Book Review: "Canadian Boyfriend" by Jenny Holiday

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Cover of "Canadian Boyfriend" by Jenny Holiday

3.5/5 stars 

*Spoiler alert!* 

I’ve been on a bit of a hockey-themed romance tear this month— no, I don’t know exactly why. Canadian Boyfriend was the second of these after Icebreaker, and was a mixed bag for me, earning it a (very subjective) 3.5 out of 5 stars. 

“I can't go to prom; I'm going to be out of town visiting my boyfriend in Canada.” 

One of the things that I appreciated about both Icebreaker and Canadian Boyfriend were candid descriptions of mental illness and the therapy process. Open discussions about mental health and mental illness in books? Characters bettering themselves through the tough process of therapy and healing? Sign me up!

GIF: "Hell yeah!"  

Perhaps the 3.5 stars instead of 4 stars rating was due to the overreaction I felt one of the characters had to a revelation another one of the main characters gave, one that originated during her lonely teenage years.  

Aurora Evans once worked at a coffee shop in the Mall of America, where she met a charming young hockey player with a missing tooth. Reasoning that she would never meet this stranger again, he became her fake Canadian Boyfriend that she used to make it through a traumatic and lonely upbringing. 

“Once you open your eyes to the possibility, life is full of conflicting truths. I wonder, though, if time sands down the square edges that seem so painfully sharp now.” 

It is only years later that after bailing on a promising ballet career in New York—to the chagrin of her mother—to teach dance at a small Minnetonka dance school to young girls—that she realizes her Canadian Boyfriend is a real person, Mike Martin. One of Aurora’s favorite students, Olivia, is his daughter.

GIF: Minnesota Wild hockey team  

Because of course! This is Romance Novel Tropes 101, but I continue to—no pun intended—fall for it. Speaking of tropes, Mike Martin needs someone to watch over Olivia and make sure she gets her homework done while he’s on the road during the hockey season, and he makes an offer to Aurora to be their impromptu nanny. He convinces her to move in with him and Olivia—no bills. Proximity trope? Check!

GIF: *wink* 

I think you know what will happen next. Aurora and Mike start to fall for each other despite both of their respective hang-ups about relationships and trust. It is when things get serious and Aurora reveals the truth about her Canadian Boyfriend, that their relationship is tested. 

Overall, I enjoyed it, minus how Mike seemed to overreact a bit to the revelation. It's a sweet, escapist contemporary romance where sports are mostly to the side. (Which is good, because I don’t really understand all the rules and penalties present in hockey. Or know anything about ballet and dance. They just happen to be aspects of our characters and not their main thing.) 

Happy reading! 

--BookOwl

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