There are a lot of storylines in this book that I have seen in other books by the author:

1. The white deer (swan)
2. The old man being hurt and stranded (Ida)
3. The old fashioned love story (also Ida)
4. The dog that saves the day (the great dane)
5. The military man (Thibault)
6. The entitled criminal kids (Abee and family)
.7. Divorced mother of two trying to get through to her teenage daughter (Nights in Rodanthe) etc

The book overall was ok; he just seems to redo his plots. Jasper is an old man that lost his entire family to a situation revolving around a fire. Kaitlyn is a single mom of two kids trying to find happiness and get through to her teenage daughter. Tanner is a man just out of the military trying to find out who he is. once his dying grandmother points him in the direction, he heads off to find his biological father. The story is a nice heartwarming story about love and family. I did not enjoy any of the hunting part of the story-just too scary for me and what would happen to the dog. But I understand that is a huge chunk of the book. I did skim a lot of that part. But overall, it wasn't bad. Not near as good as his first books.

This book was not for me for many reasons, but I do think it will be very popular with patrons in my library. Military-based characters written like Tanner and cozy mysteries are popular with many of our patrons.

I didn’t love it, personally, because some of the writing and dialogue felt stiff, inorganic, and too formal. There was a lot of telling, but little showing. Also, I’m military-affiliated and some things about Tanner aren’t real. He wouldn’t live in the barracks his whole 14 year career—that almost never happens. Also, if he was special forces (“Delta” in the book), he wouldn’t tell someone that right from the jump. Maybe that it something he and Kaitlyn should get into later in their relationship, but it definitely wouldn’t be a first conversation topic.

However, I know many patrons that would enjoy this book and I will definitely recommend it to them. Just because it’s not *my* taste doesn’t mean others won’t enjoy it! Overall, it’s a 3/5 from me. Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this title. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I have read all of Nicholas Sparks' books. While this one is a good story, it wasn't his best. Tanner Hughes goes to Asheboro, NC to find his father who he never met. The story goes between Tanner's search and love story and Jasper's story, an elderly man living with pain from his past-physically and mentally. Their stories collide in the forest because of a white deer.

I’m surprised to say this one was actually exposition heavy, overly narrative, and missing Sparks’ style. I can’t help but wonder if he was stretched too thin over the last year with the musical for the Notebook, the movies, and everything else going on. I decided to DNF at 5% in (chapter 3).

In terms of appeal, any Sparks book stands on name alone. But I’d say content-wise, it’s a three to four stars for the target audience.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC.

Special thanks to NetGalley for the advanced reader copy of this book. Nicholas Sparks is one of my favorite authors to read and while this one was not my favorite of his, it still tugged at my heart strings and made me unable to put it down. As is normal, Sparks sends you on an up and down emotional journey making you fall in love with his characters and their stories. Unlike, 'The Wish' where I did not see the ending coming, I figured out pretty early on what the twist was going to be, but knowing it ahead of time did not take away from the emotions felt when it was revealed. Another fantastic book by Nicholas Sparks, sure to be another best seller!