Another heart-wrenching, Nicholas Sparks inspired film was released April 10 and showcased the love of yet another southern boy who had eyes for a girl that took some time to wrangle.

The Longest Ride paralleled the love of Sophia, played by Britt Robertson, and Luke, played by Scott Eastwood, with that of an older couple, Ruth and Ira.

Luke and Sophia were on their way home from their first date that had gotten rained out, when Luke noticed the guard rail was damaged and went to check it out. It is then that the two found Ira who had crashed his car into a tree. After Ira muttered to Sophia to grab the box that lay on his passenger seat, they rushed him to the hospital.

Sophia stayed by Ira’s side through his recovery and it is through reading the letter from the box that we learn of Ira and Ruth’s story.

The parallelism between the two couples develops as we learn that Ruth wanted a big family, which Ira was unable to give her, and as Sophia learns more about Luke’s bull riding injuries and gives him an ultimatum he won’t accept.

Luke and Sophia met at a bull riding competition, which took some convincing of Sophia’s sorority sisters to get her to even attend. Sophia was a senior, studying art and was not used to taking such risks, but when it came to an attractive cowboy she couldn’t resist. Soon she finds herself also risking the internship she has landed at a New York City art gallery for her relationship with Luke. Even though Luke pushes her away to pursue the goals he is determined mean everything to him, he soon finds himself making sacrifices too, and like Ruth and Ira it is art that eventualy brings them together.

Sparks has many notable consistencies with his films, and The Longest Ride did not disappoint. In fact, there was a scene in the movie that mirrored The Notebook almost exactly. You know that shoulder shrug that Allie notions to Noah to symbolize she is back for good? Well, as Ruth returns to her and Ira’s home after realizing that their love trumps her desire for a large family, she does that same should shrug.

Sparks continues to keep his audiences’ hopeful that such love does exist, and does not fail in delivering the message that love can conquer all.