Safe Haven

Book:  Safe Haven

Author:  Nicholas Sparks

When a mysterious young woman named Katie appears in the small North Carolina town of Southport, her sudden arrival raises questions about her past.  Beautiful yet self-effacing, Katie seems determined to avoid forming personal ties until a series of events draws her into two relucant relationships: one with Alex, a widowed store owner with a kind heart & 2 younger children; and another with her plainspoken single neighbor, Jo.  Despire her reservations, Katie slowly begins to let down her guard, putting down roots in the close-knit community & becoming increasingly attached to Alex & his family.

But even as Katie begins to fall in love, she struggles with the dark secret that still haunts & terrifes her... a past that set her on a fearful, shattering journey across the country, to the sheltered oasis of Southport. With Jo's empathetic & stubborn support, Katie eventually realizes that she must choose between a life of transient safety & one of riskier rewards... & that in the darkest hour, love is the only true safe haven.

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First Sentence:  As Katie wound her way among the tables, a breeze from the Atlantic rippled through her hair.

I've always been a Nicholas Sparks fan.  So when I see he has a new book out, I have to check it out.
Reading the inside cover (see above) - I could already figure out how the story was going to go... honestly, most "love stories" are fairly predictable...

What I wasnt prepared for was the intensity of the story.  This story deals with physical abuse in a marriage Katie is running from.  (I dont feel that is giving away much of the story.... you could figure out this early in the story) ... but the story reminded me so much of the movie, "Sleeping with the Enemy" with Julia Roberts... it was all I could envision while reading it.

I dont do well with stories of physical abuse... it sickens me... it makes me angry... I dont understand it...so needless to say, I had a lot of emotion reading this book.

The story would flip back & forth to the story of Katie & then to her husband who was looking for her, Kevin.  Honestly, I had to skip parts of the story of Kevin, because it was so neurotic - crazed!!!!  The story was very straight on on reflecting the crazed mind this man had... & it made me a nervous wreck...

The book is a beautiful love story of a family, Alex with his children finding Katie & how they all love each other... the new relationships between the two of them & Katie & the children... that part was precious... but then it would flip into the madness of a mind of a psychopath... & then the meeting of the two.  I literally couldnt put down the book in the last 100 pages to see how it would end.

In the end, it wasnt Mr. Sparks best book...("A walk to remember" is still my favorite!!!) - it was a gripping read... but the end also had a unique twist that some might enjoy - I personally thought it was corny (I wont give any of that away) - but that along with the frantic mind of Kevin, I was anxious to just get to the ending...

My Rating:  3 skeins

Last Sentence:  She knew what she believed