Whether you admit it or not, you are 99.99% likely to have read, seen, or at least heard of Nicholas Sparks. It’s almost impossible to not have heard about any of his novels, many of which have turned into major motion pictures over the last ten years. Does The Notebook ring a bell? It should :)
Mr. Sparks has perfected the art of pulling on our heartstrings and making us experience feelings we didn’t know were there. Ugly cries and ruined makeup are almost guarantees when it comes to experiencing one of his storylines. His characters wiggle their ways into our hearts, and they stay there long after we close the book or leave the theater. Sometimes we expect the ending; other times it catches us completely off guard. Either way people still flock to the bookstores and theaters every time a new one is released. It’s a guilty pleasure. Hopeless romantics like myself love the sappy love stories that illustrate unconditional love, unfortunate circumstances, and rollercoasters of emotions.
The words Nicholas Sparks writes hit our hearts hard as they perfectly and eloquently put into the words the love we so desire. I can’t even name all the beautiful lines he has written. His words play with our emotions and raises expectations, but everyone deserves to have the love that exists between Allie and Noah.
So let’s pay tribute to a couple of the classics that have warmed our hearts and the words that have made us fall in love. (****SPOILERS MAY BE AHEAD)
The Choice
“I love you, Gabby, more than you’ll ever know. You’re everything I’ve ever wanted in a wife. You’re every hope and every dream I’ve ever had, and you’ve made me happier than any man could possibly be. I don’t ever want to give that up. I can’t.” –The Choice
It’s the newest movie to join the family, but one that will leave you rooting for love. It makes you believe that everybody has his or her person. One who is willing to fight until the very end and beyond in order that they can live one more day together.
The Lucky One
“You should be kissed everyday, every hour, every minute.” –The Lucky One
This one left me sobbing in my theater seat long after the final credits rolled. It makes you believe in fate and soul mates the way fairytales made you during your childhood. And who doesn’t love that?
The Last Song
“Sometimes you have to be apart from people you love, but that doesn’t make you love them any less. Sometimes you love them more.” –The Last Song
The first Nicholas Sparks’ book that I have ever read, and one of the first books I have ever cried while reading. Cried during the book; cried during the movie. It’s okay because Liam Hemsworth was there for me.
The Best of Me
“I want to wake up with you beside me in the mornings. I want to spend my evenings looking at you across the dinner table. I want to share every mundane detail of my day with you and hear every detail of yours. I want to laugh with you and fall asleep with you in my arms.” –The Best of Me
Talk about a page-turner! The rekindling of young love is a magical one. This one makes you believe that true loves will find a way to be together no matter what comes between them. Life has a weird way of working itself out.
A Walk to Remember
“I held her close to me with my eyes closed, wondering if anything in my life had ever been this perfect and knowing at the same time that it hadn’t. I was in love, and the feeling was even more wonderful than I ever imagined it could be.” –A Walk to Remember
The feels. I had no idea of this storyline before I watched the movie with my mom in middle school. Well, I had no idea until my brother walked in and revealed the ending to me. I stilled bawled though, I mean I completely ugly cried. It was so emotionally draining that I’m still exhausted from the experience.
Dear John
“I finally understood what true love meant…love meant that you care for another person’s happiness more than your own, no matter how painful the choices you face might be.” – Dear John
I will never think about the moon the same way again. After all, it is never bigger than your thumb. Words connect people across oceans and letters bring them together even when they can’t be physically.
Safe Haven
“That he would love her no matter what she told him, and that he was the kind of man who loved her already and would love her forever.” –Safe Haven
I thought that the movie was intense, that is until I read the book. It was intriguing and fast paced. I learned that home is not a place but the people you share your life with. They are the ones that create your safe haven.
The Longest Ride
“You made me happy and you made me laugh, and if I could do it all over again, I would not hesitate. Look at our life, at the trips we took, the adventures we had. As your father used to say, we shared the longest ride together, this thing called life, and mine has been filled with joy because of you.” –The Longest Ride
Love is worth the fight, and it endures all ups and downs of life. It’s the greatest ride of all. This book did not leave me with a sad heart but one that was warm and hopeful.
The Notebook
“So it’s not gonna be easy. It’s going to be really hard; we’re gonna have to work at this everyday, but I want to do that because I want you. I want all of you, forever, everyday. You and me… everyday.” –The Notebook
No words are needed for this one :’)