The Return

In the romantic tradition of Dear John, an injured Navy doctor meets two extremely important women whose secrets will change the course of his life in this #1 New York Times bestseller.

Trevor Benson never intended to move back to New Bern, North Carolina. But when a mortar blast outside the hospital where he worked sent him home from Afghanistan with devastating injuries, the dilapidated cabin he'd inherited from his grandfather seemed as good a place to regroup as any.

Tending to his grandfather's beloved beehives, Trevor isn't prepared to fall in love with a local . . . yet, from their very first encounter, Trevor feels a connection with deputy sheriff Natalie Masterson that he can't ignore. But even as she seems to reciprocate his feelings, she remains frustratingly distant, making Trevor wonder what she's hiding.

Further complicating his stay in New Bern is the presence of a sullen teenage girl, Callie, who lives in the trailer park down the road. Trevor hopes Callie can shed light on the mysterious circumstances of his grandfather's death, but she offers few clues--until a crisis triggers a race to uncover the true nature of Callie's past, one more intertwined with the elderly man's passing than Trevor could ever have imagined.

In his quest to unravel Natalie and Callie's secrets, Trevor will learn the true meaning of love and forgiveness . . . and that in life, to move forward, we must often return to the place where it all began.

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Published Aug 10, 2021

400 pages

Average rating: 6.9

108 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

frannie-puckett
Mar 17, 2024
8/10 stars
A little mystery, a little romance. A fast read!
Caroline D'cruz
Dec 29, 2025
8/10 stars
"No need to stock up on boxes of tissue paper, be ready for a lesson on bee keeping, expect a small romantic story which was not so romantic after all and finally dome that investigators hat before you embark on this journey with nicholas Sparks".

Unlike other books by Nicholas Sparks, the Return is quite different from what one would expect. While this book fails on a teary eyed love story front, the mystery part helps keep one hooked on. The characters of Trevor Benson and Callie though quite likeble, could be have been more evolved. On the other hand, the character of Natalie and her secret totally failed to shock me.

But on the positive side, the lesson on bees and bee keeping was interesting, the hint of mystery does make one want to finished this book. Other than that The Return is not Nicholas Sparks fine working, I bet I have read better one's in the past.
Ann Bredemeier
Oct 18, 2025
10/10 stars
I really enjoyed the characters in this book...the angst...the relationships...the moral struggles...and the ending is just what was needed in these pandemic times.
Mmf41872
Sep 01, 2025
8/10 stars
A wonderful story of love, grief, and the pain that sometimes comes with it. Some psychology thrown in as they touch on PTSD, forms of loss and grief and how we handle them. A few mysteries keep you hooked till the end hoping for each to come Into the light and have happy endings. Well written and hard to put down.
stackedlibrarian
Dec 11, 2024
6/10 stars
2.5

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