Giveaway: The Christmas Wedding by James Patterson

I have one copy of The Christmas Wedding up for grabs courtesy of Little, Brown and Company.

You can read my review here.

Open to the U.S & Canada

Ends 10/25

Fill out the form to enter :)

Release Day Review: The Christmas Wedding by James Patterson & Richard Dilallo

Title: The Christmas Wedding
Author: James Patterson & Richard Dilallo
Available: Today!
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Reading Level: Adult
Source: Publisher












Description from Goodreads:


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 five years ago, Gaby's children have drifted apart, each one preoccupied by the turbulence in 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.

My thoughts:

The Christmas Wedding explores the lives of widowed Gaby and her four grown children. The POV alternates over the course of the novel. Each child is dealing with their own set of issues from illness to abusive spouses to job woes. When Gaby receives proposals from three men she decides to plan a Christmas wedding. She sends her children video messages with all the details except for the groom's identity. She does list three possible suitors and hopes the mystery will entice her children to come home for Christmas.

The Christmas Wedding is a novel that had the potential to really wow me, but the large cast of characters killed the execution. I feel like we received these brief introductions to each character's life that really captured my attention, but none received the page time needed for me to connect. There was the possibility of really great characters, but the development was lacking. This is a novel that would have benefited greatly from 50-100 more pages.

I'm also not real sure how I feel about Gaby stringing along 3 guys. It seemed a little cruel, but the guys seemed more than ok with it. Realistic? Probably not, but I can totally see this becoming a made for TV movie. Honestly I’m just not a big Gaby fan. I would have loved to see more time devoted to the trials her children were facing in their lives.

The Christmas Wedding is a quick and fluffy read with the holiday theme many readers flock to this time of year, but don't expect it to pack the same emotional punch as Sam's Letters for Jennifer or Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas. Even with its faults The Christmas Wedding managed to keep me reading. I also liked how the end wrapped everything up. A little too neatly? Probably, but as a reader who hates to be left hanging I appreciated the author giving me my desired closure. 

Audiobook Review and Giveaway: The 9th Judgement by James Patterson

**Possible spoilers for earlier books in this series below**

Details on how you can win a copy of The 9th Judgement after my review.

Title: The 9th Judgement (Audiobook)

Authors: James Patterson and Maxine Paetro

Read by Carolyn McCormick

Available: Now

Publisher: Hachette Audio

Reading level: Adult

3.5 out of 5 Stars

I received a review copy in exchange for my honest review.

Synopsis from Hachette Book Group:

During an intimate dinner party, a cat burglar breaks into the home of A-list actor Marcus Dowling. When his wife walks in on the thief, the situation quickly teeters out of control, leaving an empty safe and a lifeless body. 

The same night, a woman and her infant child are ruthlessly gunned down in an abandoned garage. The killer hasn't left a shred of evidence, except for a foreboding and cryptic message: WCF, the letters written in blood-red letters. 

With two elusive criminals on the loose, Detective Lindsay Boxer calls on the Women's Murder Club to help her stop them before they continue their spree. But before they can break either case, the Lipstick Killer changes his act and demands a ransom--not for a single victim, but for all of San Francisco. Lindsay puts her own life on the line--but will it be enough to save the city from this deranged killer?

My thoughts:

This is the 9th book in The Women’s Murder Club series. I have been a fan since the beginning, and enjoyed catching up with Lindsay and her pals. James Patterson has created a diverse group of female characters, and most readers will relate to at least one of the ladies that make up The Women’s Murder Club. Whether it be Detective Lindsay Boxer, reporter Cindy Thomas, medical examiner Claire Washburn, or district attorney Yuki Castellano.

The crimes that take place in The 9th Judgement are gruesome. This is definitely not a book for the faint of heart. I was actually hesitant to pick this one up because of the violent nature of the crimes. I tend to avoid books with brutality against children. I am so invested in the lives of these characters that I couldn’t skip this installment, even though I was concerned the plot might be too heavy for me. I wasn’t thrilled with the serial killer story line, but the cat burglar part was interesting. While I wouldn’t consider this the best book in the series, it also wasn’t the worst.If you’ve read the previous books you’ll most likely enjoy The 9th Judgement, but I don’t feel it would be strong enough to hold the interest of a newbie to the series. The ending was a cliffhanger, and left me wanting more.


Other books in this series:
1st to Die
2nd Chance
3rd Degree
4th of July
The 5th Horseman
The 6th Target
7th Heaven
The 8th Confession

Listen to an excerpt of the book here.

James Patterson’s Website

**This Contest Is Closed**

Want to win a copy of The 9th Judgement? Keep reading! 

Rules:

Open to residents of the U.S and Canada. Sorry international peeps :(

No P.O boxes please

Fill out the form to enter
You don’t have to be a follower, but it is always appreciated :)
Contest ends midnight CST on June 11th
There are 3 copies up for grabs!
The audiobook will ship from the publisher
Thank to Anna from Hachette for providing the audiobooks for the giveaway!

In My Mailbox (9)

In My Mailbox is hosted by The Story Siren 

and inspired by Pop Culture Junkie.

Votes are in and looks like IMM is a keeper :)I didn’t have time to do a post last weekend so this is two weeks worth of books.

Purchased by me:

Dead in the Family by Charlaine Harris

Brightly Woven by Alexandra Bracken

Silver Borne by Patricia Briggs

The Mage in Black by Jaye Wells

Won:

Marked by Elisabeth Naughton

His Darkest Hunger by Juliana Stone

Jordan by Susan Kearney

For review:

The 9th Judgement (Audiobook) by James Patterson 

A giveaway of this title coming soon!

Knight of Passion by Margaret Mallory 

Blog tour and giveaway of this title on June 11th

Thanks to Anna from Hachette!

The Brain Finds a Leg

&

The Brain Full of Holes

by Martin Chatterton

Thanks to Erin from Peachtree Publishing!

Blog tour for The Brain Full of Holes here on June 18th. 

I also have a copy of The Brain Full of Holes to giveaway.

Mother’s Day gift from my hubby and kiddos

Twilight: The Graphic Novel by Stephenie Meyer

What was in your mailbox this week?