way they talked about this and confiding in each other about their struggles was so wonderfully done in my opinion. It’s nice to see books like this where therapy is normalized.
I loved their friendship and how Mike would always do these gestures for Aurora, calling her “a bright thing”, you can tell all he wanted to do was protect her.
I think what fell short for me however was the how Mike reacted to the “lie”. I honestly feel like the lie was not a big deal, I am not sure how to explain it but I saw nothing wrong with what Aurora did by not telling him immediately especially since her fears were valid too. It was just crazy to me that he felt betrayed and like Aurora didn’t see him for who he was when Aurora always made him feel seen, like did all those conversations they had really not prove that because I thought they did.
He then realizes his mistakes and big gestures in the epilogue and it’s over.
I would have love to seen more, like Olive, his daughter, being included in their new relationship.
My favorite scene has got to be the camping scene. It was quite beautiful.
Olive and Gretchen were my favorite and I’m kind of excited that Gretchen is getting her own book next.

Thank you NetGalley and Forever for the e-ARC.

DNF @ 65% - it's taken me from December 12th to January 18th to get to 65%. One of my friends finally advised me to DNF because I was bored, so here I am.

And, honestly, I am so bored. I might come back to this one someday in the future, but for now, it's dragging.

There's a LOT of internal thoughts and very little dialogue. The pacing is off. Things don't seem to flow naturally, because they end abruptly and/or change gears to something else in a very unnatural manner.

I enjoyed immensely the work that Jenny put in to representing 1. a ballerina recovering from an eating disorder and an anxiety order and 2. a husband dealing with the death of his wife and the mother of his child. The therapy is great for both of them and we need more representation of positive use of therapy.

Thank you to the publisher and author for an ARC of this one via NetGalley. These are my honest thoughts.