World Book Day!

Happy World Book Day everyone!

Today, March 3, is world book day, and in honor of that, I believe it's time to update about the books I've been reading.

I got a whole stack of books for Christmas this year and since then I have been reading through them quicker than  I can write about them. So far I've enjoyed them all which is always a pleasure. I've gotten lost in many different worlds, the stories keeping me drawn to the pages so I can't put the book down.

Most recently (just yesterday in fact) I finished The Guardian by Nicholas Sparks. The Guardian tells the story of Julie, a recently widowed, small town hairdresser. After the death of her husband, she receives a special gift from him he set up in advance to ease her through her grief, a great dane puppy Julie names Singer. Singer becomes more than just a pet, but a friend who is a little bit like a person. Julie is also best friends with her ex-husband's best friend Mike (who's also in love with Julie). After a couple of dates with a hair client, Richard, Julie figures it's not going to work out and realizes that Mike was who she was meant to be with after all. Things don't go quite as planned and take a scary turn, Julie and Mike fearing for their lives and their relationship.

I was just glued to this book. Sparks does a good job of balancing the thriller aspect with the love story she while I was cheering on Mike and Julie, I was also right there, afraid for them while they fought for their life together. Their story is sweet and touching. Mike's love for Julie is honest and unwavering, and it's always refreshing to see (or read about...) a man so devoted to his love. I found myself just waiting for Julie to come to realization that her feelings we mutual and when they finally get together I gave them a little cheer.

Unfortunately Richard turns out to be nothing like anyone expected, becoming obsessively scary and increasingly dangerous. The deeper into the story I got, the harder it became to put the book down. It was literally a thrill and I wanted to get through each detail, needing to know more and more until my eyes were literally burning with exhaustion and I had to put the book down.

The Guardian is certainly unlike a traditional romance novel but the love story, after everything, stays in the foreground and offers a little something for lovers of romance, thrill and Nicholas Sparks.