The Wedding by Nicholas Sparks

I finished reading yet another Nicholas Sparks book and I am very happy that I did! The Wedding is such a good book. However, I must admit that I had to push on through to get into it at first. It is one of those books that if you give up too early on you definitely miss out on a fabulous book because I found that in the end it was TOTALLY worth it!

The Wedding is a sort of second part to The Notebook. It is about the family of Noah and Ally, mainly their children. Ally has already passed on but Noah continues to live at Creek Side, which is the retirement home he lived in with his wife before she passed away.

Jane is one of the daughters of Noah and Ally and she is married to Wilson. The book is about a failing marriage and how easy it is to take love for granted. After 30 years of marriage, Wilson did the unthinkable! He forgot their anniversary. He knew it was coming but became so wrapped up in his work that when it actually came, he had no idea and what resulted was the woman he lived with and loved for those 30 years, was heartbroken. Throughout the book, Wilson takes a journey through his life and sees nothing more than a wonderful woman who raised 3 beautiful children, ran their home and made a life that just so happens to share a bed with an un-romantic, insensitive, frankly absent father and workaholic. Although Wilson knew he loved his wife and could never imagine life without her, but he knew that he was not the man she wished he'd be. He never made time for her or the children, because work always came first and he just didn't possess that gene that makes a man romantic like his wife needs him to be. He felt inadequate at best and to accompany the guilt of his forgetting their anniversary, Wilson now felt the weight of the guilt built up for the many, many years of just plain not being there. With the help of his father-in-law, Noah, Wilson finally figures out a way to make it up to his wife and show her that he truly does love her and that he wants to be the man she wants him to be. Wilson's plans were in order and after taking a couple of weeks off of work, something never done before, his plans were about to unfold for his next anniversary was only a week away. But as fate would have it, Wilson and Jane's daughter Anna came to her parents to let them know that she is getting married. To throw a wrench in Wilson's efforts, his daughter reveals that, due to her grandfather's old age and fragile state, she would like to get married the next weekend which so happens to be her parent's wedding anniversary. Jane and Wilson give their blessing but understand that one week is hardly enough time to plan a wedding. Nevertheless, Jane generously helps her daughter figure out how to pull off the most important day of her life. When Jane and Wilson were married so many years ago, it was in front of a justice of the peace and as casual as anything could be. This is because Wilson was raised Atheist and his parents just wouldn't understand anything too religious. Jane made the sacrifice that would pain any hopeful young lady. She gave up her dream wedding because she loved Wilson that much. Wilson knew that Jane needed him during this time and he whole-heartedly offered his help with the place for the wedding, the food, and music and after asking and receiving Noah's blessing to have the wedding at his gorgeous home, he also handled the cleaning, painting, landscaping and general sprucing up of the home that the love of his life, Jane grew up in. Jane was so impressed with how helpful Wilson was being and during the entire process of planning the wedding, the two of them were somehow able to rekindle that flame they extinguished so many years ago. The day of the wedding is where the major twist of the story is revealed. This was NOT a wedding for Jane and Wilson's daughter BUT that of Wilson and Jane themselves. This was Wilson's plan all along. He convinced his daughter and everyone involved to help pull this off so he could finally have the chance to give Jane the wedding of her dreams that he robbed her of 31 years before. In the end, they renewed their vows and began their new lives together as completely altered people. Wilson vowed to continue trying to be more romantic and attentive to Jane and both are committed to making their marriage work even better than ever before.

I loved this book! It was the perfect twist and I couldn't be happier! I am happy I chose the books I did and I cannot wait to find the books I will read for the month of February!

Until next time.... BESOS!