Canadian Boyfriend by Jenny Holiday

 

4*

Another case of “Don’t let the cartoonish cover fool you.” This is not just another smutty hockey romance, but a beautiful love story between two kind, thoughtful, and flawed characters, dance teacher Aurora (Rory) Evans and NHL defenseman Mike Martin. They first laid eyes on each other when Rory was a 16-year-old barista at Mall of America and Mike was a charming customer who caught her eye. Since her entire life was consumed with ballet (thanks to a pushy dance mom), she had no time to make friends and was ostracized in school. So, why not invent a Canadian boyfriend as an excuse to get out of school activities and to not feel so alone? She spends the remainder of her teens writing letters to Mike that serve as a diary of sorts. Little did she ever expect that, nine years later, he’d be the recently widowed father of one of her students.

Mike is struggling to adjust to new household routines and paternal commitments his late wife used to handle and to cope with his daughter Olivia’s grief and anger, so he turns to Rory as someone his daughter trusts to ask her to serve as a pseudo-nanny while he’s on the road. Since she’s in need of a new place to live (after a recent break-up), a car, and health insurance, she accepts his offer of the apartment in his basement. Over time and many honest and heartfelt conversations, their friendship evolves, especially since they support each other and see beyond the façades they present to the rest of the world. Unfortunately, the emotional scars they both carry (her abusive Mom who has left her with an unhealthy obsession with food and a compulsive need to please others and him with the complicated grief over his wife and rocky relationship with his daughter) make their friends-with-benefits situation temporary and just for fun. When Rory finally confesses her teenage fantasy to Mike, will there be any hope of a future together?

There are so many aspects to Holiday’s lovely romance that I appreciate, including chosen family with Rory’s best friend and boss Gretchen and Mike’s teammate and wife, Ivan and Lauren, the main couple’s support and encouragement of each other, an enlightened book boyfriend, the positive portrayal of therapy, the perfect balance of humor and heartfelt conversations, just enough steam to keep it interesting, a dual POV, an epistolary element with her letters to her fake boyfriend and their texts when they first get to know each other as adults, and yes, hot hockey players! What can I say? I used to work for the NHL! Highly recommended!

I received a complimentary ARC of this book from Forever Publishing through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

Accidentally Engaged by Farah Heron

5*

Reena, a middle-child in a traditional Muslim Indian family, is sandwiched between an older brother who has done everything right and a younger sister who is self-absorbed, somewhat passive aggressive and obsessed with healthy eating, to the point that she destroyed her sister’s side business blogging food and chance at a cookbook deal when she posts a diatribe on food bloggers pushing fattening foods. She has very low self-esteem and sees herself as a failure at everything, but especially relationships (12 in 13 years) and jobs (one layoff after another due to downsizing). She’s stuck in finance because she doesn’t want to work for the family development firm, but also doesn’t see a way to turn her passion for artisanal bread baking into a viable career.

Added to all of this are Indian Muslim parents who emigrated to Toronto from Tanzania who are pushing eligible, but totally unappealing men at her in the hopes she’ll marry someone of her kind and pump out some babies. Then Nadim moves in across the hall, a sexy “brown Captain America” with a swoonworthy smirk and British accent. Before she even has a chance to learn more than his name, he reveals that he’s her dad’s new employee and arranged marriage prospect thanks to a business deal between their fathers.

So what’s a girl to do? In her case, she’s pushed into entering a televised cooking contest where she needs a fiancé. Turns out that Nadim is the perfect and willing candidate to fake it. When their drunken audition video lands them a spot, they become fast friends, agreeing to an “unengagement” and fighting an attraction because there’s no way Reena will give her parents the satisfaction of falling for one of their chosen marriage prospects, no matter how appealing.

This story proved to be so much more than a lightweight rom-com. Although there’s humor, chemistry (of both the physical and kitchen variety), and family drama, there are also some heavy topics. When a family that thrives on gossip (while keeping their own secrets) and long-time rivalries starts coming apart at the seams, issues such as eating disorders, depression, and bad decisions threaten to tear them apart. However, the author treats our MCs with compassion and proves that with a little faith, emotional support (from each other and a couple of LGBTQ friends and relatives), and killer sourdough, mistakes of the past can be overcome and the patriarchical nature of their community can be overcome. Highly recommend.

I received a complimentary ARC of this book from Forever Publishing through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.