Nicholas Sparks has written many romance novels over his career that have been turned into phenomenal movies. He has given every girl out there hope that there is one guy that’s going to come along and sweep her off of her feet. Whether you are a hopeless romantic, or just an average guy who hates “chick flicks,” you have to agree that these movies have been very successful.

The following movies, in my opinion, are basically perfect. Then again, I’m one of those hopeless romantics, but you can thank Nicholas Sparks for that. If you haven’t seen any of these movies, I encourage you to watch them as soon as possible. By the way, *this article does contain spoilers.*

1. The Notebook

I’m pretty sure everyone has seen this iconic love story. If you haven’t, what are you doing? It stars everyone’s favorite heartthrob, Ryan Gosling. In a small town in South Carolina, two teens fall head over heels for each other. A country boy, Noah Calhoun, falls madly in love with a city girl, Allie Hamilton, and they spend every waking moment together in a summer during the 1940’s. Sadly, Allie’s parents weren’t all for her relationship with Noah. Her parents force Allie to go back home and leave Noah without even letting him know. As their lives go on, Noah writes Allie 365 letters. After not receiving a response for a year, he decides to move on. They get into relationships with other people, but as soon as Allie sees Noah’s picture in the paper featuring a house that he promised he would build her back when they were teenagers, everyone soon finds out that their relationship is anything but over.

2. The Lucky One

There’s nothing ladies love more than a handsome man in uniform, and to top it all off, this movie stars Zac Efron as a Marine. After returning home from his third tour in Iraq, Logan (Zac Efron) is determined to find this woman in a picture he found while on his tour. Logan believes that this woman was the reason that he made it through the war and that she was his good luck charm that kept him alive. He finally learns that the woman in the picture is named Beth Green, and that she runs a family kennel, so he sets out to meet her. Once Logan meets Beth, he’s lost for words, but Beth assumes he’s there to apply for a job since the kennel had just sent out a help wanted advertisement. At first, Beth is super reluctant of Logan and she doesn’t really trust him at all, but eventually, she changes her mind. They get to know each other on a personal level and then discover they both have feelings for each other, so Logan decides not to tell Beth about the picture. Of course, Beth ends up finding out about the picture so her trust for Logan is destroyed. It turns out that Beth sent that particular photo with her brother, Derek, to keep him safe while he was deployed. Sadly, Derek ended up dying, so Beth immediately blames Logan for her brother’s death. You’ll have to watch it for yourself to see if Beth forgives Logan or if they will go their separate ways.

3. A Walk to Remember

Set in North Carolina, a popular, wild, and reckless teen, Landon Carter, plans a prank for a fellow student that goes terribly wrong. Therefore, his principal tells Landon he can either choose to be expelled or tutor students, while also participating in the school play. While trying to learn his lines for the school play, Landon realizes he needs some help, so he seeks the assistance of a shy, nerdy, Christian girl named Jamie Sullivan. Of course, being the person Jamie is, she agrees to help him under one condition: that he will not fall in love with her. Landon thinks that’s the ridiculous because he would never fall in love with her, but the viewers soon find out that is exactly what is happening. On opening night of the play, Landon, along with the crowd, is amazed at how beautiful Jamie looks and how she can sing like an angel. At the end of the play, Landon makes a move and kisses Jamie, but it was not supposed to be in the script. Landon then takes it upon himself to ask Jamie out on a date and she accepts. It goes really well. On that date, she gives him a list of things she’s always wanted to do in life. Finally, Jamie confesses that she doesn’t want to make any plans for the future because she has leukemia and hasn’t been responding to her treatments. Jamie is now getting worse and is sent to the hospital. There, she gives Landon a book that her deceased mother gave her confessing that maybe God sent Landon as an angel. Since Jamie has a love for astronomy, Landon builds her a telescope so she can see this once in a lifetime comet. While they’re viewing the comet, Landon asks Jamie to marry her, and she accepts. Landon and Jamie end up getting married in the same church that Jamie’s mother married her father in. Sadly, Jamie ends up losing her battle with cancer and she passes away at the end of summer.  Years later, Landon returns to visit Jamie’s father and returns the book that Jamie had given him years before. Landon says that he’s sorry that Jamie never witnessed her miracle before passing away. Jamie’s father reassures him that she did: it was him. As the movie ends, Landon is sitting on a dock thinking about Jamie and how he is saddened because she is not here with him, but he then realizes love is like the wind…”you can’t see it but you can feel it.”

4.  The Choice

    In the beautiful city of Wilmington, North Carolina, a veterinarian, Travis Shaw, falls in love with his beautiful next door neighbor, Gabby Holland. Even though Gabby is in a current relationship with doctor Ryan McCarthy, that doesn’t stop Travis by any means. Ryan ends up having to go out of town to oversee the opening of a new hospital, so of course Gabby and Travis spend some time together, starting a relationship. When Ryan returns, Gabby breaks off her relationship with Travis and then accepts Ryan’s proposal, which breaks Travis’ heart. Determined to get Gabby back, Travis travels to the hospital where she works to make one last effort. While there, Travis gets the news that Gabby has broken off her engagement with Ryan and left town. Travis then travels to Gabby’s hometown, confessing his love for her and how he would love nothing more than to marry her. Gabby and Travis end up getting married and having two children together. One night, they both plan to have a romantic date night at a nearby restaurant after work. Travis ends up running late due to an emergency at work, so Gabby leaves the restaurant and heads home. On the way home, Gabby is involved in an accident and is put in a coma, which seems permanent. Does Gabby wake up or will she be in a coma forever?

5. The Longest Ride

    A professional bull rider, Luke Collins takes a special interest in a college sorority girl, Sophia Dankon, after meeting her at one of his shows when she ends up picking up Luke’s cowboy hat. Luke decides to ask Sophia out on a date, and while together, she tells him that she really likes him, but she has an internship in New York so it’s best if they are just friends for now. On the way home from their date, they spot a car accident and stop to help an elderly man out of his vehicle. While getting that man out, he starts saying, “my box, get my box” so Sophia goes back and finds the box. They take the man to the hospital so he can be taken care of and once he wakes, Sophia visits him and returns his special box. Ira Levinson (the elderly man from the accident) thanks her for bringing him the box and explains that inside are letters that he wrote as a teenager to a young adult. These letters were written to his late wife, Ruth, and they tell the story of their lives and love for each other. Trying to decide whether Luke and Sophia could possibly make this relationship work, they find inspiration from Ira and his letters. This movie explains Ira and Ruth’s relationship and how it compares to Sophia and Luke’s. Will Luke and Sophia take a shot at love or decide that not everyone can live happily ever after like Ira and Ruth?

6. Safe Haven

    Katie Feldman flees her home in Boston in order to get away from an abusive husband, and she ends up in a small town off the coast of North Carolina. Attempting to start over, Katie gets a job as a waitress and then befriends her neighbor, Jo. Katie then meets Alex, the owner of a nearby local general store, and they instantly click. Alex is a widower and has two children, Josh and Lexi. Alex and Katie immediately start hanging out, starting their new relationship, and Katie even becomes like a mother figure to his two children. One day, Alex sees a wanted poster for a woman who looks just like Katie for first degree murder, but the name on the poster is Erin. Alex confronts Katie about this and she explains that Erin is her real name and she fled Boston because of her alcoholic and abusive husband, but she stabbed him in self-defense before coming here. Conflicted with what to do because of a huge fight Katie has with Alex, she decides to leave town. While waiting for her boat, Alex races to her and explains how much he loves her and wants her to stay here with him and that there’s no safer place than in his arms. Thankfully, Katie decides to stay, but unfortunately, that doesn’t stop Katie’s abusive husband from coming to find her. When her husband returns, will he endanger Alex and his family, or will Katie have to leave and never see them again? Plus, there’s way more to this Jo character than just Katie’s neighbor, so you’ll have to watch to see how it all unfolds.