Contemp Review: The Christmas Wedding [Hardcover]

I've finished "The Christmas Wedding" by James Patterson and Richard DiLallo.

Product Description

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.

Product Details
Hardcover: 288 pages
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company (October 17, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 031609739X
ISBN-13: 978-0316097390

My Review:

Gaby Summerhill's husband Peter has been dead for three years and her family haven't had Christmas since then.  Now she's getting married on Christmas Day but her children and even her groom doesn't know who! So finally Gaby and family will spend Christmas together.   She's been proposed to by three different men who is her best friends.

Loved getting to know Gaby and her four grown children Claire, Emily, Lizzie and Seth.  Each is dealing with problems of their own.  Claire is in an abusive relationship with her husband who torments her mentally and psychically.   She finally has had enough and kicks him to the curb but their children adores him.  Her son Gus is smoking weed and drinking and getting drunk just like his dad.

Emily is married to a successful doctor but is passed over as a partner at her Law Firm.  She quits and now has to come up with a job strategy.

Lizzie is dealing with her husband Mike's cancer and trying to keep up an optimistic outlook for their eight-year old daughter Tallelah.

Seth is dealing with a rejection from his publisher and his girlfriend tries to cheer him up while support him too.  He feels like a failure.

This was a very fast read and I finished it in a couple of hours.  Loved how close the family is and how they support each other in time of need.  Really surprised that Mike is such a jokester while suffering a terminal illness.

4/5

Thanks Hachette Book Group for sending me this book to review, greatly appreciated!