The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks

Oh Nicholas Sparks… you’ve done it again. While The Lucky One was originally released in 2012 (and a movie released later on) I am just now getting around to reading it. While his books are usually lighthearted and filled with romance The Lucky One seemed to take a little bit of a different twist as it focused heavily on a U.S. Marine and his return from Iraq.

Synopsis

In his 14th book, bestselling author Nicholas Sparks tells the unforgettable story of a man whose brushes with death lead him to the love of his life.

After U.S. Marine Logan Thibault finds a photograph of a smiling young woman buried in the dirt during his tour of duty in Iraq, he experiences a sudden streak of luck — winning poker games and even surviving deadly combat. 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 woman in the photograph out of his mind and he sets out on a journey across the country to find her. But Thibault is caught off guard by the strong attraction he feels for the woman he encounters in North Carolina – Elizabeth, a divorced mother — and he keeps the story of the photo, and his luck, a secret. As he and Elizabeth embark upon a passionate love affair, his secret soon threatens to tear them apart — destroying not only their love, but also their lives.

Filled with tender romance and terrific suspense, THE LUCKY ONE is an unforgettable story about the surprising paths our lives often take and the power of fate to guide us to true and everlasting love.

My Thoughts

I always think of Nicholas Sparks as the author who breaks girls hearts. In The Lucky One, he became the author who left me thinking… way too much. Goodreads had a note that said that in order to write this book he did more research than ever before and it is very obvious that he spent a lot of time on the facts. The Lucky One was filled with information and twists that you didn’t always expect as Logan told his story.

In true Nicholas Sparks’ fashion, I found myself wanting to throw my Kindle across the room as soon as I started reading the epilogue.

Even though I finished the book a few days ago I can’t seem to get this story out of my head. I haven’t decided if I liked it or not and that seems very odd to me. Logan’s character did not sit well with me for a bulk of the book but I loved Elizabeth. I wanted Logan and Elizabeth to be together, but at the same time Logan creeped me out. It is a struggle.

I have not seen the movie, but I think this is an instance where I want to see the movie to see how I truly feel about the book. With this book, I had a hard time putting faces to some of the characters and it would be interesting to see the move interpretation.

As much as I struggle with this book, I HIGHLY recommend reading it. It was wonderfully written and filled with tidbits of information. As usual, it was filled with Nicholas Sparks romance.

“She was struck by the simple truth that sometimes the most ordinary things could be made extraordinary, simply by doing them with the right people.”
Nicholas Sparks

While it is a stretch, I consider anything by Nicholas Sparks a classic so I’m claiming this as my classic romance novel for the 2015 Pop Sugar Challenge. Yes I know it’s a stretch but I don’t care.

Have you read The Lucky One? What were your thoughts? Did Logan creep you out? Movie, yes or no?