History Creator / NicholasSparks

** [[TheyDo Ultimately requited love]] being SealedWithAKiss.

* IdealizedSex: Almost every Sparks movie depicts [[CoitusEnsues a round of lovemaking]], often [[TheirFirstTime the couple's first]], which is always gentle, romantic, perfectly timed, dimly-lit, mutually satisfying, and free of any discomfort or awkwardness, even when one or both partners are virgins. Almost all of these encounters are [[IkeaErotica missionary position only]], with the occasional ShowerOfLove thrown in for variety. None of these scenes shows any nudity more scandalous than a quick glimpse of {{Sideboob}}, and any sounds from the actors louder than heavy breathing are [[TheModestOrgasm drowned out by music]].

* BigApplesauce: The vast majority of [[CityMouse city mice]] in his stories live in New York City.

** ''Message in a Bottle'', ''True Believer'', ''Nights in Rodanthe'', ''Dear John'', ''The Last Song'', ''Every Breath'', and ''The Wish'' all feature a couple meeting unexpectedly and falling in love in coastal North Carolina before one of them is compelled to return to another state or country. ''Dreamland'' is a subversion, only in that the couple meets in Florida.

** ''Dreamland'': Colby and Morgan pledge their love to each other after only three dates. [[spoiler:Morgan later returns to Colby at his family's farm after she's hit it big in Nashville.]]

* CreatorProvincialism: Most of his works are set in various small coastal towns in North Carolina, where he's from. If not specifically North Carolina, somewhere in the Southeast--South Carolina, Georgia, Louisiana. Complete with lots of SceneryPorn.

* ButNotTooForeign: Tru Walls, the hero of ''Every Breath'', lives and works in Zimbabwe, as did three generations of Walls men before him. Lest anyone get excited at the prospect of a rare interracial Sparks romance, we are told within the first two pages that Tru is of English extraction and his great-grandfather worked with [[EvilColonialist imperialist icon Cecil Rhodes]].

Nicholas Charles Sparks (born December 31, 1965) is the screenwriter behind the films ''Film/MessageInABottle'', ''Film/AWalkToRemember'', ''Film/TheNotebook'', ''Nights In Rodanthe'', ''Literature/TheLastSong'', ''Dear John'', ''The Lucky One'', ''Literature/SafeHaven'', ''The Best Of Me'', ''The Longest Ride'' and most recently, ''The Choice''. He reportedly began writing during his first year of college at Notre Dame after a track injury and a long recovery. He took a string of jobs from [[http://www.biography.com/people/nicholas-sparks-562686 waiter, real estate appraiser, telemarketer, orthopedic manufacturer, and pharmaceutical sales]]. Finally in 1994 he tried one last time and produced ''Film/TheNotebook'' which launched him to fame.

** ''Message in a Bottle'', ''True Believer'', ''Nights in Rodanthe'', ''Dear John'', ''The Last Song'', ''Every Breath'', and ''The Wish'' all feature a couple meeting unexpectedly and falling in love in coastal North Carolina before one of them is compelled to return to another state or country.

** Seven--[[https://nicholassparks.com/stories/the-wish/ soon to be eight]]--Sparks heroines have names ending in ''-ie''.

* StalkingIsLove: ...when a {{protagonist|CenteredMorality}}--such as Theresa in ''Message in a Bottle'', Noah in ''The Notebook'', and Logan in ''The Lucky One''--does it.

* MsFanservice: There will always be an excuse for the heroine to be shown in a bikini, tight jeans, or [[ShesGotLegs short shorts]].

* IdealizedSex: Almost every Sparks movie depicts [[CoitusEnsues a round of lovemaking]], often [[TheirFirstTime the couple's first]], which is always [[GoodPeopleHaveGoodSex gentle, romantic, perfectly timed, dimly-lit, mutually satisfying, and free of any discomfort or awkwardness]], even when one or both partners are virgins. Almost all of these encounters are [[IkeaErotica missionary position only]], with the occasional ShowerOfLove thrown in for variety. None of these scenes shows any nudity more scandalous than a quick glimpse of {{Sideboob}}, and any sounds from the actors louder than heavy breathing are [[TheModestOrgasm drowned out by music]].

* SugarBowl: The standard Sparks setting is an [[GoodOldWays old-fashioned]] [[SmallTowns small town]], drenched in SceneryPorn and filled with [[CloseKnitCommunity friendly]] and [[QuirkyTown quirky]] locals, with NoPoverty, no crime, no racism, no [[TownWithADarkSecret dark secrets]], very few [[NuclearFamily non-nuclear families]], and no real problems short of occasional HostileWeather and [[NoTrueScotsman a bad apple or two]]. Subverted in ''True Believer'' and ''At First Sight'', in which Lexie's hometown of Boone Creek is down on its luck economically but pretty and friendly once you get used to it, [[MarySuetopia as she repeatedly insists]] to CityMouse Jeremy.

* SingleTargetSexuality: Present to an extent in several of his works, when two lovers are separated for a long while and are unable to feel more strongly for anyone--including their spouses--than each other. UpToEleven in ''The Best of Me'', in which even Amanda is astonished that Dawson has not dated or slept with any other woman in the ''twenty years'' since their high-school romance ended.

* IdealizedSex: Almost every Sparks movie depicts [[CoitusEnsues a round of lovemaking]], often [[TheirFirstTime the couple's first]], which is always [[GoodPeopleHaveGoodSex gentle, romantic, perfectly timed, dimly lit, mutually satisfying, and free of any discomfort or awkwardness]], even when one or both partners are virgins. Almost all of these encounters are [[IkeaErotica missionary position only]], with the occasional ShowerOfLove thrown in for variety. None of these scenes shows any nudity more scandalous than a quick glimpse of {{Sideboob}}, and any sounds from the actors louder than heavy breathing are [[TheModestOrgasm drowned out by music]].

** When the separation period of a couple [[UnrequitedLoveLastsForever lasts for years or even decades]], the man spends it [[IWillWaitForYou pining for the other]], refusing to date anyone else on more than the most casual basis, while the woman [[AbsenceMakesTheHeartGoYonder attaches herself to someone else]], who may be the RomanticFalseLead or a SecondLove depending on the story. From here, she will start leading an AwfulWeddedLife or discover a serious flaw in her relationship, which provides the perfect excuse for [[LoveWillLeadYouBack love to lead her back]] to her OldFlame and make her a SympatheticAdulterer. After this, she will be [[SexChangesEverything torn about the fallout]], requiring the man to nobly [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy give her his blessing]] to go back to her current partner, which she may do, at least for a while.

** Some couples meet while one of them is attached to a RomanticFalseLead. This person may be a sympathetic DisposableFiance who [[DudeWheresMyRespect never does anything wrong]] and must accept that the hero(ine) loves someone else more; a BitCharacter who [[StaticCharacter never does anything]] and only exists to be dumped; or a HateSink who never deserved the hero(ine).

** StaticCharacter[=/=]DynamicCharacter: Usually the case when one half of the couple is in [[TheMourningAfter mourning]]; they are unwilling to move forward with life, while the other half is ready for a big change. Often overlaps with BroodingBoyGentleGirl.

* SomethingCompletelyDifferent: ''The Guardian'', ''Safe Haven'', and ''See Me'' are more thrillers than his typical love stories. These feature the man [[TheDulcineaEffect immediately feeling compelled to rescue]] [[DamselInDistress the woman]] from a HateSink, who in two out of three cases is a...

** ''The Notebook'' and ''Nights in Rodanthe'', plus one of two storylines in ''The Longest Ride'', are all {{fram|ingDevice}}ed as a story being retold to another character.
** ''Message in a Bottle'', ''True Believer'', ''Nights in Rodanthe'', ''Dear John'', ''The Last Song'', and ''Every Breath'' all feature a couple meeting unexpectedly and falling in love in coastal North Carolina before one of them is compelled to return to another state or country.

** ''The Guardian'' and ''The Choice'' both feature the leading relationship being facilitated by a dog. In the case of ''The Guardian'', it is an EvilDetectingDog.

** ''Dear John'' and the forthcoming ''The Return'' both feature heroes who return to their North Carolina hometowns after being injured in combat overseas.

[[index]]
# ''Film/MessageInABottle'' (1999)
# ''Film/AWalkToRemember'' (2002)
# ''Film/TheNotebook'' (2004)
# ''Film/NightsInRodanthe'' (2008)
# ''Film/DearJohn'' (2010)
# ''Literature/TheLastSong'' (2010)
# ''Film/TheLuckyOne '' (2012)
# ''Literature/SafeHaven'' (2013)
# ''Film/TheBestOfMe'' (2014)
# ''Film/TheLongestRide'' (2015)
# ''Film/TheChoice'' (2016)

*** This is an aversion of HollywoodCuisine: Despite all of his stories being set in or near North Carolina and many including barbecue scenes, you never see his characters dining on pulled pork or ribs.

** Six--[[https://nicholassparks.com/stories/the-return/ soon to be seven]]--Sparks heroines have names ending in ''-ie''.