I was interested in this book based on the front cover, but I haven’t read anything by this author before so I passed it up. Later that day it was all over Facebook about the male narrator for this book, so I immediately went back and requested it from NetGalley. I am so glad that I did! It was a cute story that I couldn’t wait to get done with work so I could listen to it!
Rory is a little naïve about the world thanks to her overbearing mother, but when she fakes a relationship with a real hockey player that she met as a teenager, no one could’ve imagined that fate would bring them back into each other’s lives.
Mike really needed to take a look at how he was stringing Rory around. They truly were meant to be together!

was it a cheesy romcom? yes. Did I eat it up anyway? yes. The single dad/nanny trope is really growing on me. I also love me a slow burn and this one did not disappoint.

I found the idea of a fake teenage boyfriend who Aurora wrote notes to quirky and charming and something i’d probably do. To have refound that person she thought of so fondly of as a teen (even if they didn’t know) was adorable. I did find it a little annoying that real Mike’s full name was used but I also get why it had to be done.

The narration was truly made this audiobook great. It wasn’t one chapter as one narrator, the other chapter as another but rather these were intertwined. It was very cohesive and easy to listen to.

Thank you to NetGalley, Hachette Audio & Jenny Holiday for an audio ARC of Canadian Boyfriend in exchange for an honest review.

I was not able to get my hands on the digital or physical ARC of this one, so I was thrilled to get the audiobook, which is my preferred method anyway!

I absolutely LOVED this book! It contains romance, humor, loss of a spouse, eating disorder, body image issues and family dynamics.

Aurora "Rory" Evens met a hockey player when she was a teenager and worked in a mall coffee shop. She was instantly smitten with him and basically used him as her "Dear Diary" - except it was "Dear Mike" aka her "Canadian Boyfriend." This helped her cope with her battles growing up, especially her overbearing mother who abused her by body-shaming her to be skinny for ballet. Her mother was truly AWFUL.

All grown up, Rory teaches tap dance at a local dance studio, after giving up ballet in NYC, much to her mother's disappointment. After the death of the mother of one of her students, the father is now tasked with taking his daughter to dance class. Lo and behold, that dad is Mike, her Canadian Boyfriend. They form a friendship and because his daughter is the happiest he has seen her since her mom died when she is with Rory, they strike up a deal that makes Rory basically the live-in nanny while Mike is away during hockey season.

Of course, their relationship blossoms, but not without its problems. The biggest being that Rory hasn't shared with Mike that they actually met all those years ago and that he was her safe haven through her diary entries.

This was a very cute & heartwarming story that I absolutely loved from start to finish. Holiday did a wonderful job of making the loss of a spouse/mother, then moving on, as well as the "dance mom" type issues seem extremely realistic.

My only gripe - and this irked me to no end - was that Rory called Mike "Mike Martin" throughout the ENTIRE book. It was absolutely ridiculous to do this and very, VERY annoying. Why?

Overall, this was a 4-Star Read for me that I will happily recommend.

honestly, i don't think jenny holiday can write a bad romcom even if she tried. i'm not normally a fan of hockey romances (or am i? who's to say), but 'canadian boyfriend' was so heartwarming & earnest & everything i didn't realize i needed right now. the book follows aurora, a woman in minnesota who teaches at a local dance studio who created a fake canadian boyfriend after meeting mike martin once when she was in high school. writing fake letters to mike helped her deal with her overbearing mother, the stress from ballet rehearsals, and her worsening eating disorder. but when years later, mike martin, hockey player for the minnesota lumberjacks (lol), comes into the dance studio to pick up his daughter, rory is thrown, especially when she learns more about mike. this summary doesn't do the book justice, but this book was great. not only was the romance so believable, but the mental health representation felt so real, including seeing the therapy sessions of each character & how those affect their interactions with the other. don't sleep on this one!

I loved listening to this book. The story itself is much deeper and more thoughtful than I’d expected - more romance, less rom-com? But what really sold me was the dual narration of Emily Ellet and Joshua Jackson. (Yes, that Joshua Jackson in all of his Canadian glory). This was the first time I’ve experienced an actor reading ALL of the characters dialogue, regardless of whether it’s his or her designated chapter. It really felt more like listening to an old radio play, or a script read aloud at a table read. Now I’m going to have a difficult time listening to audiobooks told any other way. Thanks Canadian Boyfriend. You’ve ruined me. 😁

I received a copy of this audiobook from the publisher through NetGalley.

I listened to this audiobook voluntarily. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
This audiobook felt very ‘safe.’ There wasn’t a major drama (except off book with Sarah), and most things worked themselves out easily.
The narrators did a good job with their parts, and Joshua Jackson has a great voice for audiobooks. He did sound like a typical guy though, and lacked emotion some of the time, but I guess it stayed true to the story in that respect.
3.5 stars overall

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC for this novel!!
SPOILERS TO FOLLOW
HAPPY PUB DAY TO CANADIAN BOYFRIEND!!

Le me start off by saying that as a former ballerina myself who also struggled with eating habits (and has freckles, and likes hockey and loves the name Aurora?!?! Seriously this book was made with me in mind somehow?!?). I loved Aurora's character. She was funny and relatable and even though the way she talked at times felt a bit cheesy (calling his green eyes kryptonite lol) I still throughly enjoyed her POV's and her attitude!

Mike was also incredible. He was so kind and caring and loving toward his daughter. I loved that he wanted to do anything and everything in his power to help Olivia even if it meant bringing a relative stranger (Aurora) into his house so his daughter would be happy! He was also very patient with his daughter and a good listener. Also... man after my own heart for going to therapy and suggesting it to Aurora.

All in all, I throughly enjoyed this novel and I'm looking to reading more from Holiday in the future!

𝑹𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘 🎧 | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 (4.5/5)

𝑴𝒚 𝑻𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒔:
I loved this book! It’s become a new favourite of mine, hands down.

*Book contains content warnings for certain topics*

Immediately when I saw this title, cover, and synopsis I was intrigued. I love hockey, I used to be a ballet dancer and I’m Canadian. This seemed like the perfect romance read for me! Then once I saw Joshua Jackson (Pacey from Dawson’s Creek) was the narrator for the hockey player - well, I was sold😍

I was expecting this to be your typical light easy reading sporty romance book, where there is some spice and a bit of comedy. What this book eneded up being was so so much more!

Yes, there were still some steamy scenes and some comedy, however the major themes in the book were more focused on self discovery, overcoming childhood trauma, and dealing with grief after the death of a spouse. There were quite a few hard topics covered throughout the book, and the author did an eloquent job describing how each of the three main characters dealt with these events.

As for the audiobook version of the book - I could not recommend it enough! This is probably one of the better audios I’ve listened to. Since the story was told through two different perspectives (Aurora & Mike), there is one female and one male narrator to cover their parts. What I loved was how even if it was a chapter in the POV of one of them, if there was dialogue from the other character, that narrator would do that part. Not a lot of audiobooks do this, so I really appriciated that. Plus, on top of that, Joshua Jackson did an amazing job and really brought to life Mike the Canadian Boyfriend.

For any of my Canadian hockey loving friends out there, I would definitely recommend this romance! The amount of both Canadian and specifically Candian hockey comments, made it so fun to read and pick out. 'My Canadian Boyfriend' is the perfect choice for a February romance with a bit more meat to it!

𝑹𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒇 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝑳𝒊𝒌𝒆:
- 🩰 Dance aspects
- 🏒 Hockey romances
-💡 A self discovery storyline
- 🌱Wonderful character growth

𝑾𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝑷𝒂𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈: 2019 Chardonnay - Ravine Vineyard🥂

Thank you to Forever (Grand Central Publishing), Hachette Audio and NetGalley for providing me with a free audio ARC of this book in return for an honest review.

HAPPIEST OF PUB DAY TO @holymolyjennyholi AND Canadian Boyfriend💖🩵

This book and audiobook WERE SIMPLY OUTSTANDING!!! I got the special pleasure to read this book all three ways and I must say I absolutely cannot decide which way was my favorite!

Something that may sway the (millennial or nostalgia-core) masses is that the MMC in the audiobook voiced by actor Joshua Jackson (of Dawson’s Creek and Mighty Ducks fame!!)

Here’s my review of the book if you missed it:

When I said I was officially out of my hockey romance era…but I hadn’t read this book yet….thanks to @holymolyjennyholi I’M BACK Y’ALL 😂

This book was funny and playful (especially living around 15-20 minutes from three different Canadian borders my entire life and working at one of those borders for 7 years)

AND BOY OH BOY DID IT ALSO HAVE DEPTH (which 10000% distinguished from just your run of the mill hockey romance! )

✨Single Widower Dad
✨Traveling Single Parent
✨Celebrity Athlete
✨Anxiety/Panic Attack Rep
✨Narcissistic Mother
✨ED and Recovery Rep
✨Adoption/Custody Battle

4.75⭐️

Special thanks to @readforeverpub for the #gifted physical copy and review eARC. And @hachetteaudio for the ALC❤️

#canadianboyfriend #jennyholiday #readforeverpub #foreverpublishing #foreverpub #hachetteaudio

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. Alsoooo the narrators were great.

*4.5 Stars On My Instagram Account*

"The only way out is through."

The very sweet Canadian Boyfriend by premier romance author Jenny Holiday is not your typical steamy hockey pucking one another romance. It's filled with therapeutic tenderness and mature slow burn romance.

Aurora Evans was raised to be a ballerina. It didn't matter if it wasn't her dream, it was her mother's obsession. It didn't matter that keeping her weight so low was making her physically, emotionally and mentally ill. A loner, she meets a Canadian student hockey player for less than 5 minutes, and makes him her make-believe boyfriend. Why isn't she going to prom? She's visiting her Canadian boyfriend. How come she never goes to parties? She can't miss a call from her Canadian boyfriend. You get the idea.

Years later, she's teaching a dance class and has her first panic attack in a long time when a father picks up his daughter and it's her make-believe Canadian boyfriend, now pro hockey player, Mike Martin!

He's a recent grieving widower, loving step father to Olivia, and has no idea that he even met Aurora before now.

This tender love story is enhanced with narration from the very deep sexy Canadian accented Dawson Creek actor Joshua Jackson and the emotionally talented voice actress Emily Ellet. I might have drooled a bit during some very swoony scenes.

This writer highlights that these two have a lot to deal with individually before beginning a relationship. Their separate therapy sessions were often heartbreaking but so insightful into their character growth and some of my favorite moments. I loved when Aurora bravely bared her soul and knew she was falling for Mike because, "He hadn't tried to fix me." This was a beautifully told mature romance with real life not always solved issues.

I received a free copy of this audiobook from #hachetteaudio via #NetGalley for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

This book had more depth than the cutesy cover suggest.
What I loved about it: the actual Canadian boyfriend himself, Joshua Jackson. I got an advanced listening copy of this one and loved the duet so much. Both Joshua and Emily did a great job with the narration. I also loved the pro mental health rep. And I couldn’t help it, I was really drawn into this book, the more I read (or listened in this case) the more I wanted to keep going.
What I didn’t love as much: she calls him by his full name the entire book and while at first it kind of works for the story, hearing it for the 1000th time got old. I could have also done without the 3rd act breakup, but that might just be a me thing, not a fan of miscommunication.
Overall I did enjoy the Canadian boyfriend.

I was given an ALC of this book and my opinions are my own.

Whoever is in charge of getting Joshua Jackson to narrate this hockey romance novel is a genius.

A solid five stars for the audiobook production. Joshua Jackson narrates the male main character, Mike Martin, a recently widowed hockey player and does an excellent job. (While many of course love him as Pacey, Jackson will always be Charlie Conway to me, the Mighty Ducks hockey player I grew up with.) Emily Ellet is perfect as Aurora and I loved how this had both actors in conversation with one another instead of just performing their respective POV chapters. This format really had me hooked and worked to get me quite emotionally invested in this slow burn romance.

The story itself I would probably give somewhere between 4-4.5 stars. This was quite a heavy romance novel as it deals with a lot of challenging topics like death of a spouse, toxic maternal relationships, disordered eating, and grief. Overall, I really enjoyed the way the relationship developed between Mike Martin and Aurora and thought it felt realistic to the circumstances. Both characters go through a lot of personal growth over the course of over a year and I think Jenny Holiday, an author whose work I enjoy, excelled at depicting this. I do think that the inevitable “Canadian Boyfriend” reveal should have been handled differently based on how the characters understood each other but romance novels continue to need to throw that wrench into the third act. I also don’t know why he was always referred to as Mike Martin the whole time, but maybe that was to distinguish him from his fake counterpart?

I know that this complicated and challenging romance probably won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but I really loved it and strongly recommend opting for the audio option.

Many thanks to Hachette Audio and NetGalley for providing me with the audiobook ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I really ended up enjoying this book! If there’s one thing I love in this entire world, it’s a single dad romance.

I got to listen to the audio book early, and y’all it was fantastic! Both Emily Ellet and Joshua Jackson (my king!!!) did an incredible job acting out Aurora and Mike’s emotions and it was just superb! I loved that this was a duet style narration and it blew me out of the water! If you wanna read this book I 100% recommend the audio book.

Overall, this book had so many elements that I love in a book: single parent x nanny element, sports romance, friends-to-lovers, mutual pining, forbidden aspect, and a little bit of no strings attached. such a mash up of elements, but it really worked.

I will say though, this was a more serious romance than what the book cover reflects, so check content warnings before diving into this book. A silly romcom it is not!

But I loved Aurora and Mike’s slow burn stranger-to-friends-to-lovers relationship and how much they understood each other! It was so sweet!! I loved the conversations they had around mental health and how honest they were with each other. and Mike??? What a sweet man!

So this book should have been a recipe for success!

But! The third act conflict and conflict resolution fell a little flat for me. I saw the conflict coming from a mile away, and thought it was going in a new and refreshing direction, but alas it went the silly route! I think the mmc overreacted a little and then the conflict was resolved a little too quickly to be satisfying. so that part bummed me out a little.

Thank you Forever and NetGalley for the ALC (advanced listening copy). It’s out today!

Oh, Pacey. I expect more from you.

This book is a big fat miss. No thank you. The story is so weird. The relationship/not relationship happening between our two main characters is so cringy. I wanted to love it. But even the narration by Joshua Jackson falls flat. There is literally no emotion.

And can she stop calling him by his full name? If I have to hear her say Mike Martin again, I'm going to lose my mind.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this audiobook.

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.

TL;DR - Canadian Boyfriend is my Roman Empire

Quick summary: Once upon a time, 16-year-old Aurora Lake Evans met a Canadian hockey player at the mall and turned him into her perfect fake boyfriend. Well, not him, just the idea of him. He never had to know - it wasn't like she was ever going to see him again. 13 years later, Aurora is teaching kids’ dance classes and battling panic and eating disorders when self-effacing single dad and 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.”

Review:

OH man oh man. I love this book so much. Like, where do I even begin? This is probably the best rom com I’ve ever read. Top 5 for sure.

First, the audio. Pacey (yes, THAT Pacey) narrates the male voice and it’s as magical as you'd expect. I think it might have ruined all other audiobooks for me. Emily Ellet narrates the female voice and is a perfect complement to Joshua Jackson/Pacey. Together they bring this story to life so vividly that I forgot they weren’t real and that I wouldn’t be able to tell them how much I love their story.

The content is A++ as well. While it’s technically a hockey romance, it doesn’t focus too too much on the sports side. (Maybe this is normal, IDK. It’s my first hockey romance.) Mental health and taking care of yourself both physically and mentally are huge themes in the story. It goes beyond paying lip service to therapy and actually shows what it’s like to work with a therapist and how it impacts their day-to-day thinking. Despite what our MCs have been through, they are committed to working on themselves first and separate from their romantic relationships, which is a message we don’t get a lot in the romance genre.

Speaking of the characters, they are perfect. When you read a book in first person and you’re in a character’s head, their hang ups and neuroses can really start to weigh on you as a reader. It’s a delicate balance for the author - simultaneously making the inner monologues relatable and authentically setting up the book’s core conflict, while not making it annoying to be in the character’s head. Jenny executes this balance flawlessly here. Despite what our MCs have been through (or maybe because of it + therapy), they are mentally strong and not overly negative.

I’m probably going to re-read this book next week with a physical copy so I can (1) experience it all again, and (2) annotate the crap out of it! I’ve never finished a book and immediately planned to read it again, but this one is special. I hope you love it as much as I do!

Thank you to Hachette Audio and Forever for the gifted audiobook.

I absolutely adored this book, super sweet hockey/dancer romance.

*Publisher's summary
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.

Thanks to NetGalley & Forever for the ARC of this book!

Canadian Boyfriend
By: Jenny Holiday
Narrated by: Joshua Jackson, Emily Ellet
Publisher: Forever
Release date: 01-30-24

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.

Narration was excellent. It took reading another review to connect why the voice was so familiar and then to find out that Charlie Conway of the Mighty Ducks made it to the pros made me so happy.

As I received a copy of the audiobook of "Canadian Boyfriend," I'll begin by reviewing the narrators, Emily Ellet and Joshua Jackson. I love audiobooks where a character's dialogue is actually spoken by that character's narrator. Not all narrators can pull off voices of the opposite sex well, which can detract from the book, so I always prefer "Canadian Boyfriend's" format. Ellet did a wonderful job of portraying all the different emotions of Aurora/Rory. The part required a broad range of emotions, from navigating trauma to love to joy. Joshua Jackson remains Joshua Jackson. He has an extremely soothing voice, but I couldn't help but view Mike Martin as a grown up Charlie from "The Mighty Ducks."

The story itself was far more emotional than I was expecting. From Mike's wife, Sarah, dying, to Rory's eating disorder and childhood abuse, there were a lot of complicated situations to navigate. I appreciate that the author included therapy sessions to tackle these issues. While the premise of the book was a bit unbelievable and probably didn't really need to factor into the third act breakup, I very much enjoyed this book. I will say, however, that I found it a little grating that Rory continuously called Mike "Mike Martin."

Thank you to Hachette Audio, Forever, and NetGalley for an ARC of "Canadian Boyfriend" in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.