History Creator / NicholasSparks

** [[GoodAdulteryBadAdultery Bad adultery]] (Jack in ''Nights in Rodanthe'', Josh in ''Every Breath'')

# ''Film/SafeHaven'' (2013)

!! List of adaptations of his selected works

# ''Film/TheLastSong'' (2010)

** ''Nights in Rodanthe'' and ''The Rescue'' both feature the hero grappling with guilt over a death for which he blames himself.

** ''Nights in Rodanthe'' and ''The Best of Me'' both feature the lead male being at least partially responsible for someone's death and feeling compelled to apologize to their spouse in person.

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

!! List of selected works

* ''Film/TheNotebook''

* ''Film/MessageInABottle''

** Denise Holton in ''The Rescue'' may be named for Denise Di Novi, who produced several of his movies.

** Prior to meeting their respective heroes, the heroines of ''True Believer'', ''A Bend in the Road'', and ''The Rescue'' were all unceremoniously dumped by investment bankers, two of which left them pregnant.

** [[JiveTurkey Eric]] in ''A Walk to Remember'', [[SassyBlackWoman Jean]] in ''Nights in Rodanthe'', and Victor in the film version of ''The Lucky One'' (he is Hispanic in the book) are all the BlackBestFriend of one of the protagonists.

* HollywoodCuisine: Subverted, surprisingly: Despite all of his stories being set in or near North Carolina and including at least one eating scene, there's very little classic Southern cookin'. A backyard barbecue will feature many hamburgers and steaks but no pulled pork or ribs. Played straight in ''The Lucky One'', in which the characters dine on jambalaya.

* 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--but 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.

* MyBelovedSmother: The heroines of ''The Notebook'', ''The Best of Me'', and ''The Choice'', plus the hero of ''The Last Song'', all have nosy, hypercritical mothers who are determined that their daughters should be proper [[SouthernBelle Southern belles]] (or that their sons should date them).

* HollywoodCuisine: Subverted, surprisingly: Despite all of his stories being set in or near North Carolina and including at least one eating scene, there's very little classic Southern cookin'. A backyard barbecue will feature many hamburgers and steaks but no pulled pork or ribs.

* ArtImitatesLife: Sparks outlines the inspirations for all of his books on his website. Many of his stories are based on his own life or that of a loved one:

* {{Melodrama}}: [[https://www.buzzfeed.com/annehelenpetersen/why-nicholas-sparks-matters-now According to BuzzFeed's Anne Helen Petersen]], Sparks's embrace of this is what makes him stand out as an author.

** Other couples meet while one of them is [[TheMourningAfter still getting over the death of]] [[TheLostLenore a spouse]] or another close relative, who was always TooHappyToLive; the arrival of the other lead will speed up the grieving process considerably. In a few cases--among them ''Message in a Bottle'', ''The Lucky One'', and ''A Bend in the Road''--the other lead has some connection to, or knowledge of, the dead person before meeting their love interest, but [[CannotSpitItOut can't bring themselves to say so]], causing a BreakUpMakeUpScenario.

* HollywoodCuisine: Subverted, surprisingly: Despite all of his stories being set in or near North Carolina and including at least one eating scene, there's very little classic Southern cookin'. A backyard barbecue will feature many hamburgers and steaks but no pulled pork.