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3.6 AVERAGE
3.6 AVERAGE
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Harley and Gavin's love story in Make A Wish by Helena Hunting, book three in her Spark House series, a beautiful conclusion to three sisters' stories, a combines the stress of running a business with all that entails; dreams, goals, creative genius with the delicate balancing act of trying to live your life and finding happiness one deserves. It is an amazing and heartbreaking story of family, relationships, and acceptance; a single dad, and an age-gap; misunderstanding and mistrust; drama and heartbreak; romance, passion, love. We witness youngest sister Harley struggling to find her place at Spark House as they grow, especially with franchise opportunities possible, and her desire to return to working with children. While her sisters, Avery and London, have a great business sense, Harley has that special ability to connect with others; especially with children. She loves kids and helping to grow their creative side.
At the last children's birthday party at Spark House, before cutting the service, due to costs, Harley runs into Peyton, a now-nine year old she nannied for as an infant, and, her incredibly handsome father, Gavin. The last time she saw Gavin, she was 20 years old and he was grieving the death of his wife. Harley made the mistake of trying to kiss him, or him kiss her, sending Gavin and Peyton across the state to live near his in-laws. With his father wanting to retire, Gavin needed to return in order to do his job. For Peyton’s sake, Gavin and Harley become friends. Despite their age difference, Gavin never forgot Harley, and their connection is just as strong now as it was before. It is a complicated connection as Gavin’s torn between his love for his daughter, wanting her to be happy, and the guilt he feels from the loss of his wife. Then there’s the jealousy of his controlling mother-in-law, who sabotages any relationship Gavin enters. Then there was Harley. She wanted to be loved and wanted. She already loss so much and refused to settle for less. It was wonderful to witness Harley finally finding her voice and standing up for herself: whether to Gavin or her sisters and their plans for Spark House; as it was for Gavin to realize his love for Harley.
Ms. Hunting wrote an emotional, wonderful, heartwarming romance that kept me turning the pages as I followed the twist and turns of Harley and Gavin’s relationship. She provided a tale rich with magnetic attraction, sizzling chemistry, clever banter, and the magic of family and friends, giving Gavin, Peyton and Harley a chance at love, happiness, and a future neither expected. I highly recommend Make a Wish to other readers.
I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book.
At the last children's birthday party at Spark House, before cutting the service, due to costs, Harley runs into Peyton, a now-nine year old she nannied for as an infant, and, her incredibly handsome father, Gavin. The last time she saw Gavin, she was 20 years old and he was grieving the death of his wife. Harley made the mistake of trying to kiss him, or him kiss her, sending Gavin and Peyton across the state to live near his in-laws. With his father wanting to retire, Gavin needed to return in order to do his job. For Peyton’s sake, Gavin and Harley become friends. Despite their age difference, Gavin never forgot Harley, and their connection is just as strong now as it was before. It is a complicated connection as Gavin’s torn between his love for his daughter, wanting her to be happy, and the guilt he feels from the loss of his wife. Then there’s the jealousy of his controlling mother-in-law, who sabotages any relationship Gavin enters. Then there was Harley. She wanted to be loved and wanted. She already loss so much and refused to settle for less. It was wonderful to witness Harley finally finding her voice and standing up for herself: whether to Gavin or her sisters and their plans for Spark House; as it was for Gavin to realize his love for Harley.
Ms. Hunting wrote an emotional, wonderful, heartwarming romance that kept me turning the pages as I followed the twist and turns of Harley and Gavin’s relationship. She provided a tale rich with magnetic attraction, sizzling chemistry, clever banter, and the magic of family and friends, giving Gavin, Peyton and Harley a chance at love, happiness, and a future neither expected. I highly recommend Make a Wish to other readers.
I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book.
I’m so sad this series about the Spark sisters is over but the ending of this book got me right in the feels and I’m not going to lie I cried.
From the prologue you knew this was going to be an emotional book. In the prologue alone I was slightly sad and empathic and then was like “oh boy, don’t do that! It’s a mistake!” And then it ended on well damn!
Make a Wish starts with 20 year old Harley caring for 18 month of Peyton who’s mom died in childbirth and who’s father is grieving. Peyton and Gavin move away leaving Harley sad and hurt. 7 years later they magically end up back in her life and sparks between Gavin and Harley start to fly.
But Gavin has to move on and figure out if he can love Harley the way she deserves. Not going to lie there was a moment I was so mad at him I wanted to bury him. My only complaint is that their could have been more groveling.
From the prologue you knew this was going to be an emotional book. In the prologue alone I was slightly sad and empathic and then was like “oh boy, don’t do that! It’s a mistake!” And then it ended on well damn!
Make a Wish starts with 20 year old Harley caring for 18 month of Peyton who’s mom died in childbirth and who’s father is grieving. Peyton and Gavin move away leaving Harley sad and hurt. 7 years later they magically end up back in her life and sparks between Gavin and Harley start to fly.
But Gavin has to move on and figure out if he can love Harley the way she deserves. Not going to lie there was a moment I was so mad at him I wanted to bury him. My only complaint is that their could have been more groveling.
It took me a minute to fall back into this series, but the author does a good job of dropping bits to refresh your memory. I loved this story, the history and bringing it all full circle. The epilogue was so sweet, I got teary eyed. I'm kinda bummed that it seems like we're done with Spark house, having only the 3 sisters. Gavin's history was so heartbreaking, but Harley was the perfect person to come flip his world back to rights.
I loved the first two but this one was meh.
First I loathe a kid who isn’t acting their age. While I realize this may be some 9 year olds she felt more 6-7 year old to me. Also the kid was really annoying.
Secondly the MC had no chemistry. Harley and Gavin just had no build up. It went from nothing to something.
I loved Harley in the other books but her own book just let her down.
First I loathe a kid who isn’t acting their age. While I realize this may be some 9 year olds she felt more 6-7 year old to me. Also the kid was really annoying.
Secondly the MC had no chemistry. Harley and Gavin just had no build up. It went from nothing to something.
I loved Harley in the other books but her own book just let her down.
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
[a: Stella Bloom|7205549|Stella Bloom|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] and [a:Jason Clarke|18581543|Jason Clarke|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] narrate [b:Make a Wish|78295948|Make a Wish (Spark House, #3)|Helena Hunting|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1673826832l/78295948._SX50_.jpg|95849401], Spark House #3, by [a:Helena Hunting|7226675|Helena Hunting|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1554517037p2/7226675.jpg] in dual-POV, focusing on the youngest spark sister. A live-in nanny, Harley Spark, almost kisses the widowed father of her one-year-old charge. Not long after, they moved to a different city, and she never saw them again. For Harley, it becomes a life-defining moment she wishes she could take back. Seven years later, she thinks she’s moved on until Gavin Rhodes and Peyton, his nine-year-old daughter, attend a princess-themed birthday party Harley’s family’s event hotel Spark House hosts. The awkwardness of the situation and the realization that she isn’t over it and is very much attracted to Gavin still have her breaking out in hives. Gavin, however, appears utterly oblivious to Harley’s inner turmoil. He even suggests meeting for lunch—for Peyton. Harley thinks it might be a chance to get closure. But what if it just opens wounds she’d thought healed? Harley wishes she could see the future—for herself and them.
Bloom and Clarke bring Hunting’s heartfelt, romantic love story about the healing power of love to life with expressive and lively narration. Bloom’s narration perfectly fits each character, even Gavin and her brothers-in-law. I love her voices for Harley, her sisters, Peyton, Gavin, and her brothers-in-law especially. While Jason Clarke’s narration fits Gavin, his best friend, his parents, and his daughter—mostly—I didn’t think it fit Harley at all. Clarke and Bloom narrate the characters with distinct voices that differentiate between each character, using pacing, tone, intonation, and emotion to reveal their personalities, feelings, quirks, and state of mind. Bloom and Clarke brilliantly capture and express Peyton, Harley, and Gavin’s grief, fear, confusion, loneliness, sadness, longing, happiness, etc. In addition, the narrators use their vocal ranges to express/portray Harley and Gavin’s deep intimacy, chemistry, desire, and passion during Hunting’s well-written, intense, intimate moments and steamy and sexy love scenes. The narrators deftly capture the story’s shifting tones, ranging from humorous to angsty, intensely emotional, intimate, and sizzling hot.
Hunting’s deft character development, worldbuilding, detailed description, lively dialogue, and narrative style draw you in from the first scene. Harley’s kind, loving, intelligent, mature, nurturing, and supportive. While reconnecting with Gavin and Peyton and becoming a part of their lives again, Harley is also figuring out her place in Spark House’s franchise plans, what she wants to do with her life, and what she wants from it. After Gavin and Peyton moved, she stopped nannying. Instead, she began managing promotions/PR for Spark House and throwing their children’s parties before returning to her child development studies. A devoted, loving single father committed to giving his daughter the best life possible, Gavin lost his wife in childbirth and remains haunted by guilt and grief over her death. Peyton’s smart, sweet, adorable, artistic, empathetic, and wise for her age. I love her adorable, sweet relationship with Harley.
Hunting thoughtfully examines—with nuance and care—emotionally intense subject matter, including becoming involved in a relationship with a single parent, having children with someone who lost his wife in childbirth, controlling in-laws, and guilt and the destructive power it holds over us moving on with our lives.
I loved Harley throughout the novels, and after #2, I was excited about her story and wasn’t disappointed. Make a Wish is my favorite of the trio. I love seeing her sisters and their spouses interacting with Harley during the novel. Hunting shows what follows happily ever after. I love the Spark sisters’ relationships.
[b:Make a Wish|78295948|Make a Wish (Spark House, #3)|Helena Hunting|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1673826832l/78295948._SX50_.jpg|95849401] is a fast-paced sweet, cute, emotional, sexy, steamy, and angsty, single parent and friends-to-lovers romance that explores themes of loss, grief, trauma, following your dreams, taking risks, forgiveness, healing/recovery, and blending families after a loss.
Content warnings:
Advanced listening copy provided by Macmillan Audio via Netgalley for review.
Bloom and Clarke bring Hunting’s heartfelt, romantic love story about the healing power of love to life with expressive and lively narration. Bloom’s narration perfectly fits each character, even Gavin and her brothers-in-law. I love her voices for Harley, her sisters, Peyton, Gavin, and her brothers-in-law especially. While Jason Clarke’s narration fits Gavin, his best friend, his parents, and his daughter—mostly—I didn’t think it fit Harley at all. Clarke and Bloom narrate the characters with distinct voices that differentiate between each character, using pacing, tone, intonation, and emotion to reveal their personalities, feelings, quirks, and state of mind. Bloom and Clarke brilliantly capture and express Peyton, Harley, and Gavin’s grief, fear, confusion, loneliness, sadness, longing, happiness, etc. In addition, the narrators use their vocal ranges to express/portray Harley and Gavin’s deep intimacy, chemistry, desire, and passion during Hunting’s well-written, intense, intimate moments and steamy and sexy love scenes. The narrators deftly capture the story’s shifting tones, ranging from humorous to angsty, intensely emotional, intimate, and sizzling hot.
Hunting’s deft character development, worldbuilding, detailed description, lively dialogue, and narrative style draw you in from the first scene. Harley’s kind, loving, intelligent, mature, nurturing, and supportive. While reconnecting with Gavin and Peyton and becoming a part of their lives again, Harley is also figuring out her place in Spark House’s franchise plans, what she wants to do with her life, and what she wants from it. After Gavin and Peyton moved, she stopped nannying. Instead, she began managing promotions/PR for Spark House and throwing their children’s parties before returning to her child development studies. A devoted, loving single father committed to giving his daughter the best life possible, Gavin lost his wife in childbirth and remains haunted by guilt and grief over her death. Peyton’s smart, sweet, adorable, artistic, empathetic, and wise for her age. I love her adorable, sweet relationship with Harley.
Hunting thoughtfully examines—with nuance and care—emotionally intense subject matter, including becoming involved in a relationship with a single parent, having children with someone who lost his wife in childbirth, controlling in-laws, and guilt and the destructive power it holds over us moving on with our lives.
I loved Harley throughout the novels, and after #2, I was excited about her story and wasn’t disappointed. Make a Wish is my favorite of the trio. I love seeing her sisters and their spouses interacting with Harley during the novel. Hunting shows what follows happily ever after. I love the Spark sisters’ relationships.
[b:Make a Wish|78295948|Make a Wish (Spark House, #3)|Helena Hunting|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1673826832l/78295948._SX50_.jpg|95849401] is a fast-paced sweet, cute, emotional, sexy, steamy, and angsty, single parent and friends-to-lovers romance that explores themes of loss, grief, trauma, following your dreams, taking risks, forgiveness, healing/recovery, and blending families after a loss.
Content warnings:
Spoiler
parent death, death in childbirth, grief, anxiety, child anxiety, traumaAdvanced listening copy provided by Macmillan Audio via Netgalley for review.
3.5 stars. Make a Wish is the third book in the Spark House series and the final Spark sister's book. This is Harley and Gavin's book. Harley was a nanny at age 20 for a year and a half for widower Gavin's daughter Peyton, when his wife died in childbirth. But when lines got blurred at the time and playing a family began to feel too real, Gavin moved away to be closer to family at the time. Now, seven years later, Harley is planning parties and working for her family's Spark House hotel. Gavin and Peyton have recently moved back to town and are guests at one of those parties, where they run in to Harley. Harley instantly feels a connection to the little girl she helped raise as an infant, as well as her father, and they all begin spending time together. A romance blossoms and connections are formed. There is some family and work drama, but Harley, Gavin and Peyton get the happy ending the deserve.
I liked this story. The relationship is slow burn and takes a while for anything to happen romantically. I liked Harley. She was funny and sweet, if a little too understanding. Gavin was only okay to me. He was passive, lukewarm and didn't really have any passion or drive to be with Harley. I felt she deserved better treatment and not to be taken for granted. He "thinks it is Harley" he wants to be with long term at late in the book and that wasn't quite enough emotion for me. I don't love books with a dead spouse because often it feels like the new partner is a consolation prize. In this book, I didn't feel like that because I didn't feel like Gavin had strong feelings for his dead spouse or for Harley. So I wasn't bothered by that aspect in this case. I just never quite felt Gavin's love or appreciation for Harley. The ending felt rushed and I wanted more resolution and more chemistry between the couple. I did feel love for Peyton though. She and Harley had a great connection and relationship.
Overall, I would say this book never quite got there for me. But I did enjoy it in general. The story was interesting and held my attention. I was happy Harley ended up happy with her relationship, family and work. She deserved to be happy. Make a Wish is an easy, sweet read and I look forward to reading more from Ms. Hunting in the future!
*arc provided in exchange for an honest review*
I liked this story. The relationship is slow burn and takes a while for anything to happen romantically.
Spoiler
Gavin asks Harley out at 48%.Overall, I would say this book never quite got there for me. But I did enjoy it in general. The story was interesting and held my attention. I was happy Harley ended up happy with her relationship, family and work. She deserved to be happy. Make a Wish is an easy, sweet read and I look forward to reading more from Ms. Hunting in the future!
*arc provided in exchange for an honest review*
I absolutely loved this book! I’m a sucker for a single dad trope as all my friends know and this book definitely lived up to my expectations. Peyton was not afraid to stand up for herself in the relationship which made me love her even more. Gavin was a great dad and really hot, so I also loved him. Harley, Gavin’s daughter, was so cute and the last chapter really got to me and made me cry some happy tears.
Maybe I need to stop reading books about people who do similar jobs to me because reading about Harley’s passion for working with kids made me… uncomfortable. As someone who has spent my entire professional life working with children (and mostly with kids who are Peyton’s age) I can confidently say that I have never even considered using even a fraction of the glitter that Harley used just over the course of this book. The glitter is the least of my problems, but the glitter and fairy obsession that she “shared” with Peyton was really weird. It was also distracting how young Peyton acted while we were constantly reminded that she was nearly a decade old. The epilogue was jarring when she was suddenly 12 (only 2 years older!!!) and suddenly incredibly wise and mature. Even more distracting was the fact that Harley kept commenting on what a great dad Gavin was when he adamantly refused to deal with his problems and continually pawned off the parenting of his daughter onto the women in his life. When Peyton was wetting the bed at 9 years old? Gavin kept telling people about it instead of calling her doctor, or frankly, the therapist that both he and Peyton desperately needed. The fact that it took half of the book for Gavin and Harley to acknowledge how weird it was that Peyton was “so comfortable with Harley because she’d been her nanny” was troubling because Peyton did not have any actual memories of Harley! The same can be said for Gavin throwing himself back into Harley’s orbit… you haven’t seen this woman in 7 years and you know nothing about her current life but you’re willing to leave your child alone with her multiple times, no questions asked? AND Peyton’s school! For some kind of prestigious, specialized institution, I find it really suspicious that only one somewhat estranged grandmother was upset to learn that a random, unvetted woman was allowed to just show up at the school almost weekly for any and all random events. (Her only real connection was that she’d help to plan one teacher’s wedding and that she’d been the nanny to one student… SEVEN YEARS EARLIER!!)
Anyway, when my insane teacher brain wasn’t angry about all of that, the story itself was fine, I guess. The Spark sisters continued to not actually communicate with one another despite constantly reminding the reader of their close-knit family dynamic. It was almost refreshing that so much of this book took place outside of Spark House because of this. However, I don’t think that’s a good way to feel about the conclusion of a series where all of the sisters and their new families are supposed to finally be all together and happy. In theory, I’m glad Harley got the family she always wanted and Gavin seemed fine, but I couldn’t turn my brain off enough to enjoy it.
Anyway, when my insane teacher brain wasn’t angry about all of that, the story itself was fine, I guess. The Spark sisters continued to not actually communicate with one another despite constantly reminding the reader of their close-knit family dynamic. It was almost refreshing that so much of this book took place outside of Spark House because of this. However, I don’t think that’s a good way to feel about the conclusion of a series where all of the sisters and their new families are supposed to finally be all together and happy. In theory, I’m glad Harley got the family she always wanted and Gavin seemed fine, but I couldn’t turn my brain off enough to enjoy it.