Review: When Sparks Fly
I want to note that Helena Hunting is one of my FAVORITE romance writers. Her books are consistently some of my favorite rom-coms and I’ve loved her for years. That being said, I did not love When Sparks Fly. At all.
I had such high hopes for this story, I got a copy from Edelweiss and was so excited to dive in. Friends to lovers and forced proximity (they’re roommates) AND the hero takes care of her after an accident?? Yes please! All my favorite things! I always go into Helenas books with really high expectations, and that might have been my mistake. I felt so disappointed by this story. (Spoilers to follow)
Seriously look away if you don’t want to read spoilers!
To start, I was surprised the hero, Declan, has a one night stand with someone else at the start of the book. That didn’t bother my necessarily, but I know a lot of romance readers who will not like that aspect of her story. I didn’t love that his actions that night propelled the story forward and were seen as the *cause* of Avery’s accident.
Speaking of accidents, holy cow if car accidents are a trigger for you, do not read this book. Avery’s parents die in a tragic car accident when she was a child, she has a lot of PTSD around cars from losing them. Her accident in the story is on the page and kind of horrifying. On top of that it is a multi-car accident and only she and one other person survive. I was surprised this part of the story was so graphic and killed off so many people.
I did enjoy the first 50% of the book (once it was past the accident scene) but Declan’s behavior quickly began to wear on me. I did not like his character at all. He’s noted in the synopsis as being a playboy, and you see some of that behavior in the beginning, but he absolutely wasn’t ready for a relationship. He has so many problematic jealous and immature moments that were red flags for me.
One notable moment that really bothered me comes towards the end of the book. Declan and Avery have started a romantic relationship at this point, it’s new but very hot and heavy. It’s noted a few times that Avery dated Declan’s friend in college, and that almost split up their friend group when she and her ex broke up. Years later and Declan STILL can’t get over that, even though he chose to stay friends with Avery. The ex starts communicating with Avery again and they meet up to combine their businesses for an event. Declan becomes controlling and suspicious, TRACKS HER PHONE, and sees she was with her ex (and his ex best friend. From there all hell breaks loose and Declan explodes on Avery, and accuses her of cheating on him.
It’s a mess, his behavior during this last part of the book is horrendous (he invades her privacy so many times). He doesn’t even let her explain before he gets mad. To make matters worse, she temporarily moves out and when she returns a few days later he’s having a party with other women over. At this point in the story I wanted them to break up for good, Avery deserved better!
In all, this was sadly a two star read for me. I was really disappointed, but I still love Helena’s other books and will continue to read her in the future.