So this was a first for me by Helen Hunting and while I enjoyed the story I don’t think I’ll be returning to this author. The writing and premise of the story was interesting and could have been amazing but it sadly it a few of my peeves. The story begins with two best friends/roommates who have to deal with the trauma of one of them in a live altering car accident and then they have to deal with the fallout. Avery Spark has shared an apartment with her best friend Declan since college and despite a few bumps in the road she is generally happy with her life, except that her family business is in serious danger of going under. When she sets out to win a contract to save the business, tragedy strikes and she wakes from a terrible car accident to find herself with a broken arm and leg, and essentially at the mercy of her roommate. Declan is devastated about Avery’s injuries, blaming himself for letting her down and her being hurt, but he’s determined to see to her every need and make sure she gets back to 100%. Forced into constant and VERY personal contact, Avery and Declan discover a deeply buried attraction that quickly becomes more as they become lovers. But can their relationship survive when Avery is no longer dependent on Declan or will the love they thought they found die like sparks flying from a fire? I enjoyed some parts of this story, but there were a lot of points where the story got to slow and mired down for me. Avery was not my favorite character and Declan definitely had some issues to work through. I will say that they are definitely believable characters, with a lot of personable and understandable traits, but sometimes there is such a thing as an overwritten character. I also wasn’t a huge fan of Avery and the way her sisters interacted for a good bit of the book, the huge lack of communication making me slightly nuts. In the end the story was an enjoyable enough read, with plenty of heated moments, a few laughs, but entirely too many tears and moments of unhappiness for the H/h and I was left wanting for the romance. I wont say not to read it for yourself and see what you think, but I will say it was not my cup of tea by any standard except that is was well written and the plot flowed nicely.

I think this is the first book from this author that was just ok to me. I have raved and loved every other book this author has written and read most of them multiple times. I look forward to her next release every time I know one is coming out.

I first heard about this author from another favorite Julia Kent (who also writes under many pen names!!) One day I read a post about one of her author friends releasing book two in a series and I read book one and was hooked. It helped I love hockey and it was her hockey series. Imagine my surprise when I read the teaser about this series and see the main character in this story has the exact same name from one of Julia Kent's biggest series. I was so confused hearing that name and separating from the character I know with that name.

With that said this book was a little different from the usual she writes. There was the best friends/ roommates to a couple. It was not over night and I really do not think either character realized they has been in love with each other till circumstances changes.

They both have had difficult past with not only partners but also both have family issues. Even though they have been friends for years they do not have a good base when things happen to help them through it.

What I loved about this book is when things get tough it was not fixed over night which is what usually happens. This had the real life feel of how to fix issues.

Not sure if this is the first book in the series but I will always support this author and buy her books!

Sweet friends to lovers story that introduces readers to Spark House and the stories of 3 sisters, orphaned at a young age. Declan and Avery were sweet, but I never really felt the chemistry between them, which made it difficult to connect with them. Overall there was a lot of "telling" with not enough "showing" to reel me into their romance. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an early copy in exchange change for honest feedback.

I made it to about 40% before I gave up. I was not loving this book at all.
The male MC was not likeable to me at all.

I can’t get over how sweet this book is! It starts with a bang, goes into a repentance road and ends with such cheesy sweetness! Declan is now my new book boyfriend, he’s a little damaged but his heart is huge.

HH sure knows how to deliver a friends to lovers story. Declan and Avery have been best friends since freshman year in university. To the extent that Avery was dating Declan’s best friend Sam, and when Declan found out Sam was cheating on Avery, he informed her, punched him, and ended his friendship with Sam. He chose Avery over his best friend.

Fast forward years, they bought a condo together and live as best friends, with all of Declan’s extracurriculars, as in, frequent hookups. Their life was perfect, with weekly game nights with their other soccer friends Mark and Jerome. Avery also worked at Spark House as event coordinator with her sisters Harley and London. They are successful and busy.

Then one day Avery needs Declan to accompany her on an hour long trip, it was raining hard, but Declan forgot and had a “guest” in the bedroom. Avery left alone and had an accident. From this horrible crash onward, it’s Avery making the best of a broken body, Declan giving his all to nurse Avery back to health and face the wrath of everybody for being a playboy who didn’t prioritize correctly.

There are explosive feelings, a lot of anger and recrimination, and horrible guilt. The arrangements made to meet Avery’s new needs change the dynamics and brings forth new feelings, or maybe feelings that had been buried and unacknowledged?

There are incredible scenes where you can’t help but laugh out loud, other scenes that wrench your heart, they are so hard to witness, and sweet scenes. I was initially enchanted with Declan, then angered, then pitied him. Poor guy had a huge heart but a hurt psyches. Avery and her sisters had an emotional bond and a deathly fear of car accidents. The bang in the story shook everyone and eventually brought a lot of clarity in all their relations.

I’ve been noticing how this author is bringing more romance and less humor to her stories and am loving the transition. She’s incredibly talented in writing emotional scenes that wrench your heart and make you fall in love with the characters, as in this story. I loved and was hugely entertained by this lovely story.

I just love Helena Hunting! This book is perfect for a day at the beach or to read cozied up in front of the fireplace. I absolutely fell in love with the characters in this super fast, romantic read.

1er tome de la série Spark House, When Sparks Fly est une romance friends-to-lovers. Habituellement fan des comédie romantique d'Helena, j'ai un avis mitigé sur cette histoire. Il a manqué une étincelle d'humour pour moi dans ce tome, le rythme était lent et je n'ai pas accroché avec Avery et Declan.

3.5

Always kind of conflicted on how to review when I have a disparate like of the H/h. Avery, which starts of this planned trilogy of 3 sisters all finding their match, is in one of those longtime friendships that takes a major near-tragedy to push their mutual attraction over the edge. I also usually find this trope, without flashbacks, as hard to convey a longtime male/female friendship. For some reason, it mostly works better for me when it's a group of all-men or all-women friends.

I liked Avery, even though I found her far too forgiving in the circumstances of her accident here; I was firmly on her sisters' side in regards to Declan. And unfortunately, though he had his moments, he never was completely to my liking and was incredibly immature. The major disagreement came too close to the end for me to really change my opinion of him, and I really couldn't get behind the book trying to reinforce that both Avery & Declan were to blame. Um, yes, but in a wildly varying range; it was far from equal. So this ended just in a middle of the road feel for me.

I received this ARC for my honest review and opinion. Helena Hunting is one of my favorite authors. I fell in love with the Pucked Series and I’ve ready almost everything she has written. She is an amazing writer. I started to read this book and right away it pulled me in. It was fun, hot and an emotional roller coaster. But I can’t give it 5 stars because the end of the book just didn’t do it for me and I cannot tell you exactly why. Maybe it went to fast after their fight or we didn’t get Declan’s POV at all after the fight, again I’m not quite sure why.

Avery and Declan have been best friends for over a decade. They have never been apart. So of course when the opportunity presented itself, they bought a condo together and moved in. They were adults and loved each other. But that all changed when Avery almost lost her life. Everything changed. It took Declan to realize he can’t live without her to step up and say I’ve always been in love with her. Declan always thought because his parents had a bad marriage he wasn’t capable of love and being able to be with someone without hurting them. Just like his parents did with each other. The chemistry between the character and watching them realize their feelings for each other was amazing.

I cannot wait to read Avery’s sisters stories. They are a huge part of this book and their personalities were the best. All their friends new they had feelings for each other, except Avery and Declan.

Yes! Give me all the angsty, fun romances from Helena Hunting! I am a sucker for the friends to lovers, as well as injured LI trope, and this one hit the mark well. Beyond that, there’s a meaningful exploration of struggles with mental health, that I appreciated quite a bit. These two characters have great chemistry, despite some miscommunication at times (as well as the neee for some serious groveling)—but all works out and I found myself happy and sated but the end! Looking forward to the next Spark House book!

I've read a few Helena Hunting books and was excited to read When Sparks Fly. Though was surprised this is a steamy read when the vector cover sings sweet rom-com - chic lit - vibes.

But.... arghhh there's a but - I didn't like Declan from the start - I think I'm a hard biatch because I struggled like mad to forgive him. And that was my hurdle I fell at all the time.

Would I recommend? - gah I honestly don't know. The writing is well done, it's just maybe friends to lovers with a Declan thrown in the mix is not for me.

Helena Hunting never disappoints. I love every book she has written. This one was a little different but in a very good way.

I’m sad to say this wasn’t my favorite from this author. It was really hard to connect to the characters because they weren’t very likable to me. Avery and Declan have been best friends since college and then merge into the romantic side of the relationship. There’s a lot of drama and Declan messes up big time.
I still give this book three stars because there were parts that I liked.

Hokey ending

I give this a 3* because it held my attention, but there wasn’t enough story there. It’s clear from the beginning that Declan is dating Magee after witnessing the s*#t show that was his parents’ marriage. However, he and Avery have a decade-long friendship that seems solid. So when that is ultimately tested, he fails big time. Luckily, he finally realizes he needs therapy or he won’t stand a chance of fixing their relationship.

I received a complimentary ARC of this book from Berkley through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

Helena Hunting is one of my go-to authors and I love reading her books! This one started off with the potential to be a great friends to lovers with forced proximity, but just fell short for me. I started this book multiple times, so that should have been the first sign for me. The first big drama with Declan was disappointing. It was also a pretty traumatic event for not only Avery, but her sisters and Declan himself. This left me a little unsure of where this story was going, but I still had high hopes! Unfortunately, once I got past the halfway mark, I just couldn’t find a way to like Declan and be invested in his and Avery’s HEA. I do like the world and backstory of the Spark sisters, so I’m hoping book 2 will be more up my alley!!

Absolutely adored this friends to lovers story! It was obvious where it was going, but that didn't make it any less enjoyable.

It was refreshing to read about a main character that isn't girly, but more sporty. What was also refreshing was how normal the author made masturbation. You don't really see much of it in books unless it's about men. Kudos for that!

Some of the character's reactions to certain events did make me wonder if it was a little over the top, but that's probably just because I myself tend to deal with conflicts in a very calm way. And that wouldn't make for a very good twist, would it?

All in all, this was such a perfect relatively spicy read. Was really rooting for the characters and the way they found their way to each other sexually wasn't like anything I'd ever read before. Loved it!

There were parts I loved, and parts I hated. I thought Declan was super shady at the beginning of the book, but he did try to redeem himself. Most of the friends-to-lovers part of the book was fun to read, and overall I'm looking forward to seeing more in this series. Helena Hunting has always been a great author.

I absolutely loved this book. Declan and Avery are fire! They are both fun characters and have so much heart. Their friendship was so special and sweet and that you wanted them to be together. I
especially loved Avery’s sisters and all the odd events they had.

This book had it all for me. Love, Laughter and of course sexy times. I can’t wait for the rest of this series!

Helena Hunting never disappoints. Another book of hers that I just couldn't put down. London and Jackson's story was one of fairytales and I can't wait to read more in this series.

This book was super cute. I will say for awhile there I wasn't the biggest fan of Declan but once everything that makes him who he is came out I changed my mind. It was fast paced and fun. I'm excited to read the next book because I know there has to be more about the other two sisters coming!