Roughly the 1st 80% of this book was best in class. Romance where love is built on growth and where people support one another and speak the hardest truths are the best. I loved Aurora and Mike, I loved their friends and families (other than Aurora's mother for whom I mostly just felt sad) and I loved their relationships. I think the book did a great job of moving characters though complex grief. I was also a fan of the way Mike acknowledged his privilege and learned to balance his good fortune with temperance. Added fun for me, I think they got Minnesota so right. I love reading books set in places I have lived. (I lived in Fargo about 2 miles from the MN border, and worked at a college on the MN side of the border so I count it.) I do read a lot set in Atlanta and New York, and when I can find it Michigan, Taipei, Shenzhen and DC (Philly never felt like home so I skip that one.) Generally, though Minnesota-set books don't do it for me. I find authors can be mean-spirited about the culture based largely on appearing pleasant. The last Tim O'Brien book is a perfect example of that. Others go the other way and buy into the illusion of "Minnesota nice" as being consistently genuine when it is equal parts niceness, repression, and masterclass level passive-aggression. The Lager Queen of Minnesota comes to mind for that issue. Here Holiday got it right, the good and the bad, and the tater tot hotdish. I think she got the Canada part right too, I grew up in Detroit so my social circle included a lot of people from southern Ontario (mostly Windsor and London) and it felt right to me, but I note as a disclaimer that my impressions are from 40 years ago so I might be off base. Correct or not I really enjoyed the sense of place for both locations.

All of that sounds great, and it was, but then the author created this tension at the end and did a ham-fisted job of it. There was a minor omission, a long ago event that one person did not share with the other person, that blows things up in the last 20% of the book. I knew it was coming because it was teased all along. The message is that this decision not to share an embarrassing and irrelevant (if formative) life event was some big lie, which it 100% was not. The non-teller is wracked with guilt. I hoped that foreshadowing notwithstanding the author would not go in that direction. My hopes were dashed. The story proceeded as teased, and when the secret was shared it was treated as a gigantic lie and it temporarily destroyed the relationship. The reactions to this "lie" by both parties were absurd, and completely not in keeping with the characters' admirable emotional maturity, great communication, mutual respect, and general assumption that people did things for good reasons. It really tainted the whole read and eroded some of my liking for both characters. I am going with a 4. I almost went with a 3 because this made me mad, but that seemed unfair when I truly adored most of this, thought it was well written, gently sexy and loving. I found calm and joy in this reading journey and that merits a 4.

One note - This book is not about ED's per se, but there is a depiction of disordered eating inculcated and encouraged by Aurora's mother and her dance teachers. Though a few of the moments were over the top, there were conversations between Aurora and her mother about eating that felt like the author had bugged my childhood home. I felt seen in a way I rarely do when eating disorders and the corrosive environment that often leads to them are depicted in fiction. Some people may want to avoid the book for this reason, but for me it was cathartic and empowering. Sometimes it feels like I am the only one whose mother told me every day how I fell short, how people, strangers and friends alike, might not tell me but in truth they found me repulsive (my mother said exactly that when I went from a size 6 to a size 8 in 10th grade.) As my mother did, the mother here said she did this to help, and like my mother it appears she believed it. Reading this part of the book broke my heart a bit but also comforted me as it is good to know I have company and good to see Aurora find her way and stand up against this messaging in a way that I, and most people, never could. ( )

So close! Book was a solid 4 until the physical romancing began- so off-putting. MMC’s on-and-off rationale was distasteful and his final over-reaction was a final nail in his coffin. FMC’s emotional growth was, for the most part, satisfying but, WTF?!, why the hell didn’t this supposedly frank woman say she thought she met him years ago? Disappointing finish. ( )

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. ( )

Rory and Mike had a glancing encounter when she was in high school. He was older, attractive, and played hockey, so she turned him into the fake boyfriend she needed because of her having a cold, overbearing mother and a grueling dance regimen. She maintained the romance by writing letters to him that were never sent, but kept in a notebook. Fast forward ten plus years when Mike is in mourning and feeling a sense of betrayal, both coming from the death of his wife in a winter auto accident. He was left with grief, emptiness, and the challenge of raising his eleven year old step-daughter, Olivia.
When he sees how graceful, impulsive, and connected to Olivia, Rory is, it sparks his interest, not to mention the possibility that her involvement in his step-daughter's life might solve some big problems now that he's going to resume his hockey career. It's not difficult to see where this is headed early on, but it gets there smartly, with great feeling, and a pretty realistic ending. A book that will brighten any reader's day. ( )

Aurora is teaching dance classes and fighting a panic disorder. Enter pro hockey player, Mike Martin with his daughter. She is taking dance classes from Aurora. Could it be…could this be her pretend Canadian boyfriend!

Aurora and Mike have a unique relationship. She met Mike years ago, when she was very young. She started an imaginary boyfriend from this encounter. I found YOUNG Aurora, so adorable. I enjoyed this fantasy to real life trope. It is a very unique story line.

This is more of a 3.5 star read…you round up right?!?! I love the characters and their interactions. But there are places this story is a bit wishy washy, or however you would describe it. Like, for instance, Mike does not like to be lied to. It is very important to him. But yet, he himself, turns around and lies Aurora. Just a bit too human I guess 😂😂😂.

Need a story to get lost in…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today.

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review. ( )