Review: How to Eat to Change How You Drink

I can’t be the only person in their mid-late thirties whose body all of a sudden decided to not function the way it’s supposed to. For me, my digestive system seems to be having a few issues and I started to wonder (after many medical appointments and consultations with actual trained folks, not Dr. Google) if alcohol was sometimes a culprit. So, when I saw Brooke Scheller’s book How to Eat to Change How You Drink: Heal Your Gut, Mend Your Mind, and Improve Nutrition to Change Your Relationship with Alcohol was available to review, I thought, hm let’s give this a try.

Here’s the book’s description:

Let nutrition guide you to sobriety (or to just drinking a little less) with this guide and meal plan to reduce alcohol cravings and repair your health through food.
Trapped in alcohol's addictive grip, Dr. Brooke Scheller wanted a way out. For her, total sobriety was the answer to her problem, which she achieved by applying her skills as a doctor of nutrition, pairing her knowledge of nutrition with other integrative therapies to eliminate alcohol for good. Seeing the success in herself, she shifted her practice to help inspire others to explore a lifestyle with little to no alcohol.
How to Eat to Change How You Drink is a revolutionary guide to leverage food and nutrition to reduce or eliminate alcohol consumption, develop mindfulness, and promote a healthier relationship with alcohol. Working through the book, readers will identify their drinking archetype and then learn the types of nutritional changes they can make to reduce alcohol cravings alongside behavior modification; they'll learn how alcohol affects their nutritional status and can contribute to health symptoms ranging from fatigue, to hormonal imbalances, digestive irregularities, weight gain, thyroid disorders, autoimmune diseases and more; and they'll restore their nutritional status and repair key body systems after moderate to heavy alcohol consumption.
This book will change the way we think about and address alcohol intake in our society-- through the lens of nutrition.

I requested this book right before leaving for an almost 3 week vacation and it was waiting for me when I got home. I say this because I may not have looked quite as closely at the book’s details or Scheller’s background as I may normally have done. And I say that because I wasn’t expecting the book to come from a place of sobriety more than dietary. I didn’t really want/need to be reading about the addictive qualities of alcohol nor did I need to find out what kind of drinker I am. I know that, duh, that’s all part of how alcohol affects your body but the tone of the book definitely came across as, “this is why you should become sober” not so much “this is why cutting back can be beneficial to all of us.” Is that fair of me? To be frustrated that true sobriety was a larger focus than I wanted? I recognize that no, it may not be fair.

I’ve been reading a few books on digestive health lately and some are far more accessible than others. Scheller’s fell somewhere in the middle. That said, I still didn’t quite get anything useful out of the gut health section. Again, this could very much be a personal thing. I’ve been trying for months to figure out my issues and I was really hoping for a nugget of information that could help and I just didn’t get one.

The book’s divided into four parts to help break down this somewhat unwieldy topic and make it understandable for us laypeople. Part 1 talked about relationships with alcohol, leaning (in my opinion) too heavily on Scheller’s personal history. Part 2 focused on a “functional approach to sobriety” and discussed how alcohol can affect different parts of the body, like the gut and brain. Learning how to eat to change drinking habits was the focus of Part 3 and Part 4 gave the reader some recipes to try to support an “alcohol reduction plan”. 

I think Brooke Scheller’s book, How to Eat to Change How You Drink, would be a good one to pick up if you’re committed to completely cutting out alcohol and living a sober life or if you’re sober-curious and don’t have any other medical issues to worry about. It was an interesting enough read for me, confirming what I knew about some of the sneaky downsides of alcohol, but it wasn’t as applicable to my life as I would have liked.

*A copy of this book was provided by the publisher, Grand Central Publishing, in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*

Review: How You Get the Girl

I absolutely adored Anita Kelly’s novel Love & Other Disasters when I read it last year. Since I was a little late to the game, I didn’t realize there was a second book in the series (Something Wild & Wonderful) but I did sit up and take notice when I heard about How You Get the Girl, which was published on February 13. A romance? In the world of basketball? And a f/f romance, no less? Yes, please! I. Loved. It. Seriously. This book shot immediately to the top of the list for 2024 reads!

Here’s the book’s description:

When smart-mouthed Vanessa Lerner joins the high school basketball team Julie Parker coaches, Julie’s ready for the challenge. What she’s not ready for is Vanessa’s new foster parent, Elle Cochrane—former University of Tennessee basketball star. While star-struck at first, soon Julie persuades Elle to step into the unfilled position of assistant coach for the year.
Even though Elle has stayed out of the basketball world since an injury ended her short-lived WNBA career, the gig might be a way to become closer to Vanessa—and to spend more time with Julie, who makes Elle laugh. As the coaches grow closer, Elle has a hard time understanding how Julie is single. When Julie reveals her lifelong insecurity about dating and how she wishes it was more like sports—being able to practice first—it sparks an intriguing idea. While Elle still doubts her abilities as a basketball coach, helping Julie figure out dating is definitely something she can do. But as the basketball season progresses, and lines grow increasingly blurred, Julie and Elle must decide to join the game—or retreat to the sidelines.

Basketball romances are major catnip stories for me. I played when I was in high school but wasn’t good enough (or dedicated enough) to move any higher so I stuck to playing intramural ball when I was at university. One thing I loved about this story from the basketball perspective, other than the major nostalgia factor, was the absence of male posturing BS since there were no males playing the game. Everyone hitting the court was female or non-binary. It was refreshing and kind of helped…hm…reposition?...some of my thoughts. My experience playing ball in high school was much different than the players currently on Julie’s team. I was a straight, white girl playing basketball in a small town in the early 2000s and it was assumed that everyone else I played with was also straight and a girl (also white…we were not a racially diverse town). If anyone felt like maybe a label other than “straight” or even “female” applied to them? They definitely weren’t saying anything. And so I wonder about those players - not necessarily the ones I played with but just players everywhere - who feel like they have to conform to the patriarchal world of sports.

In addition to talking about (sometimes explicitly, sometimes not) how to be female or non-binary in the world of sports, this novel also tackles some mental health topics. Elle’s torn ACL wasn’t the only reason she left the WNBA when she did - her mental health was just as damaged as her physical health. She’d worked hard to manage it and struggled mightily when her “management” failed and she found herself in a depressive episode (it’s not super dark or graphic but please be kind to yourself if you also have depression and are reading this book). I liked how Kelly had Julie approach this. She didn’t have a magical answer and couldn’t “fix” Elle, and Elle also couldn’t figure out how to let Julie in. In short, they both had shit to figure out and it was refreshing as hell. Who knows how best to be with a new partner in the best of circumstances let alone when you’re navigating a depressive episode? It felt realistic and I was here for it.

In the Reader’s Guide, Kelly talks about Happily Ever Afters (HEA) vs Happily For Now (HFN). I consider true romances to have a HEA (I even called my romance book club at work “Happily Ever After”) but HFNs totally fit the bill too. I think we focus on the forever aspect of “after” because we want to be optimistic and believe that the couple we’ve spent a few hundred pages with will have a wonderful life, even when we know that life isn’t easy for anyone. But that doesn’t mean that HFNs should be frowned upon. It’s simply more realistic to expect the couple to have to do more work to establish their relationship since they just got together (and may have even had that dreaded third act breakup!). But, for some reason, probably because we’re dumb humans, we want that fairy tale ending. I liked that Kelly made me think more about HEA vs HFN, even as someone who’s always been OK with a Happily For Now.

I freaking loved Julie and Elle. Loved. Them. I mean, come on. Julie had had a massive crush on Elle since she was 14 (and Elle 18, if my math/memory is correct) and now she had a shot at DATING her? Gah. I’m swooning. I was into the entire relationship. The tension as they flirted, and then fake/practice dated, and then for-real dated. So damn good. I loved everything about the whole thing. LOVED. 

How You Get the Girl was an absolute delight and I loved every second I spent reading Anita Kelly’s latest novel. Whether you’re here for the basketball or the romance (or both), you’ll love it too.

*An egalley was provided via NetGalley by Forever and a print copy was provided by HBG Canada, both in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*

Review: The Boy Who Cried Bear

I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned it lately, but I sure am glad I came across Kelley Armstrong’s Rockton series and I’m doubly glad she’s kept the characters around for Haven’s Rock, a spin-off series that’s not really a spin-off just kinda a continuation of a series but with a different location. Or something. However you want to look at it, I was thrilled to have the chance to hang out with Casey and Dalton in The Boy Who Cried Bear, the second book in Armstrong’s Haven’s Rock series.

Here’s the book’s description:

Haven’s Rock is a well-hidden town surrounded by forest. And it’s supposed to be, being that it’s a refuge for those who need to disappear. Detective Casey Duncan and her husband, Sheriff Eric Dalton already feel at home in their new town, which reminds them of where they first met in Rockton. And while they know how to navigate the woods and its various dangers, other residents don’t. Which is why people aren't allowed to wander off alone.
When Max, the town’s youngest resident—taught to track animals by Eric—fears a bear is stalking a hiking party, alarms are raised. Even stranger, the ten-year-old swears the bear had human eyes. Casey and Eric know the dangers a bear can present, so they’re taking it seriously. But odd occurrences are happening all around them, and when a dead body turns up, they’re not sure what they’re up against.

Since this is only the second book in the Haven’s Rock series, there’s still a lot to learn about the new hidden town. Casey and Dalton are figuring out how to run the town, who on their staff they can trust implicitly, and, you know, why dead bodies keep turning up. I can’t imagine what it would be like to be in charge of protecting folks who have escaped really crappy circumstances, only to have some people disappear and others wind up dead. Turns out living in the middle of nowhere doesn’t mean you’re safe from murder. Who knew?!

The book’s description is vague about the mystery in this one so I won't go into any specific details either. I want you to be as surprised as I was with the twists and turns. I will say that I’m really curious to see what book three will bring (even though I literally just finished book two before I started writing this…the dangers of anticipated books, eh? That you’re so excited about them and then rush through reading it because you just can’t help yourself and now you have to wait for the next one) because, well, there’s a bit of a cliffhanger at the end. Or…maybe not “cliffhanger” but…the bow isn’t as neat as you might want from a mystery. As a mystery reader, I’m a little annoyed but as a reader of this particular series? I totally get it. And I trust that Armstrong has a plan and all will, eventually, be revealed. (But seriously…why do we love book series so much? I think we’re all masochists.)

I love the characters in this series so much. There are a lot of them but they really do all have a purpose. It’s like Haven’s Rock itself. You wouldn’t be there - and definitely wouldn’t be staff - if you didn’t have a particular reason for being there. I loved being able to get more of a glimpse into Casey and Dalton’s married life (they have such a great, and unique, partnership) and see how some of the other former Rockton residents were faring. I will say there’s a side, more personal, storyline, in this one that is one I personally dislike but it’s very much a Me Thing, as much as I wish it hadn’t been brought into the series.

There are a number of times biases, especially around race, come up in this particular story. Armstrong is White (or at least very much White presenting) but Casey is Asian Canadian (I think Chinese but admit I cannot recall exactly) and there are a few other characters who are not White. In this story, Anders and Yolanda talk about being one of the only Black people in their towns. And another resident spews some ridiculous (and harmful) BS right to Casey’s face about “you people” being smart. Ugh, just reading it makes me rage because I know there are real people out there making those same assumptions based solely on racial stereotypes.

I really enjoyed The Boy Who Cried Bear and am so glad I saved it for a long weekend “treat” for myself. Kelley Armstrong has created a great series that’s so enjoyable (if you could call a series that features murders etc. “enjoyable”...) and I already cannot wait for the third installment.

*An egalley of this novel was provided by the publisher, Minotaur, via NetGalley in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*

Review: A Real Somebody

To know me is to know I love historical fiction. I’m pretty basic in my usual historical fiction tastes, tending to read all the WWI and WWII fiction, so I like to branch out every once and awhile. And when I find a Canadian historical fiction author writing a book set in Canada? I’m even more interested. I was intrigued by Deryn Collier’s novel A Real Somebody because it was inspired by her aunt and took place in post-war Montreal. Unfortunately, the book did not thrill me and I eventually gave up reading it.

Here’s the book’s description:

Montreal, 1947. To support her once-prosperous family, June Grant joins a steno pool in a prestigious advertising firm. For June, it’s hard to imagine having the kind of life her parents want—the kind of life her sister Daisy has, with a well-off husband and two precocious kids.
But Daisy might not be a picture-perfect housewife after all. As June makes her own waves in the advertising world, she probes a hidden side of her sister’s life.
June’s discoveries upend everything she thought she knew about her sister while challenging her own inner conflict about pursuing her dreams versus living up to expectations. Being a dutiful housewife might mean something else entirely.
Based on the true story of the author’s aunt, A Real Somebody charts the journey of a talented young writer who dares to break the conventions of her time during one pivotal season of her life.

I was really intrigued by the look at advertising in Montreal in the late 40s (I work in comms, of course I’m going to geek out over a look at advertising!) but it was such a small part of the story that even that couldn’t convince me to finish reading the book.

I’m not sure if the reader was expected to know who June Grant was because I certainly didn’t. So, because I had no idea who she was, I wasn’t sure why I was supposed to care about June, the fictional character. And, let me tell you, it sucks to not care about a character’s life when you know they’re supposed to have been based on a real person - the author’s aunt, no less. I’m sure part of my frustration at June came from unintentionally putting my modern views on her life in the 40s. Times were different, I get it, but I was still annoyed at the treatment of women, among other things.

I knew I wasn’t going to finish reading it when I had no desire to get back to the story. I tried to skim and read the last couple of chapters but the story seemed to have veered off in such a bizarre way and, even allowing for the fact that I didn’t read the whole thing, it ended strangely and abruptly.

All that said, Collier’s writing wasn’t one of the reasons I stopped reading. I would be willing to give another of her novels a go if it seemed like a topic that would interest me.

A Real Somebody was, unfortunately, a real miss for me. I wanted to enjoy Deryn Collier’s novel because it sounded like something I could really have a good time reading but the story completely missed the mark for me.

*A copy of this novel was provided by the Canadian distributors, Firefly, in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.* 

Review: With This Witch

When a friend told me With This Witch was a steamy, magical romance, I was all in and immediately signed myself up to receive an ARC of Isla Winter’s debut novel. It definitely hit the steamy mark but the rest of it didn’t quite thrill me as I wanted it to.

Here’s the book’s description:

A marriage of convenience proves to be magically inconvenient, and no spell will get them out of it or calm their burning desires.
Being a legacy witch comes with expectations, and, unfortunately, when Gammy shares that she’s sick, Petra becomes the front-runner for the role of Premier Witch, a part she’s never really wanted. The inconvenient catch? Traditionally, the Premier Witch must be married, and a combative supernatural council member is only too happy to point out. Petra must now find a husband to prove she is serious about accepting the role. Oh, and she must do it in the next thirty days! If she fails, she loses everything.
Enter bar owner and current delicious demon representative on the council, Lachlan Grace. A close friend of Petra’s, Lachlan, has been drawn to her from the moment she walked into his bar. Battling his own demons from his past and tired of being just friends, Lachlan offers himself as an option for a marriage candidate. Will he be able to move out of the friend zone while also keeping his history in the past?
Now, thrust into supernatural politics with a looming deadline, Petra finds herself questioning what she wants in life, struggling with how to make her Gammy proud and keep in check the pesky feelings bubbling under the surface for a smoking hot demon at the same time. What’s a witch to do?

OK - you have to know that I, like most sane people, don’t love writing less-than-positive book reviews. Especially when they’re novels by debut authors and/or that were self-published. But I don't think it's fair of me to only shout about the great books and ignore the ones that I didn’t love.

I love me some witchy books because I’m always curious about how authors put their own spin on magical worlds, even if said world is like our human one and magical folk are living in it. For the most part, I was totally into the world Winter created. I loved that there were different types of creatures all living in town with the humans, who, for the most part, knew there were magical creatures hanging out around them. I wasn’t totally sure if there were more towns like Leeside or if it was the only one. I also didn’t grasp all of the magical rules - how come Petra could clean up her apartment but had to call Lachlan, a male, to change her car’s tire? - but I liked that there was a focus on spells, potions, and herbs for the witches.

I think a big problem for me was I just didn’t understand anyone’s motivations. I never entirely understood why Petra never embraced her magic, knowing she was going to have to take over from her grandmother eventually. I didn’t quite get why Lachlan didn’t want to go back to the underworld or why he’d have to/felt like he should? That was part magical world confusion and part character confusion. The motivations of some important secondary characters were real head scratchers, which was tricky when they impacted the story SO much (yes, it’s vague but if I mention character names, it’ll be spoiled for you and that would be sad!).

I also just could not grasp the timeline in this book. There were times it seemed like, based on the characters’ feelings on how things were going, that time was ticking merrily along but, in fact, it had been, like 24 hours. And other times when we zoomed along to two weeks later? Somehow? It made my head spin.

I suppose I should also mention the romance in this romance novel, eh? I liked Petra and Lachlan together, even when they were refusing to admit they actually had real feelings for each other. I love fake dating tropes and find fake marriages a bit harder to swallow but the fact that they were friends for a few years prior to having to get hitched? That helped and there was clearly chemistry there. And did you catch me mentioning that this was a steamy book? Whew, baby. I found the sex scenes to be really well done.

Overall, With This Witch was a good read. I’m hopeful Isla Winter can grow stronger as a writer with her second Leeside Witches book as I think she has an interesting and fun idea for her series.

*An egalley was provided by the author in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*

Review: Dream Chasers

I’ve mentioned before that I’ve learned in the last few years that I’m not into thrillers but I am into crime/detective mysteries. And, boy, does knowing your own reading tastes improve your reading life or what! After going down the Louise Penny rabbit hole with a friend, I’ve been on a hunt for another Canadian mystery writer to read while waiting for the next Gamache novel (which will be this fall! Yay!). When I saw that Dundurn Press was repackaging Barbara Fradkin’s Inspector Green series, I thought, why not give this a whirl? I enjoyed the writing in Dream Chasers, book six in the series, but struggled with the content of the mystery. I’m still intrigued enough to carry on with the series though.

Here’s the book’s description:

A seventeen-year-old sets out to meet her secret lover by Ottawa’s Hog’s Back Falls. Three days later, her body washes up in the shallows. The public fears a sexual predator is on the loose, but Inspector Green suspects a more personal connection.
His search for answers draws him into the world of elite young athletes, drugs, and teenage sexuality. Then a social worker who knows too much disappears, and blood is found in the house of a star with NHL prospects. Unless Green can unravel the truth, how many others will pay the ultimate price for a young man's dreams?

What drew me into this story was the fact that it was a Canadian writer, setting her crime fiction in Canada. I loved that aspect of it. My best friend used to live in Ottawa so I recognized a lot of the place names and actually think I’ve been near where the murder occurred. It’s just always nice to read books set in Canada and I appreciated it a lot.

Since I knew this was the sixth book in the series, I anticipated feeling a bit behind when it came to the characters - which was fine and didn’t bother me all that much. But, for some reason, my brain assumed some things might be updated with the republished version. This novel was originally published in 2007 and, news flash, that was a long time ago which becomes super apparent in genre fiction. I found it a bit jarring when I was reminded that this book took place so many years ago (asking if cell phones had video and photo capability, for example) and I couldn’t get my head around why a book was republished and not updated. (I am aware my head is the problem and my assumption that it should have been updated is probably wrong.)

What made me both sad and mad was that the whole “his future will be ruined” thing with hockey players (and all athletes). Yeah, it’s still very much a thing in 2024. And that makes me rage. We know that this kind of garbage takes place in the world of sports (I love sports but you can love a thing and still recognize how toxic it is.) but we’re still not doing enough about it. I don’t know what we can do but there’s gotta be something. And maybe that was part of my frustration with the story.

Setting aside the toxicity of the hockey world and how it hasn’t changed much, if at all, since 2007, there were a few other suuuper cringey moments in this book that I just could not let go of - whether that’s fair to the story or not. Green goes to visit the alternative high school his daughter attends to try to find her and encounters the guidance counselor. For some reason, Fradkin felt the need to focus on the fact that the woman was braless and it was very much implied that she was a hippie and therefore below Green’s police officer status. It was subtle, but it was there. Speaking of breasts, (yep, there’s more), back at the high school the murdered girl attended, the female guidance counselor there notices the D cups on one of the students, in part because that counselor is also well-endowed. Why. Why is the reader being told how large a teenager’s cup size is?

Now, even with all the above issues, I am still interested in reading more of Fradkin’s novels, including continuing with this series. I had a few of the same problems with Penny’s Gamache series when I read some of the earlier ones so I’m well aware this is just a product of its time and I’m willing to give the author the benefit of the doubt.

Even though the crime itself and how it was connected to hockey made me deeply uncomfortable, I was still invested in finding the murderer. Fradkin kept me guessing right up until the end and I appreciated that.

While Dream Chasers left a lot to be desired for me personally, I’m still interested enough in Barbara Fradkin’s Inspector Green series to keep checking out the next books. I liked how she wrote the mystery, if not the social commentary inherent in the story, so I’m looking forward to seeing what happens next in the series.

*A copy of this novel was provided by the publisher, Dundurn Press, in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*

Review: Canadian Boyfriend

I’m a big fan of Jenny Holiday - both her as a person and her writing. I even got the chance to interview her and Farah Heron at a literary festival last year! So, naturally, I was going to be excited about whatever book she wrote next. Add in the fact that it was called Canadian Boyfriend and I was definitely going to read it. Read it I did - and I thoroughly enjoyed it!

Here’s the book’s description:

The fake Canadian boyfriend. It's a thing. The get out of jail free card for all kinds of sticky social situations. “I can't go to prom; I'm going to be out of town visiting my boyfriend in Canada.” It's all over pop culture. But Aurora Evans did it first. Once upon a time she met a teenage hockey player at the Mall of America. He was from Canada. He was a boy. She may have fudged the “friend” part a little, but it wasn't like she was ever going to see him again. It wasn't like she hurt anyone. Until she did—years later—on both counts.
When pro hockey player and recent widower Mike Martin walks into the dance studio where Aurora Evans teaches, he's feeling overwhelmed with the fact that his wife may not have been exactly who he thought she was and the logistics of going back to work. As one of the few people his angry, heartbroken daughter connects with, Aurora agrees to be a pseudo nanny to help him navigate the upcoming school year and hockey season. To his surprise, she turns out to be the perfect balm for him as well. Aurora gets him. The real him underneath his pro jersey. And yet, he still finds himself holding back, unable to fully trust again—especially when he finds out the secret Aurora’s been hiding from him.

I was a wee bit worried about the single parent storyline. Traditionally, I’m not a fan. But I didn’t mind this one at all and I think it has to do with the fact that Olivia is older. She’s her own person and her personality and issues were just as important as Rory and Mike’s were. I felt for the kid and was hoping for a tween version of a non-romantic Happily Ever After for her because she sure as hell deserved it.

I gotta say, though, I didn’t buy the Third Act Breakup. This might get a bit spoilery so skip this if you hate any hint of anything. Right. So throughout the whole novel, Rory is struggling with whether or not to tell Mike that they had actually met in passing years before and, wouldn’t you know it, he inspired her to create a fake boyfriend. When she does eventually tell him, he’s pissed. Which I found stupid. I also found it slightly silly that Rory was so worried about telling him but I guess it makes sense since he reacted just as she expected him to. It just didn’t work for me - even with Mike’s hangups about lying (which I also struggled with but I could kind of get it) and Rory’s tendency to be a doormat (her and her BFF’s terms, not mine) - and it was a bit of a bummer to deal with right at the end of the book.

Also - why on earth did Rory refer to him as Mike Martin throughout the entire novel? It was so bizarre. The chapters alternated perspectives and whenever Rory was talking about/describing interactions with Mike, it was almost always “Mike Martin” instead of just Mike. I don’t get it and I’m weirdly fixated on it. *shrugs*

I loved how therapy and looking after one’s mental health was so important in this book and was approached in such a positive light. Mike was doing everything he could to make sure he and his daughter were mentally healthy after Sarah’s death, and that included therapy for the both of them. And it was at his urging that Rory finally went back to therapy herself. They talked about it openly together, and with their friends, and it was all just so…normal. While it wasn’t great that they had such serious issues to work through - grief for Mike and anxiety/panic attacks/eating disorder for Rory - it was great to read about how they were getting the help they needed in a romance novel.

You don’t have to like sports to like this novel. Yes, Mike is a professional hockey player and there are lots of references to the sport but Rory is a total newbie and things are explained well to her (and, by proxy, to any reader who doesn’t know hockey). And for those of us who do know a little bit about the sport, we’re not bored with info we already know. It was well done. I also enjoyed the juxtaposition of a hockey player dating a (former) ballerina and how Holiday approached the toxicity of the world of ballet.

As you can tell, there’s a lot to unpack with this romance novel. But even with all of the serious (and incredibly important) topics, Canadian Boyfriend is, at its core, a romance. I loved the little Canadianisms sprinkled throughout and fell in love with all the characters. I’m so glad we’re going to get Gretchen’s book next! I think Jenny Holiday has a winner on her hands with this romance and I think other readers will agree.

*An egalley of this novel was provided by the publisher, Forever, via NetGalley in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*