Nick......You're Slacking On Me

I have always been a huge fan of Nicholas Sparks.  I have read every single one of his books as they came out-skipping Message in a Bottle (because the movie sucked so bad) until last year, when I was craving a good romance novel.  It didn't disappoint and it even made me want to watch the movie again.  In any case, I'm not a good reader, nor am I an intelligent reader.  Call me lazy, but I don't want anything that makes me think or learn, I just want to read about some love story/family story, etc. that is just heartwarming and true to life.  I'm a slow reader and it's only for fun, so if I want to read my cheesy novels, I can. 

I have enjoyed every last one of Nicholas' Sparks book until the last two.  You can read my review about Safe Haven here.  I have even preordered the last few, just to get my hands on them quickly because I couldn't wait to read them.  And they are the only books I can read in less than 2 weeks a pop.  Although I wasn't a big fan of Safe Haven, I still couldn't wait to get the new one.

Nicholas Sparks' latest book The Best of Me is a story of two high school sweethearts that have since gone their seperate ways who become reunited.  Sounded like my kind of story and at times I couldn't put it down.  However, once again toward the end of the book, much like Safe Haven it became unrealistic and too coincidental.  Although not as bad as Safe Haven, I still didn't buy what he was selling.  See, for me, the book has to conclude well.  I don't care what leads up to it, if the ending sucks, the whole thing sucked.  In fact, I once read a book by Anita Shreve that I wasn't sure how I felt about it until the very last page and then I wanted to read it again, I loved it so much.  And I digress......bottom line, The Best of Me isn't a great book and am getting antsy for a new one by Sparks that I'll really enjoy.  Can you help me out, Nick?  Can you somehow find it in you to write a book like The Guardian or The Choice again?

Being that I'm hard to please, there are really only a few authors that I enjoy anyway.  If you don't like to read to think and just like to read to relax, check out Anita Shreve (above), Jodi Picoult and for a small town country feel, Dorothy Garlock.