Somehow I made it through the early 2000s without ever having consumed a piece of Nicholas Sparks' media. No movies or books up until now, though I definitely know of a lot of them. And for my first foray into his work, this wasn't bad at all. It was a cute read, definitely predictable and really slow at times, but that didn't diminish my enjoyment. It was definitely cliche, and honestly reminded me a lot of Sarah Dessen's work - and since I love her, that wasn't a bad thing.

I liked Maggie's aunt a lot and I'm glad we got to learn more about her through the book. Her parents were ROUGH to read and I just felt awful for Maggie whenever they were mentioned. Definitely a cute read, not super Christmas-y, but still a fun read for the holidays.