In the spring of 1984, high school students Amanda Collier and Dawson Cole fell deeply, irrevocably in love. Though they were from opposite sides of the tracks, their love for one another seemed to defy the realities of life in the small town of Oriental, North Carolina. But as the summer of their senior year came to a close, unforeseen events would tear the young couple apart, setting them on radically divergent paths.

Now, twenty-five years later, Amanda and Dawson are summoned back to Oriental for the funeral of Tuck Hostetler, the mentor who once gave shelter to their high school romance. Neither has lived the life they imagined . . . and neither can forget the passionate first love that forever changed their lives. As Amanda and Dawson carry out the instructions Tuck left behind for them, they realize that everything they thought they knew -- about Tuck, about themselves, and about the dreams they held dear -- was not as it seemed. Forced to confront painful memories, the two former lovers will discover undeniable truths about the choices they have made. And in the course of a single, searing weekend, they will ask of the living, and the dead: Can love truly rewrite the past?

" You never forget your first love"

I've seen the movie a long time ago. And I must admit I've shed a few tears with it. Okay to be honest it was more than a few tears, it was kind of like an ocean. I loved it so much! So I definitely needed to read the book the movie was based on. So I did and wow, what a rollercoaster!

The author blew us away once again with a tragic love story about two lost lovers who reunite after a long time. It was so beautiful! We get to know Amanda and Dawson and the lives they are living at the moment. They're not living their fairytale lives they once dreamed of. They are reunited after a long time and the memories come back all at once. We are reliving the memories of the long lost lovers. They haven't changed after such a long time and they found out their love for each other never died. We can feel the magic between them and their love grows stronger after spending a weekend together.

The story shows you that you can't erase your history even though you really want to. Dawson carries a lot of history with him and he is haunted by the ghosts of his past. It is killing him slowly from the inside and he is drowning in his emotions of love and guilt. I loved this character so much! It's such a strong character and you start falling for him like Amanda did. Amanda shows you that you sometimes have to sacrifice yourself for your family and your loved ones.

There are a couple of smaller characters introduced that each tells a smaller story that contributes to the bigger one of Dawson and Amanda. I think this was a nice touch to the story, because at the end you can see that these smaller characters had a lot of influence to the bigger picture. Sometimes their stories bothered me because I'd rather read more of the story of Amanda an Dawson. I felt like there were details missing in their love story. So as much as I loved the smaller characters I think I'd loved it more if the author used more details on the romance story between Amanda and Dawson than the smaller stories.

I loved the book so much! And I cried a lot at the end. Definitely a must read for every romance lover! It made me want to expand my Nicholas Sparks collection!

• Author: Nicholas Sparks
• Genre: Romance
• Themes: Long lost lovers, consuming love
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
• Published: August 2014
• Pages: 384
• Rating * * * *