Avery and Declan have been best friends since college and live together in the condo they co-own. When she's seriously injured in a car accident, Declan steps up to take care of her. They have great chemistry and banter and are fun to watch together. And then their friendship turns to more.
I struggled with this book. I enjoyed the friends to more aspect, but there was a lot about the car accident, too many details, and scenes in the hospital and then her long recovery. It felt like it needed a trigger warning. And then there was the added layer of her parents having died in a car wreck when she was a teenager. Other things I struggled with were the extreme guilt, jealousy, mentions of cheating. There were a lot of heavy topics buried in what seemed like it would be a bit lighter of a book. I think I would have enjoyed it more if it were just the accident aftermath and not all the other things.

So, first I am going to say that I absolutely love most of the books I have read of Author Helena Hunting. However, this one I am completely on the fence about.

Pros:
The beginning
The banter (at first)
The ending/wrap-up
The sisters & friends

Cons:
Declan was a blatant man-wh@re
The over-the-top taking blame
The extreme jealousy issue
Declan was (IMO) an extremely inexcusable jerk
Avery used Declan’s weaknesses against him

IDK…I wouldn’t discourage anyone from reading this, as it could just be me? I just had an overly, accusatory boyfriend in the past and it was toxic. I am glad Declan and Avery worked things out, but I struggled to really enjoy this one. It will in no way discourage me from reading a future release from this author, as most of her books I absolutely love!

Helena Hunting always nails it down! Best book I read in 2021! She knows how to grab you and want to stay in the book and beg for more! 10/10 recommend

When I start reading a Helena Hunting book, I know I better have nothing else planned because I will be utterly engaged in her story. Avery and Declan's friends-to-lovers tale is a fine example of how easy it is to fall into Hunting's storytelling.

Friends since college, Avery and Declan are platonic roommates, but even before they attempt anything romantic, you can sense a pull between them. They are sort of forced into a deeper closeness, and that pull intensifies.

I would love to know what you think about the start of their intimacy. Those first few encounters are ... 👀. I wasn't sure if I felt awkward or horny. It truly was a tossup.

Since the course of true love never runs smoothly and all that, Avery and Declan are due for some conflict. Sometimes these scenes can feel contrived, but Hunting has set up the insecurities and issues the characters face so their breaking point feels real. These are two competitive people who each face feelings of unworthiness. They need to see themselves as they see each other.

This is a fun, frisky book with laugh-out-loud moments and scenes that deliver the feels. Set aside a few hours and dive into Declan and Avery. You're sure to enjoy it.

I LOVE " Friends to lovers " Stories so much ..
I mean, If you give me a romance with this trope , don't expect me to rate it less than 3 stars !! As I believe, every incredible love story starts with a beautiful friendship .
( When sparks fly ) wasn't any different from the usual books with the same trope , It was emotional , sweet , heart-warming and funny . Especially , With Hunting's irresistible writing style .
I finished the whole book in one sitting , it was really addictive to follow our main characters while they are navigating and figuring out how to turn their wonderful friendship to a relationship .
Highly recommended for all romance readers , especially those who love the " Friends to Lovers " Trope .

Avery has it all: the guy best friend, two sisters who adore her, and the best party planning job. One day, this all halts when she gets in a car accident. Who's fault may it be? None other than her guy best friend, Declan who now has to take care of Avery until she can fully be back on her feet. Neither will admit they have feelings for one another.... but will sparks force them to realize their connection? Or will sparks crash and burn their relationship?

Helena Hunting charms again with "When Sparks Fly." Avery and Declan are the perfect friends to lovers combination that will make readers hearts melt and break, then melt again. From the first page, all will want to learn more about their story and laugh at shenanigans. The setting is dreamy and the circumstances are realistic. The epilogue wraps this story into a neat bow and leaves readers satisfied.

"When Sparks Fly" flies into bookstores every September 21. Make sure you select this one to feel a spark in your heart.

When Sparks Fly is a friends-to-lovers, open door romance about Avery Spark and Declan McCormick who have been friends since the first day of college and roommates for years. In college, their casual friendship was strengthened when Declan stood by Avery’s side after an ugly breakup. Avery had been dating their mutual friend Sam, but when Declan found out that Sam was cheating, he told Avery and chose their friendship. Now in their upper 20s, Avery and Declan are anchors for each other.

When Avery is in a car accident for which Declan blames himself, things change. Avery’s injuries are serious, and Declan, eager to make up for his mistake, vows that he’ll be the one to take cover of her as she recovers. This is a new side to their relationship, and each becomes aware of feelings that they’ve never allowed to grow.

Overall, this romance worked for me. I like the friends-to-lovers trope, and Hunting’s creation of believable back stories for both characters shows why each is hesitant to completely trust someone else. There were parts of the novel that felt repetitive, and the dialogue was sometimes too heavy—it felt more like speeches than actual conversation—but I like the tenderness of this couple and the way that they put in the time and effort to work through their relationship difficulties.

Hunting is a reliable author for me, and while I slightly prefer her rom coms, I’d recommend When Sparks Fly to romance fans.

My Thoughts
The three Sparks sisters Avery, London and Harley together are running the Spark House hotel and event site.

Avery as the eldest is also the frontline person and main driving force in it’s bid for success.

On her way to an event that promised that success would come sooner Avery is in a wreck she very nearly does not survive.

The day it happened was one where Declan promised to go with her as the designated driver because of bad road conditions.

However those plans change and Avery goes alone.

As most of us can understand the dynamics between a man and woman living together as platonic room mates change when that same couple become forced to interact in more intimate settings.

This story goes all out with exactly how feelings can grow deeper when least expected.

Avery and best friend Declan’s romance is filled with the wonder of firsts, as it is also filled with the even more wonderful realization that their love is worth fighting for.

Fast and smooth friends to lovers romance.


[EArc from Netgalley]
On every book read as soon as it is done and written up for review it is posted on Goodreads and Netgalley, once released then posted on Amazon, Barnes and Nobles as well.

I love Helena Hunting's book so when I saw this book, I knew I had to request it. Adding in friends to lovers trope, it was a win-win.

Avery and Declan have been best friends since college. After Avery's accident, Declan becomes her "carer", in more ways than "normal". I loved their friendship, Declan and Avery work so well together and they had their roommate situation working flawlessly.
I loved how sweet and caring Declan was. However as the book progressed, Declan's actions really bothered me and their lack of communication. Now don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed reading how Declan realised and worked through his emotions and feelings, but his overreaction really bothered me. It was like his character did a 180. I will admit, I really enjoyed how Helena tackled these issues with so much empathy and understanding.

As you can see from my review, I have conflicted feelings about this book. I loved Declan and Avery's friendship but the second part of this book didn't really work for me. (Sorry!! I can't believe I am writing this about a Helena Hunting book!!)

It was a nice read, and I am glad I read it. Would I re-read it? No, sorry.

Thank you to @netgalley @Stmartinspress and the author for a copy of this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Complementary copy given for my honest review and opinion.
10 stars!! I loved this book and the storyline. The characters were well balanced and fun. Definitely a top recommendation

WOW Helena Hunting had me on the edge of my seat and never looking back when she threw some major stuff at us early on in the story! I was angry and choosing sides and I was emotional and crying before I even got 20% into the book!! So, yeah, this one is awesome and I highly recommend!

This story follows best friends who live together amicably until one of them suddenly needs 24/7 help and their living arrangement turns into something else entirely. Declan and Avery had epic chemistry, fun personalities, and a very complicated best friends to lovers romance. There were some real life moments, so many funny/awkward moments, and loads of spicy flaming awesomeness! I highly recommend this book and am crossing my fingers for this to be a series!

Helena Hunting has become one of my auto-read authors. Her stories are funny, charming, sexy, and extremely well written. She is excellent at really creating a unique voice for each character which helps the reader get fully immersed from the beginning.

DNF pg. 28

I wanted to give Helena Hunting another try, but this one was not for me right from the start.

The writing was not great and I there were a lot of "NOT LIKE OTHER GIRLS" and "WOW I LIKE SPORTS" and "ONLY HAVE GUY FRIENDS" moments jam packed in the first few chapters that I was instantly put off.

Then the guy's POV was the same and "WOW SHE CAN REALLY EAT WINGS AND IS MESSY HOW QUIRKY". When he got possessive about the MC (his roomie and friend) going on a date I knew I couldn't keep reading.

I've always enjoyed Ms. Hunting's take on contemporary romance and When Sparks Fly is no exception. This is a charming friends-to-lovers romance with a twist. Having said that, I would avoid reading spoilers because that was part of the enjoyment of this read for me -- not knowing what was going to happen. As always, her characters are well-developed and so relatable that I find a connection with them almost immediately. Declan and Avery's friendship journey to a romantic relationship is fraught with quite a bit of baggage on both their parts but it just makes their getting together that much more satisfying. Declan is swoony, sweet and sexy and Avery is one tough cookie! I also loved the friendship dynamic between Avery and her two sisters and I'm hoping Ms. Hunting will be writing their stories as well. A very enjoyable summer read! I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC for NetGalley.

This one simply didn't work for me. Here's the basic set up: It's friends to lovers / caregiver tropes with characters that didn't feel fully fleshed out.

Avery and her sisters run an event space -- and her sisters are definitely set up for sequel bait -- we get a pretty good idea of their personalities and I can't say I'm clamoring for their stories. Avery is sporty, 'not like a regular girl / one of the boys', and lost her parents in a bad car crash at a relatively young age. She was also cheated on by the hero's best friend in college.

Declan, or 'Deck', is a consummate playboy/commitment-phobe because of his parents' rocky marriage and divorce. I felt like the author had to do a lot of work explaining why it was possible that Avery and Declan could live together for years without their 'chemistry' pushing them over into something more. It took Avery getting in a pretty horrific car accident, resulting in her immobility, and Declan's guilt over playing a role in the wreck, to get them together. Kind of flimsy if you ask me. This a VERY slow burn romance, but I just didn't feel the chemistry and honestly wasn't terribly invested in them getting together. I was expecting more on-page sex from this author, and cartoon covers make it near impossible to tell heat level, so that was a bit disappointing.

Some of the dialogue felt forced/clunky/unnatural for two mid-20-somethings.

Additionally, the black moment and subsequent months-long separation left me pretty frustrated. There's nothing like getting to 95% in your ebook and the characters haven't reconciled yet

The writing advice 'show, don't tell' didn't seem to be followed much here... it seemed the author was doing a lot of unnecessary background dives into their motivations / feelings without showing us what that looked like with these characters.

I will admit that I'm a tough sell on friends to lovers, because I simply don't believe how people could ignore chemistry so strong for so long, but overall, this one just didn't resonate. Not enough 'sparks flying' for me...

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC.

I've read a few Helena Hunting books, so I was excited to dive into this title. Hunting navigates the build-up of relationships very well and moves the storyline at a realistic pace. What I really enjoyed about this title was the self-realization each character goes through in order to navigate their relationship, not only to each other, but their families as well.

If I have one criticism, I would say it took me a while to understand what Spark House was and felt an explanation wasn't established at the beginning of the story. Since it's such an integral part of their lives, I feel like it deserves some type of background information or introduction when the reader is first introduced to it. Luckily, as you keep reading, you understand what the business is about.

When Sparks Fly
Rating: 2 stars (DNF)
Thank you to the publisher for the ARC given through NetGalley for review. All opinions are my own.

When Sparks Fly will sadly be a DNF book for me. What little I read I did not like or felt any interest in finishing it. Declan hit a bad chord with me and I understand some heroes can be jerky at the beginning towards our heroines but the thing these two are practically best friends. They've been living together for two years. So his behavior towards her was a big no for me. After letting her down when they had already agreed to go to an important meeting together seemed a little childish of his part. I'm glad she told him off. You expect this kind of behavior from someone you might of met not someone you've known for years.
On to the next one.

Avery and Declan gave me all the best friends-to-lovers vibes. Avery is very much a girl I would be friends with, so I found her sporty, hangs with the guys, goal-getting personality appealing. Declan was a damaged sweetheart, though he didn’t seem to realize how much of either one he was. There’s actually a lot Declan doesn’t realize that comes out, and that’s the cause for my star reduction. This one started with a bang for me, then fell off when the wrench had to be thrown into the romance. The road to repair their relationship was heartfelt and the epilogue was outstanding, saving the day for the couple I had become invested in.

Headlines:
Friends/flatmates/frisky
Guilt
A dose of drama

When Sparks Fly lives up to its title, delivering on chemistry and spark. The story is an age-old but welcome tale of friends to more but these two shared a condo, so complication potential was high. Avery was the sole female in a gaggle of guy friends obsessed with sports and Declan was her long standing buddy.

A big event occured that meant that Avery really had to lean on Declan for a lot of support and this part of the story was really interesting and my favourite part. It was a little slice of forced proximity and the chemistry fumes were thick.

What dragged this down a little was the dose of drama that arose, over-reactions were prevalent and I hated how Declan acted in front of Avery during that period; I couldn't get on board with his behaviour. Declan's journey to improvement felt a little lacking in credability for me.

All that said, this was a fun, quick read. You could devour this in an afternoon and feel a sense of satisfaction without a huge investment.

Thank you to the publisher for this early review copy.

I almost threw this out. I could not get into this and managed to read 2 books in my avoidance. The opening was so rough and I couldn't get through the opening. I persevered and... it's not all that. The story needed more "life" and TLC.

I was interested in reading this book because of the fandom for this author's books. I'm not sure I'll be tempted to pick another up by her.

Ugh…I hate to write this…but I DNFd this one. I liked the main characters, but the story wasn’t holding me enough to finish it. Maybe I’ll come back to it eventually as I love Helena Huntings work!