I don't know what it is about his writing, but I am always hooked and Safe Haven was no different.

Tropes: widower with kids

Content: Katie escaped an abusive marriage and some of the abuse is shown in flashbacks on the page (for that reason, I do not recommend to younger audiences), alcoholism, beating, remembering loss of spouse, death, stalking

Note: I did listen to an abridged version so some content may or may not be missing.

4 Stars ( )

Romance

Battered wife runs away and finds new life in a small town in No. Car.

I loved this book, really, I couldn't put it down. The characters were so real and the descriptive writing is so vivid I could feel the heat discribed in the scenes. As a survivor myself of domestic violence both mental and physical it took me back to a time I could not escape. Thankfully my life has changed now but I know others are still in this type of life. Thank you for writing such a beautiful story of love, survival, and hope. I don't want to give the ending away...but I loved the ending part, worth the read...don't skip to the end of the book.. ( )

3.5 stars. I should start by saying this is probably the genre I read the least amount in. I'm not a huge fan of contemporary romance, that being said, this book surprised me by being a lot better than I thought. It did take me a while to get into because the beginning was kind of slow and boring and there wasn't much happening (which is why I tend to not like contemporary books), however, once we find out more about Katie's past and what she had to go through and we started getting Kevin's perspective that's when things got a lot better. As much as I hated Kevin and wanted him dead, it was interesting to read from his perspective and see how he rationalized/justified his behavior and how his obsession with Katie just got completely out of control.

Even though Jo's character isn't seen much throughout the book, I really liked her character. She was really funny and I wish we got to see her more. I liked the twist at the end with Jo's character. It was interesting and I definitely did not see it coming at all. I also really like the way the book ended, for once Nicholas Sparks gives us a happy ending.

Though Alex and Katie are really cute together, I can't help feeling like their relationship sort of boarded on the insta-love side. I thought with an adult novel there wouldn't really be insta-love, figured that was more of a YA thing but I guess I was wrong. Yes, Alex and Katie's relationship progressed and they spent a lot of time together and their love grew deeper as time went on but they hardly knew each other before they first realized they "loved" each other. I swear, I don't think it was even a couple of days before Alex realized he loved Katie. I think the book was trying to attempt at a "love at first sight" type of thing but the relationship just felt kind of rushed.

Overall I did enjoy this book and I'm especially glad with the way it ended. ( )