The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks

Seventeen-year-old Veronica "Ronnie" Miller's life was turned upside down when her parents divorced and her father moved to Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina. Three years later, she remains alienated from her parents, particularly her father... until her mother decides it would be in everyone's best interest if she and her brother spent the summer with him. Resentful and rebellious, Ronnie rejects her father's attempts to reach out to her and threatens to return to New York before the summer's end. But soon Ronnie meets Will, the last person she thought she'd ever be attracted to and finds herself falling for him, opening herself up to the greatest happiness--and pain--that she has ever known.
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Maybe I'm the only one not yet tired of Nicholas Sparks' novels, but every time he comes out with a new one, it's the first thing I go out to look for. It took me a while to get around to this one, but it should have been way higher on my reading list. Ronnie starts out as an annoying brat of a daughter who rejects Steve, her father, no matter how sweet and understanding he is. Although Sparks was quite obvious in pointing out Marcus was going to be the villain in the end, it was still chilling hearing his side of the story, and I actually thought it was a good touch to show his point of view. I found Steve's first few chapters tedious and more than a bit boring, but I soon came to discover it was nessecary background information, helping to show the reader why he is how he is. Not to mention the way it made the ending even more emotional. Will, the perfect guy in every way, was only slightly lacking in that he seemed so obsessive about Ronnie at first, and then suddenly became nonchalant. The ending was definitely tear-jerking (for me, at least) and even though I didn't totally see Ronnie and Will's story's conclusion coming, it was still satisfying.
4 out of 5, recommended to romance and Nicholas Sparks's fans alike.