Trevor never expected to be moving to North Carolina, to be taking up residence in the dilapidated cabin left to him by his late grandfather. But when he gets caught up in a mortar blast in Afghanistan he finds himself needing somewhere quiet to recuperate.
Even less expected is the sudden rush of feelings he has upon meeting local deputy sheriff, Natalie Masterson. But although she clearly reciprocates his feelings, there is something Natalie is determined to keep secret.
Further complicating his stay, is the presence of the strange teenager his grandfather seems to have befriended. Trevor hopes that Callie holds the answers to the mysterious circumstances of his grandfathers death. But Callie refuses to be forthcoming until a crisis triggers a race against time to discover the truth.
Surprisingly I’ve only read one other novel by Sparks, The Longest Ride, which absolutely blew me away. That was an emotional love story full of immersive descriptive prose, which leads me to wonder what went awry with this story.
The Return took a long while to get going, and whilst I am often fond of a saga this one just didn’t fulfil that style. The romance felt a little forced, it wasn’t believable and the all-consuming, one time love that Sparks’ has become renowned for was missing. The only part of the story that held any real emotion were Trevor’s memories of his grandfather, and the way he tended to the beehives in his honour.
All that being said, this wasn’t a bad or unreadable story. At no point did I find myself bored, or consider not finishing this book. It is probably perfect if you fancy a beach read with a little more going on, but it wasn’t the intense and lifelong love story we have come to expect from Nicholas Sparks.
* Thanks to Little Brown Book Group UK, via NEtGalley for this ARC *
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