First thought: Loved it so much! The audiobook is binge worthy, you can feel the chemistry between Aurora and Mike. What happens when the fake boyfriend you created in high school, shows up in real life years later. Story about growing, doing your best, learning to love and being true to yourself.

14 years ago at a mall in Minnesota a Canadian hockey player orders coffee from a ballerina barista. That one interaction sparked a teenage diary of her fake Canadian boyfriend that would help get her through her tough ballerina days.

Aurora was a star ballerina and grew up with the best training after high school she got into an elite ballet school in NYC. But the pressure from her mom and the sport to be the perfect size and to sacrifice everything for a dream that wasn’t hers was too much, so she quit and left that world behind. She now teaches dance classes at a local dance studio and is learning to be happy.

Mike is starting to age out of the NHL his seasons are numbered. He recently lost his wife and is raising a pre-teen daughter on his own. He struggles to let people in and has major trust issues. Mike is about to start a new season and his daughter’s ballet teacher could be his nanny solution. She doesnt care about hockey, she has good references and his daughter loves her. Maybe he can put down his walls and let her into their lives.

So Mike asks Aurora to be his daughter’s nanny during his upcoming hockey season. She agrees but she soon realizes Mike might be the actual boy she based her fake Canadian hockey romance off of! And her feelings are definitely not fake this time. Mike hasn’t had feelings for anyone since his wife died this is weird and uncharted territory for him, to let someone in. They both have a lot of issues to work through and have to navigate the feelings they are feeling.

No spoilers but the absolute cutest epilogue ever!!!!

Literally Themes you’ll find:

* Friends to Lovers
* NHL Hockey Player MMC
* Ex Ballerina FMC
* Single Dad vs Nanny
* Second Chance
* Forced Proximity
* Dual POV
* Mildly Spicy 🌶️

🩷🩶🩵🩷🩶🩵🩷🩶🩵🩷🩶🩵🩷

Growing up in the PNW means I know a few things about the Canadian Boyfriend. It might not have always been Canada; sometimes it was Oregon or Idaho, even California, but faking a boyfriend, for whatever reason, isn't new. So, when Aurora meets Mike Martin at the Mall of America, her Candian boyfriend is born. However, years later, and much to her surprise, her Candian boyfriend walks into her dance studio. What could go wrong?

I have always liked Jenny Holiday's writing. I don't know if I can pinpoint exactly why, but I always have a good time. I often find the characters relatable and real. I know it sounds horrible, but I like books where the characters work through upheaval, grief, or trauma, and trust me, Canadian Boyfriend is not without grief or trauma. These are the parts that I enjoyed most. The communication. The normalization of therapy. Honest discussions about grief. Meaningful discourse about emotional labor. The confrontation of those who hurt you. All of these things made me love this book.

However, two things stopped this from becoming a new favorite. One is a pet peeve of mine - authors who constantly refer to characters by their last names. I promise readers will remember who they are. If you are like me, be prepared because the phrase Mike Martin is constant. More so than any book I have ever read.

My other issue is one of the book world's most hated tropes. MISCOMMUNICATION! But, what I dislike even more is when the miscommunication, lies, or omissions are overblown. Or the character overreacts to said lie or omission, which is what happens here. I knew it was coming the whole time I was reading. It lowered my enjoyment of the book.

Of note, I did this via audiobook. It was incredible. I highly recommend ingesting this via audio. First off, Joshua Jackson - Pacey himself, narrates for Mike Martin. Second, this was my first romance book with duet narration. If you don't know, duet narration is where the two narrators voice their character regardless of the POV. I have since read two more romances with duet narration. I don't know if I can go back. Publishers take note duet narration is a must.

Trigger warnings: Off-page death of a spouse and emotional abuse by a parent.

Thank you to NetGalley, Hachette Audio, and Forever for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

The narration for this book was fantastic. Joshua Jackson voiced Mike so well. It really helped me fall in love with these characters. I definitely recommend listening to the audiobook!

The book was just so sweet and gave me all the feels. I really enjoyed the banter and chemistry between Aurora and Mike. They really balanced each other out so well. Mike helped support Aurora through her anxiety and disordered eating and Aurora helped Mike to deal with the loss of his wife. I also enjoyed Mike’s daughter, Olivia and the dog Earl Nine. They added an additional heartwarming element to the story.

Overall, I really enjoyed this sweet sports romance. It’s definitely not your “typical” sports romance and I really liked that!

Aurora spent her whole life training to become a ballet dancer so when she quit ballet she had to turn somewhere. That somewhere was a dance school, training kids in anything but ballet. When her favourite student’s father shows up she realizes he’s none other than pro-hockey player Mike Martin and she’s freaking out. See Aurora’s not a hockey fan but unbeknownst to Mike, she met him when she was 15 at the Mall of America and spent many years pretending to her family and friends that he was her boyfriend. They had a whole relationship play out in her head and to complicate matters she’s attracted to him all over again.

It was the title that lured me in with the promise of Pacey Witter… errr, Joshua Jackson narrating that really just sold me. For the first few minutes of the book, I thought that Joshua’s narration was a gimmick I had obviously fallen for because he was just interjecting to say small lines of dialogue while Rory was thinking about the first time she ever met Mike. I gasped when I realized that we were also getting Mike’s perspective. I love it when audiobooks have different narrators for different perspectives but I often have to change the volume or adjust the reading speed as it switches between narrators. Not the case with this book! You just set it to play and forget it! By forget it, I mean real life because Mike and Rory's romance will just suck you in.

The two start off as friends and slowly move to something more. They have great chemistry, are great people just in general, and each act as supportive pillars to confront and work through their respective baggage.

Mike manages to reference many Canadianisms throughout this book explaining to Aurora either things she didn’t understand (i.e. ordering a double double at Tim Hortons) or why one would find a cactus in Manitoba. So well it was first and foremost a romance novel. It was also a learning experience because I learned from this novel that I am more Canadian than I thought. Despite the fact that I think Tim Hortons is really flavoured (see how I spelt that with a u) water, I hate winter, and I’d rather go to the dentist than watch a hockey game, I do not refer to a BBQ as a grill, I will fight you for a Nanaimo bar, and I will continue using the term washroom on my trips south to see the perplexed look on the face of any American.

All I know is that Joshua needs to narrate more audiobooks. Screw TV and movies, who even watches those anymore, anyways?

This was my first sports romance and let me tell you it did not disappoint! It helps that it was a friends to lovers forced proximity trope I highly enjoy reading those! The narration was superb and the story line was even better!

I was so excited to get a copy of this audiobook! Joshua Jackson is a favoriOte of mine and the idea of this story, especially a hockey romance, was definitely intriguing. I could definitely relate to Aurora's social awkwardness as a teenager and the idea of inventing a Canadian boyfriend from a guy she met doesn't sound like a bad idea...until she runs into him again as an adult.

I love Emily Ellet's voice as a narrator and I've already mentioned I love Joshua Jackson. I will definitely pick this up as a book to read in print. I did not like that Jackson actually read the male dialogue and Ellet actually read the female dialogue, even in the chapters coming from their own POV. I wasn't crazy about that. If there were other characters in the chapter of the same gender, it threw me off at times. Maybe if I was accustomed to multiple narrators?

Otherwise, I loved the story and the narrators and I am thankful to NetGalley and Hachette Audio for this ARC! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed this one. I love Jenny Holiday and was excited that Joshua Jackson was a narrator. I think that hockey romances are all the rage. I have already read two this year and there are a few more that are being released! I liked both the characters in this one and really enjoyed it!

This is a great duet narration, and I'll admit the reason I requested it was Joshua Jackson. I don't typically go for audiobooks, but I was interested in this story and thought him reading would be a bonus.
This is a sweet story about a widowed hockey player and his daughter's dance teacher. I enjoyed the connection between the two of them, and the fun they were able to have with each other. The narration was good. I don't know if this would have stuck out as much if I were just reading the book, but Rory constantly refers to him as "Mike Martin" and it is too much. Otherwise, I enjoyed this.

Thank you Netgalley and Hachette Audio for the ALC.

Story: 🌟🌟🌟
Narration: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Overall: 🌟🌟🌟

Canadian Boyfriend was a cute romance and an excellent audiobook. As a teen, Aurora meets a Canadian hockey player and decides to make him her fake Canadian boyfriend to her high school friends. Years later, she runs into him again and he is the widowed father of one of her dance students. As the two fall for each other, will Aurora come clean?

The audio narration of this one was perfection. I mean..it is Pacey from Dawson’s Creek! While the story is cute, the “secret” is a bit of a stretch and undercuts the real emotion behind the story. Overall, this is a sweet romance that definitely should be read on audio.

ALC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I did a hybrid read of this and I really enjoyed the narration for both Rory and Mike.

When I started reading this book, I had really complicated thoughts towards it because I couldn’t quite grasp my head around why Rory would create this whole fantasy in her head after meeting somebody for five minutes when she was 16 years old. I was super conflicted over how I felt about it and I almost DNF’ed it multiple times.

However, I kept reading and I’m really really glad I did because I really liked this book in the end. I totally didn’t think I was going to like it when I started reading it so I’m glad it proved me wrong.

The more I read the book, the more I started to really understand Rory’s character and why she created this fake Canadian boyfriend for herself and it actually made a ton of sense. She had nobody in her life, so she created somebody so that she would feel less alone. And honestly, I think that is super relatable.

My biggest annoyance with this book was that she refers to the MMC as “Mike Martin” throughout the entire story, (even in the epilogue!!) and it made me irrationally angry.

Besides this book, I’ve only read two other books by this author. One of which was A Princess for Christmas that was released back in 2020 and was in incredibly steamy, so I think I was expecting that same level of steam in this book and that was absolutely not the case. I would say the details are super vague and the door is only slightly ajar in some of the scenes.

What a CHARMING story about grief and love and growth and health and found family and all the sweet things. The romance felt so tender and lovely and the cast of characters was so enjoyable. The narration was EXCELLENT.

I loved the characters and the narration added to the positive vibes I was feeling whilst listening to this audiobook.

I received an audiobook copy of this for my honest review

First off - the narration - it's a DUET! I love duet narration and this was done so fabulously! Joshua Jackson as the Canadian hockey play is absolute perfect casting.

The story starts when our FMC is 15 and working at a coffee shop in the mall - as a ballerina, she doesn't have a huge social network, and when this cute Canadian hockey player comes in and flirts a little, she creates an entire fictious boyfriend around him so that she isn't so alone. Never did she expect that 13 years later, while working at a local dance studio would he come in as the widow of one of her students! At first she swears it can't be him - but as they develop at first a friendship, and then more, she knows, he is one in the same. Our MMC is working to figure out how to be a single father after the loss of his wife, and coming to terms with what life with him would have really been life for her through just being thrust into that world, as well as therapy. He asks our FMC to move in with them to help out with his daughter while he is on the road. Can their relationship be more than just stolen time when they are alone, or will her past caricature of him end up driving a wedge between them?

I picked up this book because I thought the premise was cute: teenage girl (Aurora) meets Canadian hockey player (Mike) once, then uses him as inspiration for a fake "Canadian boyfriend." I did not expect this book to hit me so directly in the feels, but here we are! For a book with such a cute premise, it really deals with some complex and intense emotional and mental health issues. Things like overcoming emotional parental abuse, disordered eating, bad self esteem and emotional labor are handled with such nuance and care. The emotional journey Mike and Aurora go on is so exquisitely handled and I cried in several places. I like how we get equal time with each character, and the author really delves into who they are and what makes them tick. I also really liked how organically the romance developed, and how each of the main characters helped each other heal and grow. I really rooted for them. The third act breakup didn't even bother me, I actually cheered for Aurora at that point!

The audio book was a great listen! Both narrators were amazing, and you really heard the emotion in their voices, which really elevated the story and brought it to life. I also enjoyed the Canadian accent of Joshua Jackson ;)

The only thing that really annoyed me about the audio and the story is that Aurora keeps calling Mike his full name, Mike Martin throughout the book. It just got repetitive and unnecessary and it jarred me a little each time. But other than that, it was great!
5 Stars!

This was such a cute rom-com. I absolutely loved Joshua Jackson and Emily Ellet narrating this story. I have been a fan of Joshua Jackson for a long time and enjoyed listening to his soothing voice with Emily. I also loved that they spoke their own parts. I hate when audiobooks have a woman and man but still speak each others parts. Jenny Holiday did a great job writing this book. I loved the characters. This book will have you laughing, make you swoon and has a little spice. If your wanting a really good rom-com with great narrators then this book is for you. I would HIGHLY recommend this book.


Thank you NetGalley and Hachette Audio, Forever for allowing me to listen to this ARC in advance for my honest opinion.

3.5 stars
Aurora is a former professional ballerina and Mike is a widowed professional hockey player brought together by Mike’s daughter’s dance class with Aurora. Years ago, when Aurora was in high school working her part-time mall coffee shop job, she met Mike and turned him into her make-believe boyfriend. That version of Mike was more of a penpal/journal venting strategy for Aurora as she worked through her isolation due to dance and an over-obsessive mother.

Fast forward to the present, Aurora and Mike meet as adults and Aurora attempts to reconcile her make believe boyfriend with this real, grieving father in front of her. They create a bond that helps both of them work through prior traumas.

I enjoyed the prominence of therapy in the book and the awareness of the characters in their growth through knowing each other. I also like Aurora’s path to finding herself and not sacrificing her wants and dreams.

There were a few things I didn’t love - the ‘conflict’ felt a bit forced and I had a hard time believing it was as big a deal as it was made out to be. Aurora’s character CONSTANTLY called the mmc by his full name which didn’t make sense and got a little annoying.

Loved the voice actors tho for the audio version!

I really enjoyed the duet narration.
It was a lovely story. I really liked our main characters and Olivia and Gretchen. I did think it was odd that Aurora kept referring to Mike as Mike Martin throughout the whole book after a while it got on my nerves.

✨ Review ✨ Canadian Boyfriend by Jenny Holiday; Narrated by Joshua Jackson; Emily Ellet

Honestly, you should probably listen to this one just for Joshua Jackson.

Aurora (Rory) teaches ballet at a small studio after striking out as a professional ballerina in her late teens. There she teaches Olivia and meets her dad Mike, a professional hockey player bringing Olivia to class about 9 months after Olivia's mom/Mike's wife died in a car crash. Aurora starts to help out in their lives, eventually moving in to help care for Olivia when Mike's traveling.

This is a great friends-to-lovers, roommates, single-dad sports romance book that moves slowly and gently and lovingly. It handles mental health beautifully, as it tackles really heavy topics like grief and abuse and loneliness, and it's done without making the reader feel too sad or overwhelmed.

There were some minor annoyances -- the book starts with Aurora meeting Mike as a teen and then building out a whole fantasy relationship with him. This hangs as a barrier between them as Aurora doesn't fess up -- and there was something about this that just felt overwrought.

The book also features Little House on the Prairie really prominently and while I don't hold this against anyone who loved it as a child (myself included), looking at it now, it has some serious racial and settler-colonial issues embedded in it. I could have done without those mentions.

With those caveats, I really enjoyed this book. I was engrossed in the story and the narrators brought it to life. In Mike's POV chapters, Aurora's voice was used for quotes and vice-versa so it brought in a little bit of full-cast feeling here.

Overall, it's a really lovely therapy-affirming, found family, deal with your past trauma but with romance kind of book!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: f/m contemporary romance
Setting: Minnetonka, Minnesota
Pub Date: 30 Jan 2024

Thanks to Forever, Hachette Audio, and #netgalley for the gifted advanced copy/ies of this book!

Ok I did not expect this one to be such a super sweet read! It was so heartwarming and definitely had some unexpected emotional depth! Both characters were incredibly complex and compelling and we get a heartfelt story as the MC’s deal with some heavy themes of trauma, grief, mental illness and body image issues.

As a former hockey player who studied and worked in sport, I was sold the second I saw this cover! Oh, I’m also Canadian 🤣. I therefore obviously relished in all the NHL and hockey world bits and the explanations of the CHL where I used to work!

The audiobook is a MUST listen!! The duet style narration was superb and as soon as I found out Joshua Jackson was a co-narrator, I dropped everything to listen! He instantly brought Mike Martin to life for me and he helped make him exceptionally swoon worthy!

Add in some outstanding witty banter and an abundance of popular tropes (friends to lovers, found family, forced proximity, hockey/ballet, single dad etc) this one just ends up being such a well rounded and well done RomCom!

I found this one just a little bit difficult to get into. I just didn’t connect with the characters. The story was really cute though!