Amanda’s and Dawson’s love story is one of the most beautiful and epic ones I’ve read in a long time, but Nicholas Spark totally broke my heart and left me ugly crying my eyes out after finishing this emotional and utterly unfair novel!

In the spring of 1984, high school students Amanda Collier and Dawson Cole fell deeply, irrevocably in love, despite their different backgrounds. Amanda, came from a rich family and was an A student, whereas Dawson had a very difficult background, with a criminal family and an abusive father. Eventually, he had to leave and ended up finding shelter at Tuck Hostetler's garage. Tuck, a local mechanic who had recently lost his wife, allowed Dawson to live with him and eventually considered him a son of his own. At the safety of Tuck’s home, Amanda and Dawson spend a wonderful summer together, with their love growing deeper each day. But as the summer came to a close, unforeseen events would tear them apart, setting them on radically divergent paths.

Not until twenty or so years later, when Tuck died and left a will summoning them both, they eventually met again and soon realized that their love for one another had survived all those years and was as strong as ever. Forced to confront painful memories, the two started to question their decision and possibly finding a way to be together again. But fate (and Nicholas Sparks) didn’t make it easy for Amanda and Dawson and along the way my heart broke. Literally. I so rooted for them both, and especially Dawson, who’s had his life shattered simply for being born into the wrong family and who deserved all the love he could get.

All in all, this was an emotional, devastating and sad, but yet beautiful read that I recommend with all my heart! Just make sure to have a box of tissues nearby…

Rating:
​5 stars

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​Author info:
Nicholas Sparks

Two by Two was not a typical Nicholas Sparks romance novel. In fact, it wasn’t really a romance at all, but a break-up book. But it was still an emotional, fast-paced and enjoyable read.

In the story we meet Russell Green who is living the dream, with a beautiful wife, a successful career and an adorable little daughter, when suddenly his life is turned upside down. In a matter of months, Russ finds himself without a job or wife, caring for his young daughter while struggling to adapt to a new and baffling reality.

So, this book had an entirely different feel than I expected for a Nicholas Sparks story. Even though it was a story about a couple falling apart rather than falling in love, I had expected some of the sweetness that is the signature for Nicholas Sparks. I had also expected to be able to relate to the characters, but sadly I really loathed Vivian (the wife in the story) and I couldn’t even understand how she and Russ could ever have been in love. And even though my heart ached for Russ, I didn’t really connect with him either. I often wanted to tell him to find his back bone and stop being such a people pleaser and door mat…
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But of course, Nicholas Sparks managed to pull at some heart strings with the adorable father-daughter relationship. And overall, it was a well written, enjoyable and fast-paced story (I read it all in less than a day), even though I didn’t get any of the happy, fluffy, sweetness I had hoped for. 

Rating:
​3 stars

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Bookshop.org
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​Author info:
Nicholas Sparks