The novel believes in love between opposites so much that the only person who voices any skepticism towards Sophia’s whirlwind romance with Luke is Marcia, Sophia’s shallow and nosy roommate. By having only this character express her doubts that people who have little in common are most likely not going to make it as a couple, The Longest Ride gets to have its fantasy love story cake and eat it too. Pragmatic squares might not believe in love-at-first-sight fairy tales and unearned happy endings, but a Nicholas Sparks story insists that whatever the problem, love is always the answer. If the lives of his characters are complicated, love is anything but, Sparks wants the readers to believe against all real-world evidence to the contrary.

The Longest Ride examines specifically how opposites attract. Sparks uses two couples to explore the dynamics between people motivated only by a mystically powerful attraction to be together. Can they find their way to the comfort, stability, and consolation of emotional commitment? Defying the odds, they do. Ira, a shy, socially awkward, introspective young man with little interest in culture and few aspirations beyond running his family’s clothing business, is somehow the perfect match for outgoing and confident Ruth, an immigrant from a family of respected educators who loves art and values education.