This one was a miss for me. I normally love Helena Huntings book but for some reason couldn't get into this one. I loved the side characters and I hope the sisters get a book.

I loved this book so much! The chemistry you could feel between Avery and Declan was everything! This was perfect for a fast paced, light, summer read. I can’t wait to read more from our characters.

Friends to lovers, what's not to adore? My only complaint was being glued to my Kindle and staying up way too late to see how this adorable story played out. Highly recommend!

Helena Hunting will never cease to write an amazing and sweet rom com!

If you're a fan of friends-to-lovers romances, this book should be at the top of your list! Avery and Declan are best friends who live together until an accident forces true feelings that have been hiding all this time to come forward. Helena Hunting is amazing at what she does, and that's writing sweet romances with real characters. They have their flaws and they make mistakes, but the beauty of it is that they find a way to overcome it, to forgive and to live their lives to the fullest.

My heart is happy!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the earc in return for an honest review.

A book boyfriend-worthy romance!!! This friends-to-lovers love story will deliver sweet and sexy moments with a dash of angsty drama. Declan will become your favorite book boyfriend!

Avery has just been one of the guys for years. Her best friend just happens to be a hot guy who she lives with. They have always had a strictly platonic relationship. She's driven and works along side her sisters running Spark House.

Declan is a good time guy. Loves his friends, enjoys his hook ups and has a great job. Avery has been his bestie for years. They even bought a condo together since they get along so well. All is perfect until he makes a mistake.

Avery finds herself in the hospital and in need of care to mend. Declan steps up. They already live together, so this should be easy. However, being so dependent on another person is not what Avery wants. As her frustration with her limitations mounts, she seeks comfort and relief from her best friend.

A friends-to-lovers romance with lots of heart and steam. Two people who mean the world to one another cross a line they cannot come back from. Declan is buried under his own baggage so far down that he can't see the light. He's struggling with what he wants but can't get past the feeling of not deserving happiness. Avery isn't willing to go back and erase what happens, but she can't fix him. Declan will have to find his way.

I absolutely loved Declan and Avery. The relationship they fostered over the years was the perfect foundation for the most beautiful forever. It took some work to get there, but that kind of love is worth the sacrifice. The author dug deep with these characters and their struggles. I loved watching Declan's evolution from a man who was just pretending, to a man that felt everything and wanted to be the best partner he could be. A fantastic couple with real life challenges and a love worth fighting for. You are going to fall in love with Declan as he becomes Boyfriend-Worthy!

I tend to think of Helena Hunt as a romcom writer and while When Sparks Fly definitely has romcom moments, I enjoyed that this novel packed a more emotional punch. Both Declan and Avery had some baggage that was begging to be unpacked and in Helena Hunting's hands, it definitely was. To get to that point, though, there were all sorts of events--some funny and some horrific--that kept me turning pages.


The novel started with a completely ridiculous and funny scene, leads us through the backstory of Avery and her family and introduces us to her friendship with Declan via a college relationship gone bad. All of this gets us to the car accident that gives us the meat of the story. There's forced proximity, guilt, frustration, and many opportunities for this best friendship to turn into something else, which obviously it does only to blow up before we get to their HEA ...all well worth the journey to get there.

In addition to the main story of Avery and Declan, the secondary characters also provided a lot of comedy and interesting diversions and I'm definitely seeing the potential for several of these characters to get stories of their own.

When Sparks Fly is a fun read that definitely brings the emotion--a good way to spend your weekend.

I really enjoyed this book. At first I wasn't sure if I really liked the male main character however I fell in love with him. This book is full of drama, laughs, and heartaches. The two main characters (Declan and Avery) evolved from best friends to lovers. The story is an easy fun read. I would definitively recommend this book to anyone who loves a happy ever after stories. I received this book as a ARC from NetGalley for my honest opinion.

When Sparks Fly is Hunting's contemporary side mixed with her light humor. This had more of a realistic twist infused with Hunting's fantastic romantic flare and dusted with her wit and charm.

This book takes two emotionally damaged people, given real life drama and solutions and then they still have to figure out if they are better off together or apart at the end.

Declan and Avery have been best friends since college and have been living together has roommates for the past couple years since graduation. They have been through a lot together, but have never dated or even crossed a line into indecent waters. They both have been able to put each other in a friendship box with absolutely zero trouble, but when Avery gets seriously injured and needs help with basic needs, some shall we say, lines have to be crossed just so Avery can use the bathroom or take a shower. The proverbial box is opened and it's hard to close once things have been released.

Declan is there for Avery- 24/7 . As her caregiver, he will do or give Avery whatever she needs, literally anything to make sure she heals properly. He can't even imagine what he would have done had she not survived her accident so he truly becomes a hovering, over protective stalker. While he knows it's not healthy, he also can't stop and while Avery isn't in a place to help herself he's fine, but when she begins to heal...Declan slowly unravels, but remember that opened box...yeah it's trouble for both of them.

These two may have known each other for years, but when their relationship begins to change neither are prepared for the emotional pileup that is coming for them. Deck is a normal self-saboteur and Avery never lets anyone in emotionally. While these two think their friendship basis is strong enough to handle everything, hopefully it will be enough to withstand their heartbreaks.

This book is different than a lot of Helena's other works, but it is still crafted with her great writing and fun wit. It's a 4.5 overall only because Deck was a bit of a hard sell for me personally. I normally love Helena's hero's, even her jerky ones which I seem to love more (like Shippy), but again this was just my personal opinion on Declan.

This was a fun, easy read. I loved seeing the relationship evolve between Declan and Avery from best friends to lovers to more. I was angry, I was scared, I was annoyed, I laughed, and I cried. This book hit all the emotions for me.
I was laughing from the beginning when it starts with a hobby horse convention (yes, you read that right).
I'm hoping there will be more books set amongst this group like her sisters and their friends. This book isn't as outrageously fun as her Pucked series, but it was definitely a great read.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC.

“When the Sparks Fly” by Helen Hunting was a delightful book. I have not read any books by this author before but really enjoyed it. I like friends to love genre.
Avery and Declan were in school together and now roommates. Declan is a playboy and Avery does not like the dating scene.
Avery is hurt in a car accident and needs a lot of help. Declan feels guilty and steps up to take care of her and help her heal.
The story unfolds -- The writing was good and the story sweet. I may go back and read a few more by this author. Highly recommended

Helen Hunting’s books are exactly what you need when you want to finish a book in one day. This is a lovely story of a couple that’s meant to be. The most interesting part was their separate struggles with their own insecurities. It’s not very often you see the male lead dealing with insecurity and seeking help for it. It’s great to see the hero learning and growing. This weekend I brought “When Sparks Fly” with me to the beach and finish it in one sitting!

Helena Hunting is one of the best at creating fun yet dramatic, chemistry-filled romantic comedies! In "When Sparks Fly", best friends Avery and Declan are sharing an apartment, working busy jobs, and dating around. However, after Avery is in a near-fatal car accident, Declan takes over caring for her, and lines begin to blur. What used to be just a friendship has now become much more than that. The sparks that fly between them are fun to read about, and I enjoyed that their relationship was based on a deep friendship first. However, once jealousy rears its ugly head, they have to figure out how to deal with difficulties in a healthy way in order to save their relationship. I also loved how Hunting normalized going to therapy and dealing with past pain.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed this book. It was so fun to read and the story is easy going. I’d not heard of this author before but I found it a nice easy read

This friends to lover's romance story had me glued to my kindle from the very beginning! The characters were so well rounded that Avery and Declan kept me turning the pages of this fantastic book until the very end!

I really enjoyed this story, so very enjoyable. I love the characters and how they interact. Very well written

Declan and Avery, best buds, roommates and business associates are forced into extremely close quarters when Declan becomes Avery’s constant caretaker as she recovers from a terrible car accident. As they become closer and more intimate, their past histories interfere and push them apart.

In the beginning, I felt Declan’s character came across as immature-ish for an almost 30 year old man. Thankfully he redeems himself in the end and proves himself worthy of Avery’s love and friendship.

While I’m a huge fan of Helena Hunting’s Pucked series, When Sparks Fly does not have the same outrageous, laugh out loud antics. This is more of a sweet, slow burn read.

Thanks to St Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read and review an ARC.

I LOVE best friends-to-lovers.....it is by far my favorite genre. When one of my favorite authors writes it? Yup, I'm in seventh heaven! Helena Hunting's When Sparks Fly is funny, sexy, and emotional with just the right amount of heart. Readers will adore Avery and Declan's story.

Avery is such a fun character. She's kind, hard-working, an amazing friend, athletic, and has a strong drive to succeed. Declan is funny, sexy, loyal, and dedicated. These two are so much fun together and when their friendship takes a turn towards the romantic, their connection intensifies. Tragedy brings them closer and Hunting will definitely tug at your heartstrings with this emotional component to the story. My heart broke for both Avery and Declan but these two fight their way to a perfect happy ending. These two really do have a ton of spark!

Hunting delivered a story that will make you laugh and make you cry. She balances the more emotional parts of the story with humor and lightness. I loved all of the characters and hope we get to see more of Avery's sisters as well as her and Declan's friends. The whole cast of characters were so much fun! I loved this story! 5 stars

I love Helena Hunting's books, but this was not her usual style book. I found this one was just ok. I was expecting more and got a just ok read.

I enjoyed the book, don't get me wrong. It was a predictable friends to lovers romance. Nothing shocking or even a little different happened.

I am a Helena Hunting fan, so I was excited to read When Sparks Fly! My favorite romance trope is best friends falling in love and the friendship in this book really shines! I immediately got a sense of who the characters were together as friends, soccer teammates, and roommates. I liked the book and recommend it, I just didn't love it.

I appreciated how strong Avery is - the perfect combination of sporty, intelligent, and mentally resilient. She is my ideal female main character! Unfortunately, Declan, Avery's best friend, falls a bit flat by comparison. He's an attractive, nice guy most of the time, but I never got to the point of being able to visualize him like I did with Avery. While I appreciated their friendship, I never fully got a sense of their latent physical chemistry except for in one steamy scene, and that, from my perspective, kind of came out of nowhere. Typically, I FEEL the author's characters' chemistry build up over time, but this time I didn't and I can't pinpoint why since all the essential elements were there. I also felt like the drama over her ex, Sam, around the 70% mark was just there for drama's sake. It made Declan's character unlikable (and triggering, see Content Warning below) for the next few chapters and didn't speak to the lengthy relationship that he and Avery actually had.

With the switch in narration from Avery to Declan, I appreciated getting into each of their heads as the story progressed, but at times it was really repetitive and I just wanted to keep the story moving forward. I never felt their emotions in a way that I expected. The book has some great potential for high emotion and I think I would have felt their chemistry more if it were a more emotional story. Perhaps this is just an example of me going into a book with too high of expectations?

Advanced copy provided via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

CW: Rated R / One scene involves a door violently flung open in anger while the other character is vulnerable, which may be triggering for some

This is a roommate friends to lovers story, hinged around a car accident to make Avery needing Declan's help with...a lot of things. This was more of a 2.5 stars for me, rounded up as I liked the sisters (hoping they each get their own book) and the wacky events at the hotel. The other two guy friends who came over to watch sports felt like their characters were very unrealistic, in my opinion.

Kindly received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.