The Lucky One

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What do you expect when you read a Nicholas Sparks book?  You usually expect to cry at least once and there's probably going to be someone that dies.  Well, this book, The Lucky One, doesn't disappoint if that's what you're looking for and expecting.

I have to admit that this book has an unusual premise, here's the blurb:

When U.S. Marine Logan Thibault finds a photograph of a smiling young woman half-buried in the dirt during his third tour of duty in Iraq, his first instinct is to toss it aside. Instead, he brings it back to the base for someone to claim, but when no one does, he finds himself always carrying the photo in his pocket. Soon Thibault experiences a sudden streak of luck—winning poker games and even surviving deadly combat that kills two of his closest buddies. 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 photo—and the woman in it—out of his mind. Believing that she somehow holds the key to his destiny, he sets out on a journey across the country to find her, never expecting the strong but vulnerable woman he encounters in Hampton, North Carolina—Elizabeth, a divorced mother with a young son—to be the girl he’s been waiting his whole life to meet. Caught off guard by the attraction he feels, Thibault keeps the story of the photo, and his luck, a secret. As he and Elizabeth embark upon a passionate and all-consuming love affair, the secret he is keeping will soon threaten to tear them apart—destroying not only their love, but also their lives.

The way this story plays out is odd, but the premise behind it...that true love conquers all time and space, regardless of whether or not you've met or are continents away...yea, the premise is as old as time.  Authors like Sparks love to play off of this idea.

Personally, I really liked the story and did not close the book mad at Sparks (like I have in the past).  If you're looking for a hokey love story equivalent to something like The Notebook, then pick this one up.  If the cheesiness is too much for you, then don't.  I will admit, you do have to be in the mood to read a cheesy love story like this and I was in the perfect mood for that while I was reading this book earlier last week...while all Oklahoma City was floating away in the flood!