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 marvellously 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 with undeniable chemistry—the perfect summer read!
When Sparks Fly is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore, as of September 21st 2021.
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Synopsis | Goodreads
Running the Spark House, a hotel/event space that has been in her family for years, has been Avery Spark’s lifelong dream. After years of working hard and making personal sacrifices, Avery and her two younger sisters have turned the Spark House into the premier destination in Colorado Springs. Avery is living her best life—she works with her sisters and loves every minute of it, she has a great group of friends, and she lives in a fantastic condo with her best friend Declan. She might not have any love in her life, but she’s happy.
But everything comes to a screeching halt when Avery is in a car accident, leaving her immobile for weeks. After nearly losing Avery, Declan insists that he will be the one to take care of her while she recovers. However, as Declan becomes Avery’s caretaker, lines begin to blur.
Avery and Declan have been best friends since college and always had an attraction to one another, but when she ended up dating his best friend, Sam, they successfully stamped down any feelings they may have ever had for one another. Now, as Declan and Avery spend more time together, they each begin to wonder what would’ve happened if she’d dated him instead of Sam. What starts as a friend helping out another friend turns into foreplay and, before they realize it, they recognize how deeply they care for one another. But when things get serious their past threatens to destroy everything they have built.
