Colin Hancock is giving his second chance his best shot. At 28, he's focused on getting his teaching degree and avoiding all the places and people that proved so destructive in his past. The last thing he's looking for is a serious relationship. But when he crosses paths with Maria Sanchez one rainswept night, his carefully structured life is turned upside down. And when Maria, a hardworking lawyer, meets Colin she begins to question every notion she has ever had about herself and her future - and what truly makes her happy.

Maggie hasn't told this story in years. More than two decades ago, she fell in love. She was 16 and far from home, waiting to give her baby up for adoption. Bryce showed Maggie how to take photographs, and he didn't judge her for the way her belly swelled under her jumper. They had the perfect first kiss. Theirs was a once-in-a-lifetime kind of love. Now, as Maggie sits by the Christmas tree in her gallery telling her story, surrounded by the photographs that made her famous - the photographs Bryce never saw - her new gallery assistant asks her a question.

Hope Anderson is at a crossroads. After six years with her boyfriend, she is no longer sure what she wants, and when her father becomes ill she heads to her family's cottage at Sunset Beach in North Carolina to make some difficult decisions. Tru Walls has been summoned across an ocean from where he was born and raised in Zimbabwe by a letter from a man claiming to be his father. In journeying to Sunset Beach, Tru hopes to unravel the mystery surrounding his mother's life, but the letter will lead him in an unexpected direction. 

Widowed at a young age, Julie understands the pain that comes with love and has avoided romance for a long time. As she eases herself back into the dating scene, her eye is caught by the darkly sophisticated Richard as he begins a passionate pursuit of her affections. But she is still confused by her feelings for best friend Mike: funny, loyal, but definitely not sophisticated. A seemingly innocent choice sets off a deadly chain of events that leaves Julie fighting for her life as jealousy simmers into murderous desire.

Trevor Benson never intended to move back to New Bern, North Carolina. But when a mortar blast outside the hospital where he worked as an orthopaedic surgeon sent him home from Afghanistan with devastating injuries, the dilapidated cabin he'd inherited from his grandfather seemed as good a place to regroup as any. Tending to his grandfather's beloved beehives while preparing for a second stint in medical school, Trevor isn't prepared to fall in love with a local....

Denise Hilton, a young single mother, is driving through Edenton, North Carolina, when her car skids off the road during a storm. With her is her four-year-old son, Kyle, a boy with severe learning disabilities for whom she has sacrificed everything. When volunteer fireman Taylor McAden finds her she is unconscious and bleeding, but when she wakes an even more chilling truth becomes clear: Kyle is gone.

How far can you run from your past? Jeremy Marsh once vowed he would never do three things: leave New York City, give his heart away again after barely surviving one failed marriage, and, most of all, become a parent. Now Jeremy is living in the small town of Boone Creek, North Carolina, married to Lexie, the woman he loves, and anticipating the birth of their daughter.

They were teenage sweethearts from opposite sides of the tracks - with a passion that would change their lives for ever. But life would force them apart. Years later, the lines they had drawn between past and present are about to slip.... Called back to their hometown for the funeral of the mentor who once gave them shelter when they needed it most, they are faced with each other once again and forced to confront the paths they chose. Can true love ever rewrite the past?

Can the mysteries of the human heart ever be unravelled? Pursuing a scientific explanation for a disturbing and unexplained phenomenon, Jeremy's sceptical nature is thrown off course when he meets Lexie, the town librarian. As they work together, ghostly occurrences and passionate moments converge, forcing Jeremy to realise that there are some truths science cannot explain, as he finally appreciates the pleasures of exploring the heart.

After 30 years of marriage, Wilson is forced to face a painful truth. His wife, Jane, has fallen out of love with him. Despite the shining example of his in-laws, Noah and Allie Calhoun (originally recounted in The Notebook), and their 50-year love affair, Wilson is unable to express his true feelings. With his daughter about to marry and his wife thinking about leaving him, Wilson knows it is time to act. He will do anything he can to save his marriage. 

How far would you go to keep the hope of love alive? Travis Parker has it all: a good job, loyal friends and his dream home in North Carolina. The last thing he's looking for is a serious relationship. That is, until Gabby Holland moves in next door. Despite Travis' attempts to be friendly, the alluring redhead simply will not warm to him. But Travis feels compelled to get closer to her, leading them both down a road where they will face tough decisions, shocking revelations and devastating consequences.

When a mysterious young woman named Katie appears in the small town of Southport, her sudden arrival raises questions about her past. Beautiful yet unassuming, Katie is determined to avoid forming personal ties until a series of events draws her into two reluctant relationships. Despite her reservations, Katie slowly begins to let down her guard, putting down roots in the close-knit community. But even as Katie starts to fall in love, she struggles with the dark secret that still haunts her….

Do you believe in lucky charms? While in Iraq, US Marine Logan Thibault finds a photo, half buried in the dirt, of a woman. He carries it in his pocket, and from then on his luck begins to change. Back home, Logan is haunted by thoughts of war. Over time, he becomes convinced that the woman in the photo holds the key to his destiny. So he finds the vulnerable and loving Beth, and a passionate romance begins.

17-year-old Veronica 'Ronnie' Miller's life was turned upside-down when her parents divorced and her father moved from New York City to Wilmington, North Carolina. Three years later, she remains angry and alienated from her parents, especially her father… until her mother decides it would be in everyone's best interest if she spent the summer in Wilmington with him.

Noah and Allie fell in love as teenagers, with the purest sort of love, only to be kept apart by Allie's mother. Their feelings survived in spite of everything - and they recounted their romance in the pages of a notebook. Now, years later, Allie suffers from Alzheimer's, and her memory has been wiped clean. By reading the story of their relationship and the passion they shared, Noah hopes to break through the barrier of his wife's illness. This poignant first novel from Nicholas Sparks rivals any love story ever written.