The only good thing about this book is the seaside atmosphere. The seaside restaurants were enjoyable. The storyline was acceptable but not my favorite.

I absolutely Love all of Nicholas Sparks' books. I have read them all and if want a great read with a touching story then he is the author for you. Get your kleenex's ready. You can't go wrong here.

And I always preorder his new ones..... I'm addicted.

While easy enough to read, if the exact same pages were enclosed in a Harlequin Romance cover, I wouldn't know the difference.

I'm extremely surprised this is a "best seller". Maybe I should take up writing because I can't possibly be worse than this.

Ok, it's a good enough story but wow, it's predictible and boring. I read it completely in 2 days, and I'm a reader that savors pages so it takes me a while. I wasn't intrigued, I wasn't on the edge of my seat, and didn't shed a tear.

I'll preface this by saying I'm a cryer. I cry at movie previews when they simply look entertaining. I cried all the way through Superman Returns. I did not, however, shed one tear during Message in a Bottle.

In English class, I always learned to "show, not tell" when writing. When that is your rule of thumb, you'll write a moving piece of literature, even if you're not completely skillful. Sparks is the master of telling without showing.

I'm honestly baffled by all the good reviews it gets. The story is somewhat engaging, but with no payoff. But the work is filled with passages like (and these are from memory; if I picked up the book to look for verbatim examples I'd have to type the entire thing), "He went to the refrigerator, opened the door, and took a beer. After opening it, he sat down on the back deck." Or, "Though she was overweight, she moved quickly around the table." "She got out of the shower, dried off, and put on khaki shorts and a white cotton shirt." Have you read enough yet?

I'm new to the romance genre. My mother-in-law recommended Sparks because -- I think she was trying to imply -- his sex scenes aren't too graphic. They were to me, but then, I'm new to romance, and spoiled by the masterful, unequaled storytelling skill of Stephen King.

Please hold your New York Times bestsellers to a higher standard. Let's hold on to whatever quality control we can in music, movies, and literature.

When I first read the back of the book i underestimated it. At this time I was looking for a good love story book to read after reading The Notebook, and I had thought it was going to be a boring read and not a great love story. I thought how can Theresea be suddenly interested in a man who wrote letters to his wife in bottles. But then when i was reading the book i kept wondering how could nobody want to meet Garrett. This book most definately suprised me because it is a great love story. It's mainly about dealing with past relationships and moving forward.
I really enjoyed this book, and cried really hard at the end.