"Dear John, These nights in Rodanthe are so beautiful I have to write about it in my notebook. Must run – they’re playing the last song!" Clockwise from top right: Images from "The Last Song," "Dear John," "Nights in Rodanthe" and "The Notebook."

Great romantic movies evoke legendary passion, whether through memorable lines (“love means never having to say you’re sorry…boo…hoo…hoo”), a storyline that makes even the stoniest hearts all mushy, or a singularly unforgettable image.

Like, say, a vision of one lover holding the other’s head with both hands and, perhaps, squeezing a little. We’re calling it Nicholas Sparks Romantic Head Squeeze.

While many have figured out the author’s tried-and-true plot formula (usually involving a love that transcends class, distance and what have you heightened by the discovery of terminal illness, and a game-changing shock or two), it was not until we first laid eyes on the poster for “The Last Song” (now playing in theaters everywhere!) that we realized the Head Squeeze also has become the calling card for a typical Sparks tale.  Seeing it created an intense feeling of deja vu… until we realized that we had indeed seen this couple before.

Three other times, in fact.

When Rachel McAdams played squeezy-face with Ryan Gosling for “The Notebook,”  we have to admit it was kind of adorable. Then Richard Gere gently used Diane Lane‘s ears as face-handles to promote “Nights in Rodanthe“…well, OK then. But then came February, when we saw nothing but Amanda Seyfried passionately crushing Channing Tatum’s jowls in commercials for “Dear John” and now, barely two months later, we’re being bombarded with that picture of Liam Hemsworth holding Miley Cyrus‘s head like he’s intent on using it to bowl a strike.

For what else can great lovers do, when they find out their romance is doomed, but to take each others face in their hands? Usually while in water or near it?