Showing posts with label Nicholas Sparks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nicholas Sparks. Show all posts

4.20.2012

Book Club Friday

This week I read:
Here is the description from Goodreads:
The New York Times bestselling author of The Girl Who Chased the Moon welcomes you to her newest locale: Walls of Water, North Carolina, where the secrets are thicker than the fog from the town’s famous waterfalls, and the stuff of superstition is just as real as you want it to be.
It’s the dubious distinction of thirty-year-old Willa Jackson to hail from a fine old Southern family of means that met with financial ruin generations ago. The Blue Ridge Madam—built by Willa’s great-great-grandfather during Walls of Water’s heyday, and once the town’s grandest home—has stood for years as a lonely monument to misfortune and scandal. And Willa herself has long strived to build a life beyond the brooding Jackson family shadow. No easy task in a town shaped by years of tradition and the well-marked boundaries of the haves and have-nots. 
But Willa has lately learned that an old classmate—socialite do-gooder Paxton Osgood—of the very prominent Osgood family, has restored the Blue Ridge Madam to her former glory, with plans to open a top-flight inn. Maybe, at last, the troubled past can be laid to rest while something new and wonderful rises from its ashes. But what rises instead is a skeleton, found buried beneath the property’s lone peach tree, and certain to drag up dire consequences along with it. 
For the bones—those of charismatic traveling salesman Tucker Devlin, who worked his dark charms on Walls of Water seventy-five years ago—are not all that lay hidden out of sight and mind. Long-kept secrets surrounding the troubling remains have also come to light, seemingly heralded by a spate of sudden strange occurrences throughout the town.
Now, thrust together in an unlikely friendship, united by a full-blooded mystery, Willa and Paxton must confront the dangerous passions and tragic betrayals that once bound their families—and uncover truths of the long-dead that have transcended time and defied the grave to touch the hearts and souls of the living.
Resonant with insight into the deep and lasting power of friendship, love, and tradition, The Peach Keeper is a portrait of the unshakable bonds that—in good times and bad, from one generation to the next—endure forever.

What I thought:
I loved this book.  Once I started I could not put it down.  The characters are great, the story is great, and I love that it even got some history in there for my love of Historical Fiction.
I haven't been as happy with a books ending in awhile.  It is on my "to recommend" list.

I also read:
Here is the description from Goodreads:
When U.S. Marine Logan Thibault finds a photograph of a smiling young woman half-buried in the dirt during his third tour of duty in Iraq, his first instinct is to toss it aside. Instead, he brings it back to the base for someone to claim, but when no one does, he finds himself always carrying the photo in his pocket. Soon Thibault experiences a sudden streak of luck—winning poker games and even surviving deadly combat that kills two of his closest buddies. Only his best friend, Victor, seems to have an explanation for his good fortune: the photograph—his lucky charm.
Back home in Colorado, Thibault can’t seem to get the photo—and the woman in it—out of his mind. Believing that she somehow holds the key to his destiny, he sets out on a journey across the country to find her, never expecting the strong but vulnerable woman he encounters in Hampton, North Carolina—Elizabeth, a divorced mother with a young son—to be the girl he’s been waiting his whole life to meet. Caught off guard by the attraction he feels, Thibault keeps the story of the photo, and his luck, a secret. As he and Elizabeth embark upon a passionate and all-consuming love affair, the secret he is keeping will soon threaten to tear them apart—destroying not only their love, but also their lives.
Filled with tender romance and terrific suspense, The Lucky One is Nicholas Sparks at his best—an unforgettable story about the surprising paths our lives often take and the power of fate to guide us to true and everlasting love.
What I thought:
I saw that the movie was coming out and I had to read the book first.  I love Nicholas Sparks and I have always loved the way they have converted his books to movies.  Of course - this time I am able to see who is playing each person before I started reading the book.  I love Zac Efron and Blythe Danner, and from the still photos and clips, things look pretty much like I would imagine.
I really loved the book.  It was hard to put down and was pretty much classic Nicholas Sparks.

I am linking up with Blonde, Undercover Blonde for Book Club Friday!

4.13.2012

Book Club Friday: 2 Books This Week

This week I read...
Here is the description from Goodreads:
Travis Parker has everything a man could want: a good job, loyal friends, even a waterfront home in small-town North Carolina. In full pursuit of the good life -- boating, swimming, and regular barbecues with his good-natured buddies -- he holds the vague conviction that a serious relationship with a woman would only cramp his style. That is, until Gabby Holland moves in next door. Despite his attempts to be neighborly, the appealing redhead seems to have a chip on her shoulder about him...and the presence of her longtime boyfriend doesn't help. Despite himself, Travis can't stop trying to ingratiate himself with his new neighbor, and his persistent efforts lead them both to the doorstep of a journey that neither could have foreseen. Spanning the eventful years of young love, marriage and family, The Choice ultimately confronts us with the most heartwrenching question of all: how far would you go to keep the hope of love alive?
What did I think?
Well - this is not my favorite Nicholas Sparks book by far, but I still loved it.  It was an easy read and easy to follow.  I loved that it was written from a man's point of view for once.  And I am sure that all of us would like Travis Parker as a neighbor.  ;0 
I think that if you like Nicholas Sparks, you will not be dissapointed.

And I read.....
Here is the decription from Goodreads: 
When teenager Allison Glenn is sent to prison for a heinous crime, she leaves behind her reputation as Linden Falls' golden girl forever. Her parents deny the existence of their once-perfect child. Her former friends exult her downfall. Her sister, Brynn, faces whispered rumors every day in the hallways of their small Iowa high school. It's Brynn--shy, quiet Brynn--who carries the burden of what really happened that night. All she wants is to forget Allison and the past that haunts her. But then Allison is released to a halfway house, and is more determined than ever to speak with her estranged sister. Now their legacy of secrets is focused on one little boy. And if the truth is revealed, the consequences will be unimaginable for the adoptive mother who loves him, the girl who tried to protect him and the two sisters who hold the key to all that is hidden.
What did I think:
I truly loved this book.  It is the first book by Heather Gudenkauf that I have read and I can't wait to read more.  I loved that each chapter is titled with the persons name that it is about and alternates between characters.  It remined me of reading the script for a soap opera.  It was a VERY easy read and hard to put down.  There were even a few things that I didn't see coming and love surprises.
If you like a little mystery and believe in second chances, I think that you will be very happy with this book.

Today I am linking up with Blonde, Undercover Blonde for Book Club Friday.

1.13.2012

{Book Club Friday}: Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks


It is Book Club Friday again and I am linking up with Blonde, Undercover Blonde. This link up is every Friday and you can review any book that you like. So - head on over and find some great books to add to your list.
Today I am reviewing Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks.


Here is the synopsis from the author's website:
When a mysterious young woman named Katie appears in the small North Carolina town of Southport, her sudden arrival raises questions about her past. Beautiful yet self-effacing, Katie seems determined to avoid forming personal ties until a series of events draws her into two reluctant relationships: one with Alex, a widowed store owner with a kind heart and two young children; and another with her plainspoken single neighbor, Jo. Despite her reservations, Katie slowly begins to let down her guard, putting down roots in the close-knit community and becoming increasingly attached to Alex and his family.
But even as Katie begins to fall in love, she struggles with the dark secret that still haunts and terrifies her . . . a past that set her on a fearful, shattering journey across the country, to the sheltered oasis of Southport. With Jo’s empathic and stubborn support, Katie eventually realizes that she must choose between a life of transient safety and one of riskier rewards . . . and that in the darkest hour, love is the only true safe haven.

This is a very fast read.  I have yet to read a book by Nicholas Sparks that I didn't like.  This one is no exseption.  It even ends with a little twist that may not have seen coming.  I loved it!

BOOK 2:12 FOR 2012

****Click here for more books that I have read and reviewed and here for my ever growing list of books to read in the future.