When Sparks Fly is an emotionally satisfying romance novel that’s easy to love. I enjoyed the friends to lovers trope and appreciated how the ending wrapped up nicely. There were some instances where it felt a tad bit too lengthy and crammed with unnecessary details but overall, I fell in love with Declan & Avery.

I did not enjoy this book as much as I have enjoyed others by the author. Story and characters were fine, but I feel as though it went from zero to sixty with some of the romance scenes and it felt a little out of place. However, I really liked the main characters and how their relationship grew through the experience. I will continue to read more Hunting's books because overall I am still big fan.

Best friends to lovers is the worst trope in human history, IMO. That being said, THIS BOOK IS SO GOOD!
Avery and Declan have been friends since college and now live together. They share the same friends and spend most of their evenings together.
When Avery is involved in an accident, Declan is wrecked with guilt. He was supposed to be with her in the car but he blew her off for a one-night stand.
Declan dedicates himself to helping her recover and keeping her company while she is stuck at home.
Declan and Avery get closer than ever as he helps her heal and soon they realize that their feelings might be more than just platonic.
So again, like I said. Worst trope ever but Helena Hunting does it SOO good.
The friendship between Declan and Avery honestly seems platonic at first and I was like "eeww" because I couldn't see them falling in love.
Basically their feelings surprised me as much as it surprised them. I loved how the evolution of their relationship just seemed so genuine.
This was the book that brought me out of my book slump and I am so glad for it. If you're a fan of romance, this is the book for you.

Spectacular! This book has it all, tragic backstory, amazing friends and family, friends to something more, car accidents and then healing not just the physical body but the mental mind as well. I could not put this book down, once you start and really get a feel for the characters you are immersed in this world and nothing else exists, just ask my family who had take out pizza because I burnt dinner.
Dec is an amazing male character who doesn’t have the physical wounds but is emotionally unavailable. I know I shed a tear when the car accident happen just thinking if only Dec would have put her first, or not been a jealous jerk the accident may not have happen.
I love that this story felt very real after she moved out. It took that much for him to start to get some help. Then how they took their time to rebuild their relationship, the scavenger hunt at the end, tears!
You really saw the characters grow in this story and really take a superficial relationship and start building a firm foundation for their relationship to grow on.
I wonder did the fountain ever get restored before grandma came home? How about the super sporty bride, how did the bachelorette party go with the penis piñata? Which was hysterical by the way.
I wish there was a way to rate this story with 10 starts or an over the top, you need to read this book because it’s so awesome rating!
Excellent job!

Thank you so much to St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for an arc of When Sparks Fly by Helena Hunting!

I have been a fan of Hunting’s books and was so excited to read this one. It definitely had some good humour and I loved the forced proximity. There was a lot of “telling” about how things happened and less showing through writing and character interactions and this sometimes felt forced and it took me out of the story a little bit. I also found some behaviours of characters out of line - I really did not like London, Avery’s sister and even though some of Declan’s behaviours and reactions were ‘explained’, it did make it hard to root for Avery and Declan as a couple. I did like that there was importance placed on therapy and mental health support.

Triggers: death of parents in car accidents, serious car accident of main character told on page with detail. Alcoholism, discussions of cheating on partner,

I really enjoyed this romcom. There were spots that kinda got annoying the constant reading of their past. I think we got it that Sam cheated and was an asshole lol. But overall highly recommend it if you want a good summer romance novel. Love that it takes place in my home state 😍

A friends-to-lovers romance with plenty of steam, this book was humorous but also dealt with some serious issues. I appreciated the family dynamics between the main character and her sisters as well as between all the friends. An emphasis on mental healthcare really helped ground the romantic relationship and was written with sensitivity and care. All in all a great romantic read.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the early copy to read. All opinions are my own.

What can be said? This was true to Hunting's modus operandi. It made me laugh, teary, and was an adventure from start to finish. I'm creating quite a following with her titles and my readers are no disappointed!

This was my first time reading author Helena Hunting & I really enjoyed the book. The story of friendship & love & fear & jealousy was a wonderful read. I enjoyed the relationship between Declan & Avery, their relationship was one of friendship first & after a tragic accident it turns into more. It was fun watching the very independent Avery have to rely on Declan to take care of her & heartache on Declan’s part for his hand in Avery’s accident. The roller coaster ride of emotions as they grew closer & then were torn apart by fear & jealousy kept me glued to the pages. This is a definite recommend to read. I’m hoping that there might be a couple more books coming after this. Thank you to the publisher & Net Galley for letting me read this book for an honest review.

This is not my kind of novel, so it was a challenge reading through. But I appreciate the publisher sending me a copy to read.
There's A LOT of sexual undertones throughout the entire novel, with a heat level that will take you behind closed doors. For me, this was off-putting, as it wasn't so much about the relationship between the hero and heroine, but more about how long could they hold off jumping in bed together.
There were some clever moments, but unfortunately I just didn't get into the story due to the heat level. (I'm more of a sweet romance reader).

I haven't read this author before, so I didn't know what to expect. Very interesting read about two best friends that had been dancing around their feelings for a number of years afraid of what would happen to their friendship. When an accident puts them in each others space 24/7...see what happens! They both learned a lot about themselves, each other and their relationships with the other people in their lives. It was very introspective.

With a title like When Sparks Fly, there better be some fire. And there's that first drop of sizzle, like when a steak hits cast iron, but then the heat is turned down and pushed to the backburner. That's when Helena Hunting starts prepping the side dish, which isn't romance, but recovery. Avery and Declan met in college, freshman year, but Avery was dating someone else and Declan was dating everyone else. But when Avery's college boyfriend is caught cheating, Declan sides with Avery, and the lifelong friendship emerges - a friendship so strong that they move in together as friends long after college. Declan still getting all the action, and Avery embracing the single life while she works at her family's business, Spark House, an event space.
Eager to help the business grow, Avery sets off to get their alumni association on board, and Declan is supposed to help, but he bales last minute and she's off on her own... and that's when the accident happens. Bad accident. And who will help Avery recover? A guilt-ridden Declan takes the job - and he may as well, since they already live together.

Proximity leads to intimacy. Friends turn to lovers. And then all the other stuff happens. And the stuff is repetitive, predictable, and really takes the heat out of the flame. The sparks aren't flying - they're sort of just hanging in the ashes. But any fire can be rekindled, if given attention - and this is when it gets GOOD! Declan goes for it... but slowly. Winning Avery back at a pace that steadies the flame and turns up the heat.

Excellent story with a feel good ending. I throughly enjoyed getting to know Avery and her sisters. Declan was a great hero and it was nice to see where the story went and I’m hoping for more.

I liked this one! Friends to lovers story with forced proximity ❤️ ❤️ How they solved crossword puzzles together made my heart melt. Some steamy shower scenes 🔥 Lots of groveling.

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Synopsis: Avery and Declan met in college, became close friends that love soccer, and now live in a condo together. Avery is athletic, independent, and works hard running the Spark House hotel with her sisters. She’s done everything to not be dependent after her parents died in a car accident and she was cheated on in her last relationship. Declan helps with the finances of Spark House, hangs out with their mutual friends watching soccer games, and has frequent superficial flings. He has sworn off anything other than physical relationships because of his parents dysfunctional marriage.

Then there’s a car accident. Avery is broken but she’s alive. Declan was supposed to be with her and his guilt is overwhelming. He’s going to make it up to her and takes over the caregiver role as she recovers. As their relationship evolves, the added proximity begins to stir up past feelings. Can Avery handle this dependence again- and how much will she let Declan help her 😉? Are they willing to give in to their attraction and jeopardize their friendship?

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I think the heroine being the vulnerable character could have been taken advantage of, but I thought Hunting made Avery strong enough (and clear enough in what she wanted) to where this wasn’t an issue.
I wanted Declan and Avery to get back together faster, but what made that better was the importance placed on mental health and becoming personally strong before being ready to fully commit.

DNF
Read 40% , it's not my cup of tea
Will not leave review anywhere.DN F

Thank you For granting me access to this book

We all know I am not a romance fan. But a Rom-Com? Yes, I’m in. And this author does a great job of balancing.

Avery Spark and her sisters run Spark House, an event hotel. It keeps them all super busy and Avery is the most passionate about the business and sports. She still lives with her best friend, Declan, who is a great friend and a player with the ladies.

Nobody has time for relationships and nobody is looking for one. For some reason, Declan will never settle down. But their little group of three guy friends and Avery enjoy playing soccer and hanging out. Just one of the boys.

And things are going great until Declan lets her down and she ends up in a bad car accident. Since Declan can work from home and needs to assuage his guilt over not being there for her, he decides to take care of her every need. Medical and emotional.

The more time they spend together the more the relationship evolves into something that may end their friendship or turn them into a couple. But it’s all so new and they are both so scared of loss, we just don’t know how it will end!

This was funny and sad and sexy and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

NetGalley/ St.Martin’s Griffin September 21,2021

When I started When Sparks Fly by Helena Hunting I was ready for a rom com similar to her Pucked series. This book was not as “rowdy” as those books. This was a friends to lovers romance with light humor. While I enjoyed this story, I did have trouble keeping all the side characters straight. I assume there were many additional characters to provide for future stories to create a new series. Overall this was a cute romance story that I would read on a vacation.

When I saw this storyline, I always wanted to a read a book like this one. It was done well. Friends to lovers story and I love any story that has a dual POV between the two characters. What I loved about this story was the relationship Declan and Avery have together and how you see it throughout the story. The side characters fit well I felt. I really loved how the characters made mistakes and grew from them.

This was a cute and funny friends-to-lovers story. I enjoyed the low angst and charm of this book and this trope is always one that makes me happy to read. Helen Hunting made her story within this trope her own and created fun characters for whom are easy for readers to relate.

It's no overwhelming romantic at points because of the nature of the friendship and it took me a while to really believe in the chemistry that was being cultivated but the true friendships in the story were delightful. The book is a great way to escape an afternoon by reading. It's not overly angsty and there are some really special moments and definitely some entertaining and comedic ones. Definitely recommended for fans of this trope. Hunting's story telling will entertain for sure.

loved this romance and finding love with a friend. I enjoyed the sisters and hope to have their romance too. I loved that they loved their business and all did different things. I loved the romance between deck and ava. I loved that they found their way to each other and took their time. I will read more books by her. she is becoming an auto read author for me.