My Phony Valentine (Holidays with Hart 1), by Courtney Walsh

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When I was looking for a clean Valentine's Day-themed romance, My Phony Valentine (Holidays with Hart 1), by Courtney Walsh, was recommended to me by more than one person. I had heard of this book before and I thought about reading it, so now I was even more intrigued. And when I found out it's a hockey romance (the male main character is a professional hockey player) I was all in. I knew I wouldn't have time to read it this month, so I decided to listen to the audiobook. 

Poppy Hart is the owner of a restaurant that is financially struggling. She is also trying to heal from her last breakup. One day at a coffee shop, she literally bumps into a man and claims that he's her boyfriend. The man notices the awkward situation she is in and to Poppy's delight, he plays along. It turns out the man she bumped into is Dallas Burke, a professional hockey player with a bad boy reputation. Poppy and Dallas soon realize that if they fake their relationship in public, they can help each other succeed in their careers. But what begins as fake dating gradually becomes more real than they ever expected.

I am in awe of this book. It was everything I was looking for and more. The characters are likeable and they have depth. Both of the main characters grow individually as their relationship grows. I was also thrilled to see disability representation in two different ways (one of the secondary characters is deaf and another one is a wheelchair user after being injured) done so well. I was especially drawn to the way the deaf character communicated with everyone. It's one thing to see this done in a movie, but to have it written in a book the way it was done here really impressed me.

I wasn't a huge fan of the fake dating trope until I listened to this audiobook. The meet-cute was quite amusing and what follows through the rest of the book is both hilarious and heartfelt. There is a nice balance between the two.

As far as the audio goes, I wasn't crazy about having two different narrators. It took me some time to get used to the different voices. I think I might have enjoyed it more if each narrator was just one character, but that wasn't the case. One narrator did Poppy's and Dallas's voices and the second narrator did both voices as well. However, it wasn't enough for me to dislike the story. It just took some getting used to and I know now that next time I'll read the book instead of listening to the audio.

Courtney Walsh proves with My Phony Valentine that it is possible to have a clean romance with absolutely no swearing (not one swear word!) and still have it be heartfelt and emotional. I was fully invested in this book from beginning to end. It was like a Hallmark movie (which I love) in the form of a book, but with much more depth and emotion. I loved it so much that I already pre-ordered the next one in the series, My Lucky Charm, which releases in March. I will be checking out her previous books as well. I believe I have found a new favorite author!