If you're like me, you love a good romance novel. And even though I hate Valentines Day, I still love curling up with a Nicholas Sparks novel because lets face it, Sparks is one of the best romantic writers of our generation.
His track record includes "A Walk to Remember", "The Notebook", "Dear John", and "The Last Song". All of those novels consist of beautiful love stories that everyone wishes they could be a part of.
Sparks new novel, "The Best of Me" can be added to that list of amazing romance stories. It was published on October 11th, 2011 and debuted to a loving audience.
I’ve only read a handful of Sparks novels and loved them but there was something about them that threw me off. I never really liked the fact that he always made the love between the two people so immediate.
That’s why I was hesitant to start reading “The Best of Me”, because I didn’t want to be disappointed and have my faith in Sparks be ruined.
I was SO wrong and regretted waiting so long to read the book.
The plot was unique but not at the same time. It focused around Dawson and Amanda, high school sweethearts who were crazy in love during their teen years but separated before college because of their family differences.
Dawson is a Cole, a violent, alcoholic, white trash family while Amanda is from a rich, high class family. The two families definitely do not get along, Romeo and Juliet style and Amanda’s parents do not approve of their daughters love and affection for a creature like a Cole.
They don’t let the differences get in the way of their relationship at first but eventually, it becomes too much and they go their separate ways.
Decades later, Amanda and Dawson reunite in their hometown of Oriental, deep in the South. Amanda went on with her life, creating a family and a a lovely marriage but deep down, she has never forgotten the way Dawson Cole made her feel.
Dawson never forgot her either, living his life in simplicity and loneliness. They immediately fall back into old habits which creates drama for everyone involved.
There are a few subplots in the book that could add to the main plot of Dawson and Amanda, and are very essential but to be honest, I skipped a lot of those chapters because I was so invested in their relationship.
In my opinion, this was one of Sparks better novels. I loved the way he created the love story before the book even started; it was so different from the rest of his books where you see the love bloom between the two.
The fact that there was no amount of time or distance that could keep Amanda and Dawson away from each other was beautiful.
It’s a story of love, tragedy, sorrow, and pain but still, so perfect and beautiful. I sped through reading it, I just couldn’t put it down because I needed to know what happened.
I won’t reveal the ending, I’ll let you figure it out for yourself but it was beautiful, I was content with it, and it definitely made me cry.
If you love the idea of forbidden love and memories from long ago coming back to haunt you, this book is definitely for you.
I love every single Nicholas Sparks book I read so I'll have to read this one too!
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