Story was great but of course I expected nothing less from Nicholas Sparks. Wouldn't mind hearing more stories read by Ron McLarty.

It's a love story, of true and simple love that defies time.

The Last gift of love at the end. Makes you want to close it and start at the beginning just to get to that part again and again.

They capture the emotional depth of the story.

This is a book I wish I had read instead of listened too. I loved the story in general but the way the audio book was read just didn't work. The cute sexy cowboy Luke is read by a woman's voice trying to be manly and it sadly does not work. I could not get the image of a "girly" cowboy out of my head through the entire book.

What a great story. I loved how he moved through Ira and Ruth's beautiful love story. Truely showing what is important in Life. Luke and his mom are down to earth Ranch people and I love that Sophia isn't the typical college girl. I love this story, one of my favorites.

This book would be good for a reader who is not interested in plot development, or character development, but who enjoys slow paced stories that one can pick up and put down whenever they want to and not lose the story line.

The Longest Ride has not turned me off from this genre, however, I will think very carefully, and read all reviews before I invest one more credit on a Nicholas Sparks novel again. This book was boring. The characters were not clearly drawn, the narrators' renditions were so "cheesy" they actually created reader's block. I had to sift through the poorly constructed plot, which never held my interest, and the distracting narrations.

I am not informed enough to recommend narrators yet. My suggestions are to stay away from superficial accents, and choose a more consistent reading "tempo". In my recording, the female bytes were so close together that her voice raced against a dragging plot line, and did not technically complement the pace of the male narrator, and vice versa. The tempo of the male narrator was a bit better, but the overall reading or byte speed was terribly distracting.

In playing editor, in my opinion, the problem with the overall story was the internal pace, and lack of tightness within the whole work, rather than cutting scenes. For example, there was little or nothing done to create suspense between the Luke and Sophia "plot", and the Ira and Sophia "plot" except a somewhat loose tidbit of art appreciation. The presenting problem was that the writing dragged along, and not at a pace to create relaxation, or for me, interest. The only reason I finished the book was because I didn't want to waste a credit. Once again, the characters lacked dimension, and the story was poorly plotted. I was disappointed in the ending which failed to suspend my disbelief.

This was my first and probably only Nicholas Sparks novel I will try.

Yes. After I first heard this one, I had my husband hear it on a long road trip. He enjoyed it as much as I did -- and then we were embarrassed at enjoying such a sappy story. But we sure did!

Only other SPARKS story we know is "Dear John" from the movie. We were very impressed with the pith and substance of that story, so were surprised by this one. What the heck, it was FUN.

Ira's strength, love, and full life of memories of his beloved wife Ruth. How two young (Sophie and Luke) people see the true value in one man's valueless painting, finds meaning in Ira's internal love for his wife and the painting

The auction! What a testament of Ira and Ruth's life.

Two of the top notch narrators. Favorites of mine!

Would love to see a movie made of this novel.

The characters from two generations cross paths, with an act of kindness, and concern. Must read for the younger folks to gain prospective of true values our older generation have.

I have not listened to any of Nicholas Sparks books before. I will purchase another one if they are anything like this one. I was sucked into the story with every fiber. The relationship between Sophia and Luke, from beginning to end, was so sweet and I loved Luke's personality. January LaVoy made him so sexy with her narration and did such a great job with Sophia also.
The other part of this story narrated by Ron McLarty was so sweet and well done.
The two lives of these people and how they came together was one of those "on the edge of your seat and can't stop listening." I thought I knew but then it just got better and more surprising at the end. The ending was Fantastic!! So well done. LOVED THIS ONE!!

Left much to be desired. I found myself laughing out loud at parts (and not because they were humorous). I paid the money so I forced myself to finish the book.

I loved the characters, found the story very interesting, suspenseful, and moving. I enjoyed the narration. Really caring about the characters, and having ideas about what was going to happen (which weren't always correct) contributed to the suspense for me.

I have read or heard many of Nicholas Sparks' books, and have enjoyed them all, but this is by far my favorite.