Notes from BookCrossing: Just finished this one. I was going to clean in my office a bit and then finish it up tonight, but with the stalker in it, I decided to read it while it was light out, as my husband is out of town :)

I wasn't sure what to expect, as I saw the movie "Message in a Bottle" (hated it), the previews for "The Notebook" (but haven't read the book or seen the movie yet), saw "A Walk to Remember" (liked it, but it was slow and almost too sweet), and I have "Nights in Rodanthe" in the pile of books to be read.

I didn't have any pre-conceived notions about this one, so thought it might be a good light one to read while my book club is going through Catch-22. Problem is we just started that (read the first 10 chapters for yesterday's meeting), and I've already finished this. Guess I'll have to find something else. . .

Anyway, I liked this, in a odd romance/mystery novel sort of way. I actually liked it better when I read the author's notes at the end where he mentions having always wanted to write a book about a dog :)

The characters were pretty believable and I found myself really caring for them, even if the story was fairly predictable from almost the first chapter.

The best part was the description in the prologue, of how Julie felt after losing her husband. It was so totally accurate, I know the author has either lost someone close to him, or asked someone who has how it feels:

If people asked how she was doing, she simply shrrugged. But sometimes, just sometimes, she had the urge to answer. You want to know what it was like to lose my husband? she wanted to ask. Here's what it's like. Jim's dead, and now that he's gone, I feel like I'm dead, too. Is that, Julie wondered, what people wanted to hear? Or did they want platitudes? I'll be okay. It's hard, but I'll make it through this. Thank you for asking. She could do the brave soldier routine, she supposed, but she never had. It was both easier and more honest to simply shrug and say nothing.

This is a good, quick read.

Que decir? 5 Estrellas no le hacen merito a este libro, necesitaría una mas sin dudas. Una historia que al comienzo no vislumbra lo que termina siendo. Con unas historias de amor, o casi, que parecen un tanto bobas... hasta que se empieza a revelar sutilmente la verdadera intención del autor.
Lo único que le cambiaría es el final, una parte del mismo en realidad. Singer. Y no voy a decir más porque no quiero que esta breve reseña tenga spoilers. No me gusta.
Me ha mantenido en vilo hasta el final, y hasta he llorado. Como pocas veces me sucede, es un libro para recomendar, sin duda alguna.


What can I say? 5 stars do not merit this book, it would need one more at least. A story that at first does not glimpse what ends up being. With love stories, or almost, that seems a bit silly ... until the author's true intention begins to be subtly revealed.
The only thing that would change in it, is the end, a part of it actually. Singer. And I will not say more because I do not want this brief review to have spoilers. I do not like.
It has kept me on edge until the end, and I've even cried. As rarely happens to me, it is a book to recommend, without a doubt.

Ik heb met deze een stuk of 11 boeken van Nicholas Sparks gelezen maar man man man wat is deze spannend. Het gaat in zijn verhalen wel vaker over iemand die zijn/ haar partner verliest. Maar deze heeft net dat tandje extra spanning die op het einde echt heel voelbaar is.

Julie verliest haar partner en ondanks dat ze niet weer verdrietig wil zijn gast ze daten. Haar laatste date Richard is de enigste waarmee ze meer dan 2 date heeft. En ondanks dat hij zo vriendelijk is voelt ze de liefde niet ze weet ook niet of die gast komen. Richard is het tegenovergestelde van Mike een vriend die ze al heel lang kent. Uiteindelijk besluit ze met Mike en niet Richard verder te gaan maar of dat nu zo slim is.

Vanaf het moment dat Richard in het verhaal komt vind ik hem al een raar geval. En hoe verder het verhaal vorderde hoe enger ik hem ging vinden waarom dat zo is vertel ik natuurlijk niet dat met je zelf maar lezen.

3.5 Rounded Up. This one brings us a Stalker obsessed. The story was really good but had a few holes. I loved how protective Singer was and the walk up between Julie and Mike. That ending could have used some work.

yeah, there's a spoiler in here. so stop reading if you don't wanna know.

yep. sparks does it again, sucks, that is.
he kills off a dog this time, if memory serves me right. I think that's all he's got... try to make a love story so sweet you need insulin. and then WHAM! Death! yeah, get out your kleenex you sorry bastards!

that's right Sparks, kill 'em all! must be a metallica fan.

I may even give 4.5. Tear jerker for me.

Perfecto, perfecto, y simplemente perfecto.
De las historias de Sparks que he leído, esta ha sido, de lejos, la mejor.

Un lugar donde refugiarse me encanto, pero El guardián no tiene comparación.
Que el 90% del libro sea suspenso, pero que Nicholas no haya dejado de lado el romanticismo del que estamos acostumbrados en su libros, es simplemente maravilloso.

He tratado de buscar algo malo del libro, y la verdad no lo encuentro. Solo tengo cosas buenas que decir. Y es que no pueden imaginar todo lo que he fangirleado con esta obra. Contiene suspenso, el cual es uno de mis géneros favoritos, está escrita por uno de mis autores favoritos y tiene un final, que aunque desgarrador, es perfecto. ¿Qué más se puede pedir?

Saccharine! Predictable! This is the first Sparks novel I've read and I don't understand (from this first exposure anyway) WHY this man is a bestselling author. I just didn't get the appeal... Spoiler: the "Guardian" is the dog. THE DOG. I mean, anytime the dog has to save the day, is this good?

My son got me a copy of The Guardian by Nicholas Sparks for Christmas. It surprised me he was able to find a dog book I hadn’t heard of. I did not know that Sparks wrote a book with a dog in it, and having enjoyed the movie The Notebook, and knowing he has a lot of popular books out there, my expectation was high. Unfortunately, while I did overall enjoy reading the book, there were elements I did not like.

Mr. Sparks is great at writing about people coming together, forming relationships, and falling in love. Some of the early parts of the relationship between main characters, Julie, and Mike, was not as interesting to me, but I did enjoy when love finally blossomed. The banter between them would make me laugh at times and felt very natural. I especially liked this passage where Mike is thinking about how he fell in love with Julie:

‘He still wasn’t sure exactly how it had happened. After Jim had been gone for a while, he knew that. But he couldn’t pin it down any more than that. It wasn’t as if a light had suddenly blinked on; it was more like a sunrise, where the sky grows lighter and lighter, almost imperceptibly, before you realized it was morning.’

Another thing I liked about the book was how it was set in North Carolina, which I have now made my home. I love North Carolina. At one point the police officer Jennifer talks about what her father thinks of her joining a Police force here:

‘Her father, though proud she was “joining up with the good guys,” was aghast that she was doing it in North Carolina. “They all chew tobacco and eat grits and call every woman darlin’. How’s a nice Italian girl like you going to fit down there?”

Only she had fit in, oddly enough. It was much better than she’d expected so far, especially the people, who—get this—were so friendly that they waved to strangers while driving.’

I can relate to the friendly people, including waving to strangers in cars, although I have yet to see anyone chewing tobacco or call anyone darlin’.

In the Author’s note, he talks about what is different about this book, in that he wanted to write a thriller, a type of book he had not written before, with a theme of love and danger. He goes on to say, ‘The Challenge with The Guardian, then, was the find the right balance between the two elements and to pace the story accordingly, so that the reader never lost sight of what the novel really was – a love story between two regular people who find they’ve crossed paths with the wrong sort of person.’

I think he did get the pacing of the book right. My main problem was there were aspects of the story I just didn’t like.

First, I found the story of a dangerous stalker to just be the same as a lot of thriller shows I have watched in movies on TV. So, I didn’t find anything unique about this thriller.

Second, I think Mr. Sparks did a great job getting into the head of our villain, but that part of the ride was just not pleasant to me.

Third, is that anyone that knows me, knows I am all about reading books on dogs, and while there is one in this book, I didn’t like where they take the dog in the book. Early in the book there is this paragraph where you would think the dog is going to be unrealistically extraordinary:

‘Not that Singer’s behavior had ever been . . . well, ordinary. Except for the peeing thing, the dog had always acted as if he thought he were human. He refused to eat out of a dog bowl, he’d never needed a leash, and when Julie watched television, he would crawl up on the couch and stare at the screen. And when she talked to him—whenever anyone talked to him, for that matter—Singer would stare intently, his head tilted to the side, as if he were following the conversation. And half the time, it did seem as if he understood what she was telling him. No matter what she told him to do, no matter how ridiculous the command, Singer would carry it out. Could you go get my purse from the bedroom? Singer would come trot. ting out with it a moment later. Will you turn off the bedroom light? He’d balance on two legs and flick it with his nose. Put this can of soup in the pantry, okay? He’d carry it in his mouth and set it on the shelf. Sure, other dogs were well trained, but not like this. Besides, Singer hadn’t needed training. Not real training, anyway. All she’d had to do was show him something once and that was it. To others it seemed downright eerie, but since it made Julie feel like a modem day Dr. Dolittle, she kind of liked it.’

Nice paragraph, but they never raise the dog to that height again in the rest of the book. There is Just normal stuff a dog would do to growl or bark at suspicious people or noises. Then an obligatory save in the end with an unrealistic extra challenge thrown in.

There is a lot of people who really don’t like dog books when Kleenex is needed at the end. That doesn’t necessarily bother me when it makes sense, but what does bother me is when things are not unexpected, and when the characters do things that are stupid. For example, if you were worried about someone coming after you, and your dog had protected you from that person in the past, would you allow the dog to go out for a while on his own?

As I mentioned, I enjoyed reading the book, I guess I was just disappointed it wasn’t better.

The Guardian by Nicholas Sparks has over 150,000 reviews!! Why am I just now making my way through his books when I love him so much!?!?! This is a touching love story about Julie who’s husband passed away and after several years - in walks Richard to her hair salon where she works. They start to date only to find her husband’s brother (who has been her best friend for years!) seems interested in her now too. I loved this book as it is a romance and a thriller all rolled up into one!! Once again, he knocks it out of the park and I wish I had read it sooner!!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️- for Singer

Speachless.. Literally speachless.. Nicholas Sparks is a natural!! Every time I finish a book of his, I keep on saying it's the best, but ALL OF THEM ARE BEAUTIFULY AMAZING!!!! Mike, Richard, singer, jim.. Everything was soo beautiful.. Richard was sexy, seductive,yet somehow pshycopathic. Mike such a darling sweetheart, every girl would die to have such a boyfriend who loves you so much to the extent that at the last second of his life, when he was one step away from death, he gathered himself because he didn't want to die and leave Julia and realization struck him that if he dies, Julie will get killed by Richard (Robert). Nicholas, ur books give me great emotion.. At the end of every book I read from Nicholas, I was always left breathless and with tears rolling down my face.. I'd hug the book and stare into space.. Amazing.. Nicholas Sparks, you're the best <3