Thank you to NetGalley and St.Martin’s Press for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved When Sparks Fly and I was excited to read this one about London, the middle sister but unfortunately I was wasn’t connecting with this book as I did with When Sparks Fly. I was skimming through most of it until the 65% mark where I found it picked up in my opinion. The highlight of this book for me was the characters who popped up from her Shacking Up series and it made me want to re-read that series!

I love Jackson and London. She is hardworking and loves her sisters so much. She doesn't love her job so much, but she loves working with her sisters. Jackson is a guy who makes everything he does become a success. He can help London and her sisters with their business, but he really wants to date her. As their business relationship evolves into more, London is sure that he is the one. Jackson has people telling him that she may just be after his money. He doesn't think so. When London overhears a conversation, she realizes that Jackson hasn't been completely honest with her and isn't sure she can trust him. Can they get past that and make a life together? He has a life in New York, and she has a life in Colorado. How can they be together?

Starry-Eyed Love is the second book by Helena Hunting in her stand-alone books, although I would say she has a great new Spark House series going. While the first book focused on eldest sister Avery, this book is about middle sister London. London balances a lot for the business, financial and creative, but the creative aspect is where her interest lies. However, the financial aspect uses up much of her bandwidth as well as dealing with clients, leaving little for what she truly wants to do.

When London represents the company with a pitch to Holt Media and their green operations initiative, and CEO Jackson Holt decides to sit in when he sees she is the lady that shot him down three months earlier, he is serious and stiff until he realizes she is all he thought she would be.

The story follows the happenings in the following months, the highs and lows as her family business grows and her personal life flourishes. With the ins and outs of this new relationship and the outside forces at play, this is a delightful rom-com. I very much enjoyed this book and series, I do recommend it, and I hope the series will continue with Harley’s story!

Tropes: workplace romance, kinda second chance, cinderella vibes.

Months ago London Spark turned down a handsome man just because she was just getting out of a relationship. She and her sisters just needed to focus on their family-runned inn, and now London is getting calls from a multi-million dollar company that wants to partner with Spark House, and guess who the CEO is? exactly! Jackson Holt, the man from bar. They never exchanged names, so this new meeting was pure coincidence, almost as if the stars wanted to bring them together when the time was right.

I really loved this book because it was so charming and full of cinderella vibes. There were so many sparks between London and Jackson, but they had to wait because working on a project together made it a bit off limits, so the slowburn and tension was palpable in the air, and once all bets were off? they couldn't keep their hands off each other.

There was also a classic drama when one half of the relationship is famous, so if you like angst, here it is! Also, this can be read as a standalone but if you happen to read the first book When Sparks Fly , then you will be surprised to find a slightly different sister relationship here, with more downs than ups, but in the end they are so close and they only have each other, so they end up solving any problem together after a few tears.

We have London and Jackson, two people that have purposely structured their love lives to be safe; picking partners that will be easy to leave so as to never get hurt the way losing parents hurts. Until they come crashing into each other’s orbits, and the harder they try to resist the pull to one another, the stronger the force drawing them together becomes. The sparks fly between the pair from the first moment we see them together – it’s just not in the most positive way. They generate all kinds of chemistry, even though they spend a big portion of the book fighting against it. It’s a slower burn romance and, to be honest, there were times I just wanted to hurry these two along a little. (Just a little though, because I enjoyed the build-up of anticipation.) For me, the loudest message I heard in this book was the importance of talking issues out. There’re several little things that are allowed to become really big deals before they’re finally cleared up at the end. And on that note, even though I liked Avery in the previous book, this one certainly didn’t show her in a very flattering light. Now that I’ve had the chance to spend a little more time with Harley, I can’t wait to find out what it will take to get a Happily Ever After for the third Spark sister.
I received a complimentary advanced copy of this book through NetGalley.

~4.5⭐Rating~

London is just beginning to revel in her singledom when she is hit on by this hot guy at the local bar, but not wanting to get her self in any romantic entanglements London turns him down only to find out a few months later that bar hottie is the CEO of the multi million dollar company looking to invest in their family hotel The Spark. Talk about awkward, now London and Jackson have no choice but to work closely together. Soon the two find themselves building more than a business relationship but with their professional interest taking priority will these two finally be able to make something of their sparky connection once all is said and done?

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I just adored this book, much like all her book Hunting has crafted an all consuming super cute romcom read that you just don’t want to put down. This is the second book in the Spark House series, it doesn’t need to be read in order but I would definitely recommend reading the first book in this series purely because of how cute it was!

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I just loved both of main characters, right from their first meeting their chemistry was undeniable which only made following them as they worked together all the more entertaining. London was super easy to love, right from the first book I knew I would love getting to see her story unfold and let me just say yes I did! I loved her dedication to her families hotel even when she was stuck doing something that wasn’t really her favourite. I just loved that she made Jackson work to win her over even though she clearly had a crush on the guy.

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As for our hottie hero Jackson, well simply put he was just perfect. I loved his protective side and that he kind of always just knew what London needed. I really enjoyed getting to see him slowly win her over while having to keep his alpha side in check. One of the tings that I really liked about Jackson was that he helped give London that much needed push to get out of this comfort zone and go after what she really wanted.

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I loved that their connection was so strong that neither of them could stay away from each other even when they both insisted that they have to keep things professional. I just loved watching these two falling in love and overcoming all their own obstacles. The steam factor in this book was just perfect mixed in with a healthy dose of swoon.

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Starry-eyed Love was a brilliant slow burn romance that I would highly recommend reading

I don’t think this has ever happened to me before with Helena Hunting… but I couldn’t gel with this that I ended up DNF’ing.
First of all, London and Jackson are adults… yet they cannot have a simple conversation. All the issues could have been resolved with a simple conversation like any adulting adult would do… so I ended up getting frustrated with them both.
Then there’s London’s older sister Avery, I didn’t really like her in her own book (When Sparks Fly) but in this.. Gah! What a cow!
Maybe I’ll give this another go some other time, but at present, this just seems to irritate me :(

*I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book*

To start, I freaking love these sisters. The realness between their relationship is bang on. They help one another, they fight with one another, and they whole heartedly support one another.

Jackson and London are so great. Their relationship builds as it should. That man though, dude sure put her through the ringer sometimes 🤦‍♀️. Though I did love the depths he went to help and support London and her sisters.

Truly loved.

Starry-Eyed Love – Spark House #2
By: Helena Hunting
Release: May 10th – Out Now!

This segment of the Spark sisters was a nice follow up to the first in the series, When Sparks Fly. This second book focuses on London Spark and her journey to love with Billionaire Jackson Holt.

London is the Finance and Administration person for Spark House. While her passion is around creating unique experiences for customers and her Etsy business, the business role is where she was needed for the family’s company. While she’s much stronger than she gives herself credit, being in this role is both rewarding and taxing on her.

After turning Jackson down on a night out with her sisters, London finds herself in a business meeting with him and his company for a potential eco-friendly partnership. As much as they try to avoid it, lines get crossed between business and pleasure.

This book has love and betrayal. It has characters facing fears and learning to work through them in various cohesive units. Unfortunately, the dialogue keeps it from being a 5 star read like the first in the series. Conversations are disjointed and overly formal at times. At one point I think I said “Who talks like that” out loud. The plot and premise though are spot on.

4 stars

Thank you to @netgalley @smpromance @macmillian.audio @letstalkbookspromo and @getredprbooks for a copy of this book and audiobook in exchange for my honest review. Also, thank you to @berittalksbooks hosting the buddy read chat!

#books #bookishlife #booklover #readingisfun #iowabookstagrammers #iowabookstagram #netgalley #smpromance #macmillianaudio #starryeyedlove #sparkhouse #smpinfluencers #stmartinspress #letstalkbookspromo

London is the middle Spark sister and as such finds herself pulled in every direction. Running Spark House was not something she could see doing at least this early in life. When their parents died, life changed quickly. London is used to being the glue holding everything together and finds herself suppressing her feelings to accomplish the goals of Spark House. Jackson Holt is a self made billionaire that is kind of drifting through life. He is looking for more but is not completely sure what that means for him. There is certainly a spark between these two from the beginning.
I love that both of these characters are strong but also vulnerable. They find a lot of common ground but can often be confusing to each other. London stands up for herself with Jackson in ways she has not yet done with her own family. Her struggle with anxiety and feelings is completely relatable. The stresses her job responsibilities are creating are interfering with her daily life in unhealthy ways. Jackson is more outgoing and confident but he too has experienced great loss. He has no semblance of work-life balance and is unsure of how to handle relationships differently than business. Neither one of them wants to love and lose again.
This book picks up from the first, When Sparks Fly, but from London’s view. I think it is enlightening to see Avery and Declan’s relationship from her perspective. I also enjoyed that we see that Avery still has struggles. Even though you have found your HEA, not everything is going to be easy and stress free. London’s story contains a strong family element that encompasses all the Spark House strives to be. As their relationships and therefore family grows, Spark House must do the same.

Welcome back to Spark House for book two in the series, Starry-Eyed Love and those three amazing Spark women! This time it’s London’s turn at a happily ever after, so sit back and enjoy this sweet read as we are treated to another wonderful story filled with memorable characters that are easy to love.
It was a joy to witness London and Jacksonslowly move from a business relationship to their effortless friendship and on to love.
London loves her sisters and her family’s business but now that the business’s success is skyrocketing and her relationship with Jackson is developing into something she wants to pursue, she is feeling overwhelmed. Can she balance it all?
Jackson Holt, CEO and founder of Holt Media has been avoiding relationships and commitment until London enters his life, not once but twice. It must be fate and even though she turned him down once, he is relentless and determined to win her over.

I absolutely loved this book! She has fast became my fav author when it comes to good romance books! This was one book I didn’t want to stop reading and when I did I couldn’t wait to pick it back up!

Overall Grade: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Helena Hunting’s Starry-Eyed Love is the contemporary romance that you expect from her. This story is the follow-up one to her When Sparks Fly where we are introduced to the Spark sisters, Avery, London, and Harley. Struggling to take their generational hotel and events space, Spark House, to the next level, we find these ladies meeting their matches and falling in love. In her newest story, Hunting creates a sweet story for London Spark and Jackson Holt, a multi-media billionaire who champions sustainability, which happens to be a hallmark of Spark House. When these two meet, it’s instant chemistry, even though London spurns his invitation for dinner. Thanks to fate, they meet several months later when Jackson’s media conglomerate reaches out to the Spark sisters and invites them to engage in a partnership to connect them with green-friendly sponsorships. London and Jackson are instantly attracted to each other again, but given their business arrangement, they deny their attraction until they finish a charity auction held at Spark House. There is much back and forth between these two until they can no longer deny themselves. Thankfully, their resistance holds out until after the charity auction, and they fall head over heels for each other. Sadly, there are aspects of Jackson’s past that come forward to complicate a happy ending for these two; however, what is standard and foundational to this series of standalones is the loving relationship between Avery, London, and Harley.

While I don’t believe the Spark sisters’ stories (Harley’s is still to come) epitomize the depth of Hunting’s writing, they are easy, engaging reads that remind you of Hunting’s capacity as a writer. With When Sparks Fly and Starry-Eyed Love, however, there is a bit of her magic missing. I wondered in my review of When Sparks Fly if it's the influence of the more mainstream publisher. But the things that make you adore her Pucked series are missing in these stories. That aside, here’s what I loved about her newest book:

1. London is the stalwart of the sisters. She’s also made the biggest sacrifices of the sisters as she handles the business for Spark House when she’d prefer to be more creative. She does this out of the love and protection of her sisters. This instantly makes her admirable. It also makes it easy to see why Jackson falls hard for her. Her story becomes one about “shape” meaning she isn’t “shaped” to the business aspects of Spark House, and she struggles with anxiety in her role. When she’s being creative, we ‘see’ her shape, and it draws us emotionally to her because she spends much of Starry-Eyed Love denying herself. Thankfully, Jackson’s role in her life emboldens her to make better choices by its end. Her evolution engages you in her story.

2. Jackson isn’t as decidedly drawn as London. In fact, he’s troublesome because he has an integrity issue. As a business person, Jackson’s charisma is undeniable. He champions London to his business associates, and this makes him loveable. But he makes some unwise choices in his relationship with London. As a reader, you see the train wreck coming ahead of them, but you have to bear his ignorance. This sometimes undermines his loveability, unfortunately, because he appears careless. However, his past informs these choices, and you find it easy to forgive him for his foibles…eventually.

3. For me, London and Jackson’s story is more palatable than Avery and Deacon’s. While I enjoyed When Sparks Fly, I ended Starry-Eyed Love preferring it more. I’m still troubled by Avery’s stubbornness and inflexibility, and it intensifies in this book. I’m hoping when Hunting gifts us with Harley’s romance that Deacon and Avery’s union will have mellowed her a bit.

4. Hunting makes communicating via a Google Doc the newest form of foreplay.

5. There is a lovely bit of cross-over with other Hunting titles in this story which connects you back to earlier stories in her booklist. I love when a writer makes connections between her series.

Helena Hunting’s Starry-Eyed Love offered me a respite from the world of adulting. It grabbed my attention and pulled me into the world of the Spark sisters. Jackson and London’s epilogue will make you swoon and offer hope that there is more for them in this starry world.

Thank you Helena Hunting and Netgalley for the eARC!

This was a hard book to get into. It was slow burning for me and I did not like the banter between the sisters. I had to stop reading several times.

Another fun, sweet story in the Spark House world. London does everything she has to in order to keep things together, even when it may not be what she wants to do or what she may be best at. She is that way in business, in her relationship with her sisters and in all of her past relationships. Jackson turns her world upside down. Will she be able to let go of the control she tries to have on everything or will it eventually just break her.

I really enjoyed Starry-Eyed Love by Helena Hunting. Full of realistic and wonderful characters and a bumpy and sweet love story.

London is so dedicated to her family. She’s doing a job that gives her so much anxiety, and does it incredibly well, to advance the family event business and hotel. Her sister Avery, from When Sparks Fly, is determined not to hire outsiders for the lead jobs in the company putting so much more stress on her sisters. So far they’re keeping up but it’s really cutting into London‘s more enjoyable pursuit, her Etsy store.

London thinks Jackson is hot when she first meets him but she’s not looking for a boyfriend. She doesn’t even recognize him all cleaned up the second time. They shouldn’t date since they’re now in business together but an attraction this strong can’t be denied. London is having to learn about the world of the rich and famous and she’s really not that into all the baloney. Can she find her niche in his world? Can they navigate the waters of a new relationship with so man6 external stressors? These questions lead us on an up and down journey of a sweet relationship, social media pains and sexy fun.

I recommend this book to all romantic souls!

Thanks to the author and NetGalley for the ARC.

This is the second book in the Spark House series, which is about three sisters. I have not read the first one, but the author did a good job with a brief explanation of the first book in the beginning! The first book centers around Avery, this book centers around London, and I look forward to book three where we learn Harley's story! I really liked this charming romance book. I loved the family business/family drama, and I enjoyed the sisters relationships with each other. I liked the multiple POVs between our main characters and thought the chemistry between London and Jack was perfect. I love how they're relationship grew and bloomed over time. Fans of a slow burn will love it! Overall, I really enjoyed this book.

✍🏼 𝘼𝙪𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙧: Helena Hunting
📖 𝙎𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙨: Spark House #2
🗓️ 𝙋𝙪𝙗 𝘿𝙖𝙮: 3/10/22
📚 𝙂𝙚𝙣𝙧𝙚: Romance

Thank you St. Martin's Press for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review ! This book is out now and I recommend it.

Thanks to @netgalley for the ARC of Starry-Eyed Love, book two in the Spark House romance series by Helena Hunting.

Having just broken up with her boyfriend, London Spark is not in the mood to be hit on. Especially not when she’s out celebrating her single status with her sisters. So when a very attractive man pays for their drinks and then slips her his number, she passes it right back to him with a ‘thanks, but no thanks’. Fast forward a few months and London is giving a business changing presentation to a hugely successful company and in walks the CEO who is…you guessed it! The same man who asked her out many months ago. It’s a charming and at times funny romance set in Denver. I enjoyed the dynamic between the sisters as well. 4 stars.

Starry-Eyed Love by Helena Hunting is a fabulously fun and fresh take on the Cinderella fairy tale. I adored both London and Jackson both, and I loved London's relationship with her sisters. As the middle of three girls, I can totally relate to the dynamic between them.

One of my favorite things about this book is the surprise appearance of a few other Hunting characters. If you've read her other books, you'll know who I'm talking about. I love that she does this with her books because it feels like visiting with old friends.

All in all, I adored this book. And even though there are overlapping characters from When Sparks Fly, Starry-Eyed Love can be read as a standalone.

Thanks to NetGalley and SMP for receiving an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book is as such a good light read! I really enjoyed the writing style, it flowed very well and I was able to just get lost in the pages. I haven’t read the first Spark’s novel but had no issues with reading this as a stand alone. I don’t feel like I missed out on any pertinent information. I will however be going back to read book one. The setting for this one one was fun for me I like the Spark house and the legacy the sisters are trying to uphold. I really enjoyed the event planing parts and how much detail was put into their day to day. I loved the tension between London and Jackson and as a whole liked both characters individually. I do wish some of the conflicts had been a little more drawn out instead of tied up neatly, but then again I like resolution so this wasn’t a deal breaker for me. All in all this was a super fun slow burn romance and I look forward to reading more of Huntings book in the future.