I loved the idea of this book more than the execution. The funeral ladies were the best part story and I wish they had been more of the main focus. The grandmas were so funny, witty and full of sass. I liked that the author explored themes of trauma and PTSD, it was well written. There were a lot of characters to keep track of and it muddied the story a bit. I wasn’t very invested in the romance. Iris and Cooper were alright, I didn’t find them super compatible. I went into this book thinking it was solely about the funeral ladies, unfortunately that isn’t what I got. I’m sure many people will love this book; it just wasn’t a good fit for me!

Thank you to Avon and Harper Voyager for providing an eARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I find myself conflicted with this one. I found the talk of PTSD to be a bit much but I liked how the ladies gather around each other and support each other. I didn't really care for the characters, I didn't like the body shaming of another woman at a different church.

Thank you NetGalley and Avon Paperback for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

As a Midwestern girl, this one spoke to my heart. I loved the small-town feel and the charming characters of the town. The funeral lady food aspect was completely relatable to me and relayed in a very authentic way. This book slowly unraveled the lives of the residents and it was fabulous. I loved it!

This is an emotional and tender story about tradition, grief, and community. The small-town setting provides the perfect background for this tale of found family and coming together in the midst of grief, which is portrayed in multiple ways. The author lovingly pens characters that work their way into your heart and root themselves there. A mystery woven throughout rounds out the story and makes it a solid pick for your TBR.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Avon through NetGalley. All opinions expressed are my own.

Reading The Funeral Ladies of Ellerie County made me hungry . . . and sad but then hopefully. This book takes place in the small town of Ellerie where a core group of elderly women prep food for funerals at their local church. Esther, one of the funeral ladies, falls on hard times and her granddaughter jumps into help. The story weaves in Ivan and Cooper who attended a funeral but become entwined with Esther and her granddaughter. A good read about community coming together and the struggles of dealing with personal trauma.

Tha k you Netgalley for the ARC of this book. This was a lovely read and I enjoyed every page. The story was uplifting and the characters were so well done. I am looking forward to much more from this author. Highly recommend

This book was charming AND went much deeper than I was expecting. I love the melding of faith with our messy, actual lives. I'm a Midwesterner and Claire really captured so much of the culture. If you're a fan of J. Ryan Stradal, you will love this sweet, layered book.

This was a sweet, fairly predictable book about a small, charming town where everyone knows everyone else and goes to great lengths to help out their neighbors. In this case, it’s Esther who needs help from her community after she’s been swindled by someone online.
Although it hit on some heavier topics, like grief and ptsd, it was mostly pretty mild and pleasant.
Thanks to #netgalley and #avonpublishing for this #arc of #thefuneralladiesofelleriecounty in exchange for an honest review.

I received this as an ARC from NetGalley.

This wasn’t what I expected, but I still love how it turned out! Would have liked to learn more about the funeral ladies and less about other side characters drama but overall was a solid read.

This was an endearing read!! I read it almost in one sitting because the characters really pulled me in. I felt connected to them and immediately immersed in their small part of the world. I loved the familial and community connections that were so prevalent in this book. I loved the cookbook/recipe touch. It mostly gave Hallmark movie vibes, but did touch on darker themes like PTSD and abuse. But this made the characters all that more relatable. It was like spending time with my grandma and her friends, in the absolute best way possible.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this title. These are my honest thoughts.

This book was great, it felt fresh and not like anything else I've read lately. It kept me intrigued all the way through, I didn't want to put it down.

I have had The Funeral Ladies of Ellerie County in my TBR list for some time. I’m sorry that I didn’t read it earlier. Esther Larsen is part of a group of elderly women who provide the food when there is a funeral at their church. The story centers on Esther, her family and the funeral ladies. The characters also include a Food Network star, his grown son and teenage daughter. Family, internet fraud and PTSD and, of course, death are all covered. The characters are well developed. The writing flows well. I wish I could give more than 5 stars!

This was a very nice story with a lot of characters that I didn't like at all. I started off at least liking Esther, but by the end, I couldn't stand her either. She was so judgmental, and most of the other characters were just plain annoying.

I love the idea of a small town coming together, but these small town people were kind of horrible. They all seemed fine with drunk driving, but oh, the horror of someone being a different religion than them. There was a part when Esther went to a different church to speak to someone, and her first thought was about how fat the other woman was and whether she owned a mirror. And don't even get me started on all of the icky political undertones sprinkled throughout.

I didn't mean for this to be such a rant, but this is how it made me feel.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I really wanted to like The Funeral Ladies of Ellerie County, but it's not quite there yet.

I think it could use a firmer editorial hand to pare down the plot lines running through this novel. The focus shifts dramatically from the titular Funeral Ladies to focus on Iris. Parallels between Esther and Iris aren't solidified as firmly as they could be because the narrative gets distracted and trips over its own feet.

There were also some more surface level anachronistic issues that bothered me, particularly as a life-long Wisconsinite. E.g. Waukegan is a town in Illinois, there are no loons in the Northwoods in winter, etc. These errors, though minor, broke the flow for me.

It seemed to me that Swinarski struggled with having too many ideas, which, in the scheme of things, is a good problem to have.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Esther Larson is part of the funeral brigade at St. Anne’s Catholic Church. This group of ladies are often the first to help out any one in need, and getting food ready for a funeral is one thing they do best. And now, Esther Larson is the one who needs help. Esther was scammed out of a lot of money from a stranger, that she thought was a friend, online. She is in very real danger of losing her house, the cornerstone of so many memories for her and her family.

Simultaneously, a funeral of a former community member Annabelle Welsh brings in Ivan Welsh (famous celebrity chef), Cooper (her stepson) and Cricket (her daughter) wanting to honor her wishes. After a reservation screw up, they end up staying at Iris’s (Esther’s granddaughter) rental property. Going through and cleaning out Annabelle’s things is not as therapeutic as it seems. For one, Ivan is still there, even though he has been an absentee parent their whole lives. Then Cooper learns of Esther’s situation, he and Iris come up with an idea – create and sell a community cookbook to help Esther raise the money she lost.

Both groups have past hurts and traumas that are currently mucking up the present.

This was an intricately woven story. I liked the intertwining of stories, from Esther’s family and Cooper’s family. I loved watching the community rally and help each other out, even helping strangers.

Thanks to Netgalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for the change to read and review this book.

DNF at70% Living in southeastern WI and spending summers in the Northwoods, and that it also had a food element, I really wanted to like this book. But it read young adult, I kept putting the boom down every few pages and then element of the fictional version of the Waukesha Christmas parade tragedy and the PTSD (drinking, anger issues) and the continued references to Waukegan which is no where close to the WI Northwoods — all sent this one downhill for me. This book needed more Funeral Ladies and less of the not so well written drama. Bummer.

I was given a copy of this book by Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Esther is an 82yo who loves her family, her church, and her Funeral Ladies. She is also a lady who was just cheated out of $30,000 from an internet cheat pretending to be an unmarried young mom who needs help. Esther didn't think a second thought - her new friend needed help, so she gave it. But now it is Esther who needs help - she is about to lose her house because she can't pay the mortgage.

Cooper just lost his mom; okay, maybe she was technically she was his stepmom, but she was the only mother he ever had, and has come to Ellerie County to bury her, with his little half-sister and Food Channel-famous dad.

Iris loves her grandma Esther. She may be falling in love with Cooper. But between trying to save Esther's house with a cookbook of funeral fare and dealing with Cooper's issues, how can she save herself?

I loved this book - it reminded me of the people I grew up with, but without the drinking (our funeral ladies were Baptists, so they were teetotalers). You feed people when they are sad, or happy, or even just hungry. It's just what you do.

This was a quick, enjoyable read with a few notable content warnings - heavy drinking, PTSD, cancer and identity fraud - and memorable characters spanning multiple generations. It reminded me of J. Ryan Stradal's portrayal of Midwestern families and small towns, with fully fleshed out characters not just stereotypes. I would recommend this to nearly any Midwesterner, who will appreciate what they recognize in its pages, and to any reader who enjoys family dramas with a mix of light and heavy topics.

The Funeral Ladies of Ellerie County was a tale of two books. At the 30% mark, I thought this would be an easy five-star read. Unfortunately, by the 60% mark, I realized the book I wanted was not the book I was getting. I thought I was getting a book about the funeral ladies. I thought I was getting a story where a community cookbook would bring the other characters together, and they would cook their way through their grief, perhaps a sweet, small-town romance. However, that is not this story.

Sadly, the funeral ladies rarely make an appearance. The focus is the romance between Cooper and Iris, and yet the romance is poorly executed. After their first initial scenes, I never rooted for them. I actively hated them together. There is nearly no joy in this book. The story is overwhelmed by trauma. I could barely catch my breath.

I also had a problem with the story encouraging excessive drinking to the point that drunk driving is no big deal.

The Funeral Ladies left me feeling hopeless and exhausted. I can see several people loving this, but I am not that person.

Thank you to NetGalley, Avon, and Harper Voyager for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Esther has been cooking for funerals for seventy years. Along with her friends, dubbed “the funeral ladies”, they have kept the Northwoods of Wisconsin mourners fed as her motto is that there’s very little a casserole and a piece of homemade pie can’t fix. When Esther makes a very big mistake on the World Wide Web, she’s about to lose her beautiful house on the lake, a house that’s special to her family and holds so many treasured memories. Embarrassed by her situation, she doesn’t want anyone to know her circumstances, but it’s hard to keep those kind of secrets in her family and from the funeral ladies. Soon they are scheming to find a solution to Esther’s situation with the help of her granddaughter and her close knit group of friends. They have come up with the idea, but there’s no chance that they can come up with the funds needed in their own small town, but Esther refuses to play the poor is me, do good widow card. When a famous celebrity-chef comes to town for his wife’s funeral, he just might be her saving grace, that is, if she lets him help out. But he has his own set of issues to deal with, his children are estranged and want nothing to do with him. Esther’s granddaughter, Iris, falls hard for his son, Cooper, but Copper, too, is dealing with some serious issues of his own. After witnessing a crowd shooting as an EMT, he is dealing with PTSD. Will Esther and her friends be able to save her home and will Cooper get the help he needs to overcome and forgive before it’s too late? While this deals with some pretty tough subjects, its characters are unforgettable and the funeral ladies will soon leave a smile on your face and warm fuzzies in your heart ❤️ Thank you to HarperCollins and NetGalley for an ARC of this book.