ARC Review: Starry-Eyed Love by Helena Hunting

Starry-Eyed Love
Author: Helena Hunting
Publication: St. Martin's Griffin (May 10, 2022)

Description: 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.

My Thoughts: This was an entertaining contemporary romance. London Spark runs the Spark House - a small boutique hotel that also hosts events - with her two sisters. Her sister Avery (When Sparks Fly) is in the middle of planning her wedding leaving her sisters London and Harley to pick up the slack. They are all feeling pretty overwhelmed. London is the sister who puts everyone else first and she is starting to feel really stressed that she can't concentrate on the more creative parts of the hotel and her own Etsy shop, but is stuck with the business and finance aspects of the hotel. 

When Holt Media calls offering a relationship that would be very beneficial for the hotel, it is London who is stuck taking the meeting. When the CEO of the company billionaire Jackson Holt takes over the meeting, it takes a while for London to realize that he is the same cute guy she turned down a couple of months earlier when he spotted her in a bar and asked her out. 

Now they are working together and both of them are falling in love but trying to keep things all-business while they are working together. This causes lots of miscommunication and misinterpretation of motives as they are beginning their relationship.

Jackson's people are worried for him because they think London might just be using him for his business connections. Things really come to a crisis point when an old girlfriend who is also a social media influencer seems to be getting between the two of them. 

I liked the story. Both main characters were interesting people who were both a little gunshy when it came to relationships. I liked London's relationship with her sisters even though their relationship was going through some upheaval because of the changes at Spark House.

Fans of contemporary romance will enjoy this story. 

Favorite Quote:

"My life is very much public, no matter how much I would like it to be otherwise. I can do my best to insulate you from the media, but my lack of public relationships has always been fuel for speculation,"

"Which makes me a point of interest."

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.