Some stories don't have happy endings and some do. This one of course can't really have a happy ending because a wife and mother have died. But, this book tells the story of a man's journey through grief, and anyone who has been through the loss of a loved one knows that the pain never ends. Nicholas Sparks did a wonderful job of reminding us of that, it was not a week love story, someone dies, someone else comes along and they live happily ever after. Instead it spoke clearly of the struggle and inner turmoil of a man wanting to get on with his life but never really being able to let go. He had the flashbacks and constant memories that we all have when going through grief. This aspect of the book was excellent and could not be faulted.
Whilst I loved the character of Sarah I struggled to make that emotional connection to Miles. For me I found him to be a little bit of a typical macho kind of guy and that at times annoyed me. I will say however that it is possible that I had this issue because I listened to this book on audio and sometimes the droning of characters can get on your nerves. This is however the reason I gave the book a rating of 3 (although, it would be 3 1/2 if it where possible) and not higher, I just didn't fall in love with the main character the way that I wanted to.