Seventeen-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. Ronnie's father, a former concert pianist and teacher, is living a quiet life in the beach town, immersed in creating a work of art that will become the centerpiece of a local church. The tale that unfolds is an unforgettable story that demonstrates, as only a Nicholas Sparks novel can, the many ways that love can break our hearts...and heal them.

Nicholas Sparks is the author of The Notebook, Message in a Bottle, and A Walk to Remember, all of which were New York Times bestsellers. He lives in North Carolina with his wife and three sons.