This was my first sports romance and let me tell you it did not disappoint! It helps that it was a friends to lovers forced proximity trope I highly enjoy reading those! The narration was superb and the story line was even better!

I was so excited to get a copy of this audiobook! Joshua Jackson is a favoriOte of mine and the idea of this story, especially a hockey romance, was definitely intriguing. I could definitely relate to Aurora's social awkwardness as a teenager and the idea of inventing a Canadian boyfriend from a guy she met doesn't sound like a bad idea...until she runs into him again as an adult.

I love Emily Ellet's voice as a narrator and I've already mentioned I love Joshua Jackson. I will definitely pick this up as a book to read in print. I did not like that Jackson actually read the male dialogue and Ellet actually read the female dialogue, even in the chapters coming from their own POV. I wasn't crazy about that. If there were other characters in the chapter of the same gender, it threw me off at times. Maybe if I was accustomed to multiple narrators?

Otherwise, I loved the story and the narrators and I am thankful to NetGalley and Hachette Audio for this ARC! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed this one. I love Jenny Holiday and was excited that Joshua Jackson was a narrator. I think that hockey romances are all the rage. I have already read two this year and there are a few more that are being released! I liked both the characters in this one and really enjoyed it!

This is a great duet narration, and I'll admit the reason I requested it was Joshua Jackson. I don't typically go for audiobooks, but I was interested in this story and thought him reading would be a bonus.
This is a sweet story about a widowed hockey player and his daughter's dance teacher. I enjoyed the connection between the two of them, and the fun they were able to have with each other. The narration was good. I don't know if this would have stuck out as much if I were just reading the book, but Rory constantly refers to him as "Mike Martin" and it is too much. Otherwise, I enjoyed this.

Thank you Netgalley and Hachette Audio for the ALC.

Story: 🌟🌟🌟
Narration: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Overall: 🌟🌟🌟

Canadian Boyfriend was a cute romance and an excellent audiobook. As a teen, Aurora meets a Canadian hockey player and decides to make him her fake Canadian boyfriend to her high school friends. Years later, she runs into him again and he is the widowed father of one of her dance students. As the two fall for each other, will Aurora come clean?

The audio narration of this one was perfection. I mean..it is Pacey from Dawson’s Creek! While the story is cute, the “secret” is a bit of a stretch and undercuts the real emotion behind the story. Overall, this is a sweet romance that definitely should be read on audio.

ALC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I did a hybrid read of this and I really enjoyed the narration for both Rory and Mike.

When I started reading this book, I had really complicated thoughts towards it because I couldn’t quite grasp my head around why Rory would create this whole fantasy in her head after meeting somebody for five minutes when she was 16 years old. I was super conflicted over how I felt about it and I almost DNF’ed it multiple times.

However, I kept reading and I’m really really glad I did because I really liked this book in the end. I totally didn’t think I was going to like it when I started reading it so I’m glad it proved me wrong.

The more I read the book, the more I started to really understand Rory’s character and why she created this fake Canadian boyfriend for herself and it actually made a ton of sense. She had nobody in her life, so she created somebody so that she would feel less alone. And honestly, I think that is super relatable.

My biggest annoyance with this book was that she refers to the MMC as “Mike Martin” throughout the entire story, (even in the epilogue!!) and it made me irrationally angry.

Besides this book, I’ve only read two other books by this author. One of which was A Princess for Christmas that was released back in 2020 and was in incredibly steamy, so I think I was expecting that same level of steam in this book and that was absolutely not the case. I would say the details are super vague and the door is only slightly ajar in some of the scenes.

What a CHARMING story about grief and love and growth and health and found family and all the sweet things. The romance felt so tender and lovely and the cast of characters was so enjoyable. The narration was EXCELLENT.

I loved the characters and the narration added to the positive vibes I was feeling whilst listening to this audiobook.

I received an audiobook copy of this for my honest review

First off - the narration - it's a DUET! I love duet narration and this was done so fabulously! Joshua Jackson as the Canadian hockey play is absolute perfect casting.

The story starts when our FMC is 15 and working at a coffee shop in the mall - as a ballerina, she doesn't have a huge social network, and when this cute Canadian hockey player comes in and flirts a little, she creates an entire fictious boyfriend around him so that she isn't so alone. Never did she expect that 13 years later, while working at a local dance studio would he come in as the widow of one of her students! At first she swears it can't be him - but as they develop at first a friendship, and then more, she knows, he is one in the same. Our MMC is working to figure out how to be a single father after the loss of his wife, and coming to terms with what life with him would have really been life for her through just being thrust into that world, as well as therapy. He asks our FMC to move in with them to help out with his daughter while he is on the road. Can their relationship be more than just stolen time when they are alone, or will her past caricature of him end up driving a wedge between them?

I picked up this book because I thought the premise was cute: teenage girl (Aurora) meets Canadian hockey player (Mike) once, then uses him as inspiration for a fake "Canadian boyfriend." I did not expect this book to hit me so directly in the feels, but here we are! For a book with such a cute premise, it really deals with some complex and intense emotional and mental health issues. Things like overcoming emotional parental abuse, disordered eating, bad self esteem and emotional labor are handled with such nuance and care. The emotional journey Mike and Aurora go on is so exquisitely handled and I cried in several places. I like how we get equal time with each character, and the author really delves into who they are and what makes them tick. I also really liked how organically the romance developed, and how each of the main characters helped each other heal and grow. I really rooted for them. The third act breakup didn't even bother me, I actually cheered for Aurora at that point!

The audio book was a great listen! Both narrators were amazing, and you really heard the emotion in their voices, which really elevated the story and brought it to life. I also enjoyed the Canadian accent of Joshua Jackson ;)

The only thing that really annoyed me about the audio and the story is that Aurora keeps calling Mike his full name, Mike Martin throughout the book. It just got repetitive and unnecessary and it jarred me a little each time. But other than that, it was great!
5 Stars!

This was such a cute rom-com. I absolutely loved Joshua Jackson and Emily Ellet narrating this story. I have been a fan of Joshua Jackson for a long time and enjoyed listening to his soothing voice with Emily. I also loved that they spoke their own parts. I hate when audiobooks have a woman and man but still speak each others parts. Jenny Holiday did a great job writing this book. I loved the characters. This book will have you laughing, make you swoon and has a little spice. If your wanting a really good rom-com with great narrators then this book is for you. I would HIGHLY recommend this book.


Thank you NetGalley and Hachette Audio, Forever for allowing me to listen to this ARC in advance for my honest opinion.

3.5 stars
Aurora is a former professional ballerina and Mike is a widowed professional hockey player brought together by Mike’s daughter’s dance class with Aurora. Years ago, when Aurora was in high school working her part-time mall coffee shop job, she met Mike and turned him into her make-believe boyfriend. That version of Mike was more of a penpal/journal venting strategy for Aurora as she worked through her isolation due to dance and an over-obsessive mother.

Fast forward to the present, Aurora and Mike meet as adults and Aurora attempts to reconcile her make believe boyfriend with this real, grieving father in front of her. They create a bond that helps both of them work through prior traumas.

I enjoyed the prominence of therapy in the book and the awareness of the characters in their growth through knowing each other. I also like Aurora’s path to finding herself and not sacrificing her wants and dreams.

There were a few things I didn’t love - the ‘conflict’ felt a bit forced and I had a hard time believing it was as big a deal as it was made out to be. Aurora’s character CONSTANTLY called the mmc by his full name which didn’t make sense and got a little annoying.

Loved the voice actors tho for the audio version!

I really enjoyed the duet narration.
It was a lovely story. I really liked our main characters and Olivia and Gretchen. I did think it was odd that Aurora kept referring to Mike as Mike Martin throughout the whole book after a while it got on my nerves.

✨ Review ✨ Canadian Boyfriend by Jenny Holiday; Narrated by Joshua Jackson; Emily Ellet

Honestly, you should probably listen to this one just for Joshua Jackson.

Aurora (Rory) teaches ballet at a small studio after striking out as a professional ballerina in her late teens. There she teaches Olivia and meets her dad Mike, a professional hockey player bringing Olivia to class about 9 months after Olivia's mom/Mike's wife died in a car crash. Aurora starts to help out in their lives, eventually moving in to help care for Olivia when Mike's traveling.

This is a great friends-to-lovers, roommates, single-dad sports romance book that moves slowly and gently and lovingly. It handles mental health beautifully, as it tackles really heavy topics like grief and abuse and loneliness, and it's done without making the reader feel too sad or overwhelmed.

There were some minor annoyances -- the book starts with Aurora meeting Mike as a teen and then building out a whole fantasy relationship with him. This hangs as a barrier between them as Aurora doesn't fess up -- and there was something about this that just felt overwrought.

The book also features Little House on the Prairie really prominently and while I don't hold this against anyone who loved it as a child (myself included), looking at it now, it has some serious racial and settler-colonial issues embedded in it. I could have done without those mentions.

With those caveats, I really enjoyed this book. I was engrossed in the story and the narrators brought it to life. In Mike's POV chapters, Aurora's voice was used for quotes and vice-versa so it brought in a little bit of full-cast feeling here.

Overall, it's a really lovely therapy-affirming, found family, deal with your past trauma but with romance kind of book!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: f/m contemporary romance
Setting: Minnetonka, Minnesota
Pub Date: 30 Jan 2024

Thanks to Forever, Hachette Audio, and #netgalley for the gifted advanced copy/ies of this book!

Ok I did not expect this one to be such a super sweet read! It was so heartwarming and definitely had some unexpected emotional depth! Both characters were incredibly complex and compelling and we get a heartfelt story as the MC’s deal with some heavy themes of trauma, grief, mental illness and body image issues.

As a former hockey player who studied and worked in sport, I was sold the second I saw this cover! Oh, I’m also Canadian 🤣. I therefore obviously relished in all the NHL and hockey world bits and the explanations of the CHL where I used to work!

The audiobook is a MUST listen!! The duet style narration was superb and as soon as I found out Joshua Jackson was a co-narrator, I dropped everything to listen! He instantly brought Mike Martin to life for me and he helped make him exceptionally swoon worthy!

Add in some outstanding witty banter and an abundance of popular tropes (friends to lovers, found family, forced proximity, hockey/ballet, single dad etc) this one just ends up being such a well rounded and well done RomCom!

I found this one just a little bit difficult to get into. I just didn’t connect with the characters. The story was really cute though!

LOVE LOVE LOVE!!! Download the audiobook NOW!! The voices were impeccable and the plot was different! I loved every second!

What a delightful, heartwarming story! This book is about a former ballerina who meets the man, a pro hockey player, she once pretended was her boyfriend as a teen. I loved all the characters SO MUCH; I usually prefer plot-driven books and do not care as much about character development, but this was excellent. I think I’ll be thinking about these characters for awhile.

Both have personal struggles to work through, and the author handles them so well. I was nervous to read this after seeing a trigger warning, but appreciated how relatable the characters were and how much healing was accomplished in the story.

The final conflict and resolution seemed a bit rushed, but I still enjoyed the plot. I also found “Mike Martin” repetitive without emphasis to the point that it seemed like a word count was trying to be met. Still, it could be perceived as endearing.

Finally, I listened to the audio upon learning Joshua Jackson was cast, and I am so glad I did! This is perhaps the first book I have listened to with dual narration so it took a bit to tune my ear to the rhythm, but now I think I’d prefer this style for any rom-com book. He portrayed Mike Martin so well. Emily Ellet also did an incredible job narrating Aurora. I am so happy my “Team Pacey” support led me here.

Thank you NetGalley, Hachette Audio, and Forever for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

I love the way this book dealt with difficult topics. This was a cute and sweet romance it was an excellent palette cleanser from some of my recent books. You will find yourself smiling and laughing with the characters. Aurora considers herself a failed professional dancer after dropping out of school. Now she teaches children’s tap in a small town. When Mike and his daughter Olivia enter her life. Mike is a widower trying to do the best he can as a single parent. Aurora is shocked to learn she’s met this Mike a famous hockey player before. Aurora is the breath of fresh air for Mike and Olivia as they work through grief.

I highly recommend this as an audiobook the narration was excellent. I was so drawn into the story I couldn’t stop listening.

I previously read this book, but let me tell you that the narration MAKES this book. The duet narration was perfection and really brought these characters to life.

To me, it made Aurora’s character come to life and I totally felt all of the emotions that Mike was feeling.

Book opinions:

4.5 ⭐️

This was my first book by this author and definitely will not be my last! Give me a single dad book and I am sold. But give me a single dad, hockey romance and I am ALL about it.

I loved the way the author wrote Aurora and Mike's story. I felt like it flowed well and the characters connection stood out. Just a super cute read overall!

I can't wait to read more by Jenny Holiday in the future!