The Christmas Wedding

So ya think I got married over the holiday, huh? Nope! But  Gaby Summerhill did.  Who's Gaby Summerhill you may ask?  She's the central character in James Patterson's latest departure from murder and mystery, called The Christmas Wedding co written with Richard DiLallo.

Patterson's past departures were quite enjoyable reads, with Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas one of his best books in all genres. Having read that as well as Sam's Letters to Jennifer and Sundays at Tiffany's,  my expectations for The Christmas Wedding were set.

Unfortunately, I was disappointed. But if you enjoy Carol Higgins Clark type novels, The Christmas Wedding should be on your list or shelf.  Patterson sticks with the fast paced writing style but this reader thought this attempt was a bit much on fluff.  I've read my fair share of lighter side novels, Clark, Nicholas Sparks, Richard Evans, etc. so I'm not opposed to reading these and find most of them enjoyable. It's a nice break from reading, say, a 800 page tome on Winston Churchill.

I will however say, one of his characters, Marty, made a very good statement about the joy of reading, which plays into Patterson's foundation, readkiddoread.com - dedicated to making kids readers for life.

The quote : " ...If you're not reading  - - - with your heart as well as your brain - - - you'll be one stupid grown-up. Even worse, you'll be missing out on one of the best experiences you can possibly have. Nowhere will you meet more interesting people than in books. I've met a lot of people, I've read a lot of books..."

Self promoting perhaps? Either way it's a great foundation and a creative way to intertwine in the book.

Patterson is back to mystery page turners next week with Private: #1 Suspect (Jack Morgan) co authored with Maxine Paetro, which is the second book in the Jack Morgan series, the first being: Private.