Love The One You're With by Emily Giffin

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

If You Like: romance, light reading

Similar to: Other Emily Giffin novels, Nicholas Sparks novels

Ages: 16-100

Ellen has been married to her husband Andy for less than a year when she passes her old flame while walking one day in New York.  The second she sees her flame, Leo, all of the feelings she had for him come rushing back in an instant.  They make plans that day to get together to catch up, but one thing leads to another, and Leo offers Ellen a job on a photo shoot across the country for an article he is writing.  Ellen knows that she shouldn't accept a job from a former love when she has a new husband, but she can't resist the feelings that have recently come rushing back.  Ellen has a big decision to make; take her second chance with the one who got away, or love the one she's with.

This book was a super short, light, fun read.  You don't have to do a lot of thinking with this one, which can sometimes be a welcomed change of pace.  I love the easiness of Emily Giffin's writing, and although this  book wasn't my all time favorite of hers, I very much enjoyed it.

See Me by Nicholas Sparks

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
If You Like: romance, mystery and suspense
Similar to: newer Nicholas Sparks novels
Ages: 16-100

See Me is about an unlikely love story that develops between a lawyer named Maria who is from a close knit Mexican family and a bartender/MMA fighter named Colin who is from a rich family that cut a deal for his past transgressions of fighting and having anger issues.  One rainy night when Colin is coming home from a recent MMA fight, he sees Maria stranded on the side of the road with a flat tire.  When Colin fixes Maria's tire he doesn't think he'll see her again, but boy is he wrong. Maria's sister, Serena, shares classes with Colin at the college they both attend, and when Serena sees Colin's beat up face, she realizes he is the man that Maria described had helped change her tire.  Serena finds out where Colin works so that she can reintroduce Maria to Colin.  From there, Maria and Colin start to open up to each other, and they realize that although they have little in common on paper, something just works between them.  The story doesn't end there. Colin is an open book about his past right up front, but it isn't so easy for Maria to talk about her troubled past.  As Maria opens up and shares the issues she has struggled with, we realize this isn't your typical love story.  This is a story of love, survival, and justice, in more ways than one.

Maybe it was the fact that I had read five duds from a famous YouTuber's summer reading list, or maybe I had just forgotten how good a writer Nicholas Sparks is, but this novel did not disappoint.  It seems like Nicholas Sparks has evolved his romances into something more than a typical romance.  Now his stories are full of suspense and mystery with the same romance we love.  Although I prefer some of his first novels, I like this newer style of writing for what it is. I thought I had this book figured out, but by the end, I realized that I really didn't.  This was such a fun read that was quick and fast paced for me.  I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves a good fiction book with a little bit of everything.