Helena Hunting always adds interesting tidbits to her stories which make them stand out amongst all the other romances that hit the shelves! In this one, readers will easily fall in love with Avery and Declan, former friends turned caretaker, turned new love interest! I love WHAT brought these two back together and watching them fall in love despite everything around them was really charming for me to "watch". I'll always recommend a Helena Hunting novel and that includes this one too!

When Sparks Fly is a sweet and charming story, it introduces us to two best friends (Avery and Declan) that have over a decade of friendship. They live together and basically do everything with each other. Avery has an unfortunate car accident that Declan blames himself for and she needs a caretaker to help her get through it. Declan wants to be that person for her, as he's caring for Avery that's when you see "the sparks fly," their long friendship turns into something much more.

Helena brings in a very real element to this book that I loved. I don't want to spoil anything but I do love how it wasn't a pretty package from beginning to end, Declan and Avery deal with some emotional things that they need to work on. This was a sweet and sometimes emotional friends to lovers romance, which happen to be one of my favorite genres.

Friends to lovers romance about college friends who chose to be roommates with unresolved feelings to each other is the perfect recipe to keep someone glue to this story. The amount of sexual chemistry between these 2 was off the charts. It had you anticipating and waiting with baited breath for what was to come next.
Avery and Declan are sweet, sexy, meant to be from the beginning. But years of restraining themselves and past hurt make it hard for them to come clean to each other about their feelings.

Avery made the choice to date Dec’s college friend Sam instead of him because Dec is a known playboy. He is commitment phobic, one-night stands are his jam. Declan also is carrying huge baggage from his parents’ dysfunctional relationship. Avery experiences being cheated on by Sam and it is Dec who tells her. He also makes the choice to cut his entire relationship with Sam to support Avery. This connection between them, this wavering support is powerful in this story. This helps make their connection believable and relatable. You know that Avery and Declan are going to be each other’s everything.
As one Approached their 30’s perspective and who you are changes and matures…..
Avery is running Spark House: a hotel/ event center she’s inherited from her family she lost in traffic accident when she was teenager. She’s running the business with her sisters London and Harley. But she bought a condo with her best friend Dec and even though she’s harboring feelings she never crosses the lines with him. Avery doesn’t want to lose her friend because of her feelings. She cares so deeply for him. Her biggest fear is that her feelings are unrequited.

In the beginning I’m seriously angry at Declan! I have so many new names for him. For a while he was going to be a character that needed punched in the face. Seriously, right before their alumni gathering trip, he gets drunk and brings a random girl from the bar. He claims to have had reasons since he found out Avery goes on a hot date in a hot dress. But his response is to run to the bar for distraction! But it is so not cool. As Avery bangs on his room door in the morning, she realizes he’s still with the girl. Avery’s past trauma and her feelings seem to be an afterthought for Declan.

Everything that happens, happens for a reason but damn it, Declan need to grovel and big time repent. The evolution of their relationship from this point forward was engaging. Declan did come through in a big way. He does redeem himself.
The friend’s group in this romance is one of the things I love about romance. It is one of the things that keeps me engaged and coming back to the romance. The supporting characters give so much to the story and relationship. It really gives so much to the story. It also has you anticipating their own HEA’s.

I really did enjoy this story. It had a lot of depth that engaged you and had so many feelings. The spark and chemistry between these characters was fantastic. I could not wait for them to get together. I liked the sweet conclusion which was also clever. While I do wish there was more heat to the romance. I do feel it was a very well-done Friends to lovers romance. Helena Hunting is one of my all-time favorite authors. I enjoyed this story tremendously.

This one was a miss for me. Let's start with the good -- I liked the complex family dynamics with Avery's sister. I liked Spark House as a setting -- the hobby horse competition scene was hilarious. The early sexual tension between Avery and Declan is super great. The bad -- Avery is super into sports, and is "not like other girls." She prefers to hang with the guys because "they say what they mean." She's presented as unique because she has a voracious sex drive. So much of Avery's personality/character trades on super tired, sexist tropes and it really did not resonate.

Declan is also problematic out of the gate. Avery is heading out to a first date and he tries to convince her to change out of a sexy black dress into a shapeless shirt dress that hides her figure because he's jealous. We do not try to police women's bodies in this day and age!! One of the major plot points revolves around Declan's emotional baggage surrounding his parent's problematic marriage. While it's hinted at throughout the book it blows up in a very abrupt and under developed way to create the "conflict" near the end of the book. I needed it to be more developed throughout the book, since Declan goes from being a great boyfriend to a jealous rage monster in roughly 5 seconds.

Hunting is a clearly an engaging writer -- I kept reading even though the initial introductions to both characters turned me off. But overall, while this one wasn't really for me but I could see others enjoying.

Helena Hunting did it again!
When Sparks Fly had it all humor, charm, emotion and was one of my favorite Helena Hunting books! She has a gift with creating characters who are well developed and often times relatable. Declan & Avery are no exception! They are the best of friends from college who end up living together after school. When an accident occurs it will test their friendship. Are they meant to be more than friends? Will they survive how this accident challenges their friendship? Will they cross those lines? How will the accident change the course of their future?
Do yourself a favor, don't read all of the spoilers because it will ruin it for you.
I'm not one for spoilers, but I am here to give my honest opinion after reading this ARC. I loved this one, 4.5 stars for me because I could not put it down! It was the perfect summer read by the pool and I devoured this one in 2 days. When Sparks Fly does not disappoint, it will have you hooked from the start. Just make sure to set some time aside because you will not want to put this one down! Hint: slow burn, that's all I'll give!
Special thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Griffin for this digital ARC with me for my honest thoughts.

** spoiler alert ** The first 50% I loved! The chemistry between Declan and Avery was fantastic even before it turned romantic. When it got to the point of her having to masturbate after the accident it totally lost me. Really "have to masturbate" after a severe accident. She acted like it was worse not being able to get off than anything else. I really didn't like it. Add the fact that she guilted Declan into doing it for him - no thanks. Ok so why a 3 star and not lower. After that cringe-worthy part I did like the ending. Declan took responsibility for his actions, throughout the book actually. I also loved what he did at the end to try to win her back. For me this would have been a higher rated except for the masturbation need that just seemed over the top for me.

This was a good read for me. Not my favorite of Helena Hunting's, but was still good. She's able to work in humor into her stories that feels organic, and manages to make a romance read emotional but still fun. This was a really good story with a good friends to lovers premise.

Great story! Best friends stop fighting that they are in love in an unusual situation. It is nice to see how they explore their attraction and realize what they have had all along. I received an ArC from NetGalley and the publisher and this is my honest review.

When the author is Helena Hunting I already know I am going to devour the read. My expectations for her have been set and I doubt anything can change that. Ha!

Her "All In" series is one of my favorite series ever. So, as you do with favorite authors you just grab up any and all things you can of theirs.


Enter "When Sparks Fly."

I liked it. It was good. However, it wasn't what I typically feel when reading a Hunting novel. I didn't feel as connected to Declan and Avery as I typically do to her characters. The plot was fantastic but at times I felt it just too forced.

I enjoyed the aspect of fixing the big conflict and how Hunting managed that. The HEA didn't come easy and I can appreciate that.

Overall, it was just good. I had expected excellent but good is still good.

Thank you @netgalley and @stmartinspress for the advanced copy of this book. All thoughts are my own.

While not my favorite book by Helena Hunting (that's a hard list to crack), I very much enjoyed this one! I love the humor of Helena's writing and loved the setting for this one. Spark House was so charming! As always though, it's the emotional beats that always get me with Helena's writing and make it an absorbing romance read.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martins for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I really like Helena Hunting and this was a fun and easy romance. I rounded my review to 4 stars. It was a nice friends to lovers romance with sweet characters. There was lots of amazing sexual tension and attraction. The story dragged a tiny bit and I wasn't always completely immersed in Declan and Avery's story. The aspects that focused on mental health and therapy were great and needed.

Love Declan and Avery , who are roommates and best friends that become more then best friends after Avery was in an accident and Delcan becomes her care taker.
Some fun situations humor and sweet slow romance.
Fun story.
Voluntarily reviewed.

Classic Helena Hunting Rom Com gold!
Maybe nothing will ever match her Pucked Series or All In for me... but I enjoyed this one immensely. Friends to lovers - swoon!

This book evoked a lot of emotions in me. I enjoyed getting to know the main characters as friends in the beginning of the book so we could fully experience their journey. I loved the deep connection and care that comes out when Declan realized just how close he came to losing the most important thing to him. I was a little annoyed in the middle when there was such an emphasis on the physical attraction, but the didn't last too long. In a dramatic turn of events, I wanted to slap Declan and yell at him for being a jerk. Thankfully, the author took this moment to focus on how working through your trauma with a therapist can help set you on a better path. Overall, it was a good read and I would recommend it!

Another cute read from Helena Hunting! Having been immobile for months after an accident and suffering ptsd as I recovered, I totally got Avery and her emotions. I only wish I'd had a Dechlan while I was learning to walk again. Lol!

Unfortunately this book was not for me and I did not bother to finish it or even get half way through. I was bored and annoyed by this book and it’s lackluster characters. All of the characters are very basic and the author constantly repeats the same descriptions of them, Avery is sporty while her sister is more girly and Avery’s friends are all guys who like sports. The constant references to Spark House were tiring. It was never the hotel or work but always Spark House. Who talks like that? Plus the characters were crass. How many times does a woman need to mention masturbation? Or a guy the effect of being turned on? It felt juvenile and so unnecessary. There were zero sparks flying in this book, more like a lot of physicality and words to that affect. I was bored and saw zero romance of chemistry. I saw a lot of titles listed by the author at the beginning of the book and a series of books that sounded like hockey so maybe there’s an audience for these books among sports fans but I am definitely not one of them. I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Slow start, great middle, drawn out ending, awesome epilogue! Avery and Declan both had some major baggage to overcome. Avery was definitely a fighter, and Declan scarred but willing to put in the work.

Avery runs the Spark House with her sisters. A hotel/event space that caters to the whims or its guests. Avery loves it as it's been in her family for some time. Avery is living her best life - running Spark House with her sister by day and getting to hang out with her best friend and roommate Declan whenever she's not as Spark House.

Declan and Avery have been best friends since college. They go way back and Declan and Avery even hang out with their buddies from college once a week! Life is going good for Avery and Declan until some choice decisions cause Avery to get into a car wreck. Declan feels responsible and vows to always be there for Avery if she ever needs anything.

Being around one another so much with Declan helping Avery with everything is bound to cause a shift in their relationship. Every touch and glance is somehow amplified now on both sides. But what happens if Avery and Declan decide to become more than friends?

While I did enjoy the friendship between Declan and Avery - I wasn't completely sold on the two of them as a couple. Parts of When Sparks Fly were hard to read. I felt bad for both Avery and Declan when Avery had her accident. I understand that there was a lot of forgiveness and self reflection on both sides and especially for Declan. I still really had a hard time with Declan's character and wasn't very fond of him at times - especially the last quarter of the book.

I appreciate Helena discussing mental health and therapy in When Sparks Fly. I'm glad that more authors are able to discuss these important issues in romance now!

Not a favorite HH romance, but I hope we get Avery's sisters stories too!

A sweet story of long time friends that find love through tragedy. I really enjoyed both of the main characters and their sweet friendship that grew into so much more!

This was my first time reading a Helena Hunting novel, and I am shook. This novel will tear your heart up, make it melt, and feel roasted, but dang it's a wonderful ride.