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A review by amym84
Canadian Boyfriend by Jenny Holiday
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