With a title like When Sparks Fly, there better be some fire. And there's that first drop of sizzle, like when a steak hits cast iron, but then the heat is turned down and pushed to the backburner. That's when Helena Hunting starts prepping the side dish, which isn't romance, but recovery. Avery and Declan met in college, freshman year, but Avery was dating someone else and Declan was dating everyone else. But when Avery's college boyfriend is caught cheating, Declan sides with Avery, and the lifelong friendship emerges - a friendship so strong that they move in together as friends long after college. Declan still getting all the action, and Avery embracing the single life while she works at her family's business, Spark House, an event space.
Eager to help the business grow, Avery sets off to get their alumni association on board, and Declan is supposed to help, but he bales last minute and she's off on her own... and that's when the accident happens. Bad accident. And who will help Avery recover? A guilt-ridden Declan takes the job - and he may as well, since they already live together.

Proximity leads to intimacy. Friends turn to lovers. And then all the other stuff happens. And the stuff is repetitive, predictable, and really takes the heat out of the flame. The sparks aren't flying - they're sort of just hanging in the ashes. But any fire can be rekindled, if given attention - and this is when it gets GOOD! Declan goes for it... but slowly. Winning Avery back at a pace that steadies the flame and turns up the heat.

Excellent story with a feel good ending. I throughly enjoyed getting to know Avery and her sisters. Declan was a great hero and it was nice to see where the story went and I’m hoping for more.

I liked this one! Friends to lovers story with forced proximity ❤️ ❤️ How they solved crossword puzzles together made my heart melt. Some steamy shower scenes 🔥 Lots of groveling.

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Synopsis: Avery and Declan met in college, became close friends that love soccer, and now live in a condo together. Avery is athletic, independent, and works hard running the Spark House hotel with her sisters. She’s done everything to not be dependent after her parents died in a car accident and she was cheated on in her last relationship. Declan helps with the finances of Spark House, hangs out with their mutual friends watching soccer games, and has frequent superficial flings. He has sworn off anything other than physical relationships because of his parents dysfunctional marriage.

Then there’s a car accident. Avery is broken but she’s alive. Declan was supposed to be with her and his guilt is overwhelming. He’s going to make it up to her and takes over the caregiver role as she recovers. As their relationship evolves, the added proximity begins to stir up past feelings. Can Avery handle this dependence again- and how much will she let Declan help her 😉? Are they willing to give in to their attraction and jeopardize their friendship?

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I think the heroine being the vulnerable character could have been taken advantage of, but I thought Hunting made Avery strong enough (and clear enough in what she wanted) to where this wasn’t an issue.
I wanted Declan and Avery to get back together faster, but what made that better was the importance placed on mental health and becoming personally strong before being ready to fully commit.

DNF
Read 40% , it's not my cup of tea
Will not leave review anywhere.DN F

Thank you For granting me access to this book

We all know I am not a romance fan. But a Rom-Com? Yes, I’m in. And this author does a great job of balancing.

Avery Spark and her sisters run Spark House, an event hotel. It keeps them all super busy and Avery is the most passionate about the business and sports. She still lives with her best friend, Declan, who is a great friend and a player with the ladies.

Nobody has time for relationships and nobody is looking for one. For some reason, Declan will never settle down. But their little group of three guy friends and Avery enjoy playing soccer and hanging out. Just one of the boys.

And things are going great until Declan lets her down and she ends up in a bad car accident. Since Declan can work from home and needs to assuage his guilt over not being there for her, he decides to take care of her every need. Medical and emotional.

The more time they spend together the more the relationship evolves into something that may end their friendship or turn them into a couple. But it’s all so new and they are both so scared of loss, we just don’t know how it will end!

This was funny and sad and sexy and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

NetGalley/ St.Martin’s Griffin September 21,2021

When I started When Sparks Fly by Helena Hunting I was ready for a rom com similar to her Pucked series. This book was not as “rowdy” as those books. This was a friends to lovers romance with light humor. While I enjoyed this story, I did have trouble keeping all the side characters straight. I assume there were many additional characters to provide for future stories to create a new series. Overall this was a cute romance story that I would read on a vacation.

When I saw this storyline, I always wanted to a read a book like this one. It was done well. Friends to lovers story and I love any story that has a dual POV between the two characters. What I loved about this story was the relationship Declan and Avery have together and how you see it throughout the story. The side characters fit well I felt. I really loved how the characters made mistakes and grew from them.

This was a cute and funny friends-to-lovers story. I enjoyed the low angst and charm of this book and this trope is always one that makes me happy to read. Helen Hunting made her story within this trope her own and created fun characters for whom are easy for readers to relate.

It's no overwhelming romantic at points because of the nature of the friendship and it took me a while to really believe in the chemistry that was being cultivated but the true friendships in the story were delightful. The book is a great way to escape an afternoon by reading. It's not overly angsty and there are some really special moments and definitely some entertaining and comedic ones. Definitely recommended for fans of this trope. Hunting's story telling will entertain for sure.

loved this romance and finding love with a friend. I enjoyed the sisters and hope to have their romance too. I loved that they loved their business and all did different things. I loved the romance between deck and ava. I loved that they found their way to each other and took their time. I will read more books by her. she is becoming an auto read author for me.

Overall, I enjoyed the book. I wasn't a big fan of the "hurt/comfort" trope in this book with the way it was framed and also how it was used as a plot device to get the couple together. Made me uncomfortable with some of the ableism and that got in the way of me fully enjoying it fully. Otherwise it was a fairly good read. I liked the past revelations that the couple had to face as it added more layers to their friendship and eventual love.

When Sparks Fly is a friends to lovers story. It was a quick and fun romance that would make a cute Hallmark movie. I enjoyed it, even though I was not a fan of Declan. He did redeem himself in the end but it took a while to get there. If you need a fun weekend read this is a great book!
Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martins press for my advanced reader copy, all opinions are my own.

Absolutely adorable and witty! I enjoy the one liners and couldn't put it down. A great summer read on the hammock!

Overall this is a good best friends to lovers read. Underneath there is a heavy emotional aspect for both of the main characters. Avery is unfortunately in a terrible car accident that leaves her injured in many ways both physically and mentally. It brings up heavy past emotions for both her and her sisters about their parents fatal accident. Declan who was meant to be driving with Avery that day is also torn up with guilt over what’s happened, and the realities of why he wasn’t there.

Luckily they are best friends and roommates so he can work for forgiveness by taking care of her while she’s on the mend. Which is honestly pretty sweet, and it was great as a reader to see their connection and friendship from that side and not just a romantic side. These two start to realize their feelings for each other and while neither of them are relationship experts they do know that they already have an established friendship and dedication to each other. Declan however has only seen a very toxic relationship between his parents, and he’s always cut any of his relationships off before they became serious at all. So is their relationship journey simple? No. It gets bumpy and while I liked that things weren’t all gumdrops and good times, how their angst starts did make me want to junk punch Declan.

Anyway. I’d consider this relatively slowish burn, sweet at times, heated at times, emotional at times, frustrating at times, and fun at times. If you’re looking for a good contemporary romance, then you’ll find it here.

Sadly this one just didn't hit the spot for me.
I usually enjoy a good friends to lovers premise but this one quickly turned into something repetitive and boring which is a risk with this trope. I just didn't understand how these two made it this far sharing a place together without anything happening between them and then I wasn't convinced with their half-assed chemistry, it felt forced, far from genuine.

The hero's behavior at the beginning of the story was also hard to forgive and I bet it will be a serious no-no to readers seeking non-cheating male characters. I usually don't care much about these things myself but I have to admit his actions from the beginning then again when things turned sour between him and the heroine truly bothered me until the end of the book.

I get the hero had trust issues and I appreciated the author's highlight about therapy and mental health BUT once again we have a hero using and abusing women—heroine included— to get over his issues. Not attractive.

I'm a total sucker for stories where friends fall in love. This was no exception. It's a story about friends who become closer when a terrible accident ends up pushing them closer together. The author has crafted well developed characters and a lovely, quick paced plot. A perfect weekend beach read!

A light, fun read, but not my favorite of Helena Hunting's unfortunately! Still enjoyable... I'm not a fan of best friends turned lovers after an intense and scary incident with arguably many foundational issues to work through. But, a good weekend summer read!

I enjoyed this story so much! 5 stars for this one!

We have Avery and Declan, they've been the best of friends since college. They even have a condo together, she's just like one of the guys. Declan has had a rough life with his parents always pulling them into their cheating drama, which has made him feel he will never be able to be in a committed relationship.
When Avery is in a car accident, Declan feels responsible, and as he helps nurse her back to health, their relationship changes, crossing lines they weren't sure they could handle. Will they be ok venturing into this new territory?

This story to me held a message, that friends to lovers isn't always an easy transition, and until you face your demons head on, you will always error on the side of safety!

I wanted to love this book. I had been looking forward to reading Helena Hunting’s When Sparks Fly for months and maybe it was the high expectations I had but this story didn’t meet them. To me, the writing felt stilted and hard to get through. It was missing the humor that is normally so prevalent in Hunting’s books. I had to force myself to continue, hoping the writing would get smoother, the dialogue more natural, and the transitions and descriptions less confusing but it never happened. There were so many inconsistencies that I had to force myself to finish this book.

Friends to lovers and roommates are two of my favorite tropes. I enjoyed Declan and Avery’s friendship but there were parts that were a bit over the top. I do appreciate that there was a certain amount of angst that made me swoon at the beginning but kind of trickled off towards the end. There were things that could have been done better but I still enjoyed reading it! Overall, I really do love this author and can’t wait to read more from them.

What a build up for this best friend to lovers! I can’t help but fall in love with Declan and Avery.
I love that their friendship comes first.

I expected this to be pretty cookie cutter to majority of the same with this trope. Some could get boring with the repetitive storyline but this one was very different.
Avery has an accident and nursed back to health by her roommate/best friend.
This was heart warming, funny, and heated.