THE LAST SONG (Nicholas Sparks) - April 12/10

This satisfying yet overlong romance - seriously, it feels like it's 200 pages longer than necessary - ultimately comes off as a typical Sparks book, and there are very few plot twists here that one doesn't see coming miles away. Sparks also lays on the religious stuff a little thick, and he tends to be awfully descriptive when one really just wants him to move the story along. But the character's are all quite well developed, and the stuff with Ronnie and her father is surprisingly moving (if depressing). And, it's worth noting, this seems to be the rare Sparks book in which the two lovers actually get together in the end. **1/2 out of ****