Book Review – The Wedding Gift by Kathleen McKenna

(Book description from Amazon) 17 year old Leeann Worthier is the perfect girl in town – or so she says. George Willets is the heir to a booming petroleum business. When they announce their engagement, George’s controlling mother is unimpressed, and Leeann absolutely refuses to live with her mother-in-law.

So George gives his new wife a house as a wedding gift.
Thirty years before, the same house hosted a grisly scene: George’s uncle and cousins were all slaughtered and his aunt Robina accused of both murder and suicide.

The house is a gorgeous, well-maintained mansion, but has stood empty since the tragedy. It’s intimidating, but who is Leeann to turn down a free house? When the ghost of Robina begins to haunt Leeann, she realizes she’s made a huge mistake …

This novel has something for everyone – it is part chick lit, part ghost story, laugh out loud funny and scary at the same time with a good dose of mystery thrown in to keep you turning the pages.

I loved this book – it is quirky, original and a great story with one of the funniest and believable female lead characters that I’ve come across this year. Leeann Worthier is a 17 year old small town southern girl. The story is told from her perspective and Kathleen McKenna has given her a fantastic voice – the book is written as if Leeann is writing in a diary or talking to you and although it took me a little while to get used to her style, once I did, I really took to Leeann and reading the book was like having a really good gossip with a friend!

Leeann is a fantastically flawed character. She knows she is the prettiest girl in town and plays on it. She can be vain and self obsessed and she loves the good things in life which is essentially why she ends up married to George Willets – heir to his families petroleum business and part of the richest family in Dalton. She is also unbelievably stupid sometimes. On the other hand she is funny, loyal, honest and very sweet natured and I couldn’t help but like her.

Leeann really brings the story to life and together with her best friend Jessie she faces her troubles and the life threatening turn of events in the book with truly heroic style. There is quite a large cast of characters in The Wedding Gift and all of them are well written and described from Leeann’s point of view so that you get the feeling that you are part of the community of Dalton.

I have to admit, I’m a bit of a wimp when it comes to horror stories so I was a bit nervous that this book was going to give me nightmares but it is far too funny for that and although there are bits of  ‘horror’ it is combined so well with the comedy and drama that I was enjoying myself too much to be too horrified! I also loved the mystery element – and was totally surprised when the real reason for the murders came out!

My only real criticism, and it isn’t really anything to do with the story, is that the cover doesn’t really do The Wedding Gift justice. I noticed today that there is a new cover on Amazon for the Kindle edition which I like better! I’d recommend this book to anyone and think it will appeal to adult and young adult (16+) readers alike – particularly if you like your books with a darker edge! The Wedding Gift is the the first in a trilogy and I cannot wait for the The Comeback which is due in December 2010.

5/5

Many thanks to Night Publishing and Kathleen McKenna for sending me a copy of The Wedding Gift to review.