Esta review (já sei) vai ser motivo de risota... (aviso já é que é longa só para eu esclarecer que não o li totalmente de livre vontade!!!!)
Primeiro porque é um autor que eu não gosto e segundo porque as minhas amigas, sabendo que eu o li, não vão deixar de me gozar...
Há muito tempo eu li o 1º livro deste senhor (Message in a Bottle) e, tendo gostado, 'caí na asneira' de comentar esse facto com uma cunhada. O que aconteceu foi que ela, a partir daí, resolveu começar a oferecer-mos TODOS e a verdade verdadinha é que quem lê dois não precisa de ler mais nenhum. E olhem eu li mais do que dois! Agora escusam é de mos pedir porque eu já os libertei via BookCrossing...

Esta situação virou piada e há sempre uma "Amiga" por perto (leia-se : Ana O. ou Dona Fantasma) que adora ameaçar-me que se eu não me porto bem 'levo com um Sparks em cima'... *suspiro*

Ora, sabendo que eu gosto de ler e vendo-me sempre com um livro atrás, a mãe de um colega do karaté do meu filho levou, na semana passada, 3 livros para me emprestar. Um deles era este. Neste domingo, tendo os miúdos prova de karaté eu, convencida que ia encontrar-me com a Senhora, levava já este para lho devolver com a desculpa (mentirosa)que já o tinha lido.
Como a dita senhora acabou por não aparecer e eu estava a apanhar uma valente seca (que durou das 9 da manhã até às duas da tarde) digam-me lá o que é que acham que uma pessoa, que gosta de ler, e tem um livro na mão, fazia?!
Li o livro pois! *suspiro*

E o que eu vos disse anteriormente?
Que chegava ler dois verdade?! Pronto, então é isso...
Não precisei de ler mais do que 30 páginas para perceber quem é que ia ficar com quem, que o cão ia morrer e que o Richard não seria boa peça.
Mas pronto, no meio de tanta *%§#+ eu até posso dizer-vos que achei piada ao cão. Agora, se me perguntarem se vale a pena ler o livro eu vou fingir que não ouvi a vossa pergunta... ok?
;)

Wow, me encantó el libro. Tiene muchos elementos que te mantendrán atrapada/o: amor, risa (el gran danés, Singer) y suspenso. La primera vez que Sparks se adentra en el suspenso/romance. Lo mas que amé del libro fue Singer.

Julie a los 25 años pierde a su esposo y poco después recibe un regalo de su parte: un cachorro, Singer. Pasan cuatro años y ella decide que es tiempo de darse una nueva oportunidad en el amor. Conoce algunos hombres, sin saber que frente a ella tiene a Mike, el mejor amigo de su esposo. Aunque también está Richard, un hombre muy apuesto que esconde algo. Y no contaré más para evitar el spoiler. En el libro pasan muchas cosas interesantes, que hará que sea casi imposible despegarte de la lectura, en mi caso del audiolibro. Creo que seguiré leyendo a Nicholas Sparks. Nunca lo había leído, pero si he visto sus películas.

The Guardian. A novel that included not only the genre of romanticism but the theme of love and danger.
What can I say? I was captivated by this book. This book was different from any of Nicholas Sparks' novels. The fact that it was a love story between two good old friends is the kind of love story that interests me. I felt that Mike and Julie's realisation for their love for each other was beautiful and I love how they acted naturally in sync. And the fact that there was a bad guy from the beginning till the end was another interesting thing about the book. The whole time i was reading the book it was as if i was watching a really good movie. It was easy for me to imagine the scenes and the music. I must say that Richard's character was developing slowly but in a good way. Page by page you can see that he slowly begins to show the real him. And I don't want to spoil it for you guys, but what I can say is this: If you're looking for a romantic story that is not predictable nor cheesy and that it involves an element of danger and suspense then you've got the right book.
The book was well written .. the story was different .. The story had elements of familiarity with the different characters that I could easily see in our normal everyday life. i also enjoyed reading about the basic interactions with Julie and her dog, Singer. How is it possible that I fell in love with a dog that doesn't exist?
In conclusion, Nicholas Sparks has captivated my emotions and he has done a job well-done at that I may add.
If i were to rate this book from a million, I'd give it two million stars! If that sounded stupid I apologise.

Okay so I think this book was veryyyy different from Sparks' other novels! I mean, everyone knows the main theme of his novels is always love, but mixing it with danger, having elements of suspense and generally stepping into the thriller genre is what I liked the most about this book.

Para esta foto tenía en mente un modelo más fiero y apropiado para el personaje del libro, un gran danés, pero Toqui es un candidato esquivo a las fotos y no logré conseguir que posara. Nalet, en cambio, se deja fotografiar de mala gana si insisto un montón. Estoy segura que si el fuera Singer, el gran danés, habría sido incluso mejor guardián que él. Sparks entrega un thriller más crudo que Safe Haven, más oscuro y angustiante. Diría que esta novela casi, sólo casi, escapa de la categoría de novela romántica. Un libro entretenido para devorar. Con pañuelos desechables cerca. No apto para personas sensibles o dog lovers. #elguardian #nicholassparks

Abgebrochen auf Seite 83.

Das erste Nicholas Sparks Buch seit 7 Jahren. Wieso genau fand ich seine Romane damals so toll? Ich kann es wirklich nicht mehr sagen…

Die Storyline wäre vielleicht noch interessant geworden, aber die Charaktere sind dermaßen klischeehaft und eindimensional, dass es kaum auszuhalten war.

Die junge, hübsche Andrea in ihren Miniröcken ist selbstverständlich - trotz abgeschlossene Ausbildung - inkompetent in ihrem Job und absolut naiv, wenn es um die Liebe geht: Bad Boys mit Tattoos und Harleys.

Julie, unsere Hauptprotagonistin, ist natürlich klug, hübsch und kompetent in ihrem Job - ohne abgeschlossene Ausbildung -, macht sich nichts aus Äußerlichkeiten und trägt deswegen „Schlapper-Look“. Trotzdem können sich zwei charmante Männer nicht von ihr fern halten, weil sie etwas ✨besonderes✨ ist. Ugh. No thank you.

I admit, Nicholas Sparks got me with The Notebook. I was 22, sitting alone in the back of my parents car coming home to Pennsylvania after visiting relatives in Illinois, and I devoured the whole thing, sobbing so much my parents almost pulled over the car. He totally got me, reeled me in. Hook. Line. Sinker.

The man is smart. He knows his prey...er, audience very well, knows exactly what "bait" to dangle in front of them. People fall in love, BIG, GRAND, EPIC ROMANCE LOVE. Throw in some horrible tragedy/obstacle/terminal illness. Add a bunch of corny, cheesy platitudes. Then drop thousand pound anvil of Major Life Lesson That Must Be Learned...over and over and over...and over again. Lather, rinse, repeat. Voila! Best-selling author.

I would be lying if I said I didn't fall for this kind of formulaic writing. It's needed. Sometimes you just need predictable, romantic cheese. Obviously, or Nick Sparks wouldn't be a gazillion-jazillion-aire, or whatever. I won't pretend to be a literary snob who looks down on this genre of books. I have guilty pleasures, and I indulge. You all know you do, too.

HOWEVER. This book is UNNECESSARY. And EVIL. PURE EVIL.

And here's the part where I also won't pretend to be a rational human being when it comes to animals, or more specifically, animals of the canine variety. My husband and I have no children. Instead, we have three dogs. All rescues. I am one of Those Crazy Dog People. So, I will forewarn you, and fully admit, that my Absolute Hate of this book is fueled by my completely irrational and 5 year-old belief that Dogs Do Not Die. EVER. AT ALL. Even happily from old age (MARLEY I AM LOOKING AT YOU).

I mean, at 5 years-old, I bawled and my mom had to remove me from the movie theater during The Fox and the Hound because "We'll always be friends. FOREVER.". Except when I get older and have to hunt you down and kill you. LIES. ALL LIES. And no animals, dog or fox, were even killed in that movie.

So I'm assuming, if you've read this book, you get (from my looooong disclaimer) why I hurled it across the room when Nicholas Sparks went and MURDERED THE DOG. It's not enough to POISON him. No, to just make this book even that much more DRAMATIC, let's SHOOT HIM TOO. But, it'll be okay, because he died protecting his humans from a crazy stalker and his humans get to live Happily Ever After because of how brave the dog was. And that just makes it all better, doesn't it?

Um, no?

Is it wrong that I've rewritten the ending in my head where all the humans (It's been so long since I've read this, I've forgotten names)--Main Character, Love Interest, Crazy Stalker--all end up dead because they are humans and adults and they all should know better than to allow THEMSELVES, let alone an innocent dog, to get mixed up in all this stupid drama. And the dog MIRACULOUSLY lives and gets HIS Happily Ever After with a nice, stable family, who are smart enough not to get mixed up with Crazy Stalkers, and who have two children for him to play with and a big, fenced-in backyard.

That might be wrong of me, but I've already admitted my irrational love of dogs so my alternate ending shouldn't have been a surprise.

I apologize because I can't really offer any rational critique of this book. That all went out the window the moment he MURDERED THE DOG. I am way too blinded by my hate of this to offer anything else even remotely constructive or informative.

I haven't read another Nick Sparks book since The Guardian. And that was about seven or eight years ago. Have I mentioned I also hold irrational grudges against authors who murder dogs? This Grudge is so strong, I don't care what kind of cheesy bait he dangles, I will never bite again. Completely irrational, I know. But I like living in Irrational City. Dogs don't die there.

Me ha gustado mucho cómo fue llevada la trama.
Sin lugar a dudas, ahora que lo terminé, puedo decir que se convirtió en uno de mis libros favoritos de Nicholas Sparks, entre thriller y novela rosa.
Me ha gustado la personalidad de cada personaje, fueron muy bien desarrollados, sin caer en la exageración de detalles, siento que nos dio la información necesaria de cada uno.
Aunque he de decir que era muy obvio quién sería o era el guardián...
Es la primera vez que lo leo en inglés, y me gustó más que en español.

WHY DID SINGER HAVE TO DIE?????

I love Nicholas Sparks, but this was like a Lifetime Movie. Too corny and a predictable.

4 stelle

Molto emozionante

I thought that this book was okay