Carole's Monday. Canadian boyfriend

 

Author: Jenny Holiday

Narrator: Joshua Jackson & Emily Ellet

Title: Canadian Boyfriend

Genre: Sports romance, Contemporary, fiction

Format: Audiobook

Published: January 30, 2024

Where I got It: Audible

Summary: 

A charming and heartfelt romance about a woman who comes face to face with the fake Canadian boyfriend she made up as a teenager.

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.

Review:

Picked this for book club because why not? We needed a little bit of fluff, plus this matches up with a couple of my reading challenges. Win-win-win. 

Here we follow Aurora (aka Rory) and Mike. The two met years and years ago...briefly...at a mall. From there it was history. Rory found herself a fake Canadian boyfriend so she wouldn't look like a loser at her school. Time went on and she slowly moved on. However, things changed when they met again. Mike is a star hockey player who thought he had it all until his wife died in a car accident and now he is a single dad who is picking up the reigns his wife left behind. Which includes getting their child to dance class. Enter in the teacher....Aurora Evans. He's overwhelmed and she's great with kids. Maybe she can be a nanny while the season goes? However, will they be able to fully trust each other? They both have secrets and guilt. 

I did really like this one. There is a lot of mental health talk in here (so be prepared) but it was fitting. Rory was a ballet dancer with a Godzilla of a Ballet-mom. Poor thing did develop an eating disorder and anxiety issues. Poor thing. 

Mike, of course, is dealing with his wife who passed and he uncovered that his wife was not FULLY telling the truth. There is guilt and anger and sadness. Plus, dealing with a sad daughter? Oof. 

They both have a lot on their plate, but it was nice seeing them become friends first. They def are super supportive of each other and I loved it!

However there was ONE thing that bothered me. When Rory's whole "fake boyfriend' thing came out (yes not a spoiler...you know it will) he.....acted like shit. I won't spoil anything but I was SO annoyed at him. Yes, how and when she revealed her big ol' secret wasn't great. However........it's not that big of a deal. Yes, he felt like she betrayed his trust by not telling him the truth right away. But like dude....chill.

Besides that whole exchange, I really liked this book. Great characters. Lots of internal things for them to fix. I loved Rory at the end. So proud of her. This was very sweet. 

The narrators were great. It was a duo set so it was fun to hear them sound like they were actually conversing. He would read Mike's dialogue and she would read Rory's. It was nice. I wonder why duo narrators don't do that more?

All-in-all, this was a nice sports romance dealing with mental health issues. I think Mike was overdramatic at the end, but it was resolved and they made up. The narrators were great and I def recommend listening to this. 

I'll stamp this with 4 stars. 

ONE WORD SUMMARY: Nice

Challenge(s):
- Audiobook #21

- Romance Reading Challenge #13 (Sports romance) 

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JIAM audiobook mini challenge

 I am borrowing the whole text ;)

I will give it a go :)

Hey Audiophiles, as the hosts of the yearly Audiobook Challenge, Caffeinated Reviewer and That’s What I’m Talking About are excited to be hosting a mini challenge to celebrate Audiobook Month in June. Anyone can join, sign up below and choose your challenge(s).

We’d like to thank our prize sponsors, Libro.fm, Tantor Audio, Jennifer Estep & Karen Grey! We appreciate you helping us celebrate June is Audiobook Month!

Challenges

Complete at least one challenge to enter giveaway. See rules listed below.

• Finish/Start a series in a month. (listen to at least 3 audiobooks in a series)
• Love your Library (listen to 3 audiobooks from your local library)
• Let there be Monsters (listen to 3 audiobooks with monsters/paranormal elements)
• Going the Distance (listen to 3 audiobooks over 12 hours each)
• Tackle your Audiobook TBR Pile (listen to 3 audiobooks you already own)

Rules

• Challenge runs from June 1, 2024 through June 30th. Rafflecopter will close July 2, 2024. Winners will be announced on July 5, 2024. Rafflecopter start up post and prize details will post on June 1, 2024.
• To enter, you must complete one challenge. You can complete more than one for extra entries, but no audiobook title can be used twice.
• Audiobooks must be a minimum of 4 hours in length.
• Audiobooks count towards your 2024 Audiobook Challenge goals and can be used for other challenges.
• Declare your intentions by posting a blog post or sharing on social media.  Let’s get everyone listening in June! #JIAMAudiobookChallenge
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Audio: Someone you can build a nest in

Author John Wiswell

Narrated by Carmen Rose

Publication date Apr 2, 2024 by Tantor Audio

Running time 10 hrs

Fantasy/to review

This was a great book. I find it hard to say what kind of fantasy it was because it was told with humour and lightness in certain ways. But then it was also bloody and gory. It was just different and a blast to listen to.

Shesheshen is a shapeshifting monster. She falls in love with a human and thinks real love is that human giving her body as a nest so the kids can eat their "mummydaddy". Mmm sweet! But then she has never met another one like her, or really talked to humans.

People are trying to kill her as they think she has put a curse on them. Silly humans. She just wants to eat and be a big blob of nothingness at times.

She meets Homily, a kind woman, that cares for her when she is hurt and the story begins. What is love? What is humanity? What does it mean to be a monster?

I did not want to stop listening. It was so different from what I usually read in fantasy.

Great narration. I have listened to this narrator before and I always enjoy her style. It felt very fitting for the book and she got some real feels in,

Shesheshen has made a mistake fatal to all monsters: she's fallen in love.

Shesheshen is a shapeshifter, who happily resides as an amorphous lump at the bottom of a ruined manor. When her rest is interrupted by hunters intent on murdering her, she constructs a body from the remains of past meals: a metal chain for a backbone, borrowed bones for limbs, and a bear trap as an extra mouth.

However, the hunters chase Shesheshen out of her home and off a cliff. Badly hurt, she’s found and nursed back to health by Homily, a warm-hearted human, who has mistaken Shesheshen as a fellow human. Homily is kind and nurturing and would make an excellent co-parent: an ideal place to lay Shesheshen’s eggs so their young could devour Homily from the inside out. But as they grow close, she realizes humans don’t think about love that way.

Shesheshen hates keeping her identity secret from Homily, but just as she’s about to confess, Homily reveals why she’s in the area: she’s hunting a shapeshifting monster that supposedly cursed her family. Has Shesheshen seen it anywhere?

Eating her girlfriend isn’t an option. Shesheshen didn’t curse anyone, but to give herself and Homily a chance at happiness, she has to figure out why Homily’s twisted family thinks she did. As the hunt for the monster becomes increasingly deadly, Shesheshen must unearth the truth quickly, or soon both of their lives will be at risk.

And the bigger challenge remains: surviving her toxic in-laws long enough to learn to build a life with, rather than in, the love of her life.

Best of April

 

May!! 

Here are our bests of last month!

Best Book of the Month:

Blodeuedd -  Birdbox by Josh Malerman

"Best book was hard because I read several great ones, but Birdbox made me scared so it wins."

Carole - Southern Bred and Dead by Angie Fox                

"This was fabulous. One of my faves of the series methinks!"

Best Movie of the Month:

Carole - Godzilla x Kong - The New Empire (2024)

"Shocked by how much I actually liked this!"

Blodeuedd - Sing 2 (2021)

"I never watch any movies so I guess Sing 2 is the winner cos it is the only one I remember."

Best TV show of the Month:

Blodeuedd - Monk

"We have been binging on Monk all of April"

Carole - FallOut (2024)

"Sooo stinkin' good."

Best Cover of the Month:

Blodeuedd's pick

Carole's pick