Yes, there have been sparks galore of late. If you are thinking of fire crackers, you are mistaken. I am talking about the sparks that fly when two people are in love – in a love affair crafted by the romance specialist Nicholas Sparks.

I finished reading 3 novels by Sparks at a stretch, and that is what I wanted to rant about here.

I first developed an interest in Sparks’ writing style after I read ‘A walk to remember’. It is a book I loved greatly and still cherish. That prompted me to get hold of some other books by the same author – At first sight, The guardian and The wedding.

At first sight: I found this to be an ok-ok book. Even if I hadn’t read it, I wouldn’t have missed anything. The main characters of the novel – Jeremy and Lexie – have been too sketchily described to give a feel of their character. It is an absorbing read, no doubt, but I didn’t find that distinct Sparks touch in it. Maybe this was due to the fact that I was unconciously comparing it to ‘A walk to remember’. Maybe due to the fact that ‘At first sight’ is a sequel to Sparks’ ‘True Believer’, and I read this one first. (Yep, I know that was dumb. )

The guardian: ‘The guardian’ is a romance thriller by Sparks. I must say he writes thrillers just as well as he does romance. This is the first thriller I have ever read in life; somehow, I never got around to reading thrillers. Though many parts of the book were typically Hindi-film style, I enjoyed reading it. It is the story of Julie and Mike and Richard. Exactly, you guessed it right! – a love triangle. However, with lots of sweet and tender moments. Maybe the fact that it had a huge dog in it had something to do with why I liked this book.

The wedding: ‘The Wedding’ is a genuine Sparks-style novel- mature romance. It is the story of Wilson and Jane. The characters are not the typical twenty-somethings-in-love, but a couple who are celebrating their thirtieth wedding anniversary, very much in love with each other. How they fall in love, marry, drift apart and then come close again forms the story. I loved reading this book just as much as I did ‘A walk to remember’. It is sweet, as are most of Sparks’ novels, but inspiring too in a way.

‘The wedding’ is a sequel to ‘The Notebook’. (Again, I happened to read the sequel before the original book. However, the central characters in ‘The Notebook’ – Allie and Noah – are different, so it didn’t make a huge difference, luckily for me.)

Having got a glimpse of the characters now, I am eagerly waiting to read ‘True Believer’ and ‘The Notebook’.

For Sparks fans like yours truly, here’s the website: http://nicholassparks.com/