This was my second Nicholas Sparks book that I read per my mother’s pick for me in our little family challenge we have going on. I enjoyed this book much more than “A Walk To Remember”. This story started off slow at first, I was waiting for something to happen. And it was a little predictable at times as well. Spark’s writing also has a tad too many cliches and old fashioned sayings for my taste, but I guess I am younger than his intended target audience of more so middle aged women, so what can I expect?

But I did enjoy the story. It was certainly different than what I expected it to be. This was also different in the way where I feel it was a romance as equally as it was a thriller. And usually, a story is predominately one or the other when it comes to that. The ending was very sad, I felt like that one thing didn’t NEED to happen! But nonetheless, I did enjoy the story and I will perhaps pick up some more of his books in the future.

Worum geht es?: Vier Jahre nach dem tragischen Tod ihres Mannes fühlt sich Julie bereit für eine neue Beziehung. Zwei Verehrer werben um ihre Liebe: der charmante, weltgewandte Richard und der schüchterne Mike. Als Julie schließlich ihre Wahl trifft, glaubt sie, ihr Glück gefunden zu haben. Doch die rasende Eifersucht des Zurückgewiesenen verwandelt ihr Leben in einen Albtraum.

Der Schreibstil: Die Geschichte wurde (wie die meisten Bücher von Nicholas Sparks) aus der Erzähler-Perspektive geschrieben. Der Schreibstil hat mir super gefallen. Selbst Nebencharaktere sind super ausgearbeitet und finden ihren Platz in der Geschichte. Anfangs braucht die Geschichte ein wenig, um ins Rollen zu kommen, aber dann nimmt es an Fahrt auf. Besonders das letzte Drittel war so spannend, dass ich das Buch nicht aus der Hand legen wollte. Das Buch hat die richtige Portion Romantik und Spannend.

Die Hauptfiguren: Julie ist eine junge Frau, welche ihren Mann verloren hat. Sie möchte nun nach 4 Jahren endlich wieder einen Partner finden. Julie ist sehr sympathische Frau, mit der ich schnell eine Bindung aufbauen konnte. Sie lässt sich nicht unterbuttern. Ihre besonders enge Bindung zu ihrem Hund Singer war einfach nur herzzerreißend.

Mike ist ein Mann, welcher durch seine letzte Beziehung sehr vorsichtig in der Liebe geworden ist. Er ist schon seit geraumer Zeit in Julia verliebt, traut sich aber nicht, ihr seine Gefühle zu gestehen.

Richard ist ein gebildeter Mann. Er umgarnt Julie und legt ihr die Welt zu Füßen. Besonders seine Vergangenheit war sehr interessant mitzuverfolgen und bis ins kleinste Detail perfekt ausgearbeitet.

Endfazit: Dies ist mal wieder ein Buch von Nicholas Sparks, welches mich rundum begeistert hat. Anfangs habe ich etwas gebraucht, um in die Geschichte reinzukommen. Als dann aber die Geschichte immer mehr und mehr ins Rollen gekommen ist, konnte ich das Buch nicht mehr aus der Hand legen. Super ausgearbeitete Charaktere und eine spannende Geschichte. Eine große Leseempfehlung!

Das Buch erhält von mir begeisterte 5 von 5 Sterne.

One of my favorite Nicholas Sparks' books. The main character falls in love with her long time friend after losing her husband at a very young age. I love the romance concept of the book and the slow realization of Julie as she comes to love Mike. It is also a nice concept of her lost husband watching over her and letting go when he sees she is finally at peace without him. Romance stories are more fascinating to me when the main characters are already friends who fall in love.

4.5 ⭐
Me ha gustado toda la historia, la trama... pero mi gran pega ha sido la narración que ha sido demasiado plana. No distinguía los personajes entre ellos la entonación era bastante defectuosa y es mi mayor pega

Este foi o primeiro livro que li de Nicholas Sparks, que é hoje um dos meus autores favoritos!
Trata-se de um romance comovente com contornos policiais, recheado de ação e suspense. A não perder!

The Guardian by Nicholas Sparks is a combination of a love story and a thriller with a dog thrown in. The main character is Julie, a young widow who works at a salon and finally decides to date four years after her husband died. Her husband, Jim, left her a letter and arranged for her to get a Great Dane puppy in the event of his death which I thought was a pretty neat idea. The dog was his way of watching out for her. After the Prologue, this book poked along for me until about half way through when the psycho stalks her and she realizes she is in danger. I liked "The Guardian" because of the dog involved watching out for Julie.

BEWARE: SPOILER AHEAD--STOP HERE IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE BOOK!

The ending was pretty intense but I didn't like that the dog died. I think Julie should have went for the gun when her dog grabbed the guys arm instead of letting him shoot her dog. I get that the dog was like a guardian angel and once Richard was dead, she'd have Mike and live happily ever after and the dog's "job" was done. I just think the dog could have lived too--I would have liked that ending better.

I know what your thinking... How can Reed read a nicholas sparks book... very simple... I don't think you can bad mouth something until you have tried it. so I read a sparks novel. I have to admit it was entertaining. It was also very cheesy and the very end was about the biggest pile of tripe i have ever layed eyes on.

The guardian is another great book by Nicholas Sparks. Though I must say he has done better work I still enjoyed reading this one. Like the majority of his books the sadness of death is expressed through his writing. I must say though, at the beginning of the book the story was pretty slow and didn't completely have my attention unlike say The Last Song or Dear John. But by the middle of the book it had me completely captivated! I just couldn't put it down. The whole mysterious Richard story and true self becoming unveiled. It is also not just about love between people, but the bond between a girl and her dog. It tells about the true loyalty and friendship between Julie and her dog Singer. And how he fought tp save her to the very end. This book though slow in the beginning was pretty good and I recommend it to others whom enjoy thrillers, with romance etc.

متاسفم آقای اسپارکس که کتابتونو رها میکنم
این دنیای گل و بلبل شما جایی واسه من نداره
من خیلی وقته که دیگه به عشق باور ندارم و منتظرش هم نیستم
مگه چیزی میتونه هزار بار اتفاق بیفته و اوریجینال باشه؟
هوا و هوسی که به اسم عشق به خوردمون میدن، اینکه همه چیز و همه کس رو با هم و در یک زمان میخوان، از هر نفر کمی؛ اینها توی کتم نمیره آقای اسپارکس!
این کثافتی که به اسم عشق سرتاپامونو پوشونده.
کنار این یکی میخوابیم و عاشقانه‌هامونو توی گوش اون یکی میخونیم و دهنمون به توجیه بازه.
این نصفه نیمه ها... اینا که عشق نیست آقای اسپارکس!
کتابتون رو جایی وسط تنها قدم زدن‌هام جا میذارم
برسه به دست کسی که هنوز به عشق و معجزه اعتقاد داره و براش اتفاقای خوب بیاره و نجاتش بده.
ما که توی مرداب زندگی غرق شدیم آقای اسپارکس...

4.5 Stars Rounded Up!

Review to come later.

A classic story of a crazy new guy, the guy she obviously will end up with, plus a dog. There is no profoundness. This being the second Sparks novel I read, I’m close to giving up. His writing style is not for me. It’s very straight forward and simplistic. Not what I expect from a national bestseller.

Estoy destrozada... no tengo palabras. Es mi primera vez leyendo una historia de Nicholas Sparks y me ha tocado muy profundo, ahorita estoy hecha un mar de lágrimas.