The Guardian

Author: Nicholas Sparks

Publication Year: 2003

Synopsis:

Young widow Julie Barenson was left a special gift when her husband passed away, a Great Dane puppy with a special note that said he'd always watch out for her. A few years after his death, Julie begins dating again. She finds herself choosing between suave, rich and handsome Richard Franklin and her husband's best friend and nice guy, Mike Harris. As Julie chooses to accept the love of another man into her life once again, she's thrown into a nightmare ordeal caused by a jealous rage that finds her, and the people she cares about, fighting for their lives and sanity.

Thoughts:

I've read quite a few Nicholas Sparks novels. For those of you who don't feel familar with his written work, have you seen The Notebook? A Walk to Remember? Message In A Bottle? All three of those movies were based on Nicholas Sparks books (three books I've read). Something I like about Nicholas Sparks is that he is in the romance genre, however he's different than what I classify as "chick-lit". I like to alternate between my usual funny, light chick-lit reads and a Nicholas Sparks story. Perhaps it's because his books often involve more mature characters, and not as quirky comedic plotlines as the other books I tend to read. Another positive side to Nicholas Sparks: even though he's written quite a few novels already, so far his writing has never been "cookie-cutter" as some other author's have been after they start coming out with a whole slew of novels (Danielle Steele for example, pure cookie-cutter storylines that are obviously written just to release more and more novels). Each Nicholas Sparks story, all taking place in some part of North Carolina, have a unique storyline and characters you can easily fall in love with.

After all this gushing about Nicholas Sparks in general, you can obviously tell by now that I enjoyed The Guardian. It was greatly different than his other books, in that it included an element from the thriller genre that adds a little more "spark" (no pun intended!) to this romantic tale. The romantic relationship in this story, while still important, is not a fairy tale romance like his other work and almost sits on the backburner for a good part of the storyline. I think that this is a novel that can be enjoyed by a wider range of female readers because of that extra element -- it's not just for the hopeless romantics like me!

I will admit, I found the beginning of the book a little slow. But in the end it was an enjoyable read, so I do say stick with it and you won't be disappointed!

The Guardian is available to purchase through Amazon here:

Amazon (Can)

Amazon (US)

If you've enjoyed Nicholas Sparks in the past as I have, make sure to check out some of his other titles! The following are Nicholas Sparks I've read so far:

• The Notebook (classic, wonderful, I can read this one in a two-hour sitting!).
  
• The Wedding (sequel to The Notebook in that its the son-in-law of Noah & Allie as the main character! Sweet, short romantic tale with a twist ending!).
  
• A Walk To Remember (similar length to The Notebook, and similar type of story. The movie was dramatically different from the book, and I highly recommend you read this book!).
  
• A Bend in the Road (one of my favourite Nicholas Sparks' stories so far! Connected very well to the characters, excellent story line).
  
• True Believer (another more current read for me, and I really enjoyed it. Found the characters easy to get attached to, liked the story line a lot).
  
• Nights in Rodanthe (this is coming out as a feature film this September; it wasn't my favourite of his stories but that's because I read it as a teenager and its about a middle-age couple so I just didn't connect too well to the characters)
  
• Message In A Bottle (I read this one quite awhile ago; I remember liking the story, but I wasn't a huge fan of the ending. I never saw the film version of this book).