This book is a 3 star read for me. I enjoyed it, but I didn't love it. Some of the things I liked were the set up of friends first, and the whole Declan taking care of Avery. I also liked the supporting characters, London and Harley seem like great sisters, and the guy friends were great friends as well. I also liked the Spark House aspect - it added another layer to what could have just been a silly read. However, there were some things I didn't like though about the book. I didn't find either main character to be super likeable. Declan obviously had lots of issues to work through, and Avery came across as quite entitled and spoiled. I also didn't love the end scenario. I realize there has to be a problem in these types of books that the characters have to work through, but this one just seemed forced and stupid. A simple conversation could have easily solved the problem. I also found the chapter names quite cheesy and they honestly made me roll my eyes a few times.

Overall, I liked this one, but didn't love it. I have read a few Helena Hunting books, and will continue to read them, but this one just fell a little flat for me, especially towards the end. I appreciate the opportunity to read an advanced copy though. Thank you to Netgalley, Helena Hunting and St. Martin's Press for the copy.

I requested to read and review this book for free from St. Martin Publishing Company. This book is set in Colorado. This book has many different emotions happy ,sad, frustrated,guilt ans betrayal. The main characters are Declan whos parents have done a number on him. Will he be able to overcome those issues. Avery is loyal, stubborn can she see what is in front of her to help. Her sisters London and Harley are family that has each other's back and also you will meet the guys Jerome and Mark. This storyline reminds me of love, lost and can people actually know what they want in life. Have they had it all along or is it new. This book is for a mature reader and can be read anywhere.

Helena Hunting is one of my favorite go to authors & this book is just fabulous!! It has all the feels, it’s funny, emotional, heartbreaking, heartwarming. You will love Declan & Avery along with all the supporting characters. Avery & Declan are best friends who live together & have buried their attraction to each other. Deck gets jealous when Avery goes out on a date that ends leading to a terrible car accident Avery is in the next day when he was supposed to be with her. He takes care of her & it leads to more. You will be hooked once you start reading this book & won’t want to put it down!! What a journey they have to their HEA! You must read this book!! I received an arc from Netgalley & the publisher for an honest review.

Helena Hunting's books are hit or miss for me, and unfortunately, this was a miss. The whole beginning was not for me - making both Avery and Declan to seem unlikeable, while at the same time making them seem like they were still in college despite nearing/being in their thirties. This maybe would've worked if she aged them down to be a year or so out of college, but that's not what this is.

Too much drama at the beginning for me for a friends to lovers story. I want obvious sparks and cute supporting moments in a friends to lovers story, and this had none of that. This was overall a flat read.

This is the first Helena Hunting book that I didn't love. The book was good and the characters were charming but it was at times unbelievable and completely foreseeable. This is the type of book that you don't really have to read to the end to know what's going to happen. That being said it's still well-written and an easy, ruggedly cute read.

Loved it!
This was such a wonderful friends to lovers story. I couldn’t get enough of Avery & Declan. When Sparks Fly brought out a wealth of emotions & I loved everything about this book!

Thanks to St. Martin’s and NetGalley for this arc. Helena Hunting has been a familiar staple for me, especially in terms of rom coms. I appreciate how she doesn’t always go for the conventional character (or humor). But this book didn’t work for me. Couldn’t connect to the characters. Didn’t root for their romance. The plot and jokes felt a little flat. I’ve really enjoyed some of this writer’s work and am looking forward to the other romances in this series, from side characters (all excellently rendered).

When Sparks Fly is the story of Avery and Declan, two college roommates who became fast friends due to their shared obsession of various sports, and have been living together in a shared apartment for years. Best friends that are always there for each other, their bond grew stronger when Avery’s college boyfriend cheated on her and Declan chose her over his friend Sam. Now, years later, the unresolved feelings between the two of them threaten to come to a head when a commitment-phobic Declan makes a drunken mistake that lands Avery to drive alone to a college reunion – and ends with a car crash that leaves Avery immobile and in desperate need of full-time assistance. Riddled with guilt, Declan declares he will take care of her every need and wish. And what starts out as a way to pay penance turns into much more when the phrase ‘lending a helping hand’ takes on a whole new meaning.
The friends to lovers trope mixed with forced proximity? Sign me up. Helena Hunting delivers another light romance with darker undertones with When Sparks Fly. I loved the juxtaposition of Avery who is very focused, diligent and career-driven, running the Spark House together with her sisters while her grandmother is taking a well-deserved break, with Declan who is always in a good mood, fun to be around and doesn’t take himself too seriously. Throughout this story, their friendship is the greatest highlight because they take care of each other in the small and grand ways even before Avery is dealing with the aftermath of recovering from her car accident and whenever their friends came around, you could tell that their dynamic worked really well. Avery’s sisters London and Harley are also quite involved in this story when they have to take over most of Avery’s input in the business and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that we’ll return to those characters in the future.
Hunting also balances the quirkiness of the characters with their dramatic past. Declan is a commitment-phobe because he’s seen his parents’ using each other and being unable to step away from their toxic relationship. Avery, meanwhile, is still smarting from the death of her parents in a car accident and struggles with riding in cars. Though these aspects are more told than shown in When Sparks Fly, they added another layer of depth to the romance between Avery and Declan.
One slight thing that kept me from being fully immersed in the story, however, was the constant repetition of certain key information – e.g. how Avery’s parents died in a car accident when she was younger – which was phrased the exact same way in both POVs multiple times – I wish it would have been paraphrased to fit their individual ‘voices’ more. In general, once Avery returns home from her accident, some scenes became quite repetitive as they followed the same pattern, it felt like sometimes Hunting fell into the trap of describing outfits, weather and the likes at the start of each day that slowed the pacing down quite a bit in the middle right when things are about to get interesting.
Aside from that, When Sparks Fly is a super breezy read – I read this in one sitting because the chapters just kept flying by and I was antsy to see Avery recover and for Declan and her to finally be together beyond the confines of their apartment. Despite the rather unfortunate car accident, there are loads of feel-good moments in this book and I especially loved the dynamic between Avery and Declan. Friends to lovers can be tricky because you have to establish years of friendship without relaying every conversation that led to that special bond and Hunting did that marvelously with memories from each POV and other friends and family members chiming in. Their friendship is such goals and once they admit their feelings for each other, things get steamy and sexy in the best way.
That being said, the last fourth of this book was quite difficult to reconcile with the first three quarters. While it makes sense for Declan to react to the events with jealousy, the way he lashed out kind of went against everything the reader learns about Declan up to that point in the book. Of course, he’s never been in a relationship before but still, the way he was burning bridges left and right and especially how he treated Avery felt very out of character and you have to suspend your disbelief quite a bit to accept what happens next. It was great to see the positive representation of therapy and working on your intimacy and relationship issues within When Sparks Fly, but I would have wished for a bit more groundwork so the abrupt ‘disaster’ moment wouldn’t have been so unlikely. However, I did enjoy how we got to see Declan and Avery both reclaim their friendship, work on their separate problems and then find their way back to each other much healthier and well-balanced than before.
Sparkling and emotional, When Sparks Fly combines the friends-to-lovers trope with forced proximity and offers a happily ever after to two forces of nature – the perfect summer read!

Declan and Avery have been close friends since college. When he steps up to care for her, the sparks and chemistry erupts. Neither want to ruin their friendship but it is always possible when the chemistry overrides their sensibility.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

What a great friends to lovers romance! I am a bit biased as it is one of my favorite tropes, but it is so well done here. I cannot wait for readers who have yet to discover Helena Hunting to fall in love and then find out she has an incredible back list.

I voluntarily reviewed an ARC from Netgalley.

I was so excited to be able to read this book, however, it just didn't hit on all cylinders for me. I was so distraught. I love Helena Hunting because her books are amazing. This one just fell short (for me). This is one of my favorite scenarios to read and I was about to freak before I could start it. And then the disappointment....

I had trouble liking Avery and Declan. I found her to be a spoiled brat and was thrilled when her sister called her on it. Perhaps I missed something, but I got the impression she "badgered" (my word!) her sisters to go into business with her. That was never actually stated as the details were slim. Declan was ...ehhh. I'm sure many would think he was amazing to help out Avery, but I found his apologizing just a bit over the top. I have yet to meet a man that will barely apologize once...much less numerous times. It just struck me odd, I guess.

I'll continue to read Ms Hunting. I think she's an awesome author. This one just didn't do it for me.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5 STARS

I can never get enough of Helena’s words. She’s penned an amazing best friends-to-lovers story that is beyond scintillating. Declan and Avery’s journey is filled with ups and downs, with an amazing happily ever after. When Sparks Fly is an EPIC read that will join the ranks of the BIBLIO-ARISTOCRACY!!!

I absolutely enjoyed this book! It was so good at showing all the scenes and it was so very real. The characters were wonderful and I hope there will be more books, stories for the other sisters.

Avery and Declan are roommates. It works well since they are best friends. When an accident happens, all of that changes when they end up needing to depend on each other. This is another good story by Helena Hunting. It has some heartwarming moments, laughter and romance. I enjoyed the characters and story. It is a friends to lovers story that shows sometimes the best relationships start out as friends.

Avery and Declan are roommates who have been hiding their true feelings and have stayed platonic. Now when Avery gets severely injured in a car accident, Declan takes up the responsibility of taking care of her completely until she recovers. This proximity forces them to reveal their feelings for each other and this friends to lovers trope book also has good supporting characters who add value to the plot.

And there is some good steam for those who are interested and is definitely a cute romcom albeit too predictable. At the end there is some hurt and breakup situation due to some misunderstanding making it emotional as well.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the e-arc in return for an honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley for my gifted copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
When Sparks Fly is a cute friends to lovers story about Avery and Declan. Longtime friends and roommates, they have both been in love with each other but have never been willing to admit it. After being in a serious accident, Avery now has both an arm cast and leg cast. She needs tons of assistance and who better to help than her best friend and roommate. As they grow closer than ever before, and the lines they never crossed before get blurred, their friendship is tested in ways they never thought would happen. Will their crazy chemistry end up setting them up in a situation that will blow up in their faces? Read this book and find out!
When Sparks Fly is a delightful, fun, and fast read. Fans of the authors other books will enjoy this one as well.

Avery and Declan have been best platonic friends forever but things change rapidly when he becomes her primary caregiver after a bad accident. Enjoyable friends to lovers romance. Recommended.

I've been on a Romance/Rom-Com kick as we head into summer, and this certainly delivered that was cute, fun, but with a little bit of depth to it.

Avery and Declan's friendship and chemistry is the backbone of this book, though it does start off rocky for us at the start with some of the questionable choices that Declan makes that lead to Avery being driving out, alone, in the rain the morning of her big car accident when they should have been making that trip together, especially considering Avery's trauma with driving due to her own parents car accident when she was a teenager. For a moment when it all goes down, you are left to wonder how good of a best friend he could really be to let her down so horribly for a meaningless hook-up.

However, post-Accident, you get to see a different side of Declan. One who is dedicated, loyal, and wiling to do whatever necessary to take care of his best friend. That is when this book truly shines. In the moments you see their closeness, their banter, and the first sparks of them realizing just how much they truly love one another. My biggest gripe is that it stemmed from a place of guilt for Declan when I think we could have likely gotten there without that part of the storyline.

I do wish that the conflict that drove them apart before coming back together had been built up just a little bit more because the latter part of the book felt a bit forced and awkward and lacking the emotional impact on myself as a reader because while I felt all the emotional flutters of the build-up, the heartbreak felt rushed and resulted in the Happily Ever After feeling a bit cheapened for me, which is how we wound up at a 3 stars because my excitement over the story definitely waned in the back half of the book.

All in all though, I think Helena Hunting is a master at her craft and writes beautiful love stories that romance readers will adore.

Thank you Net Galley and St. Martin’s Press for a copy in return for my honest review!

5* Soul Mate Stars

When I was invited to read an ARC of When Sparks Fly by Helena Hunting I was very excited because I knew I was in for a fun as well as emotional read. From the first chapter you will be laughing out loud as the author introduces us to Avery who is hosting a Hobby Horse Convention, (I had to look this up to make sure it was indeed a “sport”) and other chapters where you will feel annoyed and sad.

The story of Avery and Declan is a slow burn friends to lovers romance. They meet each other in college and become best friends and then roommates when they graduate. Their friendship is solid, and loyal, and they have been there for one another without crossing the line romantically. When Avery has an accident and needs fulltime care Declan does not hesitate to become Avery’s caregiver.

Lines are crossed when favours are asked, (some hilarious moments when this happens) and before they both know it, they have crossed the barrier of being more than “just best friends”.

When trust and insecurity issues arise, their friendship is fractured, and hearts are broken. They will be in the fight of their lives to rebuild, heal and accept what the future holds.

The story of Avery and Declan was funny as well as emotional. I highly recommend this wonderful well written book, I loved everything about it!

So, I want to start by saying I love Helena Hunting. But, this book just was meh for me. I tried really hard to love it. However, it’s a 3 star for me. Declan was just not all that likeable. And besides the scene where he and Avery first get together, I just wasn’t feeling their chemistry. I did like avery’s sisters. The chemistry was much better in their story line. Thanks to nergalley for the ARC. all opinions are my own.