Sneak Peak: When Sparks Fly – Helena Hunting
When Sparks Fly by Helena Hunting
Publication Date: September 21, 2021
Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin
Genre: Contemporary Romance
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
What you need to know about “When Sparks Fly”:
✔ Friends to Lovers
✔ Dual Point of View
✔ Avery Spark, runs Spark House, an event management space
✔ Declan, Avery’s BFF and roommate
✔ Forced Proximity
✔ Complete Standalone
I just want to first say I’ve read most of Helena Hunting’s books and I’ve loved them all. She is consistently one of my go-to authors. Unfortunately, I did not enjoy “When Sparks Fly” terribly much.
In the opening chapters of “When Sparks Fly”, Avery gets into a car accident that is fairly severe. (TW for car accidents) Her best friend and roommate, Declan, blames himself (and I blame him too) as he flaked out on her and didn’t drive her in his SUV like he promised he would. He flaked on her because he picked up some random, got drunk and brought her home with him. This happened even though he knows that Avery is a nervous driver because her parents died in a car accident. Not the best introduction to a male main character.
After the accident, Declan is so consumed with guilt that he insists on caring for Avery himself when she’s released from the hospital.
In between helping Avery go to the bathroom, bathe, wash her hair and give her massages, they become enmeshed in some major forced proximity territory.
Soon, they can no longer deny their attraction and things get physical between them in a pretty steamy way, But will their friendship survive this major change?
Declan is very into casual hookups (see second paragraph) and is anti-relationship/marriage due to his parents’ acrimonious split. I found it difficult to like Declan because of his behavior leading up to the accident. His repetitive anti-relationship talk was a little eye roll inducing post-accident. He even admits to Avery that his difficulty with emotional intimacy is a red flag for any potential girlfriend. Avery tells the reader and her sisters why Declan is so great but I didn’t really see much evidence of it until the last chapter.
Avery is a strong, independent woman but I found it difficult to get a real sense for the character. After the accident she slips into this semi-relationship with Declan and after that I found that her emotions seemed to be stripped away and she was responding to everything in a too rational and almost a “quotes from your favorite psychiatrist” manner.
Because their relationship is so delicate and fraught with pitfalls I didn’t really enjoy it before the Big Misunderstanding occurred and then had to experience the slog of recovering from that.
It is fantastic that Declan gets the help he needs (i.e., therapy). I wish this would occur in more romances. I absolutely loved that aspect of the book and everything that followed. I just found that ultimately the spark was missing in “When Sparks Fly”,
WRITING STYLE: 4/5
PLOT: 3/5
WORLD-BUILDING: 3/5
PACING: 3/5
CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT: 3/5
ROMANCE: 2/5
I received an ARC from NetGalley and the author; my opinions are 100% my own.
View all my reviews
Synopsis
Running the Spark House, a hotel/event space that has been in her family for years, has been Avery Spark’s lifelong dream. After years of working hard and making personal sacrifices, Avery and her two younger sisters have turned the Spark House into the premier destination in Colorado Springs. Avery is living her best life—she works with her sisters and loves every minute of it, she has a great group of friends, and she lives in a fantastic condo with her best friend Declan. She might not have any love in her life, but she’s happy.
But everything comes to a screeching halt when Avery is in a car accident, leaving her immobile for weeks. After nearly losing Avery, Declan insists that he will be the one to take care of her while she recovers. However, as Declan becomes Avery’s caretaker, lines begin to blur.
Avery and Declan have been best friends since college and always had an attraction to one another, but when she ended up dating his best friend, Sam, they successfully stamped down any feelings they may have ever had for one another. Now, as Declan and Avery spend more time together, they each begin to wonder what would’ve happened if she’d dated him instead of Sam. What starts as a friend helping out another friend turns into foreplay and, before they realize it, they recognize how deeply they care for one another. But when things get serious their past threatens to destroy everything they have built.
Thank you for taking the time to read this sneak peak of When Sparks Fly by Helena Hunting. If you’d like to read about a book of Ms. Hunting’s that I liked a bit more, please click here. If you had a different opinion of this book I’d love to hear it. Comments are welcome and encouraged! Thanks so much!