Helena Hunting/H. Hunting: various series
When Sparks Fly & Starry-Eyed Love; Pucked Off; Bitter Sweet Heart
Dear Reader,
Helena Hunting’s Pucked Off was the first CanLit Romance book that I knowingly read (Molly O’Keefe’s Never Been Kissed being the first, though I wasn’t aware she was a CanLit Romance author at the time), and after binge reading the entire rest of the Pucked series (which of course meant reading Pucked Off again, but in proper order that time), and the Clipped Wings saga, Helena’s books became insta-buys. I just don’t always read them right away, you know how it is. Readers gotta read; but readers gotta work, too *sad trombone*.
In 2022 I dove into When Sparks Fly and Starry-Eyed Love, books 1 and 2 in the Spark House trilogy. When Sparks Fly is a darker tale of friends to lovers than I was expecting, (CW for historical parental death, and on-the-page car accident), with strong elements of a sick fic (or caregiver fic, is that a thing? It should be a thing), and some good old-fashioned second-hand cringe; which I thought was handled perfectly. Are Avery and Declan my go-to character types? Not at all. But that is the brilliance of this book. It didn’t matter, I still needed to know what happened to them, how they worked out ALL THE THINGS (there are a lot of things to work out), and made that final commitment to the HEA.
Starry-Eyed Love, however? Like it was written with me in mind! If you’re looking for a fast-paced but tender, forced proximity rich-guy Romance with a side order of quarter-life crisis, dive in here. A completely different story with completely different characters, which keeps the trilogy abundantly interesting. I was hooked from the start and couldn’t put the book down until The End. Starry-Eyed Love exceeded all of my expectations; at one point I was upset because London did not chew out Jackson as he deserved. And then I flipped the page—AHH, THERE IT IS! Helena’s got me, I know she does.
Which is a great transition to my thoughts on Bitter Sweet Heart, written under Helena’s alternate pen name H. Hunting. Though the second in a new series, Bitter Sweet Heart is the next generation of the Pucked and All In series, which (as you can guess from my intro) meant insta-buy and, due to the Pucked affiliation, insta-read. Significantly darker than any Helena Hunting novel, H. Hunting books are grittier, new adult stories that—so far—take a trope as far to the edge of Romance expectations as they can without going to the dark side. I will fully admit that I was unsure about the synopsis of Bitter Sweet Heart because it focuses on a professional power imbalance; my least favourite trope, after secret baby. But! Seeing as Helena is one of the only authors who has written the secret baby trope in a way I not only found acceptable but excellent (see: A Lie For A Lie), I jumped right in to Bitter Sweet Heart. And without giving anything away, I’m just going to say it again: Helena’s got me, I know she does. Handled with care at every step of the way. *chef’s kiss*
(CWs for recount of past childhood trauma, recount of past spousal abuse, ex-partner stalking, sexual harassment.)
Catherine, wait! You can’t sign off yet; you mentioned Pucked Off!
Oh, and I read Pucked Off for, like, the 5th time.
“Want or let?” “Both.” #LanceAndPoppyForever.
(CWs for ex-partner manipulation, ex-partner dubcon, historic child abuse, historic childhood death of a sibling, anxiety).
Love and Smarties,
Catherine
@CanLitRomance
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HEA Canada: A CanLit Romance Hub 