Sparks Fly by Clare London



The Blurb:

Nic Gerrard is this year’s brightest young entrepreneur, charming and charismatic, with time for everyone. Aidan West is his cleverest programmer, fiercely committed to his work and with little time for friendship or socializing. Together they created the successful dating agency, Sparks, with a new and refreshing approach to matching people.

A year later, their lives are very different – Nic has all the trappings of success and as much company as he wants; Aidan is solitary and disapproving of such a lifestyle. When Nic decides to update the agency’s unique matching program, he and Aidan must work together again. Getting along gets harder as they deal with a malicious hacker and face a crisis at the agency. It will take both of them to make the agency work, and somehow they have to find a way to put their differences aside. Nic and Aidan have secrets to keep, and whether they’ll admit it or not, they each need something – or someone – to help Sparks fly.

Why I bought it:

This is testing my memory… I think I bought it because the story sounded different to others I’d read at the time. It, together with Caught Running, was also one of the first books I’d read from Dreamspinner Press and made me a fan of this small m/m romance epublisher.

Dislike/like (ending on a high note):

Dislike~ Neither Nic nor Aidan are particularly likeable at first, especially Aidan. The great thing about good character development… you get to learn why they are the way they are. 🙂

Like~ How often do you read a story that perfectly reflects the title?? ‘Sparks’ not only reflects the name of the matchmaking company and program, but the fireworks that happen between Nic and Aidan; intellectually, emotionally and physically. (*whispers* I would give it 3.75 bars of dynamite. *g*)

Dislike~ This will seem ridiculous with all the YA I read, but as I get older the more trouble I have with young characters in contemporary romance. Both Nic and Aidan are very young (in their early 20s), highly successful and falling deeply in love. I KNOW this happens in real life, but still… I’m sure this never bothered me that much when I read it last year… I’m turning into a grumpy old lady!

Like~ The story has a bit of a mystery plot threaded through it, which I really enjoyed. I also liked the role the secondary characters – goodies and badies – had in progressing the plot.

So, what I think:

Sparks Fly is in my keeper collection. It’s a really great story about opposites attracting.

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‘Tasting’ is my version of a mini-review where I talk a (very) little about what I liked and disliked about a book as well as who I think the story will appeal to. Oh, and I’ve added a bit about why I picked up the book in the first place – sometimes this can be interesting to know.