*Banging my head on the table*

I wanted to love this book so much more than I did. It is literally right up my ally being an Elle Kennedy & Meghan Quinn long time reader. I was expecting The Deal vibes and Right Man, Right Time. And in some aspects we got that with him being a hockey player and her being a dance teacher, them having their meet cute, and ultimately the single dad trope that we all know I love.

I lived for those parts of the book, but it stopped there for me. I didn't really love the characters, simply because I felt like there was so much going on in their own lives, that in the span of the book I don't know that I felt it was all resolved for them to get their happily ever after. I think I needed more time for them to heal, even though this is very much a slow burn type story, I don't think Mike was fully healed and redeemed himself by the end. I found myself still upset with him by the end of it still.

The premise was amazing, the story was great, and I think I'll focus on those being what I liked about it!

Thank you NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you Netgalley for the e-ARC. This book features some of my very favourite tropes:
- single dad
- forced proximity
- sports romance
- letter writing
There’s a lot of emotional maturity by the end of this book. I love books that show mental healthcare is just as important as physical healthcare. There are some really profound pearls of wisdom in here. I also love when adoptive parents in books show how powerful that relationship can be. Blood doesn’t make the family, love does.
Now as a Canadian there were some things I found irritating. Mike was cliché Canadian. In the 34 years I’ve lived here I’ve never met someone who calls a couch a “chesterfield”. Also the “eh?” thing is really infrequent. His dad works for Tim Horten’s?? Come on! I get that it’s a romcom but it was over the top is an annoying way. Still, I enjoyed the characters and the story.

Canadian Boyfriend by Jenny Holiday is a deeply heartfelt, emotional, smart and tender and sexy novel. It covers a lot of heavy topics, but Holiday is an absolute master at balancing heavy subjects with light banter and sexual attraction. I absolutely loved this novel. Oh, and the epilogue- chef's kiss!!! Highly recommend!

First off, I'm so glad the cover was updated because the first one made zero sense. Second of all, this book made me cry on an airplane. The emotional core of the romance is really well done. Third of all, there's a small side plot about the Little House books/show and it's strange to me that there wasn't even a nod to the parts of LHOTP that are racist. A bit of context could go a long way, I think, especially since there's a tween character involved. So there's that. Fourthly, this book made me miss nanaimo bars and butter tarts.

This book was really cute! I'm generally not the biggest fan of contemporary romance novels. But being a Canadian - I needed to read it! I really enjoyed the banter and dynamics between the characters. And I really liked Aurora (Rory), I thought her character was developed well and I enjoyed learning about her history with ED's and toxic parents. This is something I struggle with, and it was a good perspective. They dynamic between hockey and ballet was really good too. I liked the dichotomy between the two sports and how that played into the personalities of the characters. I found Mike's character a little flat - but loved his daughter.

This is my favorite Jenny a holiday book so far. It was a quick read but had some depth to it. Fun to see the character growth. It was emotional and realistic. Would be great for discussions.

The title sounds like the set-up for a cheesy joke right? "Oh I totally have a boyfriend, but he lives in Canada." However, 𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐀𝐃𝐈𝐀𝐍 𝐁𝐎𝐘𝐅𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐃 (Pub 01.30) is far from cheesy. It is a lovely contemporary romance with heft. Thank you to Forever Grand Central Publication and Netgalley for the early copy.

𝗪𝐇𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝗪𝐎𝐑𝐊𝐄𝐃 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐌𝐄:
- Set in MN. Love love love.
- Aurora spent her childhood on her way to being a prima ballerina. Now she teaches at a dance studio in a strip mall.
- Mike is a pro hockey player and a recent widower with a young daughter, Olivia who takes dance lessons with Aurora.
- Each of them are working towards reclaiming joy- alone and together.
- A bit of forced proximity.
- Made me laugh and made me swoon.
- Normalizing growth through therapy (grief, anxiety, eating)
- Epistolary elements (journaling, texts, and letters)
- Sexy but not overly steamy.

But it's so much more than a love story, their healing journey truly brought out the best in each other and the way they supported each other was positively endearing. The ending was so delightfully cinema-ready and I loved it!

One caveat- Both Rory and Mike's internal dialogue would refer to the other by their first and last name. It's cute, but 'Mike Martin' shows up 272 times. Yes- I searched for the number. It was fine in print but would have grated on audio.

NOTE: References to disordered eating and death of a spouse that happened in events before the start of this book.

4 1/2 stars

I don't want to say this is an "adorable" or "whimsical" or "cute" love story because I feel like that'd be doing the story a disservice. This is a heavy-duty, hard work love story.

Both Mike and Rory have A LOT of baggage to unpack from their previous relationships and lives before they officially meet (again) as adults. However, they both do the hard work and start to turn themselves into the people they want to be and into people who have processed their trauma. This book really made me feel like I myself was in therapy and I highlighted so many passages that were helpful to my personal life at the moment.

I'm not normally one to tear up in a book, but this one gave me lump in my throat for sure. I can say this is a full-circle, beautiful, well-deserved love story. I'm a little sad that Jenny said that this is going to be her only sports romance, because she's good at it. I honestly can't wait to read Gretchen's book next.

"It's funny how sometimes things that seem like they're bad at the time end up making the best memories."

"I guess the thing is to remember that while it might be true that you weren't good enough, it's not a moral statement."

"When you're having doubts...about behaviors or desires...it can be useful to ask what the source of those feelings is. Is it you, or is it an idea you have about how society, or people in your life, are going to react."

I docked it 1/2 a star for the below reasons.
1. I get the reasoning behind it, but I couldn't get over the fact that in her head, whenever talking about him to herself, Rory referred to Mike as "Mike Martin." The whole name thing really started to get to me by the end of the book. It makes sense and I figured it'd stop after they declared their love for each other, but it kept going the entire book.
2. I don't think the whole "lying about meeting him in passing once 13 years ago and pretended he was her boyfriend and wrote to her like he was her diary" is really THAT big of a deal. Like I get he had to over react about something. I get that with Mike specifically this is something that he would think is a big deal. This is something Rory would know he would think is a big deal. However, I (personally and as a reader) don't think it's a big deal, so it made the ending just a little on the sillier side for me. Also, did she even have to tell him? How is it he would even find out? Like that's how not a bit deal it is to me. I think it's not something she even needed to tell him, but, again, that's just me.

Thank you Netgalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for an Advanced e-copy of this book. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This book marries two of my favorite sports: hockey and dance. It definitely isn't a fluffy light romance. There are so many good things discussed in this novel: emotional labor in relationships, grief trauma, how having a body that dances means you have a dance body, etc.

I loved the banter and the dad/ daughter relationship.

I really enjoyed this book. It's been a while since I read a sports (hockey) romance and probably wouldn't have picked it up for the hockey aspect only. I was intrigued by the ballet dancer heroine and hockey player hero couple.

This is not an easy romance, but it is hopeful. The hero recently lost his wife and is suddenly a single dad - the grief, OMG the grief was so deep and heart-breaking, especially from the point of view of his daughter.

With Aurora (Rory), we have the panic attacks, the eating disorder, the toxic parent - everything that nearly killed her physically and emotionally.

Their relationship started as tentative human contact, going through friendship and helping each other through tough times. I really appreciate the slow development of feelings, both Mike and Aurora were dealing with serious trauma and trying to rebuild their lives. So much emotion that I found relatable.

I liked the secondary characters, Mike's daughter who is 11, the same age as my own daughter, was brilliantly done.

There was just enough hockey and ballet/dancing without it taking the focus away from a very character-driven story. It is an inner-conflict type of romance despite the fact that she was working for him as a kind of nanny and living in his house.

What stood out for me in this story was the slow pace, allowing both Mike and Aurora time to heal (with the help of a lot of counselling), to move on with their lives. Their intimacy happened slowly, naturally, without grand proclamations and promises for forever. They both knew they had a lot of work ahead to try to be together as a couple and raise Mike's daughter together.

Now, on the second chance element of the romance. This really was the weakest element in the story for me. Without giving away too many spoilers, I would say I understand why she did what she did in the past and I think he overreacted. No lies is a fundamental element for any relationship, made even more sensitive if you have been lied to before but the situation with Aurora was different. And he already had come to understand better the actions of his dead wife. He was really too harsh, unnecessarily so.

They did clear things between them, and it was tender and romantic and the epilogue was just perfect. It would have been a 5-star read if not for Mike's reaction/harsh words in that particular situation.

CW: eating disorder, panic attacks, grief, loss of a wife/mother in a car accident,

3.5 stars. I really enjoyed this book and its cast of characters. I think the aspects of grief and mental health were well done and it’s hard not to root for Aurora and Mike. I was not a big fan of the third act breakup scene as from what I could tell, Aurora never explicitly explains to Mike that those letters were from when they were very young and he freaks out as if she was only writing about him and thinking of him because of who he was which was not the case. Will definitely still be recommending this as a quick romance read as I still enjoyed it and I think other romance lovers will as well

I wanted to love this one more than I did. I mean hockey romance? Literally my whole entire TBR right now. The synopsis looked amazing! And I hate to say it but it just kinda fell flat for me.

First off, our MC's name? Oh, it's Mike Martin. And I promise you didn't have to look it up because it was said 78999992 times in this book. Just like that. Mike Martin. Who's that over there? Mike Martin. It was very odd for Aurora to keep calling this man his whole government name everywhere. In her head. Out loud. When described, he's always Mike Martin. I'm still unsure of the purpose of that, if there even was one.

Second, I just couldn't get into it. The eating disorder and grief representations were done with care and kindness, but it just didn't feel genuine. One second Mike Martin is so deep in grief he feels he can't breathe and the next boom! Engaged! It just felt entirely rushed with absolutely no chemistry between the characters. I mean they laugh during sex. Which trust me is fun and amazing with the right partner, but the way it was described I just picture her hyena laughing and him smiling away. And why everytime he smiles does the author right after go "click click click". I understand it's how his smile was first described but goodness I got it the first time!

This was my first Jenny Holiday book so this could just be her writing style and it's something I'm not used to. 🤷🏻‍♀️ It just wasn't for me.

I received an advanced copy for free and am leaving this review voluntarily. Thank you to NetGalley, Forever Grand Central, and Jenny Holiday. 🩷

This book was intense, to put it simply. Though I went in thinking it'd be a light romance, I ended up staring mental health and self-reflection in the face. As someone who's walked away from emotional abuse, body image issues, and grief from a loss of someone close, this whole book was a lot.

Let's start with the strongest part of the story - the positive therapy rep. Holy heck, the therapy rep was perfect. I loved that both MCs were so open about their therapy journeys, and that they told each other stuff they've learned in order to help one another grow. While some books feel preachy, the conversations about therapy and sharing therapy-isms was organic and both characters were receptive to changing and growing. As Mike kept saying, they were both coachable and I loved both his and Rory's growth through the story.

The romance was also organic and cute. I appreciated that the story takes place basically over two years (three, if you count the kind of epilogue), so you really saw them growing and falling in love over time. Yes, there was an instant zing, but beyond that this story was definitely a friends-to-lovers.

I also liked how we got some insight into Rory when she was younger through her letters to her Canadian Boyfriend. I also liked how those letters came into play through the book and within her real relationship to Mike. While I wish there hadn't been a third-act breakup, I think they both needed it for different reasons, and I loved that those reasons are clearly drawn out for us. It wasn't a miscommunication, it was growth, and it was a breath of fresh air.

There were a couple things that did bother me a bit - I wish that they had more time with their friends doing their individual growth. I wanted to see them have fuller lives (though that was also part of the whole healing process for them). That being said, hopefully we'll see more of them in Gretchen's book living their best lives. I also found some of the vocabulary jarring. This is my first book by Holiday so I don't know what her vocab quirks are, but this is the first time I've seen a number of words used in such quantity. It might be the uniqueness of the terms (logjam, woo-woo, schmaltzy), but their repetition stood out and gave the story character but was also mildly distracting. Weird thing to be hung up on, I know, but it's still there.

All in all, this book is definitely a new favourite of mine. Canadian Boyfriend was soft, sentimental, and full of healing. I learned a lot from this book, and while it was heavier than I expected, I ended up adoring every part of it.

TW: grief, emotional abuse, eating disorder, body shaming, panic attack/anxiety (not full blown, not fully on page), death, death of a parent, sexual content (not super descriptive), cursing, alcohol; mentions car accident, pregnancy, injury detail

Plot: 4/5
Characters: 5/5
World Building: 4.5/5
Writing: 4.5/5
Pacing: 5/5
Overall: 4.5/5

eARC gifted via NetGalley by Forever in exchange for an honest review.

Hey I wonder what our MMCs names is?? Maybe Mike Martin, that was said 2084094 million times. Other than the characters using first and last names I didn't hate this. It was a cute single dad romcom with just a bit of spice. I didn't love the main conflict but I do love a rich hockey man so a lot was forgiven.

4.5 rounded up to 5 stars as I was more than willing to look past the flaws inherent in the miscommunication trope with the twist Jenny Holiday added to the third act.

Aurora invented a Canadian Boyfriend after a chance encounter at the Mall of America. Writing letters to Mike helped her cope with the pressure of ballet school in New York City. So imagine her surprise when someone who reminds her of Mike comes walking through the door of her dance class years later. Mike has recently lost his wife and is still struggling through his grief, but when he sees how much his daughter Olivia loves dance class with Miss Aurora, he latches onto that joy as a lifeline for the both of them. But what happens when Mike and Aurora begin developing feelings for each other?

This book was like cat nip. There were so many little moments that left me with an emotional high. Aurora standing up for herself. Mike working out what he wants. Aurora finding her way back to ballet. Mike rediscovering joy. And that's just scratching the surface. I don't want to give away too many specifics, so you'll just have to read. But this book packs a pro-growth, pro-therapy emotional healing arc for both characters and it is glorious.

The romance is so well done. I'm not a fan of the miscommunication trope, but the way it was woven together with their insecurities and linked to their growth compensated for it. I highly recommend this one.

3.5 stars rounded up!

This book was really cute. You meet this guy at a mall, think he’s super cute. Part ways and then tell everyone he is your Canadian Hockey Playing Boyfriend. Even if you have no one to tell you write him letters that you never send. And then one day, you realize he is your dance students dad. And things escalate from there.

This book is complicated, and swoony. It’s so raw and real. We deal with raw heavy emotions of having a wife/mother die and the emotional repercussions and grief on that. We have overbearing toxic mothers who destroy their child with years of eating disorders, anxiety/panic disorders and loathing.

Then we have Mike and Rory(Aurora) who end up creating an arrangement to look after said dance student and create a very heavy bond. With a few hookups that turn a bit messy.

Although I did feel the ending was slightly rushed (everything happened in the last 10%) I loved the flow of the book, and how you really get to watch these characters develop and grow. Therapy being a big stepping stone in their relationships. We love growth. Overall I would recommend this book. Although there’s not a ton of spice I would say this is for an older audience atleast 16+ and I do recommend people read it.

Thank you NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for allowing me to read this book in advanced in exchange for my honest opinion!

This book has my favorite troupes of sports/ hockey romance! I enjoyed the representation of grief, eating disorder and mental health. It was it slow and time and the pacing could have been better. Thank you for the NetGalley for the

Canadian boyfriend was a good book. It was a slwoburn hockey romance. The plot kept me interested the entire time. It was a little to long by about 50 pages. The ending was the cutest thing ever I rate the book a 3.8 stars and a spice rating of 1 out of 5 Chili's. Thank you Jenny holiday for allowing me to read this arc I appreciate you taking a chance on me.

I couldn’t put this book down! Dual POV. Friends-to-lovers-ish. It’s a sweet story and definitely more deep than I was expecting. Loved it.

I received an ARC from Netgalley and the publisher!

So much love for this book! I love romance books to be an escape from the world or as breaks between heavy fantasy novels, so I love a quick, cute read. However, sometimes romance novels can be so quick and lean in to the cute that they are a bit boring or repetitive. This book was NOT that. There was enough interesting sub plots, and the characters were so lovely and had great chemistry. I loved it the whole way through!