Hi Everyone! Happy Monday, I’m starting off the week with another review, today’s book is When Sparks Fly by Helena Hunting. This is Helena’s newest book and it’s coming out on Sept 21 ( 2 week tomorrow!) Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for giving me the chance to read this ARC. I had such a great time reading this book and I hope you guys read it too when it comes out. For now, enjoy the review.
Avery Sparks runs the Spark House, a hotel and event space that’s been in her family for years, along side her two younger sisters. She loves her job, has a wonderful group of friends, and lives in a condo with her best friend Declan. Avery’s happy and eventful (pun intended) life comes to a halt when she’s in a car accident. The accident leaves her immobile for weeks and needing her to have someone stick by her side at all times. Declan insist on being the one to take care of Avery while she recovers, and that’s when things start to change. Friendship lines are blurred as the two are spending so much time together and feelings start to come to the surface. What started as taking care of a friend as an act of kindness soon turns into a potential romance. But between both of their pasts and their previous relationships things might not go as smoothly as hoped.
This book was such a cute read. It was a faster-paced read which i enjoyed and had a wonderful friends to lovers trope crossed with forced proximity. It was easy to tell that there was chemistry between Avery and Declan right from the start. Both of them had their pasts that lead them to have their reasons for not being in relationships but I was so glad they managed to work things out in the end.
Avery was such a sweet character. She’s obviously a very hard worker and absolutely loves running the Spark House, and she’s a great sister and friend. You could tell Avery’s heart was with her work since she didn’t do much outside of it except her weekly hangouts with her friends. Unless her sisters convince her to go out on a date for once, that is.This is what leads to some of the problems at the beginning after Avery unintentionally makes Declan jealous by ditching a night with friends to go on a date. That jealousy is also the reason Avery ends up driving alone when she gets into the car accident. I was definitely mad at Declan for the way he acted when he got jealous. Going out, getting drunk, and hooking up with a stranger, all to not be able to go on an alumni trip with Avery because of a hangover. Not winning any points at all for that, and Avery’s sister were right to not be happy with him - maybe not quite to the extent that one of them was, but still.
Declan felt incredibly guilty about the car crash and had it set in his mind that he was to blame which was one fo the reasons he insisted on being the one to care for Avery, to try and make it up to her. He really went into full nurse mode while helping Avery and that was absolutely adorable to see. It was obvious that Declan had feelings for Avery for quite some time and being in close proximity to her at all times did not help those feelings. It was cute to see not only Declan’s feelings grow but to watch Avery come to realize her feelings as well. Seeing their friendship change into something more over the course of the book was really sweet to watch. I also liked how in the last part of the book there were some personal issues from Declan’s past that were brought up and handled in a mature and realistic way. It wasn’t something that was just pushed aside to make a happy ending, but it was talked about and worked through so the characters could end up with a healthier relationship in the end. I thought that it was well done and honestly made the very end even better.
Especially with the way the story ended, I really did like this book. It was the perfect kind of book to read in one sitting and it kept me entertained the whole time. And of course, it had its steamy moment too which I feel like fit into a story like this quite well. I can't wait to get my physical copy when it comes out! I hope you all enjoyed the review, and I'll see you on Friday with another new post.
Emily Marie