Canadian Boyfriend is a sweet story. I was not expecting all of the psychological reflection, but I liked it. I think it was nice to see Mike, Aurora, and Olivia process all of the trauma and grief they had experienced. It was great to see all the character development and I liked the ending.

A heartfelt slow-burn romance featuring a dance teacher and a widowed NHL player, layered with grief, mental health themes, and the lingering impact of teenage white lies—a charming blend that healthcare meets hockey fans will adore.

This is a super cute rom-com hockey romance! If you like an easy quick read with laugh out loud cute moments, I definitely recommend.

This is actually my first ever hockey romance, and it snuck in on me! I was so smitten by the title, they got me. I loved these characters, and the ballet storyline was so relatable to someone who has given up a lot for a sport.

On paper, Canadian Boyfriend shouldn't have worked for me. It's heavy on emotional growth, second chances, and deep personal healing—typically not my preferred lane. And yet, somehow, I loved it.

The story follows Aurora, a former ballerina turned dance teacher, whose lifelong imaginary boyfriend—used to dodge awkward teen moments—turns out to be very real and very much in her life now. Mike, a widowed hockey player and single dad, walks into her studio and straight into the emotional mess she’s tried to keep buried.

This book surprised me with how well it balanced emotional depth with lightness. There’s real tenderness in how trauma, grief, and anxiety are portrayed, especially through Aurora’s panic and eating disorders and Mike’s grief over his late wife. Their friendship is built slowly and thoughtfully, and the romance develops in a way that feels earned. The writing is heartfelt without being too sentimental, and there’s just enough of the trademark witty banter to keep it grounded.

Is the premise a little wild? Sure. But the emotional payoff is worth it. Canadian Boyfriend is a reminder that sometimes, the books you don’t expect to love are the ones that stay with you the longest.

I work for the publisher so I am inherently biased. I am a Holiday fan girl. I really loved this book though. Love the whole "I'll help out with your kid" thing. Holiday made it not weird and addressed some power dynamic issues.

A super cute story but it drove me insane that she only referred to him but his first and last name.

Overall I really enjoyed this book. It did start a little slow for me and I was wanting to get to the feelings Mike Martin and Aurora would have for each other sooner. They both seemed to deny it longer than I anticipated. I liked how prevalent therapy was in this book. It’s nice to see it showcase how it helped them in very different situations. I wasn’t a big fan of the reaction to Aurora’s letters to the fake boyfriend she invented, however, this doesn’t take away from my like of the book. I would definitely recommend this book to hockey romance lovers. However, there’s isn’t much of a hockey aspect to it other than it being mentioned that it’s Mike Martin’s profession. I would rate this book a 4/5.

Thanks to Forever for the eARC; all opinions are my own.

This is another fun book from Jenny Holiday and as a Canadian, I loved all the Canadian references!
It was a bit weird to for the MMC, Mike Martin, to be referred to as Mike Martin for the vast majority of the book, even by the FMC. I understand it was a stylistic choice by the author, but because of how unusual it was, it did take me out of the story a few times, wondering if it was a typo.

The book relies heavily on miscommunication, or perhaps better to say, deliberate omission of information that would greatly impact on the burgeoning relationship between Aurora and Mike. This left me frustrated at times, and I totally get why Mike reacted when he did when Aurora revealed all the letters. The make-up worked out well, so I'm glad they got their HEA.

Thank you for the review copy! This is a cute read that would be a good option for sports romance enthusiasts.

I could not put this book down! Jenny Holiday is always on my MUST BUY list and this book is no different. She writes wonderful stories full of romance and real life. The stories are never rushed and everything just FITs in the end,

Thank you to Netgalley and Forever Romance for the opportunity to review this book. This is a book that is romantic, but also more often than not, there were a lot more life lessons learned and presented. For instance, there is a lot of grief discussion, parental verbal abuse, eating disorder discussion, and hot and cold discussion between the two leads. There is also a lot of therapeutic/therapy discussion, which is refreshing as someone who is also attending therapy. I also appreciated that there was no rush in the story, but not a lot of people would appreciate that.  I think, though, it's not one that I'm going to recommend for everyone because of how full of depth it is, but I am intrigued by other books by this author. Because of these points, I have to give this 4 out of 5 stars.

I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. This book was similar to every other hockey book that I have read in the past.

Canadian Boyfriend was a cute story, but there were a couple things that held me back from loving it. For one, I had the thought, “If I read “Mike Martin” one more time, I’m going to lose my mind,” at least two dozen times. For someone who didn’t care about his “famous” status, our FMC literally always used his full name. Second,—the much bigger issue—the primary conflict felt so overblown. These characters are adults, but they both acted like high schoolers regarding the main conflict. For a story with so much focus on personal growth, that major plot point felt very immature. And a minor thing: it feels like cheating to write a romance and skip over the couple’s first kiss; that’s a letdown. But I will say, this is one of the most unique proposals I’ve read, and the epilogue was a nice conclusion.

After I got through the first chapter with all of the very stereotypical Canadian references I snuggled into their romance novel. It is a sports romance with a single father hockey player and a dancer (who is the dance teacher of his daughter). Romance isn’t always my favourite genre but i liked this one because it wasn’t like all the rest - it had honest conversations, healthy adult feelings and of course love.

Thank you to the publisher for the review copy! I just couldn't get in the mood for this one, but I do love this author!

This book had me at fake dating, ballet and hockey! I loved the idea that the two main characters had met at one time in their past and then reconnected, even if they didn't know it at first. Mike was a sweet character who is navigating life with his daughter after losing his wife. Aurora also tugged at my heartstrings while I read this story, I could feel some of her struggles so vividly. I loved watching their connection and friendship unfolding on the pages that rooting for them just seemed so natural. Jenny Holiday makes the characters and the story so relatable and realistic that I felt like I was walking alongside both Mike and Aurora. Thank you to Forever Pub for a copy! All thoughts and opinions are my own!

This was such a fun read! I thought the lead characters were really sweet together. You can never go wrong with a hockey romance! Thanks Forever Pub for the copy 💕

I loved this book so much I bought the paperback when it came out, thats incredibly reflective on how good a book is for me. Mike and Rory were SOOOO cute and even though the whole "Canadian boyfriend" plot was a small side story it didn't matter at all. I will eat up a rekindled romance and this one served! The connection between Mike and Rory was so deep and personal. you really found yourself rooting for them from the get go. I cant wait to read more from his author!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! I was rooting for them every step of the way. I fell in love with the characters and hope to read more about them in the future!