The Best of Me
By Nicholas Sparks


The Best of Me was written by Nicholas Sparks. He has written many books including The Notebook, The Last Song, Nights in Rodanthe, Message In A Bottle and more. He lives in North Carolina after graduating from the University of Notre Dame. Most of his books also take place in North Carolina.
Many years ago in Oriental, North Carolina, two high school students fell in love with each other. Amanda is the “It” girl who comes from a wealthy family and was planning to go to Duke University. Dawson is a nice boy, but is hated around town because he comes from a family of criminals. When the two fall in love together Amanda rethinks going to Duke and just running away with Dawson. Her parents were beginning to dislike her because of Dawson, and so she and Dawson parted so she could keep her life as she planned.
Dawson Cole has been living a quiet life in New Orleans ever since he survived an accident on the oil rigs. When he was in high school, he became friends with an older man named Tuck and got a job from him fixing cars. He tried to avoid his family as much as possible because he hated their lifestyle. Amanda Collier becomes friends with Tuck over time because she knew Dawson was his friend and stayed with him. Twenty-five years later, the two return to Oriental to attend Tuck’s funeral. They had no idea they would be the only two there. Over time they realized this was Tuck’s plan of making them fall in love with each other again.
The theme of The Best of Me is that true love can have a second chance. The two of them shared many special memories that neither one of them could ignore. Can love truly rewrite the past? You have to read to find out!
More trouble stirs up in Oriental than Dawson or Amanda could imagine. Dawson’s brother, Ted, and his cousin, Abee, hate Dawson and want to kill him. Will Dawson be safe in Oriental?
My personal opinion of the book was that it was amazing! It is an absolute must read. This book has the perfect mixture of romance, adventure, and mystery. I am not usually a romance novel fan, but I could not put this book down. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys love, mystery, curiosity, adventure, and a good surprise!