Review: The Christmas Wedding by James Patterson and Richard DiLallo

Thank you to Sabrina at Little Brown for letting me review this one! 

About the Book

The tree is decorated, the cookies are baked, and the packages are wrapped, but the biggest celebration this Christmas is Gaby Summerhill's wedding. Since her husband died three years ago, Gaby's four children have drifted apart, each consumed by the turbulence of their own lives. They haven't celebrated Christmas together since their father's death, but when Gaby announces that she's getting married--and that the groom will remain a secret until the wedding day--she may finally be able to bring them home for the holidays.

But the wedding isn't Gaby's only surprise--she has one more gift for her children, and it could change all their lives forever. With deeply affecting characters and the emotional twists of a James Patterson thriller, The Christmas Wedding is a fresh look at family and the magic of the season.

For more information about The Christmas Wedding please visit Hachette Book Group. You can also visit James Patterson's website or like him on Facebook.

My Review

This book was pretty good. The story was interesting - a mysterious wedding, a few unexpected twists and turns, and a good mix of mushy and humorous. The character development was a bit lax, but I think that added to this story a bit. There were so many important characters that had they all been well-developed, like Gaby, this book would have been horrendous to read. And the lax in development added even more to the intrigue of who is Gaby going to marry? I did like the children. Claire was probably my favorite though. I'm not sure why I connected with her, even more so than with Gaby, but I did. I've never really been through any of what Claire goes through in this book, but the connection was there nonetheless.

I have to say I was a bit shocked that Patterson was doing a romance story, or "Love Story" as it says on the back cover. Although that's probably more from my lack of following his works, as it appears he has a few of them. In true Patterson fashion there was mystery and intrigue surrounding the whole thing. It was very well balanced between the mystery story and the love story. In the past I have been a bit critical of Patterson's novels because they, while entertaining and engaging, tend to be a bit predictable. I thought I had a good idea of who Gaby was going to marry about halfway through, but I was wrong. She picked my second guess :-)

Overall it was a pretty good story. I enjoyed reading it. It was a very quick read also. It took me less than two days to finish it. Partly because I wanted to know who she was going to marry and partly because it was pretty fast paced.