My thanks to the publisher for the opportunity to read The Spark - the first of Jules books I have read, but certainly won't be the last.
The Spark is such an easy read, the words just flowed from the page and I whizzed through this rollercoaster love story. Jess and Sam meet at Jess's aunt's garden party and instantly feel the click of attraction. There's only one problem: Sam has a long term, drop dead gorgeous girlfriend. And after Jess's dad walked out on her mum when she was a child, Jess has always vowed never to step on another woman's toes where men are concerned. But the attraction is strong, and it takes all their efforts to stay away from one another. But Cupid is a determined little chap and finds ways of getting the couple together.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading how the couple juggled with the moral dilemmas thrown up by Sam's situation, and when his attempts to end his relationship in a proper manner hit numerous snags Jess wonders whether it is all worth the effort. The story is so well narrated I felt every heart string twang for both of the youngsters. The fly in the ointment of their relationship is a really nasty piece of work who has no thoughts for anyone but herself; it's easy to see why Sam would rather be with Jess. I wanted to fight Jess's corner for her on more than one occasion as she is just too nice to stand up for herself - or is she? Everyone has their limits in the end.
Jess's own family back story also gets reviewed and I was really pleased that she managed to face some ghosts from her childhood, and came to understand that there is always more than one side to every story.
A great book, well worth reading.

I enjoyed this week a lot. It made me swoon and it was the perfect instalove story! The characters are wonderful and the journey that Jess & Sam take in a short time is a fun one to follow!

Thanks to NetGalley and One More Chapter for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

There’s nothing worse than rejection you’d think...but we’re asked to reconsider that idea in this heartwarming tale of romance.
Whatever your views on love at first sight, we’re asked to consider that possibility in The Spark. Jess has been deeply affected by her parents’ divorce and mother’s subsequent breakdown. It’s shaped her adult life, and has clearly made her a person deeply concerned for others. But at what point do you have to be a little selfish?
When Jess first meets Sam, the son of her aunt’s neighbour, there is an immediate spark between them. Relaxed and comfortable, this is the first meeting that makes you believe in happy-ever-afters. Sam, however, has a girlfriend and these two are good people so they do nothing about their feelings.
One month on, things have changed. Sam and Jess take the tentative steps of starting a relationship, and it is as good as they’d hoped...though the spectre of Sam’s bitter ex causes problems.
What follows is bittersweet. Both Sam and Jess come out of it well. They form olive branches in their past. But they try to do the right thing by others, and it’s not good. Sometimes you want them to be selfish.
Eventually we get the suggestion that things would go as we want.
Thanks to NetGalley for granting me access to this prior to publication.

Jess is your average girl next door, she's really picky when it comes to meeting men and has a complicated childhood that has really jaded her when it comes to looking for love. It all changes when she meets Sam, and feels "the spark" the first time they meet. It's love at first sight... but Sam's ex-girlfriend is unwilling to let go. Is love at first sight enough?

I looooved this book! I was a bit overwhelmed at the start with the number of characters introduced in the opening scenes but it got so much better as the book progressed. Jess is so relatable and such a sweet character, and Sam is a dreamboat. They both have such good hearts, which is reflected in the way they are and even in the places they work; they always try to do the right thing. You are cheering for them all along. This book is a romance; it's super sweet and heartwarming without being cheesy at all.

4.5/5 rounded up to 5

I recommend this book to anyone who wants to read about love and the excitement of feeling that "spark".

Thank you to Harper Collins UK, One More Chapter and NetGalley for the eGalley. All opinions expressed are my own.

It’s love at first sight for Jess and Sam. But is it? His ex girlfriend can’t seem to let go of Sam and let him move on and it’s all too familiar playing out in front of Jess. If they fit together so perfectly, will they manage to make it work?

I found myself bored with this book. I hate to say it, but it just didn’t do it for me. I didn’t care for Jess or Sam, so I didn’t care about their love and connection. I felt more for Victoria, although hated the way she acted.

I liked how it all intertwined into the past and the present for Jess, and I enjoyed the family story lines.

I love Jules Wake and her latest novel does not disappoint. I was honestly so emotionally invested in Jess and Sam's relationship from their first meeting that I should probably be concerned. I just adore the way Ms Wake draws her characters. They end up feeling like friends I am loathe to part with.
That said I do not think I would like to keep in touch with Victoria although great aunt Gladys was epic. I also wish the garden parties I attended had such handsome men invited.
Honestly though it was a romantic and comforting read and I laughed and cried to be honest. Definitely a recommendation for all in these troubled times.

I feel like I'm in the minority with this book. I don't know why it didn't grab me from the start the way it did others. It's well-written, to be sure, but I can't get into insta-love stories. This one is my fault though, as it was clear from the description that that's what this one is. I think I've also read so many US-based contemporary romances that when I read an English one, it just sort of frustrates me. Of course, these are all me problems! So I can totally see why others would really enjoy this one.

WARNING: This review contains spoilers.

"The Spark" is a romance novel centered around a man named Sam and a woman named Jess, who experience love at first sight upon meeting each other at a party.

Jess quickly falls for Sam, but Sam has a long-term girlfriend, Victoria. Upon realizing he has feelings for Jess, he breaks up with Victoria in order to be with her, but Victoria doesn't take it too well and is determined to try and win Sam back.

I liked the meet-cute aspect of Sam and Jess' relationship, as well as the chemistry that the two of them have, which is shown over the course of the story.

However, at some points, I wasn't as captivated by it as I hoped I would be. That being said, I still think it's a pretty good romance book, and one that romance fans would find very enjoyable.


Rating: 3.5/5

Another lovely book by Jules, which had me gripped from the beginning. The book centres around Jess and Sam. However, with a spanner in mix with Victoria, Sam's ex, this book weaves a thread as to how some people will try to come between ex partners trying to move on.

I found this such a comforting, light read that was the perfect evening book. It was a really light hearted book - despite how intense and obvious the spark between Jess and Sam was. My favourite part of the book was probably the relationship between Jess and her Aunt and Uncle as it just showed how much love was there and their home seemed like the kind of place you'd love to be on a Sunday afternoon. And yes, I am mainly thinking about the food!

Apart from Victoria, her friends, and Sam's mum I really liked all of the characters, but Jess's mum really struck the emotional chord and she was definitely the character that you warm to as the book progresses. Jess' childhood obviously wasn't the easiest and it was clear that there was more to this then we first know but as things are revealed you start to see how and why things are like they are.

Sam and Jess' relationship is so full of happiness, love and pure joy that you just can't help smiling along as you read about their adventures - even if it is just sitting on Jess' balcony with a couple of beers. The summer setting was also really uplifting as it reminded me of the really warm summer that we had earlier on this year. Being able to spend lunch times outside in the sun with my fella was one of the best things about this summer and this book just rekindled those happy moments for me.

I really enjoyed this book and will definitely be reading more of Jules (or Julie's) books because they are all amazing. Books that just make you smile and are proper comfort reads that transport you.

Jules Wake has done it again. She has written another smashing book that I absolutely adore. Thank you to One More Chapter, Jules Wake, and Netgalley for sending me an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!!!

It will make you laugh, it will make you swoon, it will pull on your heart strings in good and bad ways. Jules Wake dives into an area of relationships that needed to be written about and this is truly the most beautiful love story. From the moment they met it was absolutely perfect. The path wasn’t perfect, it came with its hardships, but WOW! I was rooting for these two from the get-go and I felt so invested! I literally found myself getting so lost in this story every time I picked it up and it was as though I was a fly on the wall watching it all unfold!!!!

Jules has the most incredible ability to tell a story and it just floors me every time. Her writing sucks you in, her characters are created so amazingly well, and the emotion that is felt when reading is unreal! This is a must for romance readers!!!

Let's see, I'm not sure where I want to start with this one. I had really high hopes for this book and I did enjoy it. Jess and Sam were enjoyable characters and when reading the synopsis of the novel I was very hopeful but from the beginning I felt like the book was a bit of a reach and a little unrealistic. I did enjoy it, I rated it a solid 3-3.25 stars but, quite frankly, it got on my nerves a bit. I just found myself getting very unmotivated to read it I think Sam was a bit infatuated with Jess and I was team Sam's mom a bit throughout the book. The psychotic ex-girlfriend situation that was totally overlooked was annoying. It just wasn't the book for me. I do want to give more books by this author another go because there were some enjoyable bits.

Life has its ups and downs as Jess finds out in this passionate romance. She is a women's refuge worker with a

new handsome boyfriend Sam.. The problem is that his ex, Victoria is extremely determined to get him back..

Jess also comes from a troubled background and refuses to be 'the other woman'.

This is a whirlwind read looking at relationships in an honest and often amusing way.. We all hope that

happiness will prevail.

I liked it. The blurb appealed to me but the story wasn't as captivating as I liked. It was an exciting story that may be liked by people other than me. Great book though.

Jess and Adam meet at a party one summer and their attraction is instant....but Sam has a girlfriend. After meeting a few more times, they are unable to deny their attraction. Sam breaks up with his girlfriend and, several months later, Jess and Sam become an item. But Sam’s ex Victoria has other ideas and is determined to make things difficult for the new couple.

I’ve read a lot of romance type novels this year. With everything going on in the world, I’ve just not been able to face anything that’s too grim and realistic so the escapism of romance books with their almost-always-guaranteed-Happy Ever After has kept me entertained and distracted. With that in mind, I can say that The Spark is one of the better ones I’ve read this year.

The vast majority of romance novels spend the entire book building up to getting the main characters together, throwing obstacles in their way only to resolve them and allow them to finally unite. This mixes things up a bit and gets our MCs together pretty early....and THEN throws the obstacles in their way. The main obstacle is Victoria, Sam’s ex and I think the book does a good job of showing that she’s not necessarily the bad guy here. Yes, she does some awful things and acts terribly at times but both MCs recognise that she is hurting and that’s the motivation for her actions. Jess in particular feels Tempe does guilt for her involvement in their breakup given that she experienced her parents breakup as a child when her father met someone new.

The book did a good job of showing that things are complicated and there’s always two sides to every story. An enjoyable read with likeable leads and interesting relationship dynamics.

Interesting, Unique and a book I will be collecting for my forever shelf I have found this one hard to put down and have been completely captivated.
I adore the writing style, plot and characters. A great book!

Fun British rom com with a lovely heroine. The ex and the mom were quite frustrating, but I suppose that is good character development! The “spark” between the main characters was well developed and believable.

Jules Wake writes the sort of books I always want to read. Emotional, insightful, with broken families, moral dilemmas and questions aplenty, while there are also very real, nice people and a genuine warmth at their heart. This book kept me enthralled. Was Jess right to fall in love with a man who had, for the past four years, belonged o someone else? Could she cope with the guilt of watching Sam's ex fall apart under the weight of the same heartbreak that had ruined her own mother's life so many years ago? You can't choose who you fall for and, once that spark had been ignited, I was rooting for Jess to stand up for herself and fight to keep Sam, no matter what his vindictive ex threw at them. A very real look at the aftermath of a breakup, where not only the spurned girlfriend but their whole network of close friends and family find it so hard to accept that things have changed. True love will always survive, and I loved every page!

3.5*

Was this supposed to be a thriller or a romance? This seriously had me going through a series of emotions reading this. This love at first sight book started out very problematic. First off the main guy in here in taken when our couple meet for the first time not only that but it was a long term relationship of 4 years. Thats a lot of history to just dump for a spark. So of course its understandable that the ex girlfriend would be upset however she is written as a complete psychopath who ends up stalking the couple and making trouble for them at every turn going so far as vandalizing property, putting innocents in danger, and using her entitlement to try and ruin both of the individuals careers. Jess always worried about her image worrying that she was an interloper and how this relationship cant work because her parents split. Sam has some anger issues for sure so I didnt think super highly of him but he was trying his best. Another problematic incident arose when Jess's mom had a conversation saying she didn't want to bring a woman as her date to a wedding because she didn't want people thinking she had a "special friend' and that read a bit homophobic to me and that was in the first couple chapters. So this one didnt start out great for me but after a little bit it did get better. I liked that Jess had some closure with her dad at the end as it really helped for that happy ending. Despite the not so great beginning, the writing was done well and plot progression followed a really nice pace.

A romantic novel with a bit of 'bite'. I've recently read a lot of 'deep and serious' books and this was just the antidote I needed! The passion/lust/romance/connection/spark between Sam and Jess is palpable; I was fully invested in their journey and was rooting for them to ignore the crazy ex girlfriend. I really enjoyed the 'will they - won't they' make it element and will look forward to more books from this author! A refreshing plot with characters I cared about and reminiscent of one of my favourite authors, Lindsey Kelk.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.