After a high-profile and embarrassing break up, heiress Rachel flees to her family’s lake house in Foxglove Bay for some privacy and self care. But things go awry when her spa day candles cause a house fire and grumpy fire captain Wyatt has to rush in to save the day. Everything then goes from bad to worse when Rachel’s parents cut her off, forcing Rachel to find herself a new place to stay and obtain her first job to help pay for everything. Despite his often-grumpy attitude, Rachel continually finds herself drawn to Wyatt…but Rachel is only in town temporarily and single dad Wyatt’s life is in Foxglove Bay with his young daughter Dottie.
When Sparks Fly is a smalltown contemporary romance featuring the age gap, opposites attract, grumpy with sunshine, and single dad tropes. It’s perfect for fans of books like Chasing the Fire by Paisley Hope, It Happened One Summer by Tessa Bailey, Slap Shot by Chelsea Curto, Sawyer by Jessica Peterson, and The Wild Card by Stephanie Archer. When Sparks Fly deals with themes and topics like cheating, abandonment, loneliness and isolation, single parenting, fires and firefighting, debilitating workplace injuries, finances, social status, and identity.
I was drawn to this book due to the hilarious cover art, and it definitely ended up being a fun read! I loved the beachy smalltown setting of Foxglove Bay. Wyatt and Rachel’s spicy and swoony chemistry was enjoyable as well as Rachel’s budding friendship with her roommate and coworker Paige. Lastly, having read some of Murphy’s other books, I appreciated that we got to see some familiar characters, such as Scarlett Lancaster.
The “will they, won’t they” tension and drama between Rachel’s roommate Paige and Wyatt’s brother Nate! was fantastic! It felt like a missed opportunity that Murphy didn’t delve into Paige and Nate’s story more in When Sparks Fly; but she does leave the story open for Paige and Nate to potentially get their own book in the future. That said, I wasn’t a big fan of some of the more serious topics that came up in Rachel and Wyatt’s story, like dealing with debilitating workplace injuries, but doesn’t detract from the story.
I think that this fun and spicy read would be the perfect addition to any romance reader’s summer TBR list!
When Sparks Fly is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore.
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Synopsis
From New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Monica Murphy comes a sweltering summer romance you won’t be able to put down.
Twenty-two-year-old heiress Rachel Henderson has one goal this summer: hide out at her family’s lake house and recover from the most mortifying breakup Manhattan society has ever witnessed. Sun, swimming, and zero paparazzi, what could go wrong?
But her quiet summer by the lake goes up in literal flames when a spa-day candle mishap sets her mother’s designer curtains on fire. When the local fire department shows up—specifically the ridiculously hot fire captain—the house is saved, but the captain scorches her pride with a lecture about fire safety.
Determined to prove she can handle life on her own without her family’s help, Rachel finds a new roommate and a new job—too bad she’s terrible at it. Oh, and she keeps running into Captain Tall-Dark-and-Infuriating (which definitely isn’t a hardship). The more time they spend together, the more their conversations start to get real, and Rachel finds herself falling for Wyatt. She thinks he might even feel the same way.
The only problem? Wyatt is all about roots and permanence, while Rachel is the very definition of flighty. But this summer, she just might be tempted to stay …
