Fall in Love with the Very Best Nicholas Sparks Books

After a mortar blast in Afghanistan leaves Navy doctor Trevor Benson with devastating injuries, he is forced to return home to New Bern, North Carolina, a place he thought he’d never see again. But then Trevor falls for a local, Deputy Sheriff Natalie Masterson, and his entire perspective changes. For some reason, though, Natalie remains distant, leaving Trevor wondering what she’s hiding from him. And then there’s the teenage girl who lives in the trailer park down the road from Trevor, who seems to have a few secrets of her own. A story of love and forgiveness, The Return is expertly read by Earphones Award–winning narrator Kyf Brewer.

Taylor McAden is a volunteer fireman who routinely risks his life to protect others but can’t seem to find love. At first, it seems like another day on the job when he comes to the rescue of Denise Holton, whose car skids off the road in a storm. When Taylor arrives at the scene, he finds Denise unconscious and bleeding. When Denise wakes, she is distraught. A single mother, she had been driving with her son, Kyle, a four-year-old boy with severe learning disabilities, and now he is nowhere to be found. As Taylor and Denise search for Kyle, they develop a connection that surprises them both. This audio edition of The Rescue is presented with Booktrack, so it’s further enhanced by sound effects and music that add drama and intensity to this already moving story.

If you’re looking for a true classic from Nicholas Sparks to start with, you’ll want to listen in to The Notebook. This gem tells the beloved story of the romance between socialite Allie Nelson and WWII veteran Noah Calhoun. In this audiobook, the listener is treated to a story of enduring love with the power to overcome all obstacles, including time and tragedy. This audiobook is narrated brilliantly with a gentle cadence by actor Barry Bostwick.

Can’t get enough of The Notebook? Luckily, there’s an excellent sequel to the Nicholas Sparks favorite: The Wedding. Wilson Lewis is the son-in-law of The Notebook’s main characters, Noah and Allie. After 30 years of marriage, Wilson feels like the romance between him and his wife, Jane, is essentially nonexistent. While his love for her intensifies as the years go by, Jane grows increasingly distant, and Wilson is left wondering if his wife even loves him anymore. This audiobook is a favorite among Audible listeners, who widely praise actor Tom Wopat’s calming but emotional narration.

If you’re a fan of mystery and suspense novels, then See Me is the Nicholas Sparks book for you. At the age of 28, Colin Hancock is looking for a fresh start. He’s getting his teaching degree, working out at the gym, and pretty much avoiding all places and activities that would connect him to his darker past. He certainly isn’t looking for love when he meets lawyer Maria Sanchez. But as the two grow closer, demons from both of their pasts resurface. This fast-paced novel is read by Christopher Ryan Grant, who has narrated many thrillers and brings the same kind of energy to this story.

For those who believe in luck and destiny, The Lucky One is your listen. Logan is a US Marine on his third tour of duty in Iraq when he comes across a picture of a woman he’s never met. When no one else claims the photograph, Logan keeps it and suddenly finds himself experiencing a string of good luck. When he finally returns home to Colorado, Logan can’t seem to get the woman in the photo off of his mind, and so he sets out on a journey to find her. Actor John Bedford Lloyd narrates this audiobook with all of the genuine emotion it rightly deserves.

The Longest Ride is a 2014 Audie Award-winning novel about two love stories that come together. There’s Ira Levinson, a 91-year-old veteran who finds himself alone and stranded after a car crash and multiple injuries. All he has to keep him company is the image of his wife, Ruth, who died nine years earlier but still urges him to hang on. Only a few miles away, Wake Forest College senior Sophia Danko meets a former bull rider named Luke, who is nothing like the frat boys she fed up with dating. This unlikely couple falls in love, but as time goes on, will their differences pull them apart? Though Sophia and Luke have seemingly nothing in common with Ira and Ruth, their lives will converge in unexpected ways. This audiobook is read by Ron McLarty and January LaVoy, two narrators who Audible listeners loved and praised for making the story their own through their performance.

If the other listens on this list aren’t quite sad enough for you, Nicholas Sparks’s classic A Walk to Remember will certainly get the tears flowing. In this audiobook, Landon Carter looks back to the great young love that changed his life. In 1958, he was a senior at Beaufort High and a bit of a ladies man. Then he fell for Jamie, the shy but strong minister’s daughter, and she changed his life. Hall of Fame narrator Frank Muller brings Landon and Jamie’s painful but poignant love story to life with his heartfelt, natural narration. (What makes this heartbreaking story even more powerful: it was inspired by the life and courage of Nicholas Sparks’s sister, who died of cancer in 2000.)

If you’re looking for more Nicholas Sparks novels like The Notebook, you’ll probably love Every Breath. Hope Anderson is a 36-year-old woman who needs something in her life to change. She’s in a dead-end relationship, and her father was just diagnosed with ALS. So in an effort to hit the reset button and mull over some big life decisions, Hope retreats to her family’s cottage at Sunset Beach. Meanwhile, Tru Walls is a safari guide from Zimbabwe who has been summoned to Sunset Beach by a letter from a man claiming to be his father. When these two strangers’ lives converge, they’ll discover new facets of themselves. Sean Cameron Michael and Vanessa Johansson narrate, embodying the two main characters.

At 32, Russell Green thinks he has it all: a beautiful wife, a wonderful six-year-old daughter, the perfect career as an advertising executive, and a lovely home in Charlotte, NC. But not everything is as perfect as it appears from the outside, and Russell is shocked when a major surprise sends his entire world crashing down. Suddenly, Russell finds himself out of a job, out of his marriage, and struggling to care for his young daughter alone while he picks up the pieces of his shattered life. Two by Two is anincredibly moving story of the power of love and its ability to pull us through even the worst of times. Audible listeners have called Fliakos’s narration perfect and praised him for his calm but strong delivery of this story.

The Best of Me is incredibly heartbreaking and terribly romantic, which means it’s exactly what you’d expect from a Nicholas Sparks novel. In this stirring story, two high school sweethearts get a second chance at finding love with one another, 25 years after they first fell in love. As Amanda and Dawson rekindle their once-forbidden romance, they are forced to confront painful memories. Is it possible to rewrite the past?

Since his wife was killed in a hit-and-run accident two years ago, Miles Ryan has never been the same. Missy was his first love, and Miles is certain he’ll never find love like theirs again. Or any love at all, for that matter. As deputy sheriff of the North Carolina town of New Burn, Miles doesn’t just sit around and mourn: he’s hellbent on bringing the unknown driver who killed Missy to justice. Then he meets Sarah Andrews, a second-grade teacher who has moved to New Burn to start over after a difficult divorce. Both are still hurting, and both are cynical about opening up their heart again. But the more time they spend with one another, the more they find their walls coming down. Little do they know just how closely linked their pasts are, and when the truth comes out, it will force them to question everything. Award-winning narrator L.J. Ganser performs A Bend in the Road with a deft blend of suspense and heartfelt emotion.