See Me by Nicholas Sparks

This is a review of See Me by Nicholas Sparks. Nicholas Sparks is one of my absolute favorite authors. I read this whole book in one sitting.  It's a little slow going at the beginning but the pace definitely picks up and you will be glad you stuck with it.

Maria is the daughter of Mexican immigrants and the first one in her family to have graduated college. Maria works as a lawyer at a very prestigious law firm. She has a chance encounter with a man named Colin one night. She suffers a flat tire on her way home one night. Colin sees her pulled over on the side of the road and struggling to change her tire. He stops to help. Maria is terrified of him because he has some pretty nasty cuts and bruises on his face. Colin is an amateur MMA fighter and has just come from a match. Maria instantly thinks he is trouble. He helps her change her tire and goes on his way.

Maria tells her sister Serena of the encounter and her sister realizes that Colin a classmate of hers in a couple of her college classes. Serena manages to engineer a meeting between Maria and Colin by having her sister meet her for a meal at the bar where Colin works.  After the meal Serena leaves to meet up with some friends and Maria runs into Colin on the pier where he is fishing after getting off of work. Maria and Colin begin talking and he tells her of his troubled past and how he has turned his life around. He is just one step away from going to prison but if he can stay out of trouble for 5 years his criminal record will be completely expunged. He is currently going to college because he wants to become a third grade teacher and he knows he can’t do it if he has a criminal record. Colin and Maria decide to see each other again.

As they spend more and more time together they begin to fall in love with each other. Maria’s life and safety are threatened by a stalker from her past and she leans on Colin for support and strength. Colin almost loses it a few times and almost gets arrested because he is trying to save Maria. Colin and Maria go through an absolute nightmare with her stalker. She knows who he is but has trouble getting the police to believe her at first. Once the officer in charge starts investigating the case he realizes there is more to the case than it seems. The officer is the same officer that is always hassling Colin and trying to arrest him because he doesn’t like him and thinks Colin should be locked up. As the officer continues to investigate the case, he gets shot and Colin and his friend Evan save his life.  Another officer takes over the case and they think that they have the case solved once the suspect is apprehended but they soon realize that there is a partner involved as well. Colin knows there is something about the case that isn’t right but he can’t figure it out. He eventually makes the connection and arrives on the scene just in time to save Maria’s sister Serena. Colin gets injured badly but he lives and the cop that he saved has quit hassling him as well.  Colin and Maria get their happy ending as do their friends.

My recommendation: This is a must read.