In some of her conversations with Katie are so emotional and thought-provoking. Nicholas Sparks is one of the worlds most beloved storytellers. Surprisingly she is a smart woman with great emotional support for Katie. I expected her to be dumb-headed and chatty. His reluctance to a new relationship and willingness to remain faithful to his deceased wife could have been unrealistic, but Sparks handles the emotion of the character so well that there isn’t a bit of dilemma in the readers’ mind that his love for his wife and children is genuine. He does everything for his motherless children. He is completely opposite to Katie’s husband, Kevin. I am sure there are so many Katies that exist among us.Īlex, Katie’s romantic interest in the new place, is warm-hearted and caring. She tried her best to love and look after him by cooking delicious food and housekeeping. Her courage to stay with her physically and mentally abusive husband is admirable. I absolutely love buying any of Nicholas Sparks's books because I know that I will get a genuine, unpredictable, entertaining story from start to finish Each character has a past here, and each one has been given just enough time for the reader to get to know them, feeling as though you can actually picture them, get to know them, without. The plotting in “Safe Haven” is more awkward than in other SparksFilms (the neighbor played by Cobie Smulders is the worst movie character of this young year), but Hough and Duhamel are likable enough as the will-they-or-won’t-theys, and Lasse Hallstrom (“Salmon Fishing in the Yemen”) directs with his usual attention to detail.Įven when the overall story is sinking in implausibility, there are bits of business - between, say, Hough and one of Duhamel’s kids - that almost make you believe in these people.Katie is a strong woman.

If you are not a Sparks fan You will become one after reading. It is both a romantic story and a thriller. Like an Agatha Christie book minus the homicidal vicars, SparksFilms are comfort food for moviegoers who want a little romance in the middle of winter. Safe haven is a great story with a thrilling plot. The appeal of movies based on his books - and, I assume, the books themselves - is their familiarity. Watching “Safe Haven,” I kept hoping it would turn out that Hough really is a criminal and that she would threaten to kill the mayor at a clambake, but that’s not the way Sparks rolls. We don’t know who she is or what crime she’s supposed to have committed, but again, if you’ve seen “The Notebook” or “The Lucky One” or “Message in a Bottle” or “The Vow,” you know: She didn’t do it she’ll fall in love with Strapping Local she will eventually explain herself with the phrase, “It’s not what you think” and once a secret cache of poignant letters is uncovered, everyone will live happily ever after. Julianne Hough plays a beauty on the run from the law who lands in postcard-pretty coastal Carolina to build a new life and bicker with a strapping local (Josh Duhamel). Lots of things are up in the air in the opening scene of “Safe Haven,” unless you’ve ever seen a Nicholas Sparks adaptation, in which case nothing is.

Safe haven nicholas sparks book review