The Return was my first Nicholas Sparks book and I truly think I would love it but I'm afraid to say that didn't happen.I didn't feel anything about this book. Couldn't care less about the characters, the plot or anything really. Maybe the grandfather was someone I wish I could read more about it. The PTSD talk was interesting and the therapy sessions was kind of good as well. Overall it was a meh book for me.

If you are a fan of Nicholas Sparks then I doubt that this will disappoint!

Another beautifully written story, full of great characters.
This time it is the story of an army Dr, injured and suffering from PTSD, returning to live in the property he has inherited from his much loved grandfather. He is dealing with the massive change to his life circumstances, and his loss.
Lots of memories unfold, but this is intertwined with new characters and relationships.

Thank you to Netgalley for an early review copy.

Trevor Benson hadn't planned on moving back to New Bern, North Carolina, but whilst working as an orthopaedic surgeon in Afghanistan, there is a mortar blast outside the hospital. He incurs devastating injuries and the dilapidated cabin he inherited from his grandfather seems like a good place to recuperate. Gearing up for a second stint in medical school, he falls in love with Natalie Masterson, a deputy sheriff, but she remains distant even though she seems to reciprocate his feelings, leading Trevor to wonder what she might be hiding. Teenage girl, Callie who works at the local shop was once befriended by his grandfather, but very much keeps to herself. Trevor hopes Callie can shed light on the mysterious circumstances of his grandfather's death, but she is not forthcoming until a crisis occurs...

My first read by Nicholas Sparks was a beautiful, unqualified romance. As Trevor returned to his grandfather’s home, I loved discovering New Bern and its residents. I learnt about Trevor’s family and his past and enjoyed watching from the sidelines as Trevor fell in love with Natalie, feeling his frustration as he puzzled out why she kept him at a safe distance. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know Trevor with all of his vulnerability. Warming to Natalie took more effort though she had clear reasons for her guarded nature.

The Return was a stunning, evocative novel that I completely revelled in reading. I highly recommend it and will be picking up some of Nicholas Sparks' other works.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel from Little, Brown Book Group via NetGalley at my request and this review is my own unbiased opinion.

Trevor Benson has returned to New Bern to tidy up his Grandfather’s cabin before moving on to retrain following life changing injuries on his last tour of Afghanistan. Trevor is instantly drawn to deputy sheriff Natalie Masterson who tries to keep him at arm’s length. He coaxes her to spend time with him by showing her his Grandfather’s Beehives and hopes that they will become friends. He starts to be drawn into the mystery of why his father died so far from home. Enjoyable if slightly predictable story told in Nicholas Sparks’ unique style that makes you feel as if you really know the main character. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you for the advance copy. This is a good easy read for fans of Nicholas Sparks. He is a very popular author and his books are constantly on loan at the library and I am certain that this book will not disappoint and will also be a popular choice

This was my first Nicholas Sparks book and if I’m honest, I was a bit apprehensive about reading it as I love the films so I was worried his books wouldn’t live up to the them.

I really struggled getting into the book at first and there was a point when I thought I was going to have to DNF it as I felt like something was missing but about half way through, something just clicked and I was hooked. I loved the protagonist Trevor but it took me a while to warm up to Natalie (it may be because I fell in love with Trevor and was ever so slightly jealous😂). It had a great story line full of emotions and actually had me crying at least 3 times. I never cry at books so this was a big deal for me. I really struggled with choosing what star rating to do as I thought the first half of the book was a 3⭐️ and the second part was an easy 5⭐️

*Many thanks to NetGalley and Little Brown Book Group for the e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review*

is this standard sparks? yes.
is this exciting and new? no
is the main character likeable? no
will i try a sparks book again ? yes.

This book fell flat. It was so simple and easy to see the end. The main character was creepy and no where near likeable if this was going for a YOU vibe it fit a lot better. It wasn't that sweet emotional romance which i was hoping to get from this author.

My Ratings - ⭐⭐⭐.5
I seriously don't know how to pen down my thoughts for this book. I had high expectations from this one (considering how much I've loved his previous work), but it turned out to be quite a lackluster. The first half of the story was extremely slow paced. At one point, it was all about beekeeping and honey. There was a point where I found Trevor's character a bit creepy as he kept on pestering Natalie even when she asked him to back off !
🍁 The things that I really liked about this one is how it dealt with the issues like Mental illness, PTSD, injured army veteran and Trevor's relationship with his grandfather.
🍁 Sparks tried to include a bit of mystery element in the novel by introducing a character named 'Callie', but it didn't work out quite well as it did for his previous book 'The Guardian'.

The return was a thoroughly enjoyable read.
I like Nicholas Sparks'style of writing, the vivid descriptions and strong characters.
The story is told from Trevor's pov. He is a wounded war veteran who returns to his beloved grandfather's house to deal with the estate. The story follows Trevor as he realises what he wants from life and helps others to find their path too.

It has been a while since I last read a Nicholas Sparks novel, so I was really looking forward to reading The Return! I finished reading it last night. Many thanks to Little Brown Group UK for the free review copy.

If you have been following me for a while now, then you definitely know that I’m a lover of books based around small-towns. Nicholas Sparks took us to the New Bern once again through The Return, and I absolutely loved the closely-knitted, small-town feel that I got while reading it. The setting was wonderfully written.

The book started off slowly, but gradually picked up its momentum. I had trouble liking Trevor, our main character in the beginning. As the story proceeded, I found myself warming up to him. Like all of Nicholas Sparks novels, The Return also had a mysterious touch to it. There were plenty of twists and turns, and I couldn’t wait to see how it ended! Natalie and Callie were really fascinating characters to read about as well. I loved how all of their back stories connected in the end.

The Return was heart-warming, touching and explored themes of grief in the best way possible. If you are a romance book lover, definitely pick this book up!

I loved reading this book, from opening the first page. I imagined what Trevors grandfathers house and the bee hives and of course “the boat “ looked like and felt the excitement of Trevor and Natalie when they saw the alligators and the bald eagle nest.
I felt such happiness and sadness for them both. Callie and her troubles and the kindness of Carl towards her.
I have to say I was slightly confused at the end ?
All in all loved the book and would a film maybe in the offering.

When Trevor suffered unthinkable injuries in Afghanistan he is forced to take some time to recover at his grandfather's cabin, which he had inherited. Trevor makes a connection with Natalie and Callie but he knows they are both holding something back from him. A journey of love and forgiveness that requires visiting the past in order to move forward.

The book did start off quite slow & took a little to get into it, however I did love Trevor from the beginning! How are his male roles always so dreamy?! Once I got into it, wow, what an amazing book. Soo much happened, so much emotion thrown in there & such beautiful relationships and beautiful characters once they'd shone through. I have to say, towards the end it very nearly lost a star because honestly I just wanted a different scenario 🙊 then the epilogue came along and answered that, which was soo needed 💗 I absolute love the title of the book & definitely think it fits perfectly!
Thank you to @netgalley & Little, Brown Book Group UK for allowing me to read this ARC!

I chose to read this book out of curiosity because of the author's reputation as a great writer and storyteller.

The Return is about Trevor who is a wounded veteran with PTSD. He has inherited his grandfather's house, where he spent many happy times as a child, not least learning the skills of a beekeeper alongside his grandfather.

As the story unfolds, it becomes clear there are lots of different strands. There is a possible love interest. There is the story surrounding the grandfathers death and why he was so far from home. There is the story of a break in at the house and there is the young girl living in a trailer down the road who passes the house on her way to work. Trevor is planning to renovate the house and move on to take up further training as a doctor. However, he gradually becomes more and more involved in the local community and I wondered whether this would actually happen.

It's a good story which I enjoyed reading. At times the pace was a little slow but the writing is excellent and you have to keep reading because you need to know what happens! Having read this, I would definitely read other novels by this author.

Thank you to NetGalley for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I received a free Arc from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Return tells the story of an injured veteran, Trevor Benson, who moves into his grandfather's house (after his grandfather's death). Trevor wants to find out why his grandfather was so far from home when he died, as well as decipher his grandfather's last words. Secondary characters include Trevor's love interest, Natalie, a deputy sheriff, as well as a teenage girl, Callie, who no-one seems to know anything about.

I had high hopes for this novel as I have enjoyed Nicholas Sparks' previous books, especially The Lucky One and Safe Haven. Unfortunately, I did not warm to Trevor or Natalie so it made it difficult to become interested in their story. Trevor came across as misogynistic at times, & I was worried about how obsessed he seemed with Natalie.

Unfortunately I would not recommend this book to others, but I would recommend others by the same author.

I'm a big fan of Nicholas Sparks, so I was delighted to be approved by Net Galley for this advanced copy. It took me awhile to get into the story as I found myself skimming over a lot of detail in the first few chapters. Once I got into it as the characters developed, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Once again Sparks writes romance very well with a few questions and twists to keep you guessing thrown in. I like how it gives you a glimpse at the start of the book of the present, then spans back through the years.

Being brutally honest... I did not finish this book, which very rarely happens. I found it very slow and far from engaging. Trevor irritated me and his obsession with Natalie creeped me out more than a little. I have read some incredible books on Netgalley recently and I hate to say that this one just disappointed me. Callie’s story was predictable and I didn’t really care what happened to any of the characters... I found myself skipping chapters and skimming chunks before just giving up.

I’m sure if you are a Nicholas Sparks fan, you will enjoy this romantic saga but it just wasn’t for me sadly. Perhaps I just wasn’t in the mood for romance?!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I'm a fan of NIcholas Sparks so that's the main reason I requested this book. It was a pleasing contemporary romance with a feel-good ending; however, I found it a bit slow. I was about 80% of the way through the book and felt that nothing had really happened. Lots of the mysteries in the book were a bit cliche; such as Natalie and Callie's stories. I probably could have guessed how the story would pan out right from the start. All in all, if you like Nicholas Sparks you'll probably enjoy this but it's not his best work. I didn't really relate much to any of the characters and found them a bit one dimensional. It was okay but not a Nicholas Sparks to remember.

Nicholas Sparks truly knows how to write romances in ways that make them feel real and believable. I have read a few of his books, and those who haven’t will have almost certainly seen the movie adaptations of some of them.
He is the king of romances that are not smooth sailing, where in reality love is not always enough and that true love can be accompanied by heartbreaking pain. But this, to me, is the true beauty in his novels, the way he captures the beauty and pain, the perfect yet messy nature of all that love is and how simple yet complicated it can be simultaneously.
I loved this book, the characters, the setting, the backstories, all beautifully written. It literally kept pulling me back to read more every time I put it down.
Trevor, Natalie, Callie and even Carl, I felt engaged with all of them, intrigued by their secrets, touched by their warmth and sad for their pain.
I highly recommend this book to all, for me it is worth every one of the five stars I am giving it.
My thanks to NetGalley, Little, Brown Book Group and Nicholas Sparks for allowing me to read this book in return for an honest review.

This is the first book I've read my Nicholas Sparks and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I loved the story and was eager to read more as it unfolded. I liked the characters and the style of descriptive writing used and I will definitely read more of Nicholas's books in the future.