Review: When Sparks Fly by Helena Hunting

When Sparks Fly by Helena Hunting
Series: Spark House #1
Published by St. Martin's Griffin on September 21, 2021
Pages: 288
Format: ARC
Genres: Romance


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Charming, hilarious, and emotional...When Sparks Fly is Helena Hunting at her very best!

Avery Spark is living her best life. Between her friends, her sisters, and Spark House, the event hotel her family owns, she doesn’t have much time for anything else, especially relationships. She’d rather hang out with her best friend and roommate, Declan McCormick, than deal with the dating scene. But everything changes when she is in a car accident and needs someone to care for her as she heals.

Declan avoids relationships, giving him a playboy reputation that he lives up to when he puts a one-night stand ahead of a promise he made to Avery. While he may not have been the one driving the car, he feels responsible for Avery’s injuries and is determined to make it up to her by stepping into the role of caretaker.

Little did they know that the more time they spend in compromising positions, the attraction they’ve been refusing to acknowledge becomes impossible to ignore. When they finally give in to the spark between them, neither is prepared for the consequences. Their love is fragile and all it will take is a blow from the past to shatter it all.

There are many promising aspects to this friends-to-lovers story, but the last portion of the book just didn’t do it for me.

Overlooking Declan’s despicable behavior and flimsy excuse at the beginning of the book, his friendship with Avery is quite enjoyable. There is an ease between them that only best friends who know each other’s strengths and flaws—and accept them—have. I melted at Declan’s attentiveness to Avery while he is helping her recover and how he repeatedly proves just how well he knows her likes and dislikes. The reason for them crossing the line into friends-with-benefits is rather cringeworthy, but I liked them together as a couple and enjoyed the bit of steam.

Overall, the first half of the book is entertaining and then out of nowhere Declan has a personality transplant. It drastically changes the tone of the story and not in a good way. The plot goes down a path that failed to hold my attention and severed my investment in the couple. Conflict could have been introduced in a less extreme way that would have been more believable and enjoyable.

I admired Avery’s amazing problem-solving skills when it comes to her job, but I was baffled by why she takes the blame for other people’s poor decisions. I wanted to shake her sometimes. Regardless, she can always count on her sisters to have her back. I liked their relationship and how each one is distinctly different. I also enjoyed the camaraderie among Declan and Avery’s friend group.

It’s safe to say When Sparks Fly gave me a mixed bag of feelings.

** I received an early copy to voluntarily read and review. **

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