When Sparks Fly is a feel good, best friends to lovers romance.

It's sweet and the reader will quickly get swept up into Avery and Declan's world.

The progression of their relationship flows naturally given the circumstances and there are some real laugh out loud moments as the couple move from friends to lovers.

As you would expect though, the writing is on the wall, and there is an issue that results in the fairly predictable 'break-up'.

Setting this apart from other novels that go along this path however is the way the couple reunite... That is what rounds this story to a sustainable conclusion.

I hope we meet Avery's sisters in future 'Spark House' events.

Sparks absolutely FLEW in this book! The chemistry between the hero and heroine were steaming off the pages and they were so adorable I had a goofy smile on my face 99% of the time! Read this right now! It got me out of a slump and put me in a new one becaUse this book was so amazing!

4.7⭐️
Helena knocks it out of the park yet again. I love the characters and the friends. It’s sweet and spicy and real. Best friends to lovers usually isn’t my favorite genre but this one was well done and I would totally recommend.

Has a bit of a slow burn to start but with all else that’s going on it totally makes sense rather than feeling like a frustrating plot point.

Thanks Netgalley and St. Martin’s for the arc in exchange for this honest review.

4.25 stars

This book is a solid addition to the category that I refer to as “fluff with substance,” aka romances that have a decent semblance of a plot behind the main relationship and that also address some kind of contemporary social issue(s) in som way. I found the first couple of chapters a bit slow, but that started to change right before the car accident scene. After that, the central relationship pulled me in, and I largely enjoyed the protagonists’ story; I couldn’t wait to see how everything was resolved, and for the most part, I wasn’t disappointed.

When Sparks Fly by Helena Hunting is a heartwarming romance that is sure to melt your heart with an addictive writing style that grabs your attention and leaves you wanting more. The characters are well-written and relatable with intriguing backstories and undeniable chemistry. When Sparks Fly is a must-read for those who love a good romantic chick-lit.

When Sparks Fly is a sweet and steamy friends-to-lovers romance. Avery and Declan have been friends since college and currently live together. When Avery sustains multiple serious injuries in a car crash, Declan vows to help her on her road to recovery. He feels guilty about the crash and blames himself for Avery’s injuries. After spending hours upon hours together, things start to shift between the two and they both realize they can’t suppress their feelings for each other any longer. But is taking a chance on love worth potentially ruining their close friendship? Especially when their past comes back to haunt them.

I devoured this sweet little friends-to-lovers romance. I mean, the chemistry between Avery and Declan was off the charts!! You can feel the sexual tension building up with each page you turn. I also really enjoyed the emotional growth of both characters throughout the novel as well. This story was the perfect blend of sweet and spice that had me hooked from the very first page.

Huge thank you to St. Martin’s Press for gifting me a copy of this one!

Helena Hunting does it again with another romantic comedy! This is the second Hunting book I've read, but I binge read both of them! When Sparks Fly is a friends-to-lovers romance and the first of a new series. Avery and Declan have been best friends since college and now live together. Everything changes after Avery sustained leg and arm injuries after a car crash, and Declan blames himself since he was not there. Now Declan becomes Avery's care partner during her recovery journey...what could go wrong? Sparks ignite, and Declan and Avery need to acknowledge how they really feel.

Thank you, St. Martin's Griffin, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley, for my complimentary ALC/ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Will appear soon at Romance Reviews Today www.romrevtoday.com

WHEN SPARKS FLY – Helena Hunting
St. Martin’s Griffin
ISBN: 9781250624703
September 21, 2021
Romantic Comedy

Colorado Springs, Colorado – Present Day

Avery Spark is enjoying her life as part-owner of an event hotel with her sisters and sharing a condo with her best friend, Declan McCormick. Her relationship with Declan is platonic, and he has stood by her after she broke off her romance with her cheating ex, even though the guy had been his friend. Declan is the type to have one-night stands, which Avery mostly ignores, but one morning as she is about to leave for a two-hour drive to a meeting, her friendship with Declan is tested. He was supposed to drive her because she doesn’t like driving in the rain. But Declan had spent the night before partying and ends up with a woman in his bed. Furious for his broken promise, Avery storms out.

Barely an hour into the drive, Avery is involved in a multi-car accident. She’s lucky to be alive as others were killed, but she’s left with a broken leg and arm. Her sisters offer to take her in, but Declan, who is feeling guilty about his broken promise to her, insists that he can take care of her. While they have lived together for years, having Declan take care of her needs soon turns into something more intimate than they expected. Avery feels frustration, not only because she is nearly helpless, but because she can’t take care of her sexual needs. Then, Declan offers to help her with that part. If she agrees, will their friendship be forever changed?

In WHEN SPARKS FLY, it soon becomes apparent that deep down Avery and Declan have always had a mutual attraction. But after her breakup from her ex, he made the choice to bury those feelings and build on their friendship. This evolved into their sharing a condo, where they have supported each other as friends. But all that changes after Declan fails to make himself available that morning. He blames himself and trips over himself to try and make it right. Avery’s sisters aren’t happy with him, and while she was angry at him at first, she is soon forgiving him. Avery needs help with just about everything—bathroom, being fed, and being driven around. This means any chance of keeping intimacy out of their relationship flies out the door. And those once dormant feelings soon rear its head.

WHEN SPARKS FLY is a relationship romance since Avery is pretty much confined to the bed and wheelchair. This tale is told from the viewpoints of both Avery and Declan. As their feelings for each other grow, they are conflicted about how it would change their friendship. But needs overrule the what-ifs and they are soon happily ensconced in a friends with benefits relationship. They keep it a secret, but secrets seem to always come out…

Readers will laugh and cry with Avery and Declan as they explore the changes in their relationship. Will things be all rosy and cozy? Not in WHEN SPARKS FLY, but in the end, maybe it will all work out. Don’t miss this enjoyable tale.

Patti Fischer
Romance Reviews Today

Avery and Declan have had a decade of friendship under their belt, and as roommates, everyone thought the inevitable was going to happen. But, when Declan’s bad choice lands Avery in the hospital with weeks-long recovery from her injuries, Declan steps up to the plate to be her caregiver to right the guilt he had for breaking her in the first place. Could this be the opening of a new relationship?

I kind of loved Declan! What a best friend to have. And the forced proximity really worked with the development of their romantic relationship. The damaged, relationship-phobe who had fallen for his best friend long ago? I mean, I am always down for that kind of character! Though most of the story seemed serious, Hunting sprinkled enough humor and swoon throughout, and I enjoyed it!

This book was one of Helena Hunting’s masterpieces. Honestly, friends to lovers is my catnip, I enjoyed every minute of these best friends opening themselves up and accepting each other in their hearts. HH takes us o a roller coaster with a super sweet ending that just devoured! Thank you for the opportunity to read this ARC.

Avery and Declan have been best friends for years, and are great roommates. When Avery gets into a car accident that leaves her immobile for months, Declan steps up to take care of her. As they spend more time together, the attraction they’ve both kept below the surface starts to come out. But can they transition back to normal life and have a relationship?

Warning: this book is super singable. From the first scene with the hobby horses, I was hooked and before I knew it I was 75% in and hadn’t stopped reading. You will feel literally everything when reading this: anger, sadness, happiness, amusement - this touches on all the emotions AND gets a little steamy and very romantic. The character s were flawed but likable and very relatable. The drama felt realistic and not forced. This was really just a fantastic rom com. This was my first book by Helena Hunting and I will soon be reading more of her work.

Thanks to SMP romance and NetGalley for the advanced copy. When Sparks Fly will be released on September 25th.

I definitely hope this is the start of a series featuring all three of the Sparks sisters! This one centers Avery, a sporty, "one of the guys" gal and the oldest of the Sparks sisters. The three of them (Avery, London, and Harley) run a hotel they inherited from their grandmother, who had taken it back over when their parents died in a tragic car accident. Avery lives with her best friend since college, Declan, who has been her ride or die best friend since their mutual friend and her boyfriend in college cheated on her and then made Declan choose who he wanted to be friends with. Declan gets wigged out when Avery leaves football night to go on a date wearing a sexy outfit borrowed from London, and he decides to drown those feelings at a bar, where he picks up a woman and brings her home. The next morning, Avery and Declan are supposed to go together to a college alumni event and he's supposed to drive her because the weather is bad and her car needs new tires. Cut to: Declan and his hookup still busy in his room, his SUV nowhere to be found because he left it at the bar, and Avery driving herself in the bad weather. She has PTSD related to her parents' accidental death under very similar driving conditions, so Declan calls to apologize and while he's on the phone with her, she gets into a very serious accident - fatal for several others involved (including the teen driver who was at fault). Declan is wracked with guilt and takes on all caregiving responsibilities for Avery, who initially can't go to the bathroom alone, bathe herself, walk, or even stay awake very long. It's pretty intense, and all that closeness leads to a new intimacy which leads to a bunch of hookups. Declan has some major trust issues stemming from his completely dysfunctional parents and so just as things are getting solid between them, he freaks out and their entire relationship/friendship ends. This is a romance, so of course things take another turn, but it's a pretty intense emotional rollercoaster. This was heavier than a lot of the contemporary romances that I read, but I really liked the characters and their arc, and I really hope there are going to be London and Harley books next!

Thank you to @NetGalley and @StMartinsPress for my eARC 🙏🏻

This was my first Helena Hunting book and I enjoyed it!

When an auto accident puts Avery in the hospital with several injuries, her long time best friend and roommate, Declan steps up to volunteer as her caretaker. After all, he feels responsible that he wasn’t driving her in his SUV to what was supposed to be their business meeting, together. This is an adorable, fun friends to lovers romance. I was expecting a sweet story, and was surprised with a little added spice! ❤️‍🔥😈

Pub date is Tuesday, Sept 21st
If you’re a romance fan - here ya go!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Recommend 👍🏻

A sweet friends to lovers story. A quick read that was fun, light & not super steamy.

I loved seeing Avery and Declan’s relationship progress. And I really liked seeing how they worked to overcome obstacles; both together and separately.

Recommend if you’re in the mood for a cute rom com.

Last summer, I read "Kiss My Cupcake" on a whim and absolutely fell in love with it. Ever since then, I’ve been meaning to pick up another book by Helena Hunting, sure of the fact that I’d love it. So you can imagine how excited I was to receive an eARC of her newest release, "When Sparks Fly"!

Now, before beginning this book, I had a couple of worries, I’ll admit.

For one thing, I was worried about how an injury that the plot centers around would be handled. Mainly, I was concerned said injury would be treated in a cutesy manner because it’s a rom com. I will say, this worry was very quickly swept aside because we really do get to see Avery—our female protagonist—struggle with adapting to life without the proper use of two of her limbs. Avery’s experiences are raw and realistic, and Hunting truly managed a level of grit with this injury that was not only appropriate for a rom com, but also incredibly mindful of what a person’s real-life experience with such an injury might be like.

Another “worry” I had was the obvious power imbalance between our two protagonists because of the injury. "When Sparks Fly" could have so easily been a book that fell into questionable territory given that Avery’s physical capabilities would be far more strained in comparison to our other protagonist, Declan. However, consent was explicitly and adequately covered in this book, and while it’s possible that will come across as too on-the-nose for some people, I personally appreciated that Hunting made a concentrated effort to do this.

I quickly fell into the rhythm of reading "When Sparks Fly", especially once my two main concerns were addressed and handled beautifully fairly early on in the book. Hunting has such a fun, entertaining voice with her writing, so it’s easy to get wrapped up in her stories. And in this book especially, I found all the goings-on at the Spark House—the events space that Avery’s family runs—and all the interactions between Avery and her sisters to be hilarious. The humor in these scenes was so enjoyable, that I often caught myself smiling down at my e-reader with a huge grin!

Okay, but, okay… let’s talk about the romance.

To be completely honest, my feelings on the romance between Avery and Declan is somewhat all over the place.
I will say, I like that, from the start of the book, Hunting makes it very clear in the actions of our protagonists that they both harbor some more-than-just-friendly feelings for each other, even if Avery and Declan are working hard to clamp down on said feelings without realizing it. I applaud the fact that the romance wasn’t this thing where it was like, okay, Avery and Declan have known each other for years but now, all of a sudden, they catch feels? No, it wasn’t like that at all, and I loved how natural everything felt in that regard.

The spicy scenes between Avery and Declan were also pretty good, albeit a bit imbalanced which I think was a great place to start, given the nature of how the spicy scenes begin to happen.

If there was one major thing I wasn’t a fan of when it comes to Avery and Declan’s relationship, it’s the fact that the progression of their romance felt… off?

But, Georgia, you just said that Hunting was good about showing these characters already had feelings for each other and made the romance feel natural!

Yes, okay, so listen. Hunting was great in setting up the romance for success. However, the actual evolution of said romance was a but stunted.

So obviously, this all starts as more of a friends-with-benefits situation, which I will say, gets a little too repetitive until about 80% into the book. But, so, while both characters start to realize they’re in a bit deeper than they had thought with their sexual relationship, there were hang-ups on Avery’s and Declan’s parts that made the romance’s evolution feel inorganic.

Furthermore, something happens at about the 80% mark in the story to throw a wrench in the relationship between Avery and Declan, and because we’re not really shown actions or behaviors from the characters--one more so than the other--in great detail throughout the book that explain one of the character's reactions, everything plays out in an incredibly extreme manner that feels like it comes out of left field. Following this blow-up, the rest of the book is kind of a let-down, and it really just left me with a bad taste in my mouth. I will, however, say that the epilogue was truly adorable.

In truth, I can’t remember the last time I felt so conflicted over a contemporary. I love Hunting’s writing—and I fully plan on reading so many more of her books—and, for the most part, I enjoyed "When Sparks Fly" despite it being a bit repetitive after a certain point and the last chunk of the book being less than stellar. It’s a rarity that I find a contemporary author who manages to maintain a consistently delightful voice in their work, so this is something I relish when it comes to Hunting’s books! With that said, I will definitely be back for more!

***Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an eArc!***

Avery and Declan have been best friends for years and living together for a few years. Declan never has any female relationships. He's always been a one and done ty[e of guy because of his parents spending his life cheating on each other as much as possible and trying to put him in the middle of their fights.
Avery is partial owner of a large events company with her two sisters. Avery has always had a problem driving since their sisters' parents died in a car accident when they were teens. Now, she has a serious accident driving without Declan because he was "busy."
Declan feels horribly guilty and takes it upon himself to take care of Avery because he feels guilty and she's his best friend.
This is one of the better friends to lovers romances that I have ever read. The situations, the emotions, the confusion, the misunderstandings, the love..
You shouldn't miss this one!

Avery and Declan are both athletic, best friends and jointly own the condo they live in. With Avery having worn tread on her tires, Declan agrees to drive them to the game, but Declan flakes out on her. Instead Declan drank too much the night before and picked up a woman who is still there. Avery ends up in a very bad accident. Feeling guilty, Declan commits to taking care of Avery as she recovers from multiple broken bones. I received a free copy of this ebook from the publisher through Netgalley. This is my honest and voluntarily given review. This book was not a rom-com for me. I didn't think that the first chapter on hobby horsing added to the story. I was turned off by the focus on their sexual needs. I didn't really like Declan, which contributed my dislike for the story. I think this book was meant for a difference audience than me.

This was cute rom-com with a friends to lovers storyline. It was a quick read and I read it in an afternoon. I didn't always feel the attraction between Avery and Declan as it felt forced at times. I received an advanced readers copy and all opinions are my own.

Helena Hunting is an author that I have been meaning to read for a while because I have heard nothing but good things about her writing- and it turns out those are all well deserved!

I loved this book. Just a few pages in and I was hooked. I loved our two MC's chemistry.
I felt so emotional when Declan was in pain- so great. He was by far my favorite character, Avery fell a little flat for me on her own but loved her independent spirit.
It's so refreshing to see a love story that is all sunshines and rainbows two days after a fight, these characters had to work for it and my heart is so happy!

3.5 Stars. I love a good friends to lovers trope. Avery and Declan's was a sweet story, with a strong foundation. There were a lot of sweet and heart wrenching moments throughout the book and overall it was an enjoyable read. For some reason, the story fell a bit flat for me. I knew some sort of confrontation or issue would have to arise and the one that did, did not feel organic to me. I did like the path they took to heal from it though. Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC.