When it comes to romance, Nicholas Sparks writes his novels from the heart and soul and touches his readers with the magic of true love. Message in a Bottle is one of his exceptional novels.

Message in a Bottle was published in April 1998 and spent almost seven months on the hardcover best-seller list, and five more months on the paperback best-seller list.

The main character, Theresa Osborne, is a columnist for the Boston Times, lives a life of a typical 36-year-old, and is divorced. Her ex-husband, David, had an affair with another woman, causing them to split and for him to move to California. Theresa is still living with her 12 year-old son Kevin, and often visits her friends Deanna and Brian, a middle aged couple.

Garrett Blake owns a shop and teaches diving lessons in Wilmington, NC. Although diving, visiting his father, and sailing keep him busy throughout his days busy, memories and dreams of his wife Catherine, who died three years ago haunt him greatly. Garrett feels like there is no will to live now that his soulmate is gone from this world.

Like Garrett, Theresa is often pessimistic about romantic love and wonders if she will ever find someone to love and spend her life with again. On one fateful day, she comes across a bottle on a beach with a beautiful and heartfelt love letter inside, written to Catherine from Garrett. Little did Theresa know that the letter would impact her life forever.

Sparks uses a lot of third-person omnipresence in his novels to give the reader an idea of how the characters are feeling or when they are deep in thought. For example, he wrote about Garrett being in despair regarding Catherine’s death, especially when he dreamt about her.

“He loved it when he dreamed of her because it seemed as though she were still alive…and for a moment it seemed that everything was suddenly right in this world. Yet the dreams took a toll as well, because upon waking, he always felt exhausted and depressed.” (pg. 106)

Although Message in a Bottle does contain sexual content, it is not trashy or graphic. Instead, the scenes are passionate and loving between Theresa and Garrett and the sex is another way to strengthen their bond.

“They made love fiercely, cling desperately to each other…they worshipped each other’s bodies with a single-minded intensity that would sear their memories forever.” (pg. 326)

All of the stories he wrote were based on events that occurred in his life. For example, Message in a Bottle was inspired by the love and affection between his parents, and the death of his mother. His father was devastated, and before he moved on and found someone new, Sparks wondered if it was possible to fall in love twice in a lifetime.

Sparks’ first novel, The Notebook, was published in 1996 and contained the theme of everlasting love. He decided to write Message in a Bottle as a bittersweet ending to try writing a different theme because he wanted to give a novel a deeper meaning and a broader connection to different people.

This novel can connect with the world because people are naturally cynical and depressed about their losing a loved one, and they believe that there is no one else for them. Some think that love only exists in fairy tales, and only ends in a tragedy in real life. But this story shows that no matter how hard it seems or feels to get over heartbreak or loss of their lover, it’s best to let go, but never to forget about them.

If you’re looking for a genuine romance novel that is not too erotic or corny, then Message in a Bottle is a good read and is guaranteed to make you cry, even if romance novels aren’t your favorite genre.