Goodbye, Valentine

Well Valentine's Day has come and gone and it will be another year before we have to suffer through all the pink and red blues. But, if you are still looking for a good love story to sweep you away, well I've got one for you.

I finally did it, I finally broke down and read... a

Nicholas Sparks novel. Yes, I read, and even enjoyed, The Lucky One. I've actually been wanting to read a Sparks novel for a while now, but I really didn't want to read one of those where I had already seen the movie. So that, and the fact that it was the cheapest Sparks book available for Kindle, led me to The Lucky One. Which, interestingly enough, The Lucky One will soon be a movie, premiering in 2012 and starring... the love of my life... Zac Efron. (Hence the picture. -->) I will definitely be seeing that one on the big screen.

Anyway- back to my review. Like I said, I actually enjoyed this book, and I have to admit I was surprised. I was afraid it would have some awful surprise stupid ending plot, like Dear John or something. But this was no Dear John. The Lucky One tells the story of Logan, a Marine serving in Iraq, who finds a photo of a girl. This photo becomes a lucky charm for Logan, and so upon his return to the States he sets out to find the girl in the photo. And, yes the premise of this story was a little dumb, or maybe really sweet depending on how cynical you are. And the plot felt a little forced in places. And the whole romantic storyline felt a little fake. Throw that in with one annoying character, and one really annoying hard to pronounce character's name... And what you get isn't nearly as bad as you would think. You get a suspenseful, hopeful, sweet story with an amazing dog, a hilarious grandmother, and maybe even a happily ever after.

So, this review is scattered and random, and I'm sorry about that. My excuse is this: I've been up since 5am, battling back-talking, tennis ball-tossing 6th graders. (Also known as substitute teaching.) So on that note, goodnight!