A Bend in the Road By: Nicholas Sparks

Miles Ryan's life seemed to end the day his wife was killed in a hit-and-run accident two years ago. His high school sweetheart, Missy had been his first love, and Miles truly believes she will be his last. The sheriff of the North Carolina town of New Bern, Miles Ryan not only grieves for Missy, but longs to bring the unknown driver to justice as well.


Then Miles meets Sarah Andrews. The second grade teacher of his only child Jonah, Sarah had left Baltimore after a difficult divorce to start over in the gentler surroundings of New Bern. Perhaps it is her own emotional wounds that makes her sensitive to the hurt she first sees in Jonah's eyes, and then his father's. Tentatively, Sarah and Miles reach out to each other. Soon, they are both laughing again for the first time in years -- and falling in love.

Neither will be able to guess how linked they are by a tie to the past that will force them to question everything they ever believed in -- a truth that can keep them apart forever.


A Bend in the Road is an exceptional book. With vibrant characters and a strong plot, this book exemplifies the life of a man struggling to get over the death of his wife. Miles Ryan, the main character is the main police officer in the town and everybody knows him. His character is more of the “gentile giant” type of person. His son Jonah is the friendly boy that everybody knows and loves to be around. The characters are somewhat based off of Nicholas Sparks’ family life which makes this a tremendously emotional story.


This book has unbelievable themes including love, life, death and family. Miles and Jonah are a small family in a small town. Their love for one another is unexplainable and forever lasting. Though the death of Jonah’s mother and Miles’ wife influences them both physically and emotionally, they stick together and stay strong. When Jonah’s new teacher Sarah tells Miles that Jonah is behind in school work, they work together to form a schedule that will work for them both to tutor him. Miles and Sarah develop a “friendship” that shapes their future relationship together. The themes in this book all tie together to form a heart wrenching story that you will never forget.

I do recommend this book to women of ages because any woman would LOVE this book. I haven’t read such a fantastic book in a long time. I believe that you should pick up this book and read it as soon as you can because it inspired me and possibly can inspire you too.

Look Again By: Lisa Scottoline

When reporter Ellen Gleeson gets a "Have You Seen This Child?" flyer in the mail, she almost throws it away. But something about it makes her look again, and her heart stops'the child in the photo is identical to her adopted son, Will. Her every instinct tells her to deny the similarity between the boys, because she knows her adoption was lawful. But shers"s a journalist and wonrs"t be able to stop thinking about the photo until she figures out the truth. And she canrs"t shake the question: if Will rightfully belongs to someone else, should she keep him or give him up? She investigates, uncovering clues no one was meant to discover, and when she digs too deep, she risks losing her own life'and that of the son she loves. Lisa Scottoline breaks new ground in Look Again, a thriller thatrs"s both heart-stopping and heart-breaking, and sure to have new fans and book clubs buzzing.


This book was non-stop action and entirely entertaining at all times. Lisa Scottoline really brings emotion to the tables and grabs your heart. As a reader I felt her pain, her love and the worries that she went through. The characters in this book were very thoughtfully made. They all have their own personalities. I like that the book not only talks about the search to see if Will is Timothy but also how it touches on Ellen’s job and love life. This book is the whole package… mystery, romance and life.



Ellen is tremendously brilliant and that helps her and the awareness of her surroundings. She is constantly moving (seems like all moms are) and she always digs deeper than she should when taking into consideration facts and dilemmas. Ellen strives hard to do her best as a single mother and has a fascinating interest in her job. She loves Will more than anything and through this whole book, you can see their relationship as it continually blooms into a beautiful disaster.


Lisa Scottoline is an amazing author! She wrote this book that turned out to be FANTASTIC and she should be proud of what she has done and created. This book is without a doubt one of the best books that I have ever read. It kept me entertained through the slower parts just by adding clues that make you guess what is going to happen next. This book is a page turner and I highly recommend it to women interested in novels that can be mysterious with romance.

Willow By: Julia Hoban

Seven months ago, on a rainy March night, sixteen year- old Willow’s parents died in a horrible car accident. Willow was driving. Now her older brother barely speaks to her, her new classmates know her as the killer orphan girl, and Willow is blocking the pain by secretly cutting herself. But when one boy —one sensitive, soulful boy—discovers Willow’s secret, it sparks an intense relationship that turns the “safe” world Willow has created for herself upside down.

I personally like this book because it has many interesting twists and turns. At first it was pretty boring but I got into it abruptly. The book is pretty intense and has very descriptive and "real" characters. Willow is the main character (the girl who cuts herself) and she is always very depressed and in her own world. I believe that Willow is based off of what could be real teenagers in the world. Some are depressed and some cut. Willow doesn't have a outgoing and friendly personality and doesn't interact with people to well.


This book is at times heartbreaking because you feel for Willow, but at the same time it is sickening because the author goes into so much detail about Willow cutting herself. Which brings me to the detail. Willow is an extremely detailed book. The detail brings you into what is happenening and you can picture the entire book. You can feel the emotion and cuts. You can see the tears falling from the families eyes and the pain that they are all going through while trying to reach out to each other but afraid to hurt one and other.


I enjoyed reading this book and I definitely recommend this to young girl readers. In order to read this book you need to be prepared because the description is very nauseating and the whole plot is breathtaking. This book is unquestionably worth reading!

Handle With Care By: Jodi Picoult

Another heart-wrenching, controversial novel by Jodi Picoult, Handle with Care introduces Willow, a smart and charming five-year-old who was born with a brittle bone disease called osteogenesis imperfecta. Over her lifetime, Willow will have hundreds of broken bones. Her mother, Charlotte, will do anything to give Willow the best life possible — even if she has to say under oath that Willow never should have been born. In pursuing a wrongful birth suit against her obstetrician (and best friend for nearly a decade), Charlotte is willing to put everything on the line in hopes of gaining the financial means necessary to take care of her daughter. Picoult constructs an emotionally complex novel, weaving tender and poignant moments into a difficult story of suffering and sacrifice. Charged with thought-provoking questions about medical ethics, morality, parenting, and honesty, Handle with Care asks just how far we would go to care for the ones we love.   

            Handle With Care by: Jodi Picoult is fantastic! Utterly astounding! I thought that this book is certainly a five star book! In this book Jodi Picoult make the reader feel like they are implicated in the book and trial. I typically do not cry in books but I teared up a little while reading this book. That is how much emotion this book shows. Jodi Picoult brings real life characters into the situation too. There is Willow, the daughter born with OI also known as osteogenesis imperfecta, which causes your bones to break. Willow is an independent, young, strong, adorable, and extremely luminous child who completely understands what is going on, in this case, her mom is starting a lawsuit against her best friend, Piper, who is also her obstetrician. Her mother, Charlotte believes that Piper should have been able to notify the O’Keefe’s about Willow’s condition before the twenty-seven week ultrasound.

            Then there is Amelia, Willow’s older sister. Amelia’s just another teenager who likes boys, but is over weight. Amelia is a size 11 and all her friends are size 00. Amelia tries to fit in by doing many things to take the ache away from being a girl who is entirely ignored because her younger sister is “breakable” and should be watched and pampered more than Amelia is even noticed. Amelia takes drastic measures into her hands. Amelia meets a boy at the OI convention that they go to but she lies to him saying that she is Willow, but that doesn’t change their feelings for each other.

            There is also mom and pop O’Keefe, Charlotte and Sean. Charlotte is just another protective mom but is she slacking on her job? Does she tell the truth in court that she wished Willow was aborted? Sean on the other hand doesn’t agree with the lawsuit. He is on the opposing side. Sean throughout the book shows his emotions whether physically or emotionally, but does Sean change his mind and agree with the lawsuit that Charlotte has brought on? Does Charlotte back down from the lawsuit? Does Willow end up breaking or the hearts of many others? The O’Keefe’s will have to learn that they need to live for the moments that they cannot put into words because words are deadly and they kill just as good as any bullet. Read this book to uncover the truth behind Willow’s story and the will people have to go far for the one that they love.

The Last Song By: Nicholas Sparks

 Seventeen year old Veronica "Ronnie" Miller's life was turned upside-down when her parents divorced and her father moved from New York City to Wilmington, North Carolina. Three years later, she remains angry and alientated from her parents, especially her father...until her mother decides it would be in everyone's best interest if she spent the summer in Wilmington with him. Ronnie's father, a former concert pianist and teacher, is living a quiet life in the beach town, immersed in creating a work of art that will become the centerpiece of a local church.

The tale that unfolds is an unforgettable story of love on many levels--first love, love between parents and children -- that demonstrates, as only a Nicholas Sparks novel can, the many ways that love can break our hearts...and heal them. 

    The Last  Song By: Nicholas Sparks is an amazing book. The characters are all different in their own way. You have Ronnie, the main character who is a seventeen year old girl who lives in New York. She is forced by her mom to go visit her father over the summer in Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina. Ronnie is also rebellious and independent, meeting and changing through the process of discovering the truth about living life to the fullest. Then, there is Jonah, Ronnie's little brother. Jonah is completely different than Ronnie. He is thrilled to go see his father and spend time in North Carolina. Then there is Will, Ronnie's love interest. Will works at the local aquarium and is a volleyball player. Ronnie soon develops feelings towards Will making it one of Nicholas Sparks' great love stories. There are a few characters that Ronnie interacts with along the way. Those include Blaze, a young women who has so much potential but hangs around with the wrong group of people. Steve, Ronnie's father who was a teacher at Julliard for several years but quit and moved to North Carolina. He is currently working on a project for the local church and Jonah starts to help. Marcus is the boy that gets everybody into trouble. He grows up with the wrong group of people and uses them for partying and having fun. Marcus is extremely self centered and doesn't really care what other people want but focuses on what he wants.

   The setting is on a beach in North Carolina. Having a beach in the setting helps reflect the emotion and enhances the feelings of the characters towards each other. Steve lives on the beach which  is the location where Ronnie and Will meet.

   I personally adore this book. With romance and life experiences it makes this book a package. I do recommend this to women young (teenagers) and women old. All ages will love this book. It really showed me that hanging out with the wrong crowd can bring you down, and to always look up and be happy for the times that you can spend with someone (not just a lover but anyone including family, friends, neighbors, homeless, the less fortunate) because you never know they just might change or leave the next day.