Safe Haven by Nicolas Sparks (audio)

Overview from Barnes and Noble:

When a mysterious young woman named Katie appears in the small North Carolina town of Southport, her sudden arrival raises questions about her past. Beautiful yet self-effacing, Katie seems determined to avoid forming personal ties until a series of events draws her into two reluctant relationships: one with Alex, a widowed store owner with a kind heart and two young children; and another with her plainspoken single neighbor, Jo. Despite her reservations, Katie slowly begins to let down her guard, putting down roots in the close-knit community and becoming increasingly attached to Alex and his family.

But even as Katie begins to fall in love, she struggles with the dark secret that still haunts and terrifies her . . . a past that set her on a fearful, shattering journey across the country, to the sheltered oasis of Southport. With Jo's empathic and stubborn support, Katie eventually realizes that she must choose between a life of transient safety and one of riskier rewards . . . and that in the darkest hour, love is the only true safe haven.

My thoughts:
When I started listening to this book I was reminded of the Julia Roberts movie Sleeping with the Enemy.  It didn't end up quite the same, but there were similarities between the two.  Katie is living in a small cottage with no car, working as a waitress and saving half of her paycheck every week in a can in the floor in case she needs to move again in a hurry.  Alex has been a widow for two years.  He has been focusing on his two small children, but thinks back to how his wife made him promise to find someone to love when he was ready, for himself and for his children.  Jo is a grief counselor who works with families who have lost loved ones and becomes Katie's friend, pushing her to get outside her boundaries and start living again.  Behind all of this is the shadow of what Katie ran away from in her old life with her real name.  It is a wonder that people are able to disappear at all with how connected everyone is with technology and social security numbers. This story also showed how anyone can be resourceful enough to find their way when they really need to.  Part of why I selected this one to listen to is that I had read it was being made into a movie.  According to IMDB Julianne Hough will play Katie, Josh Duhamel will play Alex and Cobie Smulders will play Jo.  It does not look like the movie is going to be out until next year which is fine by me.  I like to read a book before seeing the movie, but I also like to have some time between reading and watching so that the details can get a little fuzzy so I am not bothered by the unavoidable differences between the movie version and the book version of the story.

Product Details

• ISBN-13: 9780446547604
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
• Publication date: 8/2/2011
• Pages: 368