It took me a couple of days to write this review. For most of the time I was reading Canadian Boyfriend, I was drawn in by the story and the characters. This is not a light romance. Rory, the FMC, quit her professional ballet career and is dealing with panic attacks and recovery from disordered eating. Her mother is a very toxic figure in her life with whom she is trying to forge new boundaries. Mike is a widower with his eleven year old stepdaughter, trying to move forward in building a life without the partner he expected to always be there. Mike is a professional hockey player who is originally from Canada. Our couple meet as Rory is Olivia’s tap teacher at the local dance school. However, they actually met many years before when Rory was in high school and working as a barista. Mike was nice and funny when she served him one day. She turned him into her fake “Canadian boyfriend” to deal with her anxiety with social relationships at school. She ended up writing him “letters” that were really more journal entries. 

Rory does not tell Mike about this. He hires her as a part-time nanny for Olivia while he travels with his team. And the relationship grows from there. There is a lot of internal monologuing about anxiety, grief, loss, fear of loss and also of change. There is great mental health rep with both characters actively participating in therapy.

I was very touched by both of their stories, finding it hard at times to put down the book. I thought that this was going to be a five-star read for me, and then the late conflict hit. Mike’s reaction and actions felt so opposite to the evolution of his character. It felt manufactured in a way. They resolved it pretty quickly which led to a lovely ending. But that upset broke me out of the story and lessened the enjoyment. I still recommend Canadian Boyfriend for its kind and gentle handling of this story and these characters. The blip near the end is unfortunate.

Thank you to Forever (Grand Central Publishing), NetGalley and the author for the advance reader copy. All opinions are solely my own.