The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks

The Lucky One
Author:  Nicholas Sparks
Publisher:  Grand Central Publishing
Publication Date:  September 30th 2008

From Goodreads:

When U.S. Marine Logan Thibault finds a photograph of a smiling young women half-buried in the dirt during his third tour of duty in Iraq, his first instinct is to toss it aside.  Instead, he brings it back to the base for someone to claim, but when no one does, he finds himself always carrying the photo in his pocket.  Soon Thibault experiences a sudden streak of luck-winning poker games and even surviving deadly combat that kills two of his closest buddies.  Only his best friend, Victor, seems to have an explanation for his good; the photograph-his lucky charm.


Back home in Colorado, Thibault can't seem to get the photo-and the woman in it-out of his mind.  Believing that she somehow holds the key to his destiny, he sets out on a journey across the country to find her, never expecting the strong but vulnerable woman he encounters in Hampton, North Carolina-Elizabeth, a divorced mother with a young son-to be the girl he's been waiting for his whole life to meet.  Caught off guard by the attraction he feels, Thibault keeps the story of the photo, and his luck, a secret.  As he and Elizabeth embark upon a passionate and all-consuming love affair, the secret he is keeping will soon threaten to tear them apart-destroying not only their love, but also their lives.  

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The movie adaption of The Lucky One starring Zac Efron as Logan Thibault will be coming out this month and I wanted to read this before I watch the movie. For me, I usually enjoy Nicholas Sparks movies better than the books.   I find that I fall in the middle with Nicholas Sparks books.  I find that I'm not terribly impressed with his romances, but they do entertain me...a little.

Likes:

Logan Thibault Character- I enjoyed Thibault.  Being in his head and knowing his thoughts, I truly can say he is a perfect "the one".  Crush-worthy character.

Iraq War flashbacks-  I thought these parts of the book were the most interesting.  Made the character of Logan much more real.

Zeus, Logan's Dog-  Seriously, my favorite dog in a book, though I haven't read many.  Zeus plays a big part in this book.



Dislikes:

Logan's love interest, Elizabeth-  Seriously, she was too good.  I can't stand "perfect" characters.  I couldn't relate to her, at all.

The picture- That damn picture!    I hate Elizabeth's reaction when it "all" comes  out.

Annoyances-  There were quite a bit of small things that annoyed me.  Elizabeth never freaking ate.  And when she did it was half a toast and she was satisfied.  Whatever! Also, the character Clayton.  Everything he did was annoying.


I'm really looking forward to the movie.  I usually like the movie adaptions of his  books.  I'm glad I did read it before I watched the movie and it was enjoyable so it was worth the read.  I do recommend that you borrow this from your local library instead of spending your money.