Product Description

Miles Ryan's life seemed to end the day his wife was killed in a hit-and-run accident two years ago. As deputy sheriff of New Bern, North Carolina, he not only grieves for her and worries about their young son Jonah but longs to bring the unknown driver to justice. Then Miles meets Sarah Andrews, Jonah's second-grade teacher. A young woman recovering from a difficult divorce, Sarah moved to New Bern hoping to start over. Tentatively, Miles and Sarah reach out to each other...soon they are falling in love. But what neither realizes is that they are also bound together by a shocking secret, one that will force them to reexamine everything they believe in-including their love.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4804 in Books
• Published on: 2002-07-01
• Released on: 2002-07-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 368 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780446611862
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers Weekly
Sweet, accessible, uplifting and predictable, the latest love story from Sparks (The Notebook) leaves the reader with just one burning question: Why is this consummate beach book being published in the fall? The nearly thwarted but eventually triumphant romance of deputy sheriff Miles Ryan and second-grade teacher Sarah Andrews goes down as easily as marshmallow fluff and offers about as much real nourishment. Miles's high school sweetheart, Missy, was killed in an unsolved hit and run accident, leaving him to raise their son, Jonah, in New Bern, N.C. Sarah's politically ambitious husband, Michael, dumped her when her ovaries proved inactive, and she fled to New Bern to teach, and love, other people's kids. Miles and Sarah meet at a parent-teacher conference, and the sparks fly. But there's a fly in the ointment as well; an italicized voice threaded among the happy chapters alerts us that Missy's death was caused by someone whose identity, if revealed, could destroy Miles and Sarah's newfound joy. In Sparks's heaven, clouds exist to make silver linings look the brighter. As tough truth shadows their landscape, Miles and Sarah find depths within themselves, and their rekindled light illumines all. New Bern becomes a city of the reborn. Charlie Curtis, Miles's stickler boss, learns to bend; Missy's aimless killer morphs into a healer; and Jonah once again knows a mother's love. The opposite of edgy, with simple sentences and soft-pedaled sex, Sparks's plain vanilla morality will doubtless sell like ice cream on a steamy day. (Sept.)Forecast: Major television and print advertising and an 18-city author tour will broadcast Sparks's latest from the rooftops; expect instant bestsellerdom.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
A man loses his wife, lives in a haze, and then finds healing new love until the secrets start popping. nonfiction
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Love and death are constant companions in Sparks' books, and this one is no exception. Miles Ryan, deputy sheriff of New Bern, North Carolina, had married his high-school sweetheart, Missy, and was living a charmed life when tragedy struck. In 1986, Missy was killed by a car on an isolated road while she was out jogging, and the driver was never found. Two years later, Miles is still haunted by the lack of closure and only recently has shown signs of overcoming his grief. The only bright spot in his life is his seven-year-old son, Jonah, who is now having trouble in school. Then Miles meets Jonah's teacher, Sarah Andrews, and is drawn to her. A newcomer to town, she has moved to be near her family and to escape from a disastrous divorce. The two broken souls recognize each other's fragility as they work together to help Jonah. They embark on a serious relationship, which is sorely tested after Miles receives a tip about Missy's accident. In his determination to find the culprit, he throws his training out the door in his crazed his pursuit for justice. Anyone who disagrees with him or his methods is perceived as the enemy, including his boss and friend, and Sarah, who tries to be the voice of reason. Once again, Sparks brings a powerful tale of true love to fruition, proving that love stories can be sweet without being cloying. Patty Engelmann
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Customer Reviews

Sparks Delivers A Warm, Comforting Book for Romantics
If you love a love story, cry over broken hearts, and savor the coziness of small-town life, this book is tailor-made for you. I absolutely loved the story of Miles Ryan and his young son Jonah. Their wife and mother, Missy, is struck down by a hit-and-run driver, sending waves of loneliness through the lives of Miles and Jonah. Miles, as deputy sheriff of his small North Carolina town, feels doubly saddened by his failure to find his wife's killer and bring him to justice.

When Jonah has trouble at school, Sarah, Jonah's teacher, enters Miles' life and he begins to feel the stirrings of romance once again. Unfortunately, Sarah harbors a secret that destroyed her first marriage, and later discovers an amazing coincidence that shatters her new-found happiness with Miles and Jonah.

Written with passion and simplicity, this wonderful book also has tones of Mary Higgins Clark, as readers are able to spend several chapters in the mind of the as-yet-unknown driver of the car who killed Missy. The mystery of unveiling the hit-and-run driver coupled with the romance of Sarah and Miles makes this a comforting, curl-up-and-read pleasure for fall.

What happens to your mind when your world falls apart
That is what Miles Ryan is up against after the death of his wife Missy by an unknown hit and run driver. Sparks has introduced the driver to us via a series of “italicized” chapters sporadically interspersed within the story as a whole. I enjoyed this aspect of the book and was always pleased to see another chapter by this individual who would reveal a little bit more about the person who perpetrated the crime.

Jonah Ryan is a little boy who has lost his mom and been allowed to slip back in his school work out of pity for his loss. Sarah, his new teacher makes friends with the Ryan family when she offers to work with him after school. Sarah and Miles make fast and easy friends, and Miles starts to have feelings that he thought would be long dead after losing Missy. It is when life is back on track for the first time in two years that his world is blown apart, and the madness begins.

This is an excellent book and I would rate it 4.5. Sparks’ books are warm and touching but the edge of madness is done well in this particular book. Something to watch for is the up and coming movie “A Walk to Remember” based on another Nicholas Sparks novel that just grabbed me by the heart. (...)

BEAUTIFULLY WRITTEN AND ENRICHED WITH STRONG EMOTION!
This is, without question, the most beautifully written book from Sparks since "Message in a Bottle." It is a story of loss and new-found love. Miles is still grieving the loss of his wife in a hit-and-run accident, and struggling with the day-to-day challenges of raising a son on his own. When Sarah Andrews enters his life, Miles is filled with a variety of mixed emotions from guilt and a sense of betrayal to his dead wife, to the earthy qualities of love and passion for an attractive, alluring woman. Sarah, too, is dealing with her own demons of the past. Just as fate has blessed these two people with the chance to find happiness, solace and love together, and put the past to rest, their love and relationship are both tested to the limit.

This is a book fans of Sparks will not want to miss. Also highly recommended by another Nicholas - Nicholas Evans, is "Smoke Jumper." Both are excellent books, destined to become best sellers and deserving of five-star ratings.