Lust or love? This is the question that Ronnie Miller must ask herself about her summer romance. The Last Song is filled with relatable conflicts of love and desire. Ronnie's world is flipped upside down when her mother forces her and her brother, Jonah, to spend the summer in the Carolinas with their estranged father.

Ronnie holds playing the piano very close to her heart. She has played at Carnegie Hall and received college scholarships. But the memory of playing the piano and writing music with her dad now makes her cringe and think back to when her whole family lived happily together. Because of her hatred of her ­father, Ronnie has thrown away her dream of being a ­pianist. She gets mixed up with the wrong crowd at the beach and finds herself in some unfortunate situations.

When Will comes along, he finds himself oddly infatuated with Ronnie. She notices Will watching her and always bumping into her, and Ronnie begins to connect the dots. She seems disgusted by the idea of dating Will, constantly turning him down.

As secrets begin to spill out along her summer journey, Ronnie starts to see her father in a new light. Rather than hating him, she feels a sense of regret. None of her previous experiences in the city could have prepared her for what happens.

Following Ronnie through her journey of love and self-examination is a thrill for any reader. Nicholas Sparks did an incredible job making this riveting novel impossible to put down. The Last Song is at the very top of my recommendations list.