“The Sunday Potluck Club” by Melissa Storm
I expect you read the back-cover description and are now wondering IF you want to read this story. It is a clean story with love interests and the struggle/growth to survive loss and the support true friendship can provide. It is a good story and I liked it. And since you were interested enough to check out reviews.. I think you will like this story, too. It was worth the read. Happy Reading ! !

I enjoyed the expert and look forward to reading the rest of this story when it comes out. I'm eager to see how grief plays out in the book, and looking forward to themes of strong female friendship.

Excerpt was good, and I definitely wanted to read more. Can't give it more than 3 stars without reading the whole thing.

Just finished The Sunday Potluck Club.....glad I did read Bring me Home first. It gave the ground work about how people bond together during difficult times. This is Amy’s story and tells how 4 people friendships develops and grows, thru a chance meeting. Each of the four friends deal differently with life and each have a totally different personality. Amy is a giver, but forgets that she also must have some “MeTime!” Melissa really is great in writing such diverse characters. I can’t wait for the next book.

I only read the extract from the book, so perhaps the full book would grow on me.
The extract started with the funeral of one of the group. It went on to sharing the life of Amy, one of the group and her return to teaching after the death of her mother.
The book did not grab me and I would not be rushing to read the full book.

Review based on an excerpt only:
Interesting premise for a story of four women who have come together as they have lost loved ones to cancer. Their friendship develops through mutual losses and grief, and they offer support on many levels. These characters are believable, and the story holds the potent for an explanatory of friendship and hope through difficult times. I look forward to reading the complete book when it is released.

This was a very short excerpt - the first 10 chapters - of The Sunday Potluck Club.

So far I enjoyed the story about four friends in Anchorage who meet as caregivers for parents battling cancer.

Amy grates on me a little but I'm trying to give her some grace since she clearly isn't dealing well with the death of her mother. I'm looking forward to getting to know the four characters and learning how the potluck dinners keep their friendship together. I also like that the book is set in Alaska which doesn't come up much in books I read.

I have requested the full review copy when it is available in January.
Edited to add: I received the full copy in late February.

I just didn't enjoy the book as much as the sample chapters. Based on that set up, I though that the book would be more about the four friends and working through their grief.

Instead, this became a typical romance with Amy falling in love with a student's father.
The other friends and their interactions is very limited. There is one dinner and mention of one other in the book but based on the title, I was expecting there to be more.

The subplot with Bridget and the animal shelter was exhausting - and I think that illustrated how sometimes people bury themselves with other projects to keep their grief at bay.

It seems there will be a sequel focused on Bridget. I don't think I'd be seeking it out. This first book didn't make me want to spend more time with these four friends.

Melissa Storm has written such charming and entertaining novel with “ The Sunday Potluck Club”.

The relationships between old friendships and new are pushed with the decisions they are forced to face, whether they feel like they were ready or not. This close-knit group of friends had experienced so much loss yet they helped each other through the tough times.

The dogs and cats in the story kept it entertaining too and I am definitely a sucker when it comes to animals.

A couple of my favorite quotes:

“It is not about what you have, it is about what you do.”

“Dogs are better than dudes, they should put that on a poster.”

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for fair and honest review.

I know it said it was just an excerpt, but I'd hoped that was an error. Unfortunately, it wasn't, and the excerpt ended.

The story isn't one I'm interested in reading based on this excerpt. But the writing was good, and it did show promise - I suspect it's one of those stories that has a slow start, then gradually becomes unputdownable.

I won't be reviewing online, as I don't review books I haven't finished reading.

This was only an excerpt from the book, but I can’t wait to read more. I am already invested in these characters!

An awesome start to a new series by Melissa Storm. Amy and Bridget meet at one of the worst places in the world, the cancer ward of a hospital. It is not them going through the treatment, but their parents. Hazel, Amy and now Bridget, lost their parents but Nichole's father has survived so far. These four women meet on Sundays as an informal support group. Bridget delves into anything to keep busy. Her latest is volunteering to organize an adoption challenge for the local animal shelter. She wants to save them as she could not save her mom. Between the four-legged friend's and their unconditional love and the four two-legged friends, the dinners prove to help with healing. These women are there for each other, supporting each other, and it does help there is a couple of men being thrown in the mix. The Sunday Potluck Club is about food, friendship, comfort, and hope for healing. Thank you to Ms. Storm, Kensington Publishing, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. Looking forward to reading the rest of the series.

Who wouldn't love this book!? The characters make you feel you are part of their lives, you experience their highs and lows just as you would in your own lives with the hope that the ending would turn out well for them, after all a fairy tale always does doesn't it? This is a fabulous book, humorous, poignant and a true reflection of modern life. A great read - highly recommended.

This sounds like a very interesting story. I’m already invested in the characters and I want to find out what happens with the animal shelter. I’m looking forward to reading this book.

This was only a excerpt from the book. Not sure how I missed that before I started reading it. What I read was good and I was disappointed not to be able to read the entire story. I think it will be a good one. I really enjoyed the characters and the taste of the story that I got.

This is one of those feel-good novels. Four women going through similar trauma's bond and form a close friendship.
I liked the characters. They felt well rounded and full of emotions.
The style of writing is also very easy to read.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me to sample this book.

I am sorry to say that after reading approximately 25% of The Sunday Potluck Club, I was unable to finish the book. It is not due to the author's writing....I was not expecting the subject to become too difficult and emotional for me. Melissa Storm is right on target regarding the grief of a young woman losing her mother. I regret that it was too painful for me to finish reading.
Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

One of the best reads for me in 2019 ! Would add this author to one my my must reads..Story line captures and keeps the reader into the story. Recommended to local book clubs.

I got to read the excerpt of this book, and I thought it was lovely. The bond that these women have formed through such challenging circumstances is heartwarming, and seeing them care for each other the way they do is beautiful. I was a little worried as I started this, as my mother had cancer about a year and a half ago, and while she's still with us and doing well, and I was not a full-time caregiver, I still thought it might too painful to read. I was pleased to find that I actually found warmth and encouragement in these women's stories (or the parts of them I got to read so far). And I don't know all that much about Alaska, so I am looking forward to learning more about what it's like to live there year-round.
I can't wait to finish reading The Sunday Potluck Club and find out what happens to these women in the next chapter of their lives.

Thank you, Kensington, for this chance to meet these women and start reading this story!

I read the sample which was given and enjoyed
Friends going through the death of their parents is a difficult time in anyone life.
3.5 stars

Love Love LOVED The Sunday Potluck Club. And, by the way, this review is about the entire book and not just an excerpt which was previously published.

Four very different women, with distinct personalities, forge a friendship with one another after meeting on a cancer ward. They are the survivors who, with one exception, have lost a loved one to cancer. Amy, who the story primarily revolves around; Bridget, whose mother has just died; Nicole, whose father is in remission and Hazel who lost her mother before the others. Each are grieving and coping with their loss, as well as survivor’s guilt, in their own unique way. Told from Amy’s point of view, we get to know each woman’s strength’s and their flaws as they encourage one another through difficult times. When Amy meets a man whose daughter is in her classroom and who also is coping with loss, she finally begins to see that there can be life after monumental loss.

The Sunday Potluck Club talks a lot about death, grief, and coping with loss but never in a heavy way. Yes, it is realistic to the point that you hurt for some of the women and there were times that I wanted to slap a few of them, but overall, it was a beautiful story of friendship and overcoming challenges. At its heart, it is a well crafted love story between friends as well as possible romantic interests. It’s a book about life, not death. It also is the first in a new series so each woman will have their story told. I cannot wait for the next one!