A best friends and roomies to more by Helena Hunting? My answer will always be "Yes, please." to this. I truly enjoyed When Sparks Fly. It was a sweet and somewhat steamy romance. Avery and Declan are besties who live together. After Avery is injured in an accident, Declan naturally takes care of his roommate. Their close friendship morphs into something more with each passing day. I loved how close Avery and Declan were emotionally. Their friendship and connection was so strong. It made their chemistry pop when they finally decided to become more. I loved them as single friends, but I adored them in a relationship. 

Usually when I get to the conflict in a romance I'm all for hurrying up to resolve it and get to the happy ending. Surprisingly, I didn't feel that way about this one. I appreciated the way Hunting wrote the way the conflict was handled. There was a lot the characters needed to think about and deal with to be whole as a couple and I loved how the ground work was laid. It made the romance all the sweeter. So while the romance between Avery and Declan was my favorite thing about this book, the resolution of the conflict was close up there. 

Another great thing about this book was the supporting characters. Avery's sisters were a close knit group and fun to get to know. Avery and Declan's friends were also tight and entertaining. I would adore for the two sisters and two best friends to end up together in future books to make this a series. Or even books for each of the four of them. The characters are too good to go to the character graveyard. 

One last thing... I feel like I need to talk about a couple of things that weren't a problem for me, but are sure to be for other readers. This first thing is kind of SPOILERISH, but happens in the first few chapters so I don't think it's a true spoiler. As the blurb details, Avery and Declan are best friends and roommates. They know pretty much everything about each other. This is their love story, but at the beginning they aren't together at all. Declan brings a woman home. There are no details of this, only the morning after seen through Avery's eyes. While some readers will put this in the OW in a book category, I don't. If it was, it would bug me. Done with SPOILERISH. The second thing is the heat level. I would not call this high heat, but those who favor closed door romances might be surprised by the steam factor. This isn't the steamiest I've read of Hunting's books, but it's also not the least. I would say it's closer to her NA romances than her adult romances in heat level. It's more mature, but not quite there. I won't go into my dislike of cutesy illustrated covers as what it makes people think they're going to be reading, but this one might do some damage in that area.

So, yeah. When Sparks Fly hit the spot for me. It reminded me what I enjoy about Helena Hunting's writing and made me hope the next release is sooner rather than later.

I’ve never met a Helena Hunting book I didn’t like! This book was a fun, fantastic friends to lovers read, one of my favorite tropes. The hero was so swoony I couldn’t get enough of him, I just wish there was more from his perspective. I’m glad this had an epilogue, but I wish it was a little longer.

I highly recommend you put this on your must read book list. The story and characters keep you engaged and wondering how Declan and Avery will work through their issues. I really enjoyed this book and I think you will too.

I love Helena Hunting’s books, the Pucked series is an all time favourite but while this was a mainly sweet read, this wasn’t my favourite by her,

It’s a friends to lovers and a forced proximity which resulted in some quite delicious tension, but it seemed to flag a bit and become quite repetitive after a while . Unfortunately when the pace flagged, it lacked the humour and outlandish characters that made the Pucked series such a joy to read so it dragged a bit. It’s not to say it was bad, it was nice enough, but it didn’t blow me away.

As a Brit, all of the talk about therapy and working on yourself and working on your friendship with a therapist left me a bit bemused too. I guess it’s a cultural thing, but nobody I know talks like that or behaves like that and I found the navel gazing left me cold and rather killed the vibe between them which was a pity because it had been great at first.

Complete story. Thanks to the publisher via netgalley for the arc. Sorry I didn’t love it.

This author is hit or miss for me, but this was a definite hit. The relationship between the characters was interesting and I enjoyed the lead up to them. I thought the conflict/resolution was a little drawn out and I discovered that I enjoy neat and pretty endings better than messy and realistic endings. Overall I enjoyed reading it and found it well paced and entertaining.

When Sparks Fly is contemporary fiction, chick-lit, but to me it was TMI. Information that was included was not necessary to the storyline and should have been left out. Enjoyed the book (without the TMI material).

As usual Helena Hunting delivers. I love the interaction between Dylan and Av and this book had it all,

I received this book complimentary from NetGalley but all opinions are my own.

Ugh. Helena Hunting is just one of my absolute favorite authors. Every books just hits so well. This is no exception. Avery and Declan are both great characters. I really liked the story and the build-up. The climax was great. Just the whole thing was great. Just another fantastic read.

Avery is one strong compassionate loving woman. Declan is one complicated messed up amazing man. Declan has baggage from his childhood. He doesn’t do serious relationships. They have been friends sense collage. Loved the back and fourth between them. Loved there complete openness with each other. They always have each other’s best interest in mind.could not put this book down.

I'm a huge fan of Helena Hunting so I was immediately excited to read this. It kind of reminded of the Clipped Wings series, albeit with less tattoos and sweets :) I liked the development of Avery and Declan's friendship and relationship in the story. The story unfolded organically and wasn't formulaic or boring. The steamy scenes was just steamy enough :) Overall, I enjoyed it and hope it leads to more tales with some of the secondary characters.

Helena Hunting has written some of my favorite romcoms. When Sparks Fly had a premise that caught my attention, and I’m so glad to have the opportunity to review it (thanks Netgalley!).

The opening scene from this book had me cackling out loud. Avery runs Spark House along with her sisters, and this event location is quite different from the classic one you may picture. While they do hold the traditional dinners and parties, they also cater to outdoors events such as the hobbyhorse event we read about in the first few pages. Avery says it best:

“Honestly, no one would believe the weirdness I deal with on a daily basis.”

As for her friend group, Avery’s been “one of the boys” for years now. She met her best friend Declan in college and two other guys made up their friend group. With a love for sports and the outdoors and a dislike for primping and dresses, she fit right into their group dynamic. However, that starts to change following a horrible accident that leaves Avery in need of help. As Avery and Declan get closer, challenges start to get in the way of their relationship and both of them are forced to reflect and work on their individual and collective struggles. The rebuilding of their relationship was very well done. The author didn’t have them just talk once or twice then be totally fine—it was a defined process of talking to communicate needs and fears, therapy sessions, and time spent together but separate (read the book to find out what I mean by this). The development of their relationship was so strong and it felt very real compared to others.

I really enjoyed this book, but not all of the characters were likable. I think the author wanted us to love Avery’s sisters, but it fell short and they ended up being unimportant side characters that were annoying most of the time. Their roles in the company were over explained to the point where it got confusing at times. One of her sisters insisted on hiding business information from Avery, but later blew up on her for being “self-absorbed.” All in all, I just preferred reading about Avery with Declan over all the other scenes.

A good read! I’m always a friends to lovers fan. Avery and Declan have been friends for years. A terrible accident changes the course of their relationship. They each have to work through some pretty challenging circumstances throughout the book. I love their friendship and the effort they put in to make their relationship work in the end.

Such a delightful book! I really liked Avery and Declan as a friend pod and as a couple. And I really appreciated that the end wasn't just Character Screws Up, Stews About it For a Period of Time, and then Apologizes before a HEA. The characters do the work to overcome their issues before the HEA, and I found that refreshing.

A great friends to lovers story. It’s always fun to read a book like When Sparks Fly and then realize the meaning of the title of this book. You will find this funny, a little sappy and a lot of true meaning when you love someone who was the best friend first. Thank you Netgalley for the ARC copy. It’s a good one!

This story is A HIT! OMG. So many favorite parts for Avery and Declan. I laughed, I cried and cheered. I loved how Dec and Avery worked hard at the end (no spoilers) and the ending had me smiling...it was all perfection.

I received this ARC for an honest review. I love Helena Hunting’s writing. She makes her characters come alive and you feel what they feel. Once you pick up one of her books, you don’t want to put it down. This story is an emotional roller coaster and I loved every second of it.
This story is about Avery and Declan. They met in college, but they were just best friends. After college, they bought a condo together. After Avery got injured (not telling how 😉), Declan became her care taker. How does their relationship change? How do they handle the changes? You need to read this book! It’s a must read!

When Sparks Fly is Hunting’s latest contemporary romance that hits all the best aspects of a friends-to-lovers romance.

Avery and Declan are best friends and have been for years. So much so that they’ve been living together for the past two years. But when Avery gets into a car accident and needs someone to take care of her 24/7, Declan steps up the challenge.

Friends-to-lovers is my favourite romance trope, so I jumped on the opportunity to review When Sparks Fly. Hunting is a go-to author for me so I knew I’d enjoy her latest.

Avery and Declan’s friendship is platonic until it’s not. I loved watching their progression and the obstacles they needed to overcome. Shifting a purely platonic friendship to something more comes with a lot of challenges, especially when one of them is notorious for their hookups.

Avery and Declan have similar tastes, so they became friends quickly. They’re both athletic and career driven. However, their stances on relationships couldn’t be more different. Avery prefers more stable relationships while Declan prefers emotion-free hookups. This creates great tension and conflict between Avery and Declan.

I could see where the conflict was going to stem from from a mile away. Hunting makes it obvious throughout the novel. Though this obstacle is obvious, I’m happy that it was dealt with relatively quickly without any unnecessary drama.

Overall, When Sparks Fly is a fun and emotional friends-to-lovers contemporary romance that will have readers swooning in no time. I’ve never read a romance like this before, so I appreciated this unique spin.

Gahhhhh this one just about killed me.
Pulled an all nighter because I couldn't put it down.
Love love love Avery and Declan ❤️
Read

I received an advance copy of, When Sparks Fly, by Helena Hunting. This book was good, but it was boring and slow at times.

For the most part, I enjoyed this story. Declan and Avery are interesting characters who make you want to root for them throughout the book.

However, I can't give it a higher rating than a strong three stars for a few reasons. First, I was uncomfortable with the way the book started and almost set it aside. I worried that the book was going to be about a bunch of oddballs who like to participate in hobby horsing, and that was a huge turn-off. Once I realized that was just a ploy to get my attention, I soldiered on, but it was still with some trepidation. I can't recommend that for a way to open a book. I didn't see the humor in this at all. It was just kind of cringe-worthy.

I found the writing to be annoyingly repetitive throughout the entire book. While I understand the need to underscore certain elements of the story, I don't need to read about them over and over in virtually the same language. It seemed a lot like padding at certain places and in others as if the author was stuck for where to go, so she repeated herself.

The other major problem I had with the book is that the ending seemed very drawn-out and frankly boring. I get that the characters had a lot to deal with before finding their way back, but it didn't have the ring of truth to it. I've never been in therapy, so I have no idea what a therapist would recommend, but Declan's actions seemed out of character to me. Or at least MY perception of his character. Others may disagree. I'm sure the author had a personality in mind that she illustrated with her writing.

If the beginning and the end had been as strong as the middle of the book, this would have been a solid 4-star read. I'd like to say 5-star, but the lack of heat was pretty disappointing. I understand this is my preference speaking, and may not be the point of view others will share. A little more originality would have also gone a long way.

The best parts about the book revolve around how the author can evoke feelings from the reader. That was all done quite well. I loved the loyalty shown among the friends too, even though the relationship counseling from Declan's male friends seemed pretty unrealistic. I also enjoyed that Avery had to realize some truths about her own behavior, and it wasn't all Declan's fault. Kudos there.

All in all, it was a good book, but not memorable.

Thank you for the ARC. My opinions are my own and are freely given.