This is the first book in a new series. Three sisters run Spark House together- it's a resort/conference center. The first book focuses on Avery and is a friends to lovers romance. She and Declan have been best friends and roommates for a lot of years and neither have ever acted on the attraction between them. Until circumstances lead to Declan being Avery's caregiver as she recovers from an accident.

I really liked both Avery and Declan. The romance was excellent; however I think I enjoyed their personal journeys just as much as the relationship journey. They both had some inner work to do to get a place where they were ready for a relationship. I am looking forward to reading Avery's sisters stories.

4.5 stars rounded up to 5.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Spark House is an event planning business that Avery runs with her sisters in Colorado. Best friends, the three girls have clung tightly to each other since their parents passed away. They are doing their best running the family business while their Aunt is traveling. Avery is beautiful, sweet and smart but Avery is like one of the guys when it comes to her tight knit group of college friends. One of them is Declan, who is both her close friend and super sexy roommate. Just friends, Avery secretly smirks at the parade of beautiful women who leave Declan’s room in the morning. When Avery has a horrific accident it is Declan who steps up to take care of her. It is Declan that she suddenly realizes can fulfill her every need. Sweet and sexy romance about friends becoming more than friends.

I really enjoyed this one and read it in one day! I loved Avery and Declan's relationship and seeing how it evolved throughout Avery's recovery. I thought Declan's reaction to what happens toward the end of the story was a little bit over-the-top, but it didn't really take anything away from the story for me personally.

I can't wait to read more from this series!

The sparks literally flew off the page between Avery and Declan! I loved the writing and character development. Will definitely grab the next book by this author.

What a dissapointment this one was. Usually I enjoy reading books with "friends to lovers " and
"second chances" tropes, but in this case even these tropes didn't help.
Both main characters were boring and unlikable, I didn't care if they end up together or not. The relationship were a strange and from Declans side even controlling.
The romance was forced and too instalovee, the change between friendship and courtship was sudden and reminded more of a bussiness deal.
The story was very predictable and draged way too much. The "plot twist",if you can call it that, that main argument of the book made me cringe and it felt that the book went down hill full speed. There was no redeaming points in this book after that.
I had such hihg hopes for this book,for them not to be fulfiled.
P.S. It took me ages to read this book, even though it's not that long, but everytime I had to force myself to pick it up.
Do not recommend.

This book is absolutely adorable! I love the friends to enemies trope an this book did such an amazing job of developing the relationship between the Avery and Declan. There was the perfect amount of humor and heat in this book and I honestly couldn’t put it down (I stayed up until 3 am reading because I had to know what happened)!! I found myself smiling and laughing at multiple points (especially the opening chapter) and truly enjoyed reading this! It’s light, fun, fluffy, and a great easy read!

I'm seriously not into the "best friends turn into lovers" trope. Yet somehow, I gave this a try.

Avery focuses on their family's business since it was given to her by their grandma. She had no time for dating, yet when she got into an accident, she took a step back in her life.

Her best friend, Declan, came to her rescue to take care of her because he was guilty that it was his fault that she got into an accident.

As time passed, these two got to know each other better, and they realized they could be more than just friends.

I actually enjoyed the story and, though at times, I wanted to shake Avery and shout in her face, "Hey girl, are you numb?" Well, in the end, I understood her because I could relate.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for the ARC!

3/5 stars

I really enjoyed this one in the beginning! I loved the friends to lovers feels and interactions between Avery and Declan. I could understand Declan's playboy screw up in the beginning that lead to the incident, however I had a hard time swallowing the 3rd act break-up or argument along with the make up. The romance had such good chemistry with steamy scenes and then I felt like it fell apart with miscommunication and lack of trust. Overall, I liked this one, but the end fell apart and there were too many issues within the break up and make up to make a happy ending believable.

When Sparks Fly by Helena Hunting is charming and sweet, which is signature HH. I enjoy her writing, and this book is no exception. It's an enjoyable friends-to-lovers story, and I happened to be recovering from a broken leg while I was reading, so I really empathized with Avery Spark's recovery from the car accident.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for sharing this book with me. All thoughts are my own.
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I was beyond excited to get the opportunity to listen to this story! It wasn't without its #twitchy plot-points, imo, but overall it was a feel-good story that warmed my heart from the inside out.

Two, already long time friends, get even closer when tragedy strikes one and the other is guilt-ridden because of it. Throw in the close proximity factor and it just made for a perfect friends-to-more journey! I was specially pleased that with this story, we not only got a journey to HEA between two people, but also a growth journey for our characters. It was very organic and relatable.

Without giving away any of this story, I will say that I was not a huge fan of not only the *huge* conflict at the end but also the *tragedy* that began this entire journey. Both of those centered around Declan and his behavior and it made it very difficult to root for him. They were both HUGE *what the actual F* am I reading right now moments and they both sucked a lot of joy of the story from me but like I mentioned above, overall, this story did warm my heart and I was happy while reading it but some of the choices the author made for the characters tested me LOL

As for my listening experience ... I am glad that I had the opportunity to listen to this audio because just listening to Stella Bloom & Jason Clark together gave me a little of the joy back that the reading had sucked away :) I've learned that reading a book and listening to it can give you different experiences and this particular one gave me a better experience!

As for the *rating* of my experience, I'd have to say that overall, it was a 3.5 out of 5 star but the reading was merely a 2(ish) star and the audio bumped it up to a 3(ish) star.

Super cute rom-com about Avery and Declan, who are best friends and roommates.
Avery gets into a car accident and Declan becomes her caretaker. It’s sweet, well written, and everything I love in a romance. Good character development and unique story. I really enjoyed this read, it’s the second book I’ve read my Helena Hunting and I look forward to reading more from her.
A special thank you to St. Martin’s Press via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

As a friends-to-lovers trope-based story, i think this is pretty good. a bit repetitive until the last third, but still very entertaining and sweet and definitely has the kind of flow where you can turn your brain off and just enjoy it.

overall, nothing new to the romance genre, but a fun read nonetheless.

I really enjoyed this adorable, sweetly sexy and fun journey from friends to so much more that Avery and Declan take us on. An emotional and highly entertaining, laugh out loud and hard not to swoon adventure filled with witty and engaging charters that I look forward to reading more about.

I have recently been introduced to Helena Hunting and I am so glad that I have a back list of books to read. But even more grateful that I received an ARC E-book of When Sparks Fly, her latest book, from St.Martin’s Press through Netgalley.

When Sparks Fly is book 1 in the Spark House Series. It follows best friends Avery and Declan as they navigate life after a car accident. Avery is immobile for weeks after the accident and Declan becomes her sole caregiver during this time and this is where things start to move from friendship to more. Their friendship goes all the way back to college and there has always been an underlying attraction. With forced proximity these two begin to question what may have happened if they had dated. From helping out to foreplay to love.

I think that Helena was able to weave humour, growth, and struggle into this book. That being said, I am feeling very indifferent. It was not a DNF but I wasn’t in love with it. It could also be because I am not always a fan of the friends to lovers trope. The story also pulls in the sick/hurt trope as well with Delcan being the caregiver. His ability to dote on Avery, after the accident I really did enjoy. Some of it likely out of guilt but I also think that he would have cared for her in any situation. There was lots of emotion and the past ultimately came back to bite both Avery and Declan. Don’t get me wrong I really do enjoy Helena’s writing and her books so I am not upset that I read this book. I just didn’t love it as much as I was expecting to.

Here are a few quick points to help you decide whether or not you want to read this book.
If you love books with:
♥️ friend-to-lovers
♥️ roommates
♥️ forced proximity
♥️ nursing back to health
♥️ dual POV
♥️ great steam
Then I think this would be a great book for you.

Avery Sparks and her two sisters run Spark House, a hotel/event space. London and Harley each have their strengths but for Avery it is her dream. Since college she has been best friends with Declan, a hot financial guy with an active sex life, and they share a condo. On her way to a meeting with the hotel Avery is an accident breaking her leg and arm and Declan blames himself. If he hadn't gone out drinking the night before and picked up a random he would have driven her. This is a sweet romance of friends becoming lovers. I felt that things were a little slow during the recounting of all the obstacles Avery went through with her recovery and Declan taking care of her but I did like them as a couple. The ending was predictable. Heck it is a romance novel but I felt it could have been handled a bit differently.

I would like to thank Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with a copy.

Unfortunately, this book did not work for me. There was nothing specifically wrong with it, I just could not focus on it.

I was a bit bored with the characters and couldn't seem to care about them at all. I would put the book down only to pick it back up a couple weeks late and put it back down.

This was my first Helena Hunting book so I will definitely try another of hers. This one just wasn't it.

I enjoyed this book. I’ve only read Helena’s hockey series so I was hoping that I would love this book just as much as I love her hockey guys!

Avery is an amazing character! I love how she isn’t the normal heroine. She doesn’t have to be dolled up all the time. She’s one of the guys. I really related to her!

Declan avoids commitment at all costs. He doesn’t realize what Avery means to her until he almost loses her. But can he still overcome he’s commitment phobia?

This book had me rooting for Avery and Declan to make it work. I really enjoyed watching them learn how to navigate life as it kept throwing them curve balls. I cannot wait for the next book in this series!

Nope. I hated this one. There are lots of points of contentions and this would be one of the worst friends to lovers storyline I have read. The big blowout after the main characters get together is blown so out of proportion that you want to chuck this book out. Would not recommend.

I had just been saying recently how even though I do enjoy all the rom-com books lately, what I've missed (and really wanted) were the romances with angst and sexy times. When Sparks Fly totally fit the bill! I actually went into the book pretty blind as my main reason for reading it was because Helena Hunting wrote it and she did not disappoint. Avery and her two younger sisters run their family business, the Spark House, a premier hotel/event space in Colorado Springs. Between a job she loves, her friends and sisters, and living in a condo with her best friend Declan, life is good. Then Avery is in a car accident which leaves her immobile for weeks. It's a sobering moment for all as it could've been much worse and brings up painful memories for both Avery and her sisters, and Declan insists on being her sole caretaker throughout her healing process. And this is when is get complicated (I love a complicated, messy relationship in my romances!).

Avery and Declan have a long history together stemming since college but suddenly being together 24/7 and him taking care of her every need (and I mean every need!), has them questioning and finally realizing what's between them. I absolutely loved the progression of their relationship. We got to see the good, the bad, and the ugly and I appreciated that while the author was ramping up on the romance aspect, she didn't neglect the fact that Avery was healing her body and how frustrating that was for such an active person. She also didn't shy away from Avery and Declan's issues, with the former dealing with hers head on while the latter preferred to shut down. It made the conflict that much sadder and intense and likewise, the conclusion that much sweeter.

Do I recommend? Yes! I really, really enjoyed this.

I love watching two people move from friendship to something more and all the trials and tribulations along the way.
Avery makes him work for it. Dec has to earn back her trust, her friendship, and her heart. And it’s not an easy path—it’s twisty and steep, but Dec is bound and determined.

I really loved watching these two begin coming out of their emotional shells and in trusting the other, become trustworthy, and capable of real love in all its varieties.