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jeannine_'s review against another edition
4.25
I enjoyed this book more than I thought i would. It is sort of a friends to lovers type of story, but it had a lot more depth than I anticipated with aurora(Rory)’s history with ballet, eating, and her horrible mother. The sad thing is that as horrific as her mother’s character is, she’s absolutely not unrealistic!!! People including mothers definitely do use wording like “compensating” for a prior meal and talk about calorie counting, moralize food choices, etc in front of children and or impressionable teens / young adults (I’ve seen it sooo many times) and whether they realize it or not, all that talk and conversation around food and seeing it more as calories and a scale tipper, and less as nourishment or something to enjoy, has a big impact!! As someone who had an eating disorder in my younger days I can spot out the disordered eating habits / thoughts so quickly. Fortunately it’s not triggering for me, but as a warning, this part of the story could be to some readers.
I also really enjoyed the development of Mike’s character, and Olivia, his daughter, was a total gem. The side characters were also good additions to the story. I am not a hockey person (I don’t know why I feel I need to add this) but that didn’t matter in terms of the book - it wasn’t too heavy on the sport or anything.
My only critique was the ending (last ~15%) some bits of it felt too rushed, and I don’t want to give anything away but I just felt like maybe some plot aspects could have been done a little differently.
Pick this up if you enjoy friends to lovers stories! 4.25 stars.
I also really enjoyed the development of Mike’s character, and Olivia, his daughter, was a total gem. The side characters were also good additions to the story. I am not a hockey person (I don’t know why I feel I need to add this) but that didn’t matter in terms of the book - it wasn’t too heavy on the sport or anything.
My only critique was the ending (last ~15%) some bits of it felt too rushed, and I don’t want to give anything away but I just felt like maybe some plot aspects could have been done a little differently.
Pick this up if you enjoy friends to lovers stories! 4.25 stars.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Eating disorder
poupimali's review against another edition
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Emotional abuse, and Eating disorder
bibliomania_express's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Canadian Boyfriend by Jenny Holiday is a slow-burn romance between an ex-ballerina and a pro hockey player with a young daughter.
This book is about grief and healing and being kind to yourself. It's also about looking beneath the surface to understand people's motivations when they hurt you, and to acknowledge when you hurt other people. Rory has dealt with a lot of negativity. She battles disordered eating and anxiety, and she's never felt like anyone truly sees her. Mike is dealing with a secret he discovered about his wife after she died, but also trying to support his daughter, Olivia, through her grief.
While this book deals with heavy themes, I do love how much emphasis Holiday puts on therapy and having a good support system. For most of the book Aurora and Mike become a part of each other's support system. They leave space for talking through difficult things, but also don't push past each other's boundaries. There were lots of small moments that showed how much they cared about each other even before anything physical or romantic happens. This book also spans a lot of time, over a year of it, which I think suited their journey.
If I have one thing that annoyed me, it was that Holiday uses Mike's full name all the time in Rory's POV. It's always "Mike Martin" and rarely just "Mike". Which felt odd in conjunction with the fact that she was seeing him as a person and not "Mike Martin, hockey star". I would have liked if the narrative started using just his first name more the further into their relationship we got. It just felt clunky and my brain tripped over it again and again.
One final note: if you like your sports romance to have descriptions of games, this book isn't for you. Hockey itself is so rarely mention. I do think that suits the book, with Mike not liking to be called a star and seeing hockey more as his job. But it’s just something to note.
This book is about grief and healing and being kind to yourself. It's also about looking beneath the surface to understand people's motivations when they hurt you, and to acknowledge when you hurt other people. Rory has dealt with a lot of negativity. She battles disordered eating and anxiety, and she's never felt like anyone truly sees her. Mike is dealing with a secret he discovered about his wife after she died, but also trying to support his daughter, Olivia, through her grief.
While this book deals with heavy themes, I do love how much emphasis Holiday puts on therapy and having a good support system. For most of the book Aurora and Mike become a part of each other's support system. They leave space for talking through difficult things, but also don't push past each other's boundaries. There were lots of small moments that showed how much they cared about each other even before anything physical or romantic happens. This book also spans a lot of time, over a year of it, which I think suited their journey.
If I have one thing that annoyed me, it was that Holiday uses Mike's full name all the time in Rory's POV. It's always "Mike Martin" and rarely just "Mike". Which felt odd in conjunction with the fact that she was seeing him as a person and not "Mike Martin, hockey star". I would have liked if the narrative started using just his first name more the further into their relationship we got. It just felt clunky and my brain tripped over it again and again.
One final note: if you like your sports romance to have descriptions of games, this book isn't for you. Hockey itself is so rarely mention. I do think that suits the book, with Mike not liking to be called a star and seeing hockey more as his job. But it’s just something to note.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Body shaming, Eating disorder, and Grief
Minor: Car accident, Pregnancy, and Death of parent
lightlessxo's review against another edition
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder and Panic attacks/disorders
carolibrary's review
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder, Panic attacks/disorders, and Death
Minor: Abandonment
amym84's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.5
Aurora Evans did not have a great childhood. Spending most of her time in her ballet training kept her apart from her peers, she always felt like an outsider. This wasn't helped by her mother's overly-critical view of her body and her talent. So, Aurora does what any young girl would do....she makes up a Canadian Boyfriend. Someone who's around yet inaccessible enough that Aurora can use him as an excuse when she misses prom or other teen events.
Years pass. Aurora's only interaction with dance is teaching at a local studio. What Aurora doesn't count on is meeting her pretend boyfriend as an adult in person in the form of hockey player Mike Martin.
Mike Martin is just trying to get his and his daughter's lives back on track after the death of his wife less than a year ago. The one place his daughter, Olivia, feels happy is in dance class with Miss Rory. But with the hockey season starting soon, Mike needs more help than he knows, so he asks Aurora to help with afterschool care for Olivia.
I liked the setup of this one. I mean how intriguing is it to actually meet the person you supposedly made up as your boyfriend? But what I found when I actually started reading is that this hook doesn't really land. I think the story could have been just as, or more, compelling without that setup.
Further in that regard, I didn't really feel like the romance landed either. I wasn't feeling the chemistry between Mike and Aurora beyond a strong friendship-type bond. I almost wish the story had bucked the norm and actually kept these two as friends instead of feeling like a relationship was mandated territory, or if this was the type of book to utilize the slow burn romance that could develop over multiple books in a series.
What I did like and appreciate about the story was how it dealt with grief and trauma. Showing Mike going through therapy, showing Mike coming to terms with the death of his wife and being able to look back on their relationship without blinders on was fantastic. Oftentimes we read these stories of loss and there's this idolization of the person lost and relationship past. It's put on a pedestal that no one can hope to scale. But this story takes a very real view of what moving forward means. It means the good and the bad. It means looking inward.
On the other side of that we have Aurora who is still dealing with some heavy issues from her days as a professional dancer. Most of those issues were imposed upon her by her mother including body image issues and problems with food, hindering her from having healthy relationships and a healthy view of herself. Aurora has removed herself from professional dancing, choosing instead to teach and hopefully have a positive impact on younger girls - something that was denied to her - but seeing her begin to pull herself out of these imposed ideals was honestly the best part of this book. To see her break out of the structures imposed upon her, to get the help she needed, was like a breath of fresh air. You could feel how stifled she was as a character almost stuck in a perpetual state of young adulthood unable to grow until she dealt with her trauma.
That was the journey I was more invested in rather than the romance aspect. I understand that being in the romance category, the story had to have certain signifiers, I just kinda wished that could have been subverted a bit. Still a strong story and there are a few secondary characters I would love to see in the spotlight should Jenny Holiday decide to continue on with the series.
Years pass. Aurora's only interaction with dance is teaching at a local studio. What Aurora doesn't count on is meeting her pretend boyfriend as an adult in person in the form of hockey player Mike Martin.
Mike Martin is just trying to get his and his daughter's lives back on track after the death of his wife less than a year ago. The one place his daughter, Olivia, feels happy is in dance class with Miss Rory. But with the hockey season starting soon, Mike needs more help than he knows, so he asks Aurora to help with afterschool care for Olivia.
I liked the setup of this one. I mean how intriguing is it to actually meet the person you supposedly made up as your boyfriend? But what I found when I actually started reading is that this hook doesn't really land. I think the story could have been just as, or more, compelling without that setup.
Further in that regard, I didn't really feel like the romance landed either. I wasn't feeling the chemistry between Mike and Aurora beyond a strong friendship-type bond. I almost wish the story had bucked the norm and actually kept these two as friends instead of feeling like a relationship was mandated territory, or if this was the type of book to utilize the slow burn romance that could develop over multiple books in a series.
What I did like and appreciate about the story was how it dealt with grief and trauma. Showing Mike going through therapy, showing Mike coming to terms with the death of his wife and being able to look back on their relationship without blinders on was fantastic. Oftentimes we read these stories of loss and there's this idolization of the person lost and relationship past. It's put on a pedestal that no one can hope to scale. But this story takes a very real view of what moving forward means. It means the good and the bad. It means looking inward.
On the other side of that we have Aurora who is still dealing with some heavy issues from her days as a professional dancer. Most of those issues were imposed upon her by her mother including body image issues and problems with food, hindering her from having healthy relationships and a healthy view of herself. Aurora has removed herself from professional dancing, choosing instead to teach and hopefully have a positive impact on younger girls - something that was denied to her - but seeing her begin to pull herself out of these imposed ideals was honestly the best part of this book. To see her break out of the structures imposed upon her, to get the help she needed, was like a breath of fresh air. You could feel how stifled she was as a character almost stuck in a perpetual state of young adulthood unable to grow until she dealt with her trauma.
That was the journey I was more invested in rather than the romance aspect. I understand that being in the romance category, the story had to have certain signifiers, I just kinda wished that could have been subverted a bit. Still a strong story and there are a few secondary characters I would love to see in the spotlight should Jenny Holiday decide to continue on with the series.
Content Warnings
Minor: Eating disorder
ninebookishlives's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, and Eating disorder
tinamayreads's review
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder and Sexual content
Moderate: Grief
loloreeds's review against another edition
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
“Is it possible you overreacted?” … “I don’t think I overreacted.”
^^ These ten words sum up this whole book. And reader, let me assure you, he *definitely* overreacted.
Mike Martin (it’s important that his name is said this way, as the FMC will refer to him as such approximately 300 times in the next 362 pages), a Canadian hockey player, and Aurora, a not-Canadian dance teacher, find love and healing (up for debate) in a not-Canadian town accompanied by his half-Canadian daughter and they go to Canada once because, in case you missed it, Mike Martin is Canadian.
Aurora is described as quirky about as much as Mike Martin is described as Canadian, which I hate. Mike Martin’s wife died SEVEN MONTHS AGO and he’s putting moves on his kid’s ballet teacher, which I also hate.
Also: he compares her eyes to a mud pit, which might be accurate, but is a deeply unflattering comparison. Later he tries again and comes up with a comparison to a horse. But he does self-identify as a hoser, so maybe that’s just staying true to character.
The real conflict in this book (Mike Martin grieving and learning to love again after his wife tragically died, and, Aurora healing and recovering from a traumatic parent and eating disorder) takes a back seat to the completely juvenile and ridiculous conflict in this book, which is that Aurora — at SIXTEEN — wrote about Mike Martin in her DIARY as her fake, let’s-not-forget-Canadian boyfriend and she’s worried he’ll find out and be mad because he hates liars, even though he has no problem lying to her on multiple occasions. And he does find out, and he is mad, and he throws a wild tantrum that is sadly not unexpected for a thirty-five year old man, but disappointing nonetheless.
Mike Martin is not the amazing hero the author wants him to be and Aurora is such a pushover, she barely has a personality at all. And yet, I can’t say that I *hated* the book, even though it’s two people dancing (haha) around each other for 362 pages, which I historically have never liked. Just kiss already, damnit. But there was something so fluffy and low stakes about it that was comforting, and it was so predictable and clichéd which, coming off of HOFAS, was the calm, no stress, no substance book I needed to reset my adrenals. 🤪
2.5/5 🌶️
2.5/5 ⭐️
^^ These ten words sum up this whole book. And reader, let me assure you, he *definitely* overreacted.
Mike Martin (it’s important that his name is said this way, as the FMC will refer to him as such approximately 300 times in the next 362 pages), a Canadian hockey player, and Aurora, a not-Canadian dance teacher, find love and healing (up for debate) in a not-Canadian town accompanied by his half-Canadian daughter and they go to Canada once because, in case you missed it, Mike Martin is Canadian.
Aurora is described as quirky about as much as Mike Martin is described as Canadian, which I hate. Mike Martin’s wife died SEVEN MONTHS AGO and he’s putting moves on his kid’s ballet teacher, which I also hate.
Also: he compares her eyes to a mud pit, which might be accurate, but is a deeply unflattering comparison. Later he tries again and comes up with a comparison to a horse. But he does self-identify as a hoser, so maybe that’s just staying true to character.
The real conflict in this book (Mike Martin grieving and learning to love again after his wife tragically died, and, Aurora healing and recovering from a traumatic parent and eating disorder) takes a back seat to the completely juvenile and ridiculous conflict in this book, which is that Aurora — at SIXTEEN — wrote about Mike Martin in her DIARY as her fake, let’s-not-forget-Canadian boyfriend and she’s worried he’ll find out and be mad because he hates liars, even though he has no problem lying to her on multiple occasions. And he does find out, and he is mad, and he throws a wild tantrum that is sadly not unexpected for a thirty-five year old man, but disappointing nonetheless.
Mike Martin is not the amazing hero the author wants him to be and Aurora is such a pushover, she barely has a personality at all. And yet, I can’t say that I *hated* the book, even though it’s two people dancing (haha) around each other for 362 pages, which I historically have never liked. Just kiss already, damnit. But there was something so fluffy and low stakes about it that was comforting, and it was so predictable and clichéd which, coming off of HOFAS, was the calm, no stress, no substance book I needed to reset my adrenals. 🤪
2.5/5 🌶️
2.5/5 ⭐️
Content Warnings
Moderate: Eating disorder and Death
tamsterdam_reads's review
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Canadian Boyfriend was a lovely story about a struggling dance teacher and widowed hockey player who is trying to juggle a lot with his daughter and career. There were some deep important issues woven within the foundation of the story that I wasn’t expecting, however, the growing feelings between Aurora and Mike and Mike’s adorable daughter were raw and beautiful. It included the messy and complicated intricacies of life, but it also had love, support and growth. Overall, this story is for those looking for a little more depth to their romance novels.
Both Joshua Jackson and Emily Ellet did a great job with their narration.
Both Joshua Jackson and Emily Ellet did a great job with their narration.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Pregnancy, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Cursing, Sexual content, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Grief, Death of parent, and Pregnancy