"The Longest Ride" by Nicholas Sparks

   My husband is a romantic and loves reading books by Nicholas Sparks.  
  The movie version of "The Longest Ride" was playing at our local cinema and so we went to see it.
  Two love stories were entwined in a very effective way.
  The roles of the young couple were played by Britt Robertson and Scott Eastwood (the son of Clint Eastwood).  I felt that these actors were over-acting but perhaps it was just highly-romantic.
  Luke was a bull-rider and Sophia was interested in art.  The collision of these two worlds forms the basis for this story.  The young couple discovered a car accident and pulled out the driver - a widowed 91-year-old, Ira, played by Alan Alda.   

Alan Alda

I really enjoyed this storyline and felt that it was presented in a fascinating way.  A box of letters was saved from the car and they represented the basis of Ira's beautiful love story that had many challenges but lasted 70 years. Sophia visited Ira in the hospital and read these letters to him since he was no longer able to read them. Flashbacks added a realistic aspect to the story.

Nicholas Sparks

  Nicholas Sparks was born in Nebraska and was interested in writing from the age of 19.  He wrote a couple of books that were never published.  After trying several jobs, he moved to Washington and began selling pharmaceuticals.
  He married and raised a family in North Carolina.  During this time, he found a publisher and he became very successful.  He has written 18 books and 11 of them have already been made into movies.
   The movie version of "The Longest Ride" is definitely worth seeing.