It's another beautiful story from Melissa Brayden. I have been waiting to read the story of Gia. The excerpt was fascinating enough to keep me interested. And the story is beautiful and I liked the tension between the characters and how it's developed into passion and love. And it's nice to see all the friends from Seven Shores.

Wow, what a ride (even literally ;) I loved this story, the setting and the main characters. All of them, but especially Elle and Gia. Their chemistry goes through the roof, it's not only sparks, it's a complete fireworks of emotion. Definitely 5 stars!

I’m a huge fan of Melissa Brayden. I’ve enjoyed the first two books in series (they’re cute). This book was cute too. Gia, the number 2(ish) surfer in the world and wants the title so badly. Elle Britton holds the spot. Their chemistry was sizzling for a while and then when they finally got together I felt it was just,eh. Don’t get me wrong I enjoyed the book and I loved the characters, but I wanted a bit more in the chemistry department . I do have to say this was a great way to pass an afternoon. I loved revisiting with the rest of the Seven Shores crew as well. Overall an enjoyable Melissa Brayden read.

I loved the characters, but didn’t like the storyline as much as I hoped. I’m a huge Brayden fan and I did enjoy this, I just didn’t OMG love it. Ever since the first few pages of book 1, I wanted to know more about Gia. Gia was more mysterious than the others and I loved that she was a pro surfer. When it came to Gia as a character, Brayden didn’t disappoint.

Gia is a pro surfer and currently number 2 in the world. Elle is her archrival and current best surfer in the world. Gia just wants to do her job and surf. She doesn’t like the fake smiles and kissing up to sponsors that Elle seems to do. People know about their rivalry and when a new sponsor wants to make it the part of a new ad campaign (hello cameo from SoHo), the women are stuck spending time together. The more time together, feelings become involved. Is there any room for a romance between the two best women’s surfers in the world?

As I mentioned above I loved getting to know Gia as a character. She was likeable and everything I was hoping for. Gia and Hadley have always been my favorites in this series. While I knew they were not destined to be together, I always thought they could be a couple. I thought it was so funny that Elle ended up being a Hadley clone. Elle and Hadley clicked right away. To me it just proved my personal opinion that Hadley and Gia together would not be such a stretch.

I thought Gia and Elle had excellent chemistry. I loved their teasing and flirty banter. They had good sexual tension together that I really enjoyed. I also did like that the angst of the book didn’t really feel forced. I felt their whole relationship was pretty believable.

The surfing scenes is something I was really looking forward to. Surfing in lesfic is just not a job we come across often. The few scenes were good and exciting, but I was hoping for a bit more. I wish Brayden explained a little more what I should be seeing in my mind. I live in the mountains, there is no ocean. I don’t know much about surfing and I just wanted to learn a little.

What stopped this for me from being 5 stars is I wasn’t crazy about the outcome of some of the storylines. It wasn’t anything bad I just didn’t care for some of Bryaden’s choices. Also, the ending was only okay.

Even though I didn’t love this it is still really good and worth the read. If you are a fan of Brayden don’t hesitate to read this. If you are new to the series, I would start at book 1. I can’t wait to read Hadley’s book next.

<i>Sparks Like Ours</i> is Melissa Brayden’s nth book, but unfortunately she seems to be losing her touch as a storyteller. This book is nowhere near the calibre of <i>How Sweet It Is</i>, <i>Waiting in the Wings</i> or <i>Strawberry Summer</i>.

Brayden’s characterisation is usually quite impeccable, but Gia Malone and Elle Britton seem incomplete as characters. There is a half-hearted attempt to posit one as extremely organised and the other as messy, but it’s not a convincing attempt that doesn’t even find a second mention in the narrative. Their backgrounds too are not delved into in any reasonable depth.

The typical saviours of Brayden’s novels—humour and the oh-so-sweet moments—do not manage to do a good job this time and fail to have their usual impact. In fact, none of the dialogues or conversations evoke enough emotion to draw even the beginnings of a smile for the reader.

Though the plot where two rivals end up falling in love is convincing, what is missing is a narration that packs a punch in its portrayal of the conflict and/or the love.

If this book had been authored by anybody else, it might have got a better rating. But from Melissa Brayden one expects more. Much, much more.

Sparks Like Ours is Melissa Brayden’s nth book, but unfortunately she seems to be losing her touch as a storyteller. This book is nowhere near the quality of How Sweet It Is, Waiting in the Wings or Strawberry Summer.

Brayden’s characterisation is usually quite impeccable, but Gia Malone and Elle Britton seem incomplete as characters. There is a half-hearted attempt to posit one as extremely organised and the other as messy, but it’s not a convincing attempt and doesn’t even find a second mention in the narrative. Their backgrounds too are not delved into in any reasonable depth.

The typical saviours of Brayden’s novels—humour and the oh-so-sweet moments—do not manage to do a good job this time and fail to have their usual impact. In fact, none of the dialogues or conversations evoke enough emotion to draw even the beginnings of a smile from the reader.

Though the plot where two rivals end up falling in love is convincing, what is missing is a narration that packs a punch in its portrayal of the conflict and/or the love. Nothing, absolutely nothing. touches the heart.

If this book had been authored by anybody else, it might have got a better rating. But from Melissa Brayden one expects more. Much, much more.

I think I’m finally tired of the Brayden formula. I just didn’t care about the characters.

There‘s witty dialogue, even though I still can’t find the voices of individual characters, there’s believable conflicts, even communication, but I didn’t feel it at all.

In addition to her formula what annoyed me was setting up Hadley for the next novel. Little things that were neither here nor there for this book.

At least the book offers lots of different bingo squares for the lesfic bingo, so there’s that.

Another wonderful story by Melissa Brayden. I had been waiting for this one as soon as I found out it would be a series because I wanted to know more about Gia. It was worth the wait :)
Only one more book until the series is complete! I'm already looking forward to Hadley’s story.

Add another extremely sweet romance to this series. I'm loving that in the last two books of this series the two couples have separated unhappily but mutually without the major drama, it just felt more real to me. The characters in these books are awesome and I just can't get enough of this world of seven shores!

One thing I would say is as a competitive person I would have liked the surf competition part of the story to play out differently. I understand why she wrote it the way she did but I personally would have enjoyed it better if it had gone down a different path (that's all I'll say without giving it away).

As always Brayden doesn't disappoint!

This is book 3 of the 'Seven shores' series featuring four friends living in Venice beach, California which I recommend to read chronologically. 'Sparks like ours' is the story of Gia Malone, a professional surfer, and Elle Britton, world champion surfer and Gia's fiercest competitor. As number two in the world, Gia is determined to beat Elle whom she considers superficial and too perky. But when an advertising campaign brings them working together, Gia starts reconsidering her opinion about Elle and Elle begins to question her own sexuality. Will they act on their growing attraction or will their budding relationship be destroyed by the extreme competition between them?

This is by far my favourite book in this series, as now the four friends and the secondary characters' personalities are well defined. The 'Soho loft' series is still my favourite but I suppose it's a matter of taste. 'Sparks like ours' is one of Ms. Brayden's books with less angst or drama I've read. The characters' conflict is more due to career challenges than serious disputes or misunderstandings. It makes the conflict realistic and sad at the same time. The rest is pure Brayden's usual style: witty dialogues, hot chemistry, well crafted plots. As always, Brayden uses the perfect balance between show and tell. In her books, we are observers as the events unfold and we experience the characters' emotions which stir our feelings and trigger our imaginations. The author leaves the descriptions to her trademark intimate scenes. And, oh boy, how she excels at that. Ms. Brayden has the lesfic romance formula perfected and us readers cannot get enough. Her books are lesfic heaven.

As a bonus to her fans, there are a few cameo appearances or references to some of her most beloved characters: Molly and Jordan from 'How sweet it is', Mallory and Hunter from the 'Soho loft' series and Spencer from the forthcoming 'Love like ours'.

Overall, another winner by Melissa Brayden which will make her readers happy. 4.5 stars.

ARC provided by Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

See all my reviews at
www.lezreviewbooks.wordpress.com

As soon as I get a Melissa Brayden book I read it. That's how much I look forward to her books. There are no waiting days!

Loving this series!! I loved the Soho series, so it was awesome when Mal showed up! But what about Hunter??? I thought it was a missed opportunity to not have her at the last tournament. Wouldn't Hunter have known that they were working on an ad campaign for Gia? I thought surely she'd turn up too.

Elle was adorable, and I now love Gia more than before. Mini spoiler.....but I wasn't a huge fan of how they reconnected at the hospital. It seemed a little too convenient but Melissa writes so well I forgave her almost immediately.

All I can say is I can't wait for Hadley!!!

This is the third book in Brayden’s California based 'Seven Shores:" series that follows four friends as they find love and happiness. Book one, ‘Eyes Like Those’, followed Isabel Chase, writer, and Taylor Andrews, producer (with Isabel being the ‘Seven Shores’ friend, though she’s newly arrived in California at the start of the book). Book two, ‘Hearts Like Hers’, finds Autumn Primm, Venice Beach coffee shop owner (‘The Cat’s Pajamas’), hooking up with a vacationing firefighter (Kate Carpenter). Kate’s the Seven Shores person in that she lives in that apartment complex, though it’s Autumn who is the Seven Shores friend (the difference being that Autumn was friends of the Seven Shores people but didn’t live there). And then we come to this book here, where the woman who intrigued me from the beginning, the one who I was curious about from the beginning, gets her story told.

Gia Malone is a young woman who has spent her life surfing. Professionally. She might have liked to go to college, maybe, but she wasn’t in the situation to do both – financially. So, immediately after high school, she entered the qualifying tour. Eventually she rose up to the top tier pro tour and a year before this book opens, she was number 7 in the world (I do not recall if ‘in the world’ is mentioned, but, since the events that occur in this story take place around the world, I assume ‘in the world’ is accurate), and by the time this book here starts, she’s number 2.

Occupying the number one slot at top of the pro surfing leader board is Elle Britton. Gia’s rival and something like but not exactly enemy. Part of Gia’s dislike of Elle is the part wherein Elle is number one; mostly, though, it seems that Gia’s dislike stems from how she views Elle’s personality. In that, Elle seems too perky to be real. A fake plastic Barbie type.

Several complicating matters turn up – a year before this story opens, a photo was released that made it look like Gia was lustfully gazing upon Elle in her swimsuit (it’s never firmly dealt with, but the impression given is that both parties know that Gia wasn’t actually doing that, it just looked that way). It’s an issue because it gets brought up every once in a while. Then there’s the part where the happily partnered up Seven Shores people begin talking about ‘sparks’ and how Gia and Elle seem to have some – a theory begun before either party seemed to actually desire the other (we are still in rivals zone; also, one of the main people talking about Gia’s love life is her fellow single Seven Shores friend Hadley, so I’m not sure why I worded things the way I did). Then a specific sponsor wants to pair the number 1 (Elle) and number 2 (Gia) in an advertisement campaign – so both would have to work together, interact a lot more than they normally do when on tour. The, how to word this, the romance angle of the book doesn’t really start, though, until another event occurs – on the same day two articles appear, one strongly indicating that Elle and Gia are bitter rivals; other strongly indicating that Elle and Gia are lovers. Elle has an odd reaction to the stories, Gia doesn’t even know those stories exist. Oh, and somewhere along the line Elle picked up a boyfriend who she likes and who likes her, and who both like spending time with each other – a boyfriend kind of adds a complication layer to a female-female romance, eh?

Wow that’s a huge paragraph, I should break that down somehow. Nah.

One of the problems with a many friends type book is trying to remember who everyone is and how they fit in. I found it easier to remember everyone without thinking too hard with Brayden’s prior series, though I mostly kept up with the character list with this series. There are just many side characters, some of whom already appeared in the story (both mains and side characters). *shrugs, moving on*

I liked the two main characters well-enough, and their eventual connection seemed well developed, but I unexpectedly kind of disliked some of the stuff I was seeing with Gia. Mostly in her thoughts and actions regarding Elle. Seeing perkiness as fake and plastic-y. But that, obviously or not, went away as the story progressed.

There are issues that pop up as the story unfolds, both foreseeable, and not. Family related, relationships related, and sports related. Everything seemed naturally occurring and not artificially created to add layers of problem issues to overcome.

Let’s see, what else is there to say – I liked the characters, main and side. The story was interesting and good. Flowed naturally.

Well, just one friend left without a partner (even if you pulled in Elle’s friend Holly it’d still be just one friend, since Holly has Dash, and is straight (though Elle started this book straight so…). Hadley the one connected somehow or another to fashion and a specific store. I’ve tended to like her in the series, so far, with my favorite scene with her being the one where she’s dressed up like a cow. Tail and all.

Rating: 4.65

May 18 2018

There's no doubt about it, Melissa has the gift of the gab. If you're looking for a feel good story, low on angst, with a great supporting cast, this might be just the ticket.

Why not five stars? Although I was thoroughly entertained, I'm know next to nothing about surfing and found those scenes exhilarating, the relationship between the leads was wishy-washy (no pun intended) at best. I didn't feel the 'sparks' I expected to. Is that on me, who knows?

I loved catching up with the supporting characters and look forward to whoever's story is next. I suspect it will be Hadley's (must remember Hadley is a she not a he)

Thank you to NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books for the ARC

Melissa Brayden has never disappointed me. Maybe once but never fully and this book was lovely and to see a whole new world and perspective, I’ve never surfed before but I was excited about this. How cool is it to be competitive with someone but then connect with them on so many levels. A-1 book.

This is a better follow-up to the previous seven shore romance. The leads here are believeable and their romance doesn't seem to be sudden.

However I didn't see the Sparks or the sizzles that I could in Isabel and Taylor's romance.

As far as series romances go, the Soho loft series remains my favourite and I'm pleased to revisit my favourite characters in other romances by Ms. Brayden.

I hope Hadley's romance is better

Melissa Brayden’s latest book, Sparks Like Ours, dealt with competitive surfing, job pressures, pregnancy worries, and of course, relationship problems. This is what I love about her books. She places her characters in many different realistic situations with dialogue to match. The key word here is realistic, especially in terms of life, and in this story, competition. The two characters spotlighted in this story were Elle and Gia, who were initially ranked first and second. However, they were not perfect, and that, in itself was okay. The constructive message I felt Ms. Brayden conveyed throughout this story was as follows: Life is not perfect, the people we love are not perfect, but if we deal with life’s situations in a positive manner through communication, respect, and love, we will always be winners. This book is definitely a winner!

Lovely story, I LOVED the friendship, the dialogue was fantastic and realistic. I did however feel like the drama was kinda un-called for but it all worked at the end for the book. This is my second book for the author and I really think I'm starting to add her to my favorite writers Highly recommended

thank you for the Author/the publisher and Netgalley for giving me free copy in return of my opinion.

*I received an ARC for my honest review of this book*

4.5 Stars. I really enjoyed this book, it was good from beginning to end. This book is about Gia Malone, number two surfer in the world, and Elle Britton, the number one surfer in the world. They wind up in an add campaign where they have to spend a lot of time together, which changes their opinions about one another as they get to know each other. This story is interesting as it has a lot of tension between the two and they start to become friends. They both had the wrong impressions of each other, as they had never spent any time together before.

I loved the tension and confusion between the two main characters. Elle is dating a man in the beginning of the book, and assumes she is straight. I love the straight girl books where they realize aren't anymore. Elle's confusion just adds to her character and helped develop her. This book had a lot of character development and gave Gia a fuller personality than she had in the previous books. They both evolve as the book goes on and I love where this story goes.

I would recommend this book, it is a great Melissa Brayden book. I thoroughly enjoyed it and would recommend it as a great book. I couldn't stop reading it and kept wanting to know where it goes next.

I want to start this review by saying how glad I am that this is not a trilogy. There is one more and oh how I cannot wait for Hadley. Don’t get me wrong Hadley’s story is going to be outstanding but aren’t all of Brayden’s stories. Let me tell you Gia Malone and Elle Britton bring the heat. Hell yes they do, the heat they bring is hot, smoking hot.

Gia and Elle are fierce competitors. Elle is the currently the number one female professional surfer. She has adoring fans and is the face of women’s surfing. Gia is number two and is doing everything in her power to get her points total to top Elle’s. They don’t hate each other but there is some definite tension. Ooooh, don’t you just love the tension and the whole got off on the wrong foot/rivals scenario, Lord knows I do! Two elite athletes that are both fierce competitors, you know right off the bat that Brayden is going to give you some fabulous angst mixed in with amazing dialogue, light-hearted fun, and characters that steal your heart.

Gia is driven, ambitious and solely focused on being the very best female surfer. She loves surfing for the pureness of it and to fuel her competitive spirit. Catering to sponsors and being friendly with reporters is part of her job but something she is less than comfortable with. Elle gets under Gia’s skin because she not only knows how to play the game, she has reporters, fans, and sponsors eating out of her hand. This peppy people person drives her mad.

What draws you so much to these Gi and Elle is that they act like real people. They are flawed, they make mistakes, they get tipsy on margaritas in a bar and blurt out something that they shouldn’t. Perfection is boring. Brayden makes them come alive right off the page. You love them for their missteps and their triumphs. You love them because she makes them feel real.

We aren’t reinventing the wheel here folks. Brayden has her formula and by golly, I am so glad she does. It works and it’s not good, it’s great. I for one, think my lucky stars that Melissa Brayden writes lady loving books because she is one of the very best and takes it to the next level every single book. She writes the stories that you come back to. Not once, or twice, but time and time again because they give you all of the feels. Isn’t that why we love romance? Those little flutters that pull of your heartstrings, that paragraph that makes you smile, the joy of a first kiss. Her books are the ones you cherish.

An easy 5 stars!

Sparks Like Ours continues the Seven Shores Series romance series with Gia as the star of the show finding love in the most unexpected and inconvenient place. Elle Britton is the currrent female world surfing champion and Gia is hot on her heels at number 2 and whoops, they fall for each other when they are brought together to work on an ad campaign featuring their rivalry. Workplace romances are common and their situation is no different than any other 2 people falling in love at work, but yet it is so much more complicated when in direct competition in a professional sport under the scrutiny of the press and fans. I really liked how both characters were written with their devotion not just to their sport, but their drive for excellence in what they did for a living. As their romance builds, it is definitively predictable that there will eventually be a conflict that both the reader and characters can see from far off. Part of the fun and suspense was trying to figure out how it was going to play out and to what conclusion our characters would come to see. Along the way, we are gifted a few Easter Eggs to enjoy that will make you smile. The ease that these characters live and play together has made it worthwhile to spend time in their beach town and I look forward to more of their stories.

What really amazes me with Melissa Brayden’s books in general is her magical ability to write dialogues! I have a big problem with long dialogues in the books because usually to me they seem kind of forced and artificial, without a natural conversational fluidity, but that is simply not the case with Melissa Brayden! The woman is a Goddess for friendly banter, eloquent flirting between characters and charming replies to provocative teasing! I just love reading her books! LOVE THEM! Again, she scored perfectly with Sparks Like Ours! I love loved she had included the characters from her previous books, so it makes you feel like those people really exist! Basically - Melissa Brayden writing a mediocre book - there is yet to be seen - if that EVER happens, considering how brilliant she is in romance genre!