I went back and forth on what to rate this book. I eventually decided to go between the stars and choose 🌟3.5.

The narration for this book was top tier! Both the female and male narrators kept me engrossed and eager. So eager that I even contemplated putting in a headphone at work so I could listen to more of the story.

I truly love the length and the friendship Rory and Mike have before becoming intimate. I probably say that a lot in reviews, but for the circumstances of not pursuing a romantic relationship, it was realistic. After losing a wife, I loved how the length of time and therapy was displayed. There was true healing.

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.🤷‍♀️😬

Another one of my hangups was actually pretty small. That being Rory always referring to Mike as "Mike Martin." I can understand it being used during the beginning of the book, but it got annoying after halfway through. By the end, I was just ticked off that she referred to him with his first and last name.🙃😒

Special thank you to NetGalley and Hachette Audio for the ALC.

Even though it may sound as a light-hearted romcom this book actually deals with serious and heavy issues and it handles them really well. Our FMC is dealing with her eating disorder, consequence of years of her mother's verbal abuse + ballet (there is also focus on her anxiety and panic attacks) and the MMC is a widower and a single dad. There is a lot of therapy talk, very positive mental health rep and I especially loved how Aurora grew and chose herself and put her feelings and mental health first since it's something she has never done before. I received an ALC copy for review and this was amazing to read as audiobook because narrators are fantastic! They brought all the emotions (it literally happened a few times that I would get teary-eyed right before they said my eyes welled with tears or I started crying and also I snorted and laughed alongside them). If you're thinking whether to read or listen to this one - listening will be SUCH an experience! The audiobook itself deserves 5 stars!
Their history or what Mike represented to Aurora her whole childhood was so wholesome and I loved her letters. I was missing his daughter's input on the whole situation because it got lost towards the end in order to wrap things up nicely. But I loved the relationship he had with his daughter and the way their grief and healing was portrayed.

Audiobook Review

Narration: Even if you're not already a Joshua Jackson fan and even u didn't already know whose voice u were listening too, you'd want to listen to anything & everything he had to say *swoon* 😍 Ok now that I'm done fangirling... I thought both the female & male narrators did an amazing job here. They worked really well together and befitted the characters perfectly. There was something so natural & smooth about them making for quite the effective read!

Aurora had been working at the mall when she first met a young Mike. They'd had a brief encounter but she couldn't forget that face, that charm. When she'd been feeling particularly lonely at school, having been ostracized for being a "snooty" professional ballerina, she made up a fake Canadian boyfriend to account for why she was never around to be included socially or hadn't gone to prom. She took comfort in Mike & wrote him letters throughout her life as her own therapeutic journal of sorts.

Fast forward 15 years and Rory happily works in her best friend's dance studio teaching young girls (not ballet though, she can't face teaching ballet since she'd dropped out professionally years ago). Rory is eager to welcome her student Olivia back after a year long absence since her mom passed. When Olivia's newly single dad, a famous pro hockey player, drops her off Rory can't believe it's Mike, her Canadian boyfriend Mike from all those years ago. Only he doesn't recognize her. But he does see something in her that draws him near. Mike offers her a move in nanny position, and though she's hesitant, he makes an offer Rory can't refuse.

Aurora knows she should be honest and upfront about their previous encounter but she convinces herself it can't be him and procrastinates telling him the truth. Mike finds it difficult to trust again after some hard truths he found out about his deceased wife, and yet he continues to grow closer and closer to Aurora. What will happen when the truth comes out and shatters everything he thought he knew?

Let me paint the picture for you: hot single dad who's earnest & caring, allows himself vulnerability and is dedicated to helping his daughter? Sign me up!

Aside for the perfect male specimen as our hero, both lead characters were layered with much to overcome and it was nice to see how they did so both together and apart. I'm such a sucker for likeable characters and practically every single character, side characters included, were very much so. There was something so tender about this couple I can't imagine anyone not falling for them

Thank you to Hachette Audio, Forever Publishing, and NetGalley for an ALC of Canadian Boyfriend by Jenny Holiday. All opinions are my own.

This was my first Jenny Holiday book, but it definitely won’t be my last! I absolutely loved it!

There were so many enjoyable aspects to this story, but here are some of my favorites:

The characters were just so lovely. They felt real with their own personalities and faults, but I just adored each one (except for Aurora’s mother). Mike was so thoughtful, gentle, and not at all a stereotypical hockey player. I loved how good of a father he was to Olivia and how much he cared about Aurora and the other people in his life. Aurora was such a sweetheart, and I loved the relationships she formed with both Mike and Olivia. Also, Aurora’ best friend Gretchen was really fun.

Another aspect of this story that I appreciated was the mental health representation. Multiple characters had therapists to deal with trauma, and it was talked about in a positive light. Also, I thought that the author was delicate with the topic of eating disorders and parental abuse.

I listened to this book as an audiobook, and it was narrated by Joshua Jackson and Emily Ellet. This story was amazing as an audiobook. I loved how the production included sound effects like text message sounds. It really added to the story and made it feel real. The narrator voices also just fit the characters so well, and I appreciated how the narrators fit the tone of the story and added realistic touches such as the sound of yawning.

Overall, I highly recommend this book. It’s especially good if you like meaningful romances with wholesome friendships and character growth.

Canadian Boyfriend is a romance with charming characters who are dealing with some heavy topics. I enjoyed the use of forced proximity in this. I didn't love that the FMC had a whole fake story about the MMC being her boyfriend in high school, or more specifically, I didn't love how often it was brought up and how much of a part it played in the book.

I requested this audiobook because I was excited that Joshua Jackson was narrating and he did not disappoint. Emily Ellet also did a phenomenal job. Having the characters do their own dialogue (even in chapters from the other's point of view) was a really nice production touch.

✨Tropes/themes✨
🔘Slow Burn
🔘Single dad
🔘Friends to lovers
🔘Mental health themes
🔘Hockey player

Jenny Holiday skillfully depicts the journey of Aurora and Mike Martin as they navigate their way through a challenging phase in their lives, showcasing the power of healing and personal growth in this heartwarming romantic comedy that also explores the topic of mental health.

Last year, I had the pleasure of reading Canadian Boyfriend, and when I discovered that Hachette Audio was going to release the audiobook version, I couldn't resist delving back into this incredible story.

In this particular audiobook, we are treated to a duet narration performed by Emily Ellet and Joshua Jackson. Their collaboration was nothing short of perfection. Emily Ellet captures the essence of the story effortlessly and delves deep into the hearts of the characters, while Joshua Jackson adds an endearing charm to the portrayal of Mike Martin.

I wholeheartedly recommend this audiobook to romance listeners. The duet narration complements the story impeccably, adding an extra layer of emotional depth.

Thank you, Hachette Audio and NetGalley, for providing me with an advance audio copy. All opinions expressed here are entirely my own.

The perfect combination of hockey, ballet, laughs, tears, and a little bit of steam, Canadian Boyfriend by Jenny Holiday just became one of my new favorites!
I absolutely delighted in this audio version and found myself sucked into the story of Rory and Mike from the very start.

A previous ballet dancer, Rory now teaches dance at a small studio. Much to her mother’s disappointment, she felt the environment of professional ballet just wasn’t for her (stress, eating disorders, health).

Mike plays pro hockey, while his 11-year-old daughter Olivia loves to dance. After the tragic loss of his wife in a car accident, both him and Olivia are struggling through their grief and learning how to take on new roles with each other. Which includes him now taking her to dance, where he meets her teacher, Rory.

This is a beautiful romcom story of hardship, healing, family, lovable characters, and just a little steam.

If you’re looking for a warm hug feel-good book, I highly recommend Canadian Boyfriend.

The audio graphic style version was excellent, with dual narrators that truly captured the essence of their characters.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hachette Audio for this advanced audio in return for my honest review.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Pub date 30 Jan 2024

I really enjoyed the narration on this one, I found that both narrators did a good job. Also, I enjoyed that they were doing their own voices in the others chapters, but unfortunately I didn't like the story at all and I couldn't get into it at all. I just didn't feel a connection to the characters or to them together. I had to DNF at 25%.

I'm going to start with what I liked. The narration (especially Joshua Jackson!!) is great. I like the new trend of allowing the male and female narrators to voice the dialogue in the other character's chapters. It is leaps and bounds better than hearing a woman try and mimic a man's voice, which usually sounds like she's making fun of him. The characters are both likable. It's a nice exploration of some heavier topics (grief, parental abuse), and even though it gets kind of dark, it's never overwhelmingly so. The ending is happy and sweet.

Now, what I didn't like. Why on earth does the FMC insist on referring to the MMC as his full name (Mike Martin) for two whole years??? What a weird thing to do. It's also way too long both as a book and the period of time that that story unfolds. And the "miscommunication" that leads to a break up is beyond dumb. Even though it's the premise of the book, but it could have been handled so much better. And then we tie up the loose ends VERY quickly!!

Anyways, a fun listen, an easy enough read. 3 stars. Thanks to NetGalley and Hachette Audio for the ALC.

I really enjoyed listening to this rom com - it tackles a lot of real world issues that many rom coms shy away from, and I thought it did so very well.

As a teenager, Aurora (Rory) made up a fantasy Canadian boyfriend based on a guy she had an interaction with while working at the mall. Fast forward to Rory as an adult, working as a dance teacher, who meets the dad of one of her students and is sure he must be the same guy she met in passing as a teenager. Mike has recently lost his wife and hires Rory to help with his daughter while he's out of town for hockey, and Rory and Mike grow close as a result.

I loved Rory, Olivia, and Mike. They were all great, very well developed characters and I had so much empathy for each of them. I loved seeing Rory's growth in regards to food, herself, and her mother - and seeing her stand up for herself was so heartwarming. The chemistry between Rory and Mike was great, and I liked the anticipation and build-up.

This book approaches some very real issues -- losing a parent / spouse, eating disorders, and panic attacks and anxiety. I thought it handled all these topics very well, authentically and realistically. There is so much discussion of therapy which I loved, as well as techniques that Rory used for managing her panic attacks. There's also an ongoing discussion about emotional labor and running a household, which I loved to hear in a rom com! So important to talk about.

I listen to quite a lot of audio books, and this was the first one I've listened to where the narrators traded off throughout a chapter, not from chapter to chapter. When one character speaks, it is in that narrator's voice, instead of just sticking with one narrator per chapter. At first I found this somewhat distracting but once I got used to it I enjoyed it and it enhanced the audio. To be honest, part of the reason I was drawn to the audio was Joshua Jackson and he was great! I loved listening to him and he should definitely narrate more books. I had never listened to Emily Ellet before but I enjoyed her voice and way of narrating as well.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book!

Mike and Rory's paths cross again after many years, tracing back to their initial encounter when she worked at a coffee shop as a teenager and developed a secret crush towards him. Mike, now a widower navigating the complexities of raising his daughter and grappling with revelations about his late wife, develops a fondness for Rory, now his daughter's ballet teacher.

The overall story is great, but I personally hit a bump during the second half where some things started to feel repetitive or rushed. The discussion in the third act was a letdown for me. The story tackles some serious topics (I recommend checking the trigger warnings beforehand), and those segments were exceptionally well-executed.

The audiobook was great tho, the narrators did an excellent job, the voices were on point and it all felt very smooth. They both together in an incredible way to bring these characters emotions and feelings to life.

3.5/5

I really enjoyed Jenny Holiday’s Canadian Boyfriend. It was so creative and well written, I loved finding out how Aurora and Mike’s love story unfolded. While it deals with heavy topics such as the loss of a spouse, eating disorders, and toxic parenting, it was also very humorous and light hearted. Mike is a single dad and professional hockey player, and Aurora is his daughter’s dance teacher, but there is so much more to it than that! I thought Aurora was an amazing FMC. Mike was great too, but the only thing I didn’t like was that, although his therapist told him he was highly emotionally intelligent, he didn’t really display that with Aurora.

🎧When I heard the male narration was performed by Joshua Jackson, I couldn’t get my hands on this audiobook fast enough! And the dual POV narration was indeed as fantastic as I thought it would be, I loved Emily Ellet’s performance as well 👏🏼

Thank you to NetGalley and Hachette Audio for this ALC!

I thought the concept of this book sounded a bit silly but I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked it! This book feels like reminiscing about your childhood with old friends while continuing to learn & grow as a person. Being an adult is hard. Breaking old habits of people pleasing and being too agreeable is hard. Losing your wife in a tragic accident and raising a preteen daughter is hard. Aurora and Mike were fantastic characters and tackle these challenges head-on while leaning on each other for support.

Years ago, Aurora ‘met’ Mike while working at the mall of America in her teens. She only knew his name was Mike and that he was Canadian. As a lonely teen trying to find a bright spot in her life, she makes up the ‘fake boyfriend’ card and starts writing to Mike to help her cope with the stressors in her life. Fast forward years later, the infamous Mike is no other than Mike Martin, NHL star and dad of Olivia who is a student in Rory’s dance class. Mike hires Aurora to help with Olivia which turns into an impromptu move-in, a closer bond formed, and a whole lot of forced proximity.

Joshua Jackson and Emily Ellet did a fantastic job at narrating this! It felt like these characters were written for them. The inflection in their voice and the way they took every chapter and made it their own made this so much more enjoyable. Highly recommend the audiobook!

The content was good and I liked the storyline. The pacing of the book was great and I felt connected to all the characters. This truly felt like a movie in my head! I couldn’t get into Aurora calling mike, “Mike Martin” about 50 times a chapter but the inner monologue component was very well done.

Overall, the was a great feel-good rom-com with low stakes and deeper topics involved. Thank you NetGalley, Hachette Audio, and Jenny Holiday for the ARC/ALC!

read if you like:
🏒 hockey romance
🏒 healthy communication
🏒 hallmark vibes
🏒 single dad x dance teacher

This book was a fun read!

I really liked the development of Mike and Rory's relationship. It starts out with Mike grieving the loss of his late wife who died in a tragic accident. He is trying to make his daughters life as full of joy as he can and one of the ways in which he does this is by continuing her dance lessons with Rory, a ballet school dropout.
Rory has been a bit of an outcast all her life. When she was a kid, she worked at a coffee shop in her local mall. This is where she met Mike Martin for the first time. He was just passing through for hockey but she had an instant crush on him. This crush turned into a fictional boyfriend who make her hard days a little brighter. It also made her feel less alone despite her only having only one encounter with Mike Martin. That is until he walks into the dance studio she works at years later...

What I liked:
How loving Mike is towards is daughter. Their character development was great.
The discussion of how toxic ballet culture is especially when it comes to food.
How Rory and Mike find safety in one another and can rely on each other in a way neither of them thought possible.
The way Mike is vulnerable with his feelings and is so honest.
The mention of therapy and how important and useful it can be.
How supportive Mike is of Rory. He truly loves and appreciates her.
Rory's letters to Mike from her childhood.
The narration. They did a fantastic job with this and I enjoyed listening to them narrate the story.

What I didn't like:
The way Rory called Mike "Mike Martin" every time she mentioned him in her head. It was so annoying and weird.
How Mike reacted to Rory's secret. He acted like she stole his identity and then plotted his demise. It was very overdramatic and rushed. What Rory did was hardly a big enough deal to react they way he did.

Overall I would rate this book a 3.5/5

There were times this story had me rolling my eyes (which I think is common with romances) but there were also moments where I was smiling and could really believe they were falling in love.
I felt like each character had appropriate development for the timeframe of the story and could genuinely believe they stayed together in the end.

I really enjoyed the audiobook narration and appreciated the TW at the beginning. I felt like there was enough mention of ED to further the story without being too gratuitous.

“You. You, are so much better than the idea of you.”

Canadian Boyfriend may outwardly seem like a fun hockey romance, but once you get to the guts of it all it’s a story about two people falling for each other while they separately navigate different kinds of grief and heal from traumas in their lives. It’s a pretty slow burn/low spice read, but the audio version of the book was entertaining and so easy to visualize as a movie. I think that this story definitely leans more heavily to the individual journeys of the main characters healing and moving toward love than an actual romance heavy read. Don’t get me wrong, it’s romance, but it’s definitely character driven and focused on Rory and Mike’s growth to a place where they can fall in love.

Aurora/Rory is one of the dance teachers at Mike’s daughter’s dance school. Not just any teacher though, she’s Olivia’s favorite teacher. Mike is the recently widowed pro-hockey playing father, who is trying to navigate the loss of his wife and helping his daughter navigate life and that loss as well. All of this while these two come together and start to fall in love, unintentionally. Oh and unknown to Mike and uncertain to Aurora, they may have a past and some secrets to be revealed.

Emily Ellet and Joshua Jackson did a great job bringing Mike and Aurora’s story to life with their dual narration. The pain, joy, healing, friendship, and love these two characters felt on their own and with each other was translated well in the audio version of this story. Plus, it doesn’t hurt that I had to add Pacey Witter narrating a spicy scene to my 2024 Bingo card.

I would recommend the audio of Canadian Boyfriend to people who enjoy character driven stories where they work on healing and growing while they fall in love.

Canadian boyfriend

This was a 3.5 star read for me. You have a hockey star, single dad and a dance instructor who grew up in a controlling household. The chemistry was cute between the two and it was an overall light-hearted read.

Where it felt short, in my opinion:
1.) her “big secret/lie” was silly and not even a lie to begin with. It’s just that she had met him many years ago, one time, and had a crush on him. Whoop-de-do. However, the fake letters she wrote to and from him during those high school years were a little creepy, I’ll be honest.

2.) The guy’s name is Mike Martin and that name is spoken at least 100 times in a matter of 15 minutes. That 76-79% mark in the book about did me in.

Narrators- both were great and made the story more interesting

Thank you NetGalley and Hackett Audio for
This ARC in exchange for an honest review.

AUDIOBOOK REVIEW 🎧

Canadian Boyfriend by Jenny Holiday
Pub Date: Jan. 30th
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Thanks @netgalley and @hachetteaudio for the audiobook!

Synopsis: When Rory was in high school working at the mall, she met a cute hockey player from Canada named Mike. She turned him into her fake Canadian boyfriend; no harm right? It’s not like she would ever see him again. That is until years later when pro hockey player Mike Martin’s daughter is in Rory’s dance class. He couldn’t possibly be HER Mike, could he?

Thoughts: This was a great feel-good romcom with a lot of heart and depth. I was expecting a typical hockey romance, but it was so much more. Both Mike and Rory had a lot of baggage to overcome, and I thought the author dealt with it in a very real, therapy-positive way. The chemistry and relationship between them was believable and sweet, and I was absolutely rooting for them the entire time. There was also a wonderful cast of their family and friends that really rounded out the story. I have two tiny complaints. One, the FMC used the MMC’s first and last name constantly, which was weirdly grating after awhile. Two, there was a point of conflict that I felt the reaction to was overblown - I just didn’t resonate with it emotionally and wouldn’t have thought it was a big deal personally (if you’ve read it let me know how you felt!) Overall though, I loved it and can easily see it being one of my favorite romances of the year! The audio was FANTASTIC. When I heard it was narrated by Joshua Jackson, I RAN to grab it. And let me tell you, it was worth it - it was like the character was written for him. Both narrators were excellent, and I highly recommend checking out the audio for this one.
TW: death of a spouse/parent, eating disorders

Read this if you like:
🏒 hockey
🩰 ballet
🏒 single dad
🩰 friends to lovers
🏒 slow burn
🩰 heartwarming rom-coms

The concept of this book sounded a little silly to me, but I thought it worked really well. As with a lot of contemporary romances, there are bits you have to suspend disbelief for, but there are also a lot of very real and heavy topics (grief, disordered eating, growing up with an almond mom, etc). I was actually surprised by how deeply some of these topics were explored and how well they were handled. The growth of both of our main characters was so great to read and I loved the growth of their friendship.

I thought the pacing of this book was good, and I really liked that even though it was dual POV we didn't just get rehashing of the same scenes in each POV. The author did a great job of each character's inner monologue and I really loved both of our MCs. The only thing that bothered me was how Aurora only calls the MMC "Mike Martin". Every time she mentions him (which is often) it's using his full name, and that was a little irksome to me.

I combined audio/eyeball reading for this book, and it worked out really well. This book's narration was *chef's kiss* perfection. Both narrators were amazing, and really brought the characters to life. I also loved the choice of having each narrator say all their dialogue/text lines, even when it wasn't their POV. I wish more books did this!!! I will definitely listen to anything Joshua Jackson or Emily Ellet narrates.

Thanks to Hachette Audio and Forever for this ALC/ARC!

When I say I binged the audiobook of Canadian Boyfriend, I mean I BINGED it. I stopped listening only when I absolutely had to do something else--like interact with my kids or sleep. The one weird thing, I will say, is that because I know Joshua Jackson from his Dawson's Creek days, it felt a teensy bit like Pacey was narrating the audiobook. (Which wasn't a bad thing, fyi.) Emily Ellet delivers the female half of the narration, and she did a GREAT job, too. I loved how the narration was actually integrated together--they "spoke" their lines, in each POV.

Aurora first meets Mike Martin at a coffee shop in the Mall of the Americas as a teenager. He was a Canadian hockey player; she was a ballerina, stressed and friendless. So she turns this guy she met once into her fake Canadian boyfriend. She writes him letters (which are basically just a diary of her thoughts) until the day she decides to quit ballet--then she decides she doesn't need the fake boyfriend anymore.

Fast forward 13 years, and she comes face to face with an older version of the same young man--only this time he's a widower and the father of one of her dance students. They strike up a friendship, and as they get closer, she knows she should confess that they actually met once before and come clean about how she turned the idea of him into her fake boyfriend--but enough time passes that it gets awkward, so she just keeps it to herself.

She ultimately ends up being a sort of live in nanny for his daughter, and her friendship with Mike turns into something more--but can it survive when he finds out the truth?

While the plot may seem a little cheesy--who *actually* creates an entirely fake boyfriend based on one random encounter?--I actually loved the story, start to finish. Therapy is normalized from the beginning. Mike and his daughter are both in therapy, dealing with the loss of their wife and mother respectively. And Mike encourages Aurora to start therapy herself when he realizes that she sometimes has panic attacks. She also has a distorted relationship with food thanks to her mother and her years spent as a ballerina, starving herself to achieve that perfect ballerina body. I was so proud of her (yes--it felt a little strange to feel THIS proud of a fictional character) but because of my own journey with disordered eating, seeing her work through it and also set firm boundaries with her mother was amazing.

I was also relieved that the third act break up didn't last *too* long. They eventually realized that maybe they both made mistakes and needed to talk to each other like grown-ups.

I don't typically do star ratings, but if I did, I'd give this one 4 very bright, shiny stars.