Good Evening Kindle-ites! Well, it has been decided, not by me of course, (I’m no where near this sensitive) but seeing as how this is the official week of love, I’ve decided to focus all of my energy on hot men in skimpy boxer-briefs. (What? Too blunt?) Ok, I’ve decided to focus all of my energy on Romance. That’s right ladies and gent, (there’s bound to be at least one of you right?) Romance!! So break out the candles, sneak a couple of those chocolates you stashed in your nightstand and let the rump shaking, mini-disaster, someone is bound to kick the bucket good times roll.
First up, (drum roll please) “The Lucky One” by Nicolas Sparks. Why? Well other than the fact that one of his novels has been turned into a verb, (“Oh dude… you just got Notebooked!”) He is King in a Jackie Collins, Kresley Cole world. (Also…this movie comes out in April so I needed to get the book under my belt. Pun intended.)
“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.”
I’m sure by now you’ve all figured out that Sparks is going to pull out the Grimm Reaper in every book, so let’s just skip right over that and get to the “more important” issues, like… was it good?
In short…yes.
Saying a Nicholas Sparks book is bad is like throwing myself in to a locked cage full of rabid raccoons, so I won’t even go there, but I will go on record as saying this isn’t his best.
Maybe it was the total jackhole of an ex that turned me off. Maybe it was Nana’s ridiculous sayings that killed it, either way…something didn’t click. (I guess that’s bound to happen when all you want to do is beat the living shit out of a fictional character.)
That’s said, I LOVED Logan! He was quiet, (as all good men should be *wink*) He was strong, (as all good ex-Marines should be) and he was Damaged (with a capital D) which…only made him that much more endearing (in a obsessive compulsive “I need to protect Beth” sorta way.)
The best part though? Not the “Romance” (*cue dramatic music*) it was the overwhelming, (and awe-worthy) growth the characters embodied by the end of the novel. Beth and her ability to finally take control of her own life. Logan and his ability to let his guard down, and Ben (Beth’s son) who was (very sadly) lost in a prison of self-centered parental expectations.
So do I think you should fork over your dough and ultimately buy Sparks another wing for his golden mansion in the sky? Yes. The plot was a good one, the back-stories were very entertaining and Duh… it’s Nicholas Sparks! (Do I need to draw you a map?)
If you like romance, you will like this book. Think of this one as a gimme.
Happy Reading my fellow Kindle-ites and remember: If the review doesn’t sell you, hold on to your panties, the movie trailer will. (Hello…. Zach Efron!)
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[Rating:4/5]
Movie Trailer
