Great American Read List discussion

This topic is for discussion of our May 2022 series, written by Nicholas Sparks.

I hope you'll participate and read this selection for our book club.
For those who do: share your thoughts as you read, please!
Spoilers are allowed; add a considerate warning if your comment includes any so members have the option to skip.

A few notes on this series:
* It came in at #56 on the final Great American Read list.
* The series has an average Goodreads rating of 4.12

There are two books in the series, the timeline is set 30 yrs apart:
1. The Notebook written in 1996
2. The Wedding written in 2003