Camilla Isley

This is a review for Sparks Fly by Laura D. Bastian ONLY. Full review of entire box set coming soon.

I was pretty excited to read my first novella from the My Funny Valentine box set but from the beginning I felt like this story was more on the slow side, and I fought to figure out exactly why. I never did get my answer, and the pace never really seemed to pick up either, leading to an ok read.

I don’t know why this is called Sparks Fly because the only electricity is at the various job sites that Adam works (he’s an electrician), and even those scenes are dull. I didn’t feel a connection to any of the characters and the tedious predictability made it even worse. Samantha was my favorite character of the whole story, and sadly she was just a side character. Adam and Mia were lukewarm at best, and their story was overall sweet, but the relationship felt forced and the epilogue felt rushed.

I’m not saying the overall story is bad, per se. I just wish I could’ve connected more with the characters and cared about their situation. The writing was decent, but the flow felt off the entire time I read, and it just didn’t jive with me. It makes me sad because I love this author and was hoping for more sparks!… (mer)

If you haven’t laid hands on the book yet, here’s your clue to stop reading. This review has spoilers.

The author has done a great job in writing the book. I can connect to the writing style very well, and I’m pretty sure a lot of others can, too. The book is a dual POV and that’s an amazing bonus to the amazing script.

I love Wendy and Riven’s character development throughout the book, especially when Riven colors her hair, yes, that was an IT moment. He was ready for the fury to get a reaction out of her, and I would like to think she looked glorious with the new hair.

However, the end, where they become STEP-SIBLINGS(?!) is something that made me drop the stars. Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy for their parents, but the marriage complicates things. The epilogue wasn’t as justified as it could’ve been. There were a lot of other ways to end the book, but this one was not the best, in my opinion. The parents could’ve pulled a prank, or there could’ve been a gap where they decided to act on their feelings, but really, it was too unrealistic even for fiction.

However, I love the family, especially Amy and Tess’ kids and it would’ve been great to see them involved more, but overall, the book was a quick read, and a great one, except for the ending.
I kind of dislike Riven for not telling his ex-wife about Wendy, and not because they didn’t have a DTR yet, but also because he could’ve shut her up and straight up told her to get the fuck out of his house. Whether or not he was hurt, he shouldn’t have let her belittle his relationship with Wendy.

As for Wendy, I feel sorry for her in a lot of ways. Sure, the book says it all worked out in the end, but she went through the most in terms of love. I don’t know what is better, but she sure did deserve it.… (mer)