*The author provided a free copy in exchange for an honest review.*
When Ines Bautista-Yao posted about her upcoming book on Facebook, I almost jumped and down from excitement. First of all, I’ve read her previous work, Only a Kiss and Plain Vanilla, and swooned over both. She just has a way of writing certain details in her books that result in a KILIG EXPLOSION, like a certain boy writing down his number on a coffee cup hoping you’ll give him a call. I’ll stop now before I spoil more things. Haha.
When Sparks Fly is about a twenty-four-year-old wannabe photographer named Regina. Out of all the guys in the world, she meets and ends up falling for Ben, the sportscaster who kinda sorta broke her best friend’s heart. Complicated doesn’t even begin to cover it.
I loved so many things about When Sparks Fly, but Regina was the highlight of the entire book for me. We’ve all been her at one point in our lives or another, a little insecure and comparing ourselves to other people who we think are prettier, smarter, and just overall better. We all know what it’s like to not fight for what we want, because we’re a little scared that we might actually deserve it. The boy, the job, whatever it is. Seeing her transformation from the girl on the sidelines to someone who fought tooth and nail for what she wanted was such a satisfying part of the reading experience.
When Sparks Fly also depicted a solid friendship that I couldn’t help but root for, maybe even more than the OTP. Haha. I’m sad to say this, but fiction nowadays usually depicts the female protagonist’s best friend as a horrible person. You end up wondering why this seemingly amazing character is friends with such a bitch in the first place, but I’m so happy that this wasn’t the case with When Sparks Fly. Lana and Regina are actually best friends, not because they grew up together or circumstances keep forcing them together, but because they like and care about one another.
*SPOILER* When the shit finally hit the fan, I was glad that they didn’t argue about who got to end up with the boy but about their apparent lack of trust in one another. I hate it when two amazing girls fight over one boy in books, no matter how gorgeous he is, and I love that Lana and Regina’s friendship didn’t go down that route. *END OF SPOILER*
Yay for positive portrayals of female friendships in books!
And the OTP, you guys! Ben and Regina have got to be one of my favorite OTPs in a long time. Maybe it’s because I’ve been reading too many books with alpha males that I found Ben refreshing as a character. Don’t get me wrong. I love alpha males, but it’s nice to come across a truly nice guy once in a while (even if he does seem like a player on the surface).
Overall, I highly recommend picking up a copy of When Sparks Fly. Great friendship + hot nice guy + side characters who deserve their own stories = AWESOME BOOK.