Book Review: Canadian Boyfriend by Jenny Holiday

Rating: ★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 384 pages
Author: Jenny Holiday
Publisher: Forever Books
Release Date: January 30th, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A charming and heartfelt romance about a woman who comes face to face with the fake Canadian boyfriend she made up as a teenager.

The fake Canadian boyfriend. It’s a thing. The get out of jail free card for all kinds of sticky social situations. “I can’t go to prom; I’m going to be out of town visiting my boyfriend in Canada.” It’s all over pop culture. But Aurora Evans did it first. Once upon a time she met a teenage hockey player at the Mall of America. He was from Canada. He was a boy. She may have fudged the “friend” part a little, but it wasn’t like she was ever going to see him again. It wasn’t like she hurt anyone. Until she did—years later—on both counts.

When pro hockey player and recent widower Mike Martin walks into the dance studio where Aurora Evans teaches, he’s feeling overwhelmed with the fact that his wife may not have been exactly who he thought she was and the logistics of going back to work. As one of the few people his angry, heartbroken daughter connects with, Aurora agrees to be a pseudo nanny to help him navigate the upcoming school year and hockey season. To his surprise, she turns out to be the perfect balm for him as well. Aurora gets him. The real him underneath his pro jersey. And yet, he still finds himself holding back, unable to fully trust again—especially when he finds out the secret Aurora’s been hiding from him.

SO CLOSE.

I have found myself disappointed again, and this started off so strong?! I was smitten with the plot set-up and characters. I always love a hockey aspect and this was giving me everything I was looking for…until it didn’t.

This book felt way too long. Every time I thought we were getting closer to those ending moments I would check and still have way too much time left in my book. And the third act (that came at 90%+)??? Are you kidding me??? Mike got way too upset about what happened and blew everything so out of proportion. For being so endearing for the majority of the book this was not it.

Also, WHY DID AURORA ONLY CALL HIM MIKE MARTIN? Why the entire dang book did she use his full name? Drove me nuts.

There were some good thoughts and themes I appreciated throughout. Some tough conversations and therapy positivity. I enjoyed much of this but was letdown too.

Overall audience notes:

Contemporary Romance
Language: some strong
Romance: 3+ open; moderate explicit
Trigger/Content Warnings: loss of a spouse (theme throughout), discussions of eating disorders, panic attacks, anxiety