Overall Grade: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
Helena Hunting’s When Sparks Fly reminds us how much we love Hunting’s brand of stories. In her newest book, her heroine, Avery, and her hero, Declan have been best friends since college. They live together, and their lives are deeply entwined. When Delcan fails to keep plans with Avery, she ends up in a serious car accident. Feeling guilty and knowing that he let her down, he decides to become her caretaker as she recovers. Very quickly, Declan and Avery’s forced proximity and latent feelings of attraction create “sparks” that “fly.” Best friends turned lovers, Avery and Declan begin a journey of love until complications from the past along with Declan’s unresolved issues related to relationships undermine their future.
Hunting’s story is simple, and it makes for the perfect weekend read. Avery and Declan’s chemistry isn’t as profound as you expect, but you fall in love with them as they navigate a change in the status of their relationship. When Declan, given his family history, causes problems in their burgeoning relationship, it creates these moments of gravity for her characters. Hunting deftly balances the familiarity and humor of their relationship with her requisite steam and a broken relationship’s angst in her story. However, Hunting also isn’t doing anything different here, thus my reason for the solid 4 rating.
That being said, I will always trust Helena Hunting as a storyteller as she writes stories that provide a mix of hilarity, romance, and seriousness. With a mix like that, you will want to read When Sparks Fly.
In love and romance,
Professor A
Professor Romance 