The Christmas Wedding by James Patterson

During Eve’s painful, lingering death, her parents, who have never approved of Denny, loom increasingly large. By the time Zoë is a toddler, Eve has increasingly bad headaches but refuses to see a doctor until it’s too late. Enzo adores the baby, Zoë, but he soon smells that something is off with Eve. Then she goes into labor while Denny’s away racing and she keeps Enzo beside her. Dog and man are happy in their bachelor Eden. Enzo watches racing channels on TV, soaking up facts and lore. Denny works in a Seattle auto-repair shop to earn money to race. Enzo is frustrated that he can use only “gestures” to communicate with his beloved owner Denny. Lab mix Enzo believes he is different from other dogs, that he has a human soul in a dog body. Stein ( How Evan Broke His Head and Other Secrets, 2005, etc.) uses a dog as narrator to clever effect in this tear-jerker about an aspiring race-car driver who suffers more woes than Job but never mistreats his dog. The authors maintain the suspense, with Gaby and her brood riding a roller-coaster of family problems, right up to the wedding day.Ī perfect plot for a Meryl Streep or Diane Lane happily-ever-after movie. Her groom might be Tom, a lifelong friend Jacob, a rabbi or Martin, her husband's younger brother, all of whom proposed on the same day. Gaby is an idealized protagonist, the sort who heads a volunteer crew to cook a daily breakfast for the homeless. There is minimal character development and only enough back story to knit the tale together. Patterson and co-author DiLallo unfold the plot with snappy but cliché-littered dialogue. Son Seth works in Boston at a temporary job waiting for his novel to be snapped up by a big-name publisher. Emily is an over-stressed, high-powered New York City attorney. Claire's troubles are aggravated by teenager Gus, who's intent on living up to the aphorism 'like father, like son.' Although Gaby's daughter Lizzie lives nearby, she has been overwhelmed by her husband's critical illness. Oldest daughter Claire lives with her husband and children in South Carolina, but Hank works rarely and smokes marijuana regularly. The children are scattered, busy with their own lives, and Gaby is certain the mystery will bring them home to Massachusetts for the holiday.

And so she makes her decision, and then records a DVD to send to her four children announcing her puzzling plan. Gaby has decided she's grieved long enough. Gaby Summerhill, 54, is a teacher, widowed for three years, her treasured husband dead of a heart attack. She won't even tell her potential husband, one of three suitors who have proposed. The mystery concerns the bride's choice of a groom. A lighthearted novel about a widow who suddenly decides to re-marry on Christmas Day.

The Christmas Wedding by James Patterson