I’m always nervous to start a new Nicholas Sparks book. It’s rather strange. He was my favorite for a long time, ever since Message in a Bottle. I always mark my calendar for the release of a new novel, and I usually buy it and dive right in. However, after a few disappointments I now get a little uneasy. I just don’t want to be disappointed. So, this book sat on my dresser for a month or two before I could get started.

Now, what to say? First off, I really liked both of the characters. Tru Walls, born and raised in Zimbabwe. He never knew his father and his mother died in a fire when he was young. All in all, he basically raised himself. Tru receives a letter from a man claiming to be his biological father. His father requests he come to North Carolina so they can meet.

Then there is Hope Anderson. Hope is in her thirties and her life is just not going according to plan. She can’t seem to rely on her on-again, off-again boyfriend of six years. All her friends are getting married and having babies, and she’s just stuck. Her father has been diagnosed with ALS, and her family needs to sell their cottage on Sunset Beach in North Carolina. Hope decides she will go there and start cleaning out the place.

In true Nicholas Spark fashion, these two meet and it is that life-altering, fast-falling, deep love like no other. There is this connection that neither had ever felt before. As their week together comes to a close, they have some serious decisions to make. They have family obligations and a need for personal fulfillment to consider, and they live in different parts of the world.

Their romance will have you quickly flipping from one page to the next. Will it work out for them?

Then I read two words and they rocked me. I was about to be furious! It was a “why did I pick up this book moment.” I seriously thought that this poor woman was talking to a ghost the entire time. However, that Mr. Sparks tricked me. I won’t say anymore, I don’t want to spoil it.

This book is hopeful. It is sad. It is incredibly heartwarming and will make you wonder if there really are forces out there that bring people together. The story is bittersweet, but all Spark’s books are. It’s going in my “Okay, you didn’t disappoint me too bad pile.”

 

Which Nicholas Sparks book was your favorite?