The Christmas Wedding by James Patterson and Richard DiLallo

Title: The Christmas Wedding
Author(s): James Patterson and Richard DiLallo

Genre/Audience: Christmas fiction, adult

Publication: 2011

Source: Library

Summary: Gaby is a widow with four grown children who live all over the country. They haven't come together for the holidays since their dad died. But this Christmas, they're reuniting because Gaby is getting married... but to who? No one knows, not even the groom! Three different men have proposed to Gaby, and she's decided she will marry one of them but she won't reveal who until the wedding on Christmas day. Interwoven with Gaby's story are the stories of all four children, each facing an obstacle of their own.

My Thoughts: There are a lot of negative things I could say about The Christmas Wedding: it's very corny, it's BEYOND farfetched, it's silly, and most of all, do any of us honestly think that a one Mr. James Patterson is actually writing all of these books he supposedly pens with other unknown authors, that come out every single month? I think not. Let's just say, I wholeheartedly believe the man slaps his name on these books to boost sales. But that's another discussion for another day.

Despite all of these things in this rather ridiculous story, I... found myself really liking it and flew threw it in less than two days... I guess it helps that there are like... two words per page. But yes, I was actually quite engaged in the story. Like a lot of other readers, I wasn't particularly fond of Gaby, the mother and bride because who honestly tells three men who have proposed, "please wait a few weeks, and on the day of the wedding, I'll tell you who I chose?" Seriously?! That ain't right! And who gets married on Christmas, in a big elaborate wedding? Your non-related guests should be with their families. So, I thought she was pretty annoying and rude, but her four children were all really likeable characters and I loved reading their stories. Lizzie's husband has cancer, Seth is an aspiring author, Claire just dumped her abusive husband, and Emily is a high powered attorney in New York. They were all really different, but they all faced certain challenges they had to overcome. I also like the feeling of family in this story but would have liked to see the siblings interact more together - sometimes it didn't even seem like they were related. But I did like all of them coming together - part of the reason Gaby concocted the ridiculous wedding was to get the family all back together again.

So yeah, this book had a lot of flaws, was pretty outlandish, and the main character was selfish and unlikeable, buuut, it was still fun to read, I've got to admit. I just couldn't turn away, even though the whole time I was kiiiind of thinking, "what in the HELL?" I also think this book didn't really have a whole lot to do with Christmas and could be read any time of the year.

My Rating: 3.5/5