A review by bbrassfield
Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks

4.0

Safe Haven is a Nicholas Sparks novel. What can I say about a Nicholas Sparks novel that hasn't likely already been said? Probably nothing. There you have it. So let me say something about why I read a Nicholas Sparks novel instead. First off, I'm a hopeful romantic, meaning even though I am an unabashed syfy/fantasy geek I am also drawn to impossible love stories and this is where Nick Sparks comes in. Romantic with a light schmalz topping though his writing may include, Mr. Sparks is also a minister of death. The guy kills off more key characters than George R.R. Martin and that is saying something, and so it's not all shirtless hunks of beef with the dainty but large bosomed heroine on the cover fare with a Sparks novel. Safe Haven is no exception and therein lies the interest. For the most part, at least judging from the films I've seen of his novels, there are no easy paths in this writer's stories. People find love running or coming out of tragedies and this is true of Safe Haven. While Sparks is no Dostoevsky when it comes to painting the interior lives of his characters, his prose is easy going and competent. Sparks gives his characters enough development so the reader understands their motivations and behavior (mostly), but I think the single biggest reason I read a Sparks novel at this point in time is that I love the pastoral, warm, sunny scenes from the films and for the last eight years I've lived in place with long, cold and snowy winters that go on for five months and I rather long to be in a place where real winter is but a concept haha. The North Carolina coast sounds like such a place so bring on the stories.