Not really. Not me, the reader, I wasn’t The Lucky One. I didn’t feel lucky at all for having read this book. I finished reading Safe Haven, another Nicholas Sparks novel, while wriggling my toes in the sand on Seven Mile Beach in Grand Cayman. So I figured I’d give this popular author another shot while perfecting my tan. After all, I can trust a Reader’s Digest compilation left behind at my mountain ranch. I shouldn’t have trusted. My instincts failed me.

We’re first introduced to a post-war, honorably discharged, quirky male that’s ‘walked’ across the country in search of his lucky charm. Really? Men won’t walk the length of a shopping mall for the woman they love unless she’s holding a golf ball or a live deer or, perhaps, a pretzel from Auntie Ann’s. Does this author forget that his audience is female? I realize we have women serving in our armed forces but those women aren’t reading Nicholas Sparks. I’ll read a biography like Unbroken if I want war stories. I had trouble relating to this guy’s quest from the beginning. There were too many flashback military scenes about a guy that ends up training dogs. What?

Nope. Skip it. I’ve given permission to read Nicholas Sparks novels if you’re on the beach, but there’s not enough sand beneath your chaise lounge to make this read worthwhile.