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A review by agrandromance
Canadian Boyfriend by Jenny Holiday
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Lighthearted Warm and Emotional Romance
“Canadian Boyfriend” is a somewhat lighthearted, warm and emotional romance that deals with some heavy topics but is never heavy handed. However, the third act break up is a little ridiculous and left me wishing the author had made different choices.
Rory meets Mike at the Mall of America when she’s 16 and he’s visiting from Canada for a hockey tournament. She immediately designates him as the real inspiration for her fake “Canadian Boyfriend”. A Canadian boyfriend is a fake boyfriend that she can use as an excuse for being solo or for not attending social events. Rory also begins keeping a diary and writing entries to “Mike” for the next three years.
“I started writing my Canadian Boyfriend when I was in high school. I sat in the cafeteria and wrote him letters, and in so doing, I felt less alone. He became a diary, half fiction. Half what was happening, half what I wished were happening.”
Cut to 13 years later and Rory is teaching ballet to young girls. The mother of one of the girls passed away several months prior. Rory learns that the father is a hockey player who is extremely good looking and is Canadian.
It turns out that the father of her student, Olivia, IS her Canadian boyfriend, Mike Martin, but Rory remains unsure for a while. (Throughout the book, in her POV chapters, Rory refers to Mike as “Mike Martin” - it’s a little weird)
Mike and Rory very slowly develop a friendship. He kind of hires her to help take care of Olivia as he has two years left on his NHL contract. In doing so he provides her with a sensible car, a place to stay and health insurance so she can go to therapy for her panic attacks and eating disorder. So they are living together and developing a friendship while he is grieving and she is learning to be more of her own person. I really enjoyed the way their friendship developed. It was very unrushed and natural.
At about the halfway mark of the book they share their first kiss. It was a fade-to-black kiss which I’ve never experienced previously and kind of had me wondering about the rest of the book. But the sex scenes in later chapters are not fade-to-black, they aren’t really explicit either. They are off and on with the physical relationship and it also occurs in a very unrushed and natural way. I was happy about that as it gave Mike time to grieve properly.
The third act break up was my main quibble with the book. I just didn’t understand Mike’s over the top reaction to what he believed was “lying” on the part of Rory. He himself lied to her in regards to the car and the health insurance he provided her. (He tells her almost immediately about the lies though)
I did enjoy this book and it has a lot to offer in terms of wisdom about grief, getting over emotional abuse and living up to your dreams for yourself.
“Canadian Boyfriend” is a somewhat lighthearted, warm and emotional romance that deals with some heavy topics but is never heavy handed. However, the third act break up is a little ridiculous and left me wishing the author had made different choices.
Rory meets Mike at the Mall of America when she’s 16 and he’s visiting from Canada for a hockey tournament. She immediately designates him as the real inspiration for her fake “Canadian Boyfriend”. A Canadian boyfriend is a fake boyfriend that she can use as an excuse for being solo or for not attending social events. Rory also begins keeping a diary and writing entries to “Mike” for the next three years.
“I started writing my Canadian Boyfriend when I was in high school. I sat in the cafeteria and wrote him letters, and in so doing, I felt less alone. He became a diary, half fiction. Half what was happening, half what I wished were happening.”
Cut to 13 years later and Rory is teaching ballet to young girls. The mother of one of the girls passed away several months prior. Rory learns that the father is a hockey player who is extremely good looking and is Canadian.
It turns out that the father of her student, Olivia, IS her Canadian boyfriend, Mike Martin, but Rory remains unsure for a while. (Throughout the book, in her POV chapters, Rory refers to Mike as “Mike Martin” - it’s a little weird)
Mike and Rory very slowly develop a friendship. He kind of hires her to help take care of Olivia as he has two years left on his NHL contract. In doing so he provides her with a sensible car, a place to stay and health insurance so she can go to therapy for her panic attacks and eating disorder. So they are living together and developing a friendship while he is grieving and she is learning to be more of her own person. I really enjoyed the way their friendship developed. It was very unrushed and natural.
At about the halfway mark of the book they share their first kiss. It was a fade-to-black kiss which I’ve never experienced previously and kind of had me wondering about the rest of the book. But the sex scenes in later chapters are not fade-to-black, they aren’t really explicit either. They are off and on with the physical relationship and it also occurs in a very unrushed and natural way. I was happy about that as it gave Mike time to grieve properly.
The third act break up was my main quibble with the book. I just didn’t understand Mike’s over the top reaction to what he believed was “lying” on the part of Rory. He himself lied to her in regards to the car and the health insurance he provided her. (He tells her almost immediately about the lies though)
I did enjoy this book and it has a lot to offer in terms of wisdom about grief, getting over emotional abuse and living up to your dreams for yourself.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Car accident, and Death of parent