Charming, hilarious, and emotional, Starry-Eyed Love is Helena Hunting at her very best!
Having just broken up with her boyfriend, London Spark is not in the mood to be hit on. Especially not when she’s out celebrating her single status with her sisters. So when a very attractive man pays for their drinks and then slips her his number, she passes it right back to him with a ‘thanks, but no thanks’. As the business administrator for their family’s event hotel, the Spark House, London has more important things to worry about, like bringing in new clientele.
As luck would have it, a multi-million-dollar company calls a few months later asking for a meeting to discuss a potential partnership, and London is eager to prove to her sisters, and herself, that she can land this deal. Just when she thinks she has nailed her presentation, the company’s CEO, Jackson Holt, walks in and inserts himself into the meeting. Not only that, but he also happens to be the same guy she turned down at the bar a few months ago.
As they begin to spend more time together, their working relationship blossoms into something more. It isn’t until their professional entanglements are finally over, that London and Jackson are finally ready to take the next step in their relationship. But between Jackson’s secretive past and London’s struggle with her sisters, London must question where she really stands – not just with Jackson, but with the Spark House, too.
[I received a digital arc for an honest review]
Starry-Eyed Love is the second standalone in the Spark House series by Helena Hunting. This one follows middle sister Landon, who up till now hasn’t had the best luck when it comes to relationships, they always lack that extra something special.
The book starts with Landon turning down a gorgeous guy who asks her out on a date because she has just got out of her relationship. Fast-forward 2 months later, and she’s in a business meeting hoping to score a very important partnership for the Spark House. Jackson, the owner of this multi-billion dollar company also happens to be the man she turned down at the bar. While there’s definitely a connection, they now have a working relationship and Jackson is determined to keep things between them nothing more than professional. When their time working together is completed they can finally act on their connection but will omissions of their past and personal fears ruin things just as they begin.
I’d forgotten what it was like to authentically enjoy spending time with someone who wasn’t one of my sisters. It feels effortless, natural. Which makes the fact that we’re stuck in the business associate friend zone that much crappier.
Honestly, I went into this book not expecting much and that’s because of how much I disliked the first book in the series. I really liked Landon, she is sweet, loyal and a tiny bit of a pushover when it comes to her sisters. Her anxiety , especially over making phone calls, was 100% relatable and she is just overall endearing. Then we have Jackson who I’ll be honest at first I was impressed with the cheesiness, the pickup lines he laid on her in the beginning of the book are cringe worthy, but he redeemed himself. They form a bittersweet bond over the fact they both lost their parents young and were both greatly affected by it. He was attentive and charming, and while he definitely enjoyed all the advantages that came with his wealth, like getting things at his beck and call and flying on private jets, he balanced it with his genuine caring personality.
“There’s nothing ordinary about you, London.”
The majority of the book is spent with Landon and Jackson having a business relationship that leans heavily towards an actual friendship because Jackson is very strict about not crossing the line into being inappropriate. Because of this though, he tends to be hot and cold with Landon and instead of communicating ,ends up leaving her dizzy. When their working relationship finally ends they do get intimate fast, but every encounter is quite low steam in description.
And I realize that this is the spark I’ve been missing all along. And now that I’ve found it, I want to nurture it and turn it into a flame that will never extinguish.
I would have to say my only real complaints are the lack of yearning between them, on top of waiting till 60 percent for that first kiss. It didn’t feel like a slow burn because I wasn’t given pining, half the time Landon couldn’t tell if he actually wanted to be in an intimate relationship with her or not. The second complaint is the sister from the first book , Avery , is the worst ,she’s selfish and I dislike her very much and every time she was on page I wanted to smack her and it just reminded me of the horrible time I had reading her book. #sorrynotsorry
In the end, Starry-Eyed Love by Helena Hunting was an enjoyable contemporary romance filled with Google doc messages, charcuterie boards, origami stars, connection and happily ever afters. After this one, I’m actually looking forward to the final sister’s book.
P.s. I quite enjoyed the cameos of a few characters from her Shaking Up series 🙂
OnceUpon_A_BookDream 