Guest Post from Alexa Loves Books: On "The Wedding & True Love

Today, I'm so happy to welcome the lovely Alexa from Alexa Loves Books to my little blog. Alexa graciously offered up her reviewing time and prowess to provide some insight into one of her favourite love stories of all time, The Wedding by Nicholas Sparks. Please welcome her to the blog, and then be sure to drop by her blog later. It's one of my all-time favourites. Thank you, Alexa!

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Even though it’s been quite a while since the last time I read it, The Wedding is one of my favorites among all the Nicholas Sparks novels. The reason it has earned top marks with me is fairly simple: when it comes right down to it, this novel is a story about love. I’m not just talking about the glow of first love, or the heated passion of the early days, though these are ever present. I’m talking about the true, real, forever kind of love – the kind that everyone hopes to have on their wedding day.

The kind of love that Wilson and Jane have is the kind that I believe I have with my husband, and what I’m believing in for Melissa and her new husband, Ryan. It’s not perfect in the way that movie romances tend to be, with the right line at the right time with the swoon-worthy grand gesture. No, it’s flawed and riddled with imperfection; Wilson and Jane face a few conflicts and things that make them question their relationship.

But their love is real.

It is also true, as readers will discover when they keep on reading. We learn more about these two, how they fell in love and what their life is currently like. We meet their children, their parents and some of their friends. And with every chapter, we see their emotions when it comes to one another – the passion, the respect, the trust, the love and the loyalty – and it’s wonderful.

For that’s what true love is really like. It teeters between the good times and the bad ones, the moments of complete solidarity and the moments on opposing sides. And when it comes right down to it, loving someone becomes your choice. You choose to love someone. You choose that person, in spite of their flaws. You choose that person, because of the good things they bring to your life. You choose that person – and if they choose you, well, then you’re blessed indeed.

Does The Wedding have a happy conclusion? You’ll just have to read it and see for yourself. It’s definitely the kind of love story I’d treasure and read all over again, and I think you should too.

But in the meantime, join me in wishing Melissa and Ryan a hearty congratulations on their wedding, which is a celebration of true love in real life! May their love be like Wilson and Jane’s – not perfect, but real and true and strong.