Portobello Book Blog

I absolutely loved Jules Wake’s Christmas books Covent Garden in the Snow, Notting Hill in the Snow and from Paris with Love this Christmas so I must admit to being just a teensy bit disappointed that there wasn’t to be a Christmas book this year. Having read The Spark though, I am prepared to forgive her because I adored it from the very first page!

Jess and Sam meet at a party and there is instant, almost tangible attraction between them. Yes, there was indeed The Spark of the title. Unfortunately, there is the teeny tiny problem that Sam is already attached. He is in a four year relationship with beautiful Victoria who is an influential Instagrammer and vlogger with half a million followers. How can Jess possibly compete? They cannot deny the strong attraction between them though and it seems as though ‘boy meets girl’ will end with ‘happily ever after’. Well, it does until it becomes clear that Victoria is not prepared to give up on her man easily.

Within the first few pages of this book, much like Jess, I think I was in love with Sam myself! He sounded totally gorgeous with his blond curls, blue eyes and toned body, much like a Greek God. Add to the mix his ability to endear himself to almost everyone he meets and his dedication to his job as a teacher at a school for children with special needs and he is pretty much the perfect man. Jess is also dedicated to her job working at a refuge for women and children escaping abusive relationships. The attraction between them was so beautifully described by Jules Wake and made clear through their tender touches and glances and seeming ability to know just what the other was thinking.

This relationship was far from all hearts and flowers though as Victoria mounted a rather vicious campaign to split the two up, convinced that Sam would see sense and return to her. Although initially you might feel a bit sorry for her, her vindictiveness soon puts paid to that, particularly when the full extent of her campaign to get Sam back becomes clear. To be honest, I was wondering why he was with her in the first place. It was interesting to see how the situation with Victoria made Jess reconsider her separated parents’ relationship, which she knew very little about, and see their break-up in a different light. There were also parallels with Victoria’s behaviour and the behaviour of the partners of the women at the refuge. The nasty side of social media comes to the fore several times during the course of the novel.

Most of the book, however, focuses on the romance between Jess and Sam, and how lovely that was to read. There were some seriously passionate scenes between the two which may leave you a little flushed and thinking of cold showers! This is a book which will make you believe in crazy, head-over-heels, love-at-first-sight. And it will make you think that Lego is a perfect symbol of love. It’s a gorgeously romantic read, just perfect and it was a joy to meet these characters. The Spark will definitely be added to my favourite reads of 2020.

My thanks to Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for having me as part of the tour and to the publishers for my review copy via Netgalley. The Spark is available now as an ebook and the paperback will follow in March 2021.

Buying Links

 Amazon UK amzn.to/36wkD0N
 Worldwide mybook.to/TheSparkJW

From the back of the book

Jess is falling for Sam.

Sam is falling for Jess.

But it seems life will do whatever it takes to make them fall apart.

When Jess and Sam lock eyes at a party, a spark ignites. The spark. But love at first sight isn’t like the movies, especially when Sam’s ex, Victoria, is determined to make their honeymoon period a living hell.

Is love at first sight enough?

About the author

Jules Wake announced at the age of ten that she planned to be a writer. Along the way she was diverted by the glamorous world of PR and worked on many luxury and not so luxury brands. This proved fabulous training for writing novels as it provided her with the opportunity to hone her creative writing skills.

She writes best-selling warm-hearted romantic contemporary fiction for One More Chapter as Jules Wake and was shortlisted for Romantic Novel of the Year 2019 with Notting Hill in the Snow.

Under her pen name Julie Caplin, she also writes the warm and witty Romantic Escapes series. 

Between them, the two Js have written sixteen novels, The Spark being the latest.

Social Media Links

Twitter @Juleswake

https://www.facebook.com/juleswakewrites/

Instagram: juleswakeauthor