Melissa Brayden has mastered the niche of beach romances. Most of her books follow a formula but it is a warm and fuzzy place that we are more than happy to revisit. The Brayden formula is: attraction – fighting against attraction – giving in – a little disagreement/complex/suchlike – a hospital emergency – the grand declaration of love.
Within her formula, Brayden creates sweet moments between
her leading women that readers are happy to be a part of. More or less, her
characters and their attitudes have very marginal differences across her books
but they are good enough for romance buffs – us included.
Sparks Like Ours is one of our favourites because of
Elle Britton. We totally love Elle. World Number One surfer, who is pretty much
American’s Sweetheart and straight as the day is long when she is first
introduced to us, Elle quickly becomes way more. A random sex dream about a
fellow surfer – a competitor to the boot – has Elle embracing a hitherto
un-thought-about possibility about her own attractions and sexuality.
We love Elle’s low- to no-angst acceptance of her attraction
to another woman and her no-holds-barred dive into the lesbian world. We also
really love her complete straight-forwardness of asking for what she wants.
The other protagonist, Gia, is also an okay character, but
Elle outshines her on every front and Gia is left more of a person floating
along on Elle’s charisma.
We are not complete fans of Brayden’s dialogues for Gia in this one, but that is
a minor hitch in the overall experience of the romance.
The book has a HFN ending but we are completely starry-eyed romantics, so in our world, Elle and Gia hit a high after getting together, get on the top of their game and end up being numbers 1 (Elle) and 2 (Gia) for the rest of their careers in competitive surfing. They choose to quit when they are at the top of their game. Elle retires first (because she has spent many, many years at number 1) and starts a surfing school. Gia then becomes number 1 and spends a few (maybe a couple, or three) years on the top, before she decides she doesn't want to spend time away from Elle. By then Elle's school has become the best for surfing in the world. Gia joins in as a trainer and Elle expands the school to become the sports medical professional she had studied to be, and becomes a rockstar at that too.
The book has a HFN ending but we are completely starry-eyed romantics, so in our world, Elle and Gia hit a high after getting together, get on the top of their game and end up being numbers 1 (Elle) and 2 (Gia) for the rest of their careers in competitive surfing. They choose to quit when they are at the top of their game. Elle retires first (because she has spent many, many years at number 1) and starts a surfing school. Gia then becomes number 1 and spends a few (maybe a couple, or three) years on the top, before she decides she doesn't want to spend time away from Elle. By then Elle's school has become the best for surfing in the world. Gia joins in as a trainer and Elle expands the school to become the sports medical professional she had studied to be, and becomes a rockstar at that too.
If you’re looking for a fun, easy read which leaves you with
a pleasant feeling, this would be a good choice for you.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
