My Phony Valentine (2023)

About the Book

Book: My Phony Valentine

Series: Holidays With Hart Romance #1

Author: Courtney Walsh

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Release Date: February 8, 2023

A chance meeting. A hunky hockey player. A fake romance. Hardly an ordinary day in the life of Poppy Hart.

My days usually consist of agonizing over my failing restaurant, worrying about my mountain of debt, and nursing my broken heart. Everything changes when I bump into a man in the coffee shop and claim him as my new boyfriend. To my absolute horror, he turns out to be hockey’s most renowned bad boy, Dallas Burke. To my absolute delight, he goes along with my story.

When his no-nonsense manager and meddling grandmother jump in the picture, they see a win-win solution for my failing restaurant and Dallas’s less-than-stellar reputation. A full-fledged fake romance complete with contract negotiations, pretend dates and phony PDA.

But as I get to know the real Dallas Burke, who is not the man the press says he is, it becomes clear that if this isn’t real…someone better tell it to my heart.

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My Thoughts

I absolutely loved every page of My Phony Valentine by Courtney Walsh. This story is SO much fun. I typically struggle a little with the fake-relationship trope, but Walsh utilizes it perfectly in this totally sweet story. My issue stems from the lying. It’s hard to create a believable love story out of lies upon lies. But Walsh masterfully deals with this lying issue in a brilliant manner. As far as meet-cutes go, this story has one of the best. I love how the mean-girl bully is put in her place. Don’t worry — no one is mean or anything like that. It’s just perfect timing working for the main character. It’s also how the main character, Poppy, meets Dallas. Poppy is an excellent heroine. I love her character so much. She is independent and creative and hard-working. She also has a great moral compass and refuses to compromise on her values. I really love that about her. Poppy is also seriously self-deprecating. Sometimes it was a little too much for me — I mean, you can only be so rough on yourself — but overall it added to the humor of the story. Dallas is the best hero ever. He is beautiful and strong and powerful. And he pays attention to details. That is my favorite thing about him. He recognizes all of Poppy’s awesomeness and then pays attention to her likes and dislikes, and he really hears her. He also has such a protective streak towards Poppy. It’s so, so endearing. OH! And he loves a quiet night in. I don’t think I’ve ever read a book where the hero loves to cozy up on the couch with the heroine and just hang out talking, eating popcorn, and watching TV. This makes Dallas my new most favorite hero ever! As far as the chemistry between Poppy and Dallas goes — it is extraordinary. The awkwardness of their first couple of meetings is quickly replaced by genuine friendship, and this leads to a swoony romance. I enjoyed the entire trajectory of Poppy and Dallas’s relationship. I really love how they become friends, friends who are there for one another no matter what and help each other to become the best versions of themselves.

My Phony Valentine is a fantastic Contemporary Romance that I highly recommend. If you love well-written Romances with heart then you have to check this story out. This is a Romance you do not want to miss!

I purchased a copy of this novel in eBook form from Amazon.com on February 11, 2023, in order to review. In no way has this influenced my review. The opinions expressed in this review are my own.