The Longest Ride by Nicholas Sparks

Title: The Longest Ride
Author: Nicholas Sparks
First Published: 2013
Published By: Grand Central Publishing
Format Read: Kobo Ebook
Genre: Romance
Read: Aug 19 2014
Rating: 4/5

(Image from Goodreads)







Nicholas Sparks book The Longest Ride combines two different love stories into one.

The first follows an old man named Ira, who is trapped in his car following an accident that took him down over an embankment during a snow storm. During this time he reminisces about his life, dreaming he is speaking with his deceased wife Ruth. Readers are taken back to their teenage years when the couple met before WWII, up until after her death in the early 2000's.

The second story takes place in modern day and follows a college student named Sophia, who meets and falls in love with a bull rider by the name of Luke. Coming out of retirement after a very serious accident in the ring, Luke is competing once again in a race to save his family's ranch from foreclosure.

This is certainly my favourite Nicholas Sparks book that I have read, to date. It not only offers a contemporary romance, but one that would be considered historical fiction as well. Normally I find that my interest goes in and out (so to speak) when I'm reading this authors books. Like there are parts that just drag on. Fortunately this wasn't the case for me when reading The Longest Ride. Switching between the three main characters: Ira, Sophia and Luke helped to keep the story interesting. Although I can't say I'm all that interested in art (a topic which is prominent for both plots) Ira and Ruth's love story was so sweet and timeless. This mans devotion to his wife was beautiful.
Luke and Sophia's tale was more relatable as they were closer to my age. I was also drawn in by the country culture of this part.

This was a good read that I would recommend and may read again.