Tag: Every Breath

Posted on

Dreamland by Nicholas Sparks

Robin’s Rave Reviews – 2022

Dreamland by Nicholas Sparks gets a strong 4 1/2 stars!

Readers enjoy guessing how two storylines in a novel will cross. Not so easy with this one! Sparks doesn’t reveal it until a long way into the book. I kept guessing, and the anticipation kept me reading. I figured it out, but later than I’d like to admit. ; )

Book Cover of Dreamland

Beverly’s story:  She is on the run with her young son. I wanted her to successfully get away from an abusive husband and father, but to make the situation harder, he works for Homeland Security. That means he has access to many tools to try to locate them. I got involved in her story, but I was annoyed that some of the details in Beverly’s story felt like clips from Safe Haven. (That’s the only reason I didn’t give the book a full five stars.)

Colby’s story: Colby gave up his dream of writing music and singing when the aunt who raised him needed his help to save the family farm. After a few years of getting the farm running smoothly, it was time for Colby to take a break. He takes a working vacation as a musician when he lands a short-term gig in Florida. He meets Morgan who is vacationing with friends before her big move to Nashville. She is about to chase her dream of a music career. Colby and Morgan fall in love as they bond over writing songs, but Nashville calls to Morgan while Colby has obligations back at the farm. Is it possible to continue a summer romance as a long-distance relationship?

Readers will be doubting that these two very different stories could possibly match up, but they will. It’s worth the wait.  That’s the best part of the book. It’s what makes it stand out.

Dreamland by Nicholas Sparks comes out Sept. 20, 2022, but you can pre-order a copy today!  If Dreamland sounds like a book you’d like, check out my past reviews on these Nicholas Sparks novels:  The Wish, Every Breath (and a feature on the Kindred Spirits mailbox), and Two By Two.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House for the ARC of this novel. The opinions are my honest thoughts.

Netgalley Member Professional Reader

Follow me on Facebook and Instagram!

@author.robin.shelley

 

 

 

Posted on

Every Breath by Nicholas Sparks

Hi my shells! Thanks for taking a few minutes out of your day to hang out with me.

Photo courtesy of IslandLifeNC.com

I hope you caught my last post on the Kindred Spirit mailbox located in the middle of nowhere on a North Carolina beach. People leave stories from their lives there for others to discover. (If you missed it, I hope you will look back in your email or go to the blog page on robinshelley.com to read it.)

I first became aware of this intriguing mailbox when I read Nicholas Sparks’s newest novel Every Breath, released in October of 2018. Sparks uses this very real mailbox as an important part of his fictional story. With a unique narration, Sparks puts himself into the novel creating a frame story (a story inside a story). The novel begins with Sparks (as the narrator) finding the mailbox which contains a large envelope. Inside is a story that piques his interest. As the narrator, Sparks tells us he felt compelled to research the story which takes us back into the 1990’s to meet our characters, Hope and Tru.

Hope Anderson is spending a week at the family beach house before it gets sold, trying to work through some emotional issues in her life. Her long-term relationship isn’t headed any closer to a marriage proposal and her father has been diagnosed with ALS. 

Tru Walls, born and raised in Zimbabwe, makes a career out of being a safari guide. When he receives a letter from the father he never knew, he travels to North Carolina to meet him.

Tru and Hope end up in side-by-side beach houses. It doesn’t take long for them to meet and for the “sparks” to fly. The problem is to figure out how to make a relationship work when they live on different continents and both have obligations at home. The fairy tale beach romance gets overshadowed by reality. Hard choices are made putting family ahead of personal happiness. The story jumps to 2014 when they meet again.  Is it too late for Hope and Tru to find their personal happiness with each other? I can’t tell you more or it will spoil the book for you!  Just read it yourself.

Personally, I would have liked more scenes in Africa and more development of Tru’s relationship with his father. After all, Tru came all the way from Zimbabwe to the United States to meet him. It also bothers me that Hope and Tru fall so deeply in love in a matter of days, but that’s part of the formula. I’m able to set that aside while reading so I can enjoy an otherwise well-written story.  

The last Nicholas Sparks book I reviewed, Two By Two, disappointed me because it didn’t fit the brand Sparks has developed. It wasn’t the love story we’ve come to expect from him. However, with Every Breath, Sparks has found his way back to telling a love story like previous ones loved by so many. There will always be people who don’t like the formula he follows.  For others, it’s just what they crave. All I can say is it seems to work for him. I TRU-ly enjoyed Every Breath and give it a 4.8 on a 5 star rating.  If this is your kind of book, I HOPE you will pick it up and give it a try. Keep on reading!