I love the Seven Shores Series by Melissa Brayden and eagerly await the release of each new one. ’Sparks Like Ours’ is the story of professional surfer Gia Malone and her rival for the top spot, Elle Britton. Gia thinks Elle is false and plays up to the media way too much, but she can’t help but notice her killer smile and great body. Elle thinks Gia just doesn’t like her. As they are pushed together in a promo deal they get to know each other and the sparks are definitely there - but can it ever go anywhere when they both are vying to be No1? Again Melissa Brayden has written a beautiful romance that manages to be sweet and endearing at times and very hot and heavy. This woman knows how to write throbbing passion! I enjoyed finding out more about Gia outwith her interaction with her friends Isabel, Hadley and Autumn. They are an amazing group of women who are always there for each other and they pull together for Gia when she needs it most. Seeing her in love and vulnerable was new for them as well as for the reader. I liked Elle a lot. She learned a lot about herself and developed as a character. I wanted her to be the one for Gia. Autumn’s story was lovely and brought all of the friends together in a way that bonded them even more. I won’t spoil why, but it was a highlight for me. Ms Brayden always makes me cry happy tears in her books and ‘Sparks Like Ours’ was no exception. It was so utterly romantic that I couldn’t help myself. I want more of the same please…..

I was given this Arc by Netgalley and Bold Strokes Books in return for an honest review.

This is a read addressing the question, is it possible to simultaneously have a work life and personal life. Some would say of course while others would disagree. I believe it all depends on what is acceptable and perceived as good enough. In a relationship, there can be numerous challenges with one of those being regret. As I was reading, I thought both Gia Malone and Elle Britton were interesting and likeable characters. They were easy to cheer for. I was entertained and educated as I learned surfing lingo. I appreciated the hardwork they put in to be the best and the challenges of affording to compete. The story was well told with bursts of challenges and decisions to be navigated. There were a few loose ends that this reader would have appreciated resolution.

Gia & Elle are a fun pair...while there is nothing really surprising in the storyline. It is a fun story with a couple of surfers who need to balance love and competition.

Sparks Like Ours by Melissa Brayden is the third book in her Seven Shores series. While the book can be read as a stand-alone, its better to read them in order, so that it isn’t one big giant spoiler for books one and two. As always, Brayden brings something a little extra and refreshing to the romance formula that she has perfected.

Gia Malone is hitting her stride as she rises in the ranks of women’s professional surfing. The biggest thing, no person, in her way is perky Elle Britton. She’s currently number one in the world and Gia can barely stand to be in the same room with her. Gia, normally rather stoic and “chill”, can’t take Elle’s fake and manipulative public persona. It’s only when the two of them are signed to work on an ad campaign together that these sworn adversaries begin to see past their less than accurate, preconceived ideas about each other.

This series is absolutely charming. Brayden does a masterful job in creating a group of friends who are unique and completely relatable. I read so many books where a group of friends are at the center and they are usually rather generic. The dialogue is absolutely top notch. Brayden uses it to sculpt each character with utter precision, but it all seems completely natural.

I was happy to see Gia get her own story and even more happy to see that Hadley is not her happily ever after. I liked that Brayden didn’t make Gia turn herself into a completely different person, but rather just let herself be more authentic and open to life’s possibilities.

I honestly would have liked a different ending as far as the women’s professional careers were concerned, but that is just subjective and doesn’t really impact my review of the book. I encourage any lover of romance to pick this up, but start with Eyes Like Those if you really want the most out of this ride.

I was given an ARC of this book by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I have been eagerly awaiting another novel from the 'Seven Shores' series, and yet again Melissa Brayden pulled it out of the bag. Always loved MB as an author from the first novel that she's written but I have to be honest her writing and stories get better each time. She is onto a winner yet again with this one.

Gia as we know has always been a great character, mix her up with Elle and you have fantastic chemistry.

Great book and would recommend 100%

It's another beautiful story from Melissa Brayden. I have been waiting to read the story of Gia. The excerpt was fascinating enough to keep me interested. And the story is beautiful and I liked the tension between the characters and how it's developed into passion and love. And it's nice to see all the friends from Seven Shores.

Wow, what a ride (even literally ;) I loved this story, the setting and the main characters. All of them, but especially Elle and Gia. Their chemistry goes through the roof, it's not only sparks, it's a complete fireworks of emotion. Definitely 5 stars!

I’m a huge fan of Melissa Brayden. I’ve enjoyed the first two books in series (they’re cute). This book was cute too. Gia, the number 2(ish) surfer in the world and wants the title so badly. Elle Britton holds the spot. Their chemistry was sizzling for a while and then when they finally got together I felt it was just,eh. Don’t get me wrong I enjoyed the book and I loved the characters, but I wanted a bit more in the chemistry department . I do have to say this was a great way to pass an afternoon. I loved revisiting with the rest of the Seven Shores crew as well. Overall an enjoyable Melissa Brayden read.

I loved the characters, but didn’t like the storyline as much as I hoped. I’m a huge Brayden fan and I did enjoy this, I just didn’t OMG love it. Ever since the first few pages of book 1, I wanted to know more about Gia. Gia was more mysterious than the others and I loved that she was a pro surfer. When it came to Gia as a character, Brayden didn’t disappoint.

Gia is a pro surfer and currently number 2 in the world. Elle is her archrival and current best surfer in the world. Gia just wants to do her job and surf. She doesn’t like the fake smiles and kissing up to sponsors that Elle seems to do. People know about their rivalry and when a new sponsor wants to make it the part of a new ad campaign (hello cameo from SoHo), the women are stuck spending time together. The more time together, feelings become involved. Is there any room for a romance between the two best women’s surfers in the world?

As I mentioned above I loved getting to know Gia as a character. She was likeable and everything I was hoping for. Gia and Hadley have always been my favorites in this series. While I knew they were not destined to be together, I always thought they could be a couple. I thought it was so funny that Elle ended up being a Hadley clone. Elle and Hadley clicked right away. To me it just proved my personal opinion that Hadley and Gia together would not be such a stretch.

I thought Gia and Elle had excellent chemistry. I loved their teasing and flirty banter. They had good sexual tension together that I really enjoyed. I also did like that the angst of the book didn’t really feel forced. I felt their whole relationship was pretty believable.

The surfing scenes is something I was really looking forward to. Surfing in lesfic is just not a job we come across often. The few scenes were good and exciting, but I was hoping for a bit more. I wish Brayden explained a little more what I should be seeing in my mind. I live in the mountains, there is no ocean. I don’t know much about surfing and I just wanted to learn a little.

What stopped this for me from being 5 stars is I wasn’t crazy about the outcome of some of the storylines. It wasn’t anything bad I just didn’t care for some of Bryaden’s choices. Also, the ending was only okay.

Even though I didn’t love this it is still really good and worth the read. If you are a fan of Brayden don’t hesitate to read this. If you are new to the series, I would start at book 1. I can’t wait to read Hadley’s book next.

<i>Sparks Like Ours</i> is Melissa Brayden’s nth book, but unfortunately she seems to be losing her touch as a storyteller. This book is nowhere near the calibre of <i>How Sweet It Is</i>, <i>Waiting in the Wings</i> or <i>Strawberry Summer</i>.

Brayden’s characterisation is usually quite impeccable, but Gia Malone and Elle Britton seem incomplete as characters. There is a half-hearted attempt to posit one as extremely organised and the other as messy, but it’s not a convincing attempt that doesn’t even find a second mention in the narrative. Their backgrounds too are not delved into in any reasonable depth.

The typical saviours of Brayden’s novels—humour and the oh-so-sweet moments—do not manage to do a good job this time and fail to have their usual impact. In fact, none of the dialogues or conversations evoke enough emotion to draw even the beginnings of a smile for the reader.

Though the plot where two rivals end up falling in love is convincing, what is missing is a narration that packs a punch in its portrayal of the conflict and/or the love.

If this book had been authored by anybody else, it might have got a better rating. But from Melissa Brayden one expects more. Much, much more.

Sparks Like Ours is Melissa Brayden’s nth book, but unfortunately she seems to be losing her touch as a storyteller. This book is nowhere near the quality of How Sweet It Is, Waiting in the Wings or Strawberry Summer.

Brayden’s characterisation is usually quite impeccable, but Gia Malone and Elle Britton seem incomplete as characters. There is a half-hearted attempt to posit one as extremely organised and the other as messy, but it’s not a convincing attempt and doesn’t even find a second mention in the narrative. Their backgrounds too are not delved into in any reasonable depth.

The typical saviours of Brayden’s novels—humour and the oh-so-sweet moments—do not manage to do a good job this time and fail to have their usual impact. In fact, none of the dialogues or conversations evoke enough emotion to draw even the beginnings of a smile from the reader.

Though the plot where two rivals end up falling in love is convincing, what is missing is a narration that packs a punch in its portrayal of the conflict and/or the love. Nothing, absolutely nothing. touches the heart.

If this book had been authored by anybody else, it might have got a better rating. But from Melissa Brayden one expects more. Much, much more.

I think I’m finally tired of the Brayden formula. I just didn’t care about the characters.

There‘s witty dialogue, even though I still can’t find the voices of individual characters, there’s believable conflicts, even communication, but I didn’t feel it at all.

In addition to her formula what annoyed me was setting up Hadley for the next novel. Little things that were neither here nor there for this book.

At least the book offers lots of different bingo squares for the lesfic bingo, so there’s that.

Another wonderful story by Melissa Brayden. I had been waiting for this one as soon as I found out it would be a series because I wanted to know more about Gia. It was worth the wait :)
Only one more book until the series is complete! I'm already looking forward to Hadley’s story.

Add another extremely sweet romance to this series. I'm loving that in the last two books of this series the two couples have separated unhappily but mutually without the major drama, it just felt more real to me. The characters in these books are awesome and I just can't get enough of this world of seven shores!

One thing I would say is as a competitive person I would have liked the surf competition part of the story to play out differently. I understand why she wrote it the way she did but I personally would have enjoyed it better if it had gone down a different path (that's all I'll say without giving it away).

As always Brayden doesn't disappoint!

This is book 3 of the 'Seven shores' series featuring four friends living in Venice beach, California which I recommend to read chronologically. 'Sparks like ours' is the story of Gia Malone, a professional surfer, and Elle Britton, world champion surfer and Gia's fiercest competitor. As number two in the world, Gia is determined to beat Elle whom she considers superficial and too perky. But when an advertising campaign brings them working together, Gia starts reconsidering her opinion about Elle and Elle begins to question her own sexuality. Will they act on their growing attraction or will their budding relationship be destroyed by the extreme competition between them?

This is by far my favourite book in this series, as now the four friends and the secondary characters' personalities are well defined. The 'Soho loft' series is still my favourite but I suppose it's a matter of taste. 'Sparks like ours' is one of Ms. Brayden's books with less angst or drama I've read. The characters' conflict is more due to career challenges than serious disputes or misunderstandings. It makes the conflict realistic and sad at the same time. The rest is pure Brayden's usual style: witty dialogues, hot chemistry, well crafted plots. As always, Brayden uses the perfect balance between show and tell. In her books, we are observers as the events unfold and we experience the characters' emotions which stir our feelings and trigger our imaginations. The author leaves the descriptions to her trademark intimate scenes. And, oh boy, how she excels at that. Ms. Brayden has the lesfic romance formula perfected and us readers cannot get enough. Her books are lesfic heaven.

As a bonus to her fans, there are a few cameo appearances or references to some of her most beloved characters: Molly and Jordan from 'How sweet it is', Mallory and Hunter from the 'Soho loft' series and Spencer from the forthcoming 'Love like ours'.

Overall, another winner by Melissa Brayden which will make her readers happy. 4.5 stars.

ARC provided by Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

See all my reviews at
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As soon as I get a Melissa Brayden book I read it. That's how much I look forward to her books. There are no waiting days!

Loving this series!! I loved the Soho series, so it was awesome when Mal showed up! But what about Hunter??? I thought it was a missed opportunity to not have her at the last tournament. Wouldn't Hunter have known that they were working on an ad campaign for Gia? I thought surely she'd turn up too.

Elle was adorable, and I now love Gia more than before. Mini spoiler.....but I wasn't a huge fan of how they reconnected at the hospital. It seemed a little too convenient but Melissa writes so well I forgave her almost immediately.

All I can say is I can't wait for Hadley!!!

This is the third book in Brayden’s California based 'Seven Shores:" series that follows four friends as they find love and happiness. Book one, ‘Eyes Like Those’, followed Isabel Chase, writer, and Taylor Andrews, producer (with Isabel being the ‘Seven Shores’ friend, though she’s newly arrived in California at the start of the book). Book two, ‘Hearts Like Hers’, finds Autumn Primm, Venice Beach coffee shop owner (‘The Cat’s Pajamas’), hooking up with a vacationing firefighter (Kate Carpenter). Kate’s the Seven Shores person in that she lives in that apartment complex, though it’s Autumn who is the Seven Shores friend (the difference being that Autumn was friends of the Seven Shores people but didn’t live there). And then we come to this book here, where the woman who intrigued me from the beginning, the one who I was curious about from the beginning, gets her story told.

Gia Malone is a young woman who has spent her life surfing. Professionally. She might have liked to go to college, maybe, but she wasn’t in the situation to do both – financially. So, immediately after high school, she entered the qualifying tour. Eventually she rose up to the top tier pro tour and a year before this book opens, she was number 7 in the world (I do not recall if ‘in the world’ is mentioned, but, since the events that occur in this story take place around the world, I assume ‘in the world’ is accurate), and by the time this book here starts, she’s number 2.

Occupying the number one slot at top of the pro surfing leader board is Elle Britton. Gia’s rival and something like but not exactly enemy. Part of Gia’s dislike of Elle is the part wherein Elle is number one; mostly, though, it seems that Gia’s dislike stems from how she views Elle’s personality. In that, Elle seems too perky to be real. A fake plastic Barbie type.

Several complicating matters turn up – a year before this story opens, a photo was released that made it look like Gia was lustfully gazing upon Elle in her swimsuit (it’s never firmly dealt with, but the impression given is that both parties know that Gia wasn’t actually doing that, it just looked that way). It’s an issue because it gets brought up every once in a while. Then there’s the part where the happily partnered up Seven Shores people begin talking about ‘sparks’ and how Gia and Elle seem to have some – a theory begun before either party seemed to actually desire the other (we are still in rivals zone; also, one of the main people talking about Gia’s love life is her fellow single Seven Shores friend Hadley, so I’m not sure why I worded things the way I did). Then a specific sponsor wants to pair the number 1 (Elle) and number 2 (Gia) in an advertisement campaign – so both would have to work together, interact a lot more than they normally do when on tour. The, how to word this, the romance angle of the book doesn’t really start, though, until another event occurs – on the same day two articles appear, one strongly indicating that Elle and Gia are bitter rivals; other strongly indicating that Elle and Gia are lovers. Elle has an odd reaction to the stories, Gia doesn’t even know those stories exist. Oh, and somewhere along the line Elle picked up a boyfriend who she likes and who likes her, and who both like spending time with each other – a boyfriend kind of adds a complication layer to a female-female romance, eh?

Wow that’s a huge paragraph, I should break that down somehow. Nah.

One of the problems with a many friends type book is trying to remember who everyone is and how they fit in. I found it easier to remember everyone without thinking too hard with Brayden’s prior series, though I mostly kept up with the character list with this series. There are just many side characters, some of whom already appeared in the story (both mains and side characters). *shrugs, moving on*

I liked the two main characters well-enough, and their eventual connection seemed well developed, but I unexpectedly kind of disliked some of the stuff I was seeing with Gia. Mostly in her thoughts and actions regarding Elle. Seeing perkiness as fake and plastic-y. But that, obviously or not, went away as the story progressed.

There are issues that pop up as the story unfolds, both foreseeable, and not. Family related, relationships related, and sports related. Everything seemed naturally occurring and not artificially created to add layers of problem issues to overcome.

Let’s see, what else is there to say – I liked the characters, main and side. The story was interesting and good. Flowed naturally.

Well, just one friend left without a partner (even if you pulled in Elle’s friend Holly it’d still be just one friend, since Holly has Dash, and is straight (though Elle started this book straight so…). Hadley the one connected somehow or another to fashion and a specific store. I’ve tended to like her in the series, so far, with my favorite scene with her being the one where she’s dressed up like a cow. Tail and all.

Rating: 4.65

May 18 2018

There's no doubt about it, Melissa has the gift of the gab. If you're looking for a feel good story, low on angst, with a great supporting cast, this might be just the ticket.

Why not five stars? Although I was thoroughly entertained, I'm know next to nothing about surfing and found those scenes exhilarating, the relationship between the leads was wishy-washy (no pun intended) at best. I didn't feel the 'sparks' I expected to. Is that on me, who knows?

I loved catching up with the supporting characters and look forward to whoever's story is next. I suspect it will be Hadley's (must remember Hadley is a she not a he)

Thank you to NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books for the ARC

Melissa Brayden has never disappointed me. Maybe once but never fully and this book was lovely and to see a whole new world and perspective, I’ve never surfed before but I was excited about this. How cool is it to be competitive with someone but then connect with them on so many levels. A-1 book.

I received an ARC copy of this book from the Publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I have read most of this author’s books and I have not been disappointed once. I loved the first book in this series but I think this one tops it. This author goes from strength to strength. I enjoyed reading Gia & Elle’s story. Elle being the No 1 Surfer and Gia being the No 2 Surfer. I loved the tension between the pair of them, the friendship and then the love. Really likeable characters and a great storyline. Looking forward to reading more in the series.

5 STARS

This is a better follow-up to the previous seven shore romance. The leads here are believeable and their romance doesn't seem to be sudden.

However I didn't see the Sparks or the sizzles that I could in Isabel and Taylor's romance.

As far as series romances go, the Soho loft series remains my favourite and I'm pleased to revisit my favourite characters in other romances by Ms. Brayden.

I hope Hadley's romance is better