Four Weekends and a Funeral mixes humor and banter with character depth in a perfect blend. I really enjoyed following Alison's health journey and the emotional impact of what she went through/worries about. I did find portions predictable, but I enjoyed the book along the way.

I received an ARC from PENGUIN GROUP Putnam | G.P. Putnam's Sons via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

“I’ve only known you four weeks, and you’ve completely corrupted me.” “I reverse grinched you.”

“Welcome to the Sad and Lonely Club. Thrilled to have you.”

Alison shows up at her ex-boyfriend Sam’s funeral, only to find out his family thinks they were still together. Caught off guard, she goes along with it and ends up spending four weekends packing up his apartment with his grumpy best friend, Adam. What starts as an awkward arrangement turns into something more, filled with witty banter and unexpected chemistry.

This book is a delightful mix of humor and heart. Alison's journey of self-discovery, especially after her double mastectomy, adds depth to the story. The slow-burn romance with Adam is both sweet and satisfying. It's a story about grief, healing, and finding love in the most unexpected places.

This book was written for you if:
1. You enjoy grumpy-sunshine romances.
2. You're a fan of stories that balance humor with emotional depth.
3. You appreciate narratives about personal growth and second chances.

"𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦, 𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘮𝘦. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘵."


Continuing on my "catch up on my books" sprint, and we're on to this beauty by Ellie Palmer!

I'll be the first to admit that the idea of pretending to be a dead guy's girlfriend (instead of admitting that you broke up) was a weird concept to me at first. BUT, I ended up really, REALLY falling in love with these two.

And as much as I wanted to be annoyed with Alison's INSISTANT need to get into all the outdoorsy stuff, I can't say that I wouldn't 100% be the same way if I was in the same boat.

More than anything, this book hit an extremely close space in my life. My mom had breast cancer twice, and had a double mastectomy on the second time. She took the genetic tests and lucky for me, they came back negative, but I spent a good portion of this thinking about how I could have very easily been in the same exact place as Alison.

🩷 Opposites Attract
🗓 Grumpy x Sunshine
🩷 (Deceased) Ex-Boyfriend's Best Friend
🗓 Forced Proximity
🩷 ALL the Harrison Ford References
🗓 Breast Cancer/Prevention
🩷 Navigating Guilt and Grief
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I thought this was a cute read and thought that the characters were fantastic! I love the grumpy x sunshine trope and this one was done brilliantly! The story did feel like it moved slow through the middle but overall I liked it!

My heart is all warm and fuzzy after "Four Weekends and a Funeral" by Ellie Palmer -. what a beautiful and unlikely romance. When Allison's ex-BF unexpectedly dies, she realizes at the funeral that he told no one that they broke up. When his sister, Rachel says to Allison, “It’s one day. You guys only dated for a minute, and when the grief fog lifts, they’ll forget all about you. I— we just need you to be ‘the girlfriend’ today. Please.” I would have broken too. Allison now has to pretend they were still together, to his grieving family and best friend (who she may or may not have some insane chemistry with).

I absolutely need Mara's story ASAP!

This trope is very a la “while you were sleeping,” and which can fall into a miscommunication trope that I don’t love. But I generally found this cute, and an interesting framework to explore the main characters relationship. I’d recommend!

I would give this book 3.25 stars. I have many thoughts for this book. I thought the synopsis was super unique for a contemporary romance. However, I just found her ex’s family not knowing anything to not be believable? The pacing with Alison and Adam’s relationship was uneven. Their banter at the beginning was cute and strong but by the end, plus this 3rd act break up, just felt weak and kind of like a cop out to add conflict. As a woman in STEM, I did enjoy the accuracy when talking about breast cancer.

Overall, the book was okay but not memorable for me. However, this is a debut novel and I definitely see potential in the author’s writing. Thank you to NetGalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review!

I found this book very hard to get into. The plot just didn’t do it for me. I wasn’t really invested in the main character. There weren’t enough plot points about the main character and love interest to really get invested in the story, I also found it really annoying that the main character is focused so much on her breasts. I understand the author is trying to bring awareness to prophylactic mastectomies, but it’s mentioned so many times I started to become annoyed by it, I truly don’t want to read about breasts that much. Not a must read for me

This book was very cute, but very predictable. It was a good mindless read, but not something that I found myself really loving.

First half of this was so good and enjoyable (banter, fun writing, great character dynamics), and then the third act conflict hit and ruined everything. This book just really loses momentum once the two characters get together, and then it's like treading water. The problem in this case is that the characters conflicts are so defined and obvious, like something straight out of a novel outline. And you can tell that these conflicts lack complexity because they become increasingly repetitive throughout the story, with characters just saying the same things in slightly different ways. the last third of this was such a disappointment for me--it's like the book built me up in the beginning just to sorely let me down in the end

Solid 3.4-3.75 book.

The first half was so good. It reminded me a lot of Emily Henry or Ali Hazelwood. Just a good story, with witty humor. The pacing got a little off in the second half of the book and the big conflict felt weird / overwrought. But this was a great debut and I look forward to reading more from this author!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advance copy of Four Weekends and a Funeral in exchange for my honest review and opinion. This was a very interesting concept and it held my attention through pretty much the whole book. The grumpy+sunshine trope really worked in this book and I think it would be perfect for anyone a fan of that trope.

I dont think I've ever read a book like this and there's no way to really categorize it. It broke me down and made me cry but it also filled me with hope.

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley.

Alison Mullally has had a lot of her plate. As a BRCA 1 carrier and double-mastectomy thirty-year-old woman, she is attending a funeral for her ex-boyfriend. However, when she gets there, she finds out that Sam never told anyone they broke up. Well, he told his sister, but not his parents. His parents are "happy" to meet Alison, the one Sam was going to settle down with. Before Alison could correct everyone, Sam's sister pulls her aside and begs her to not tell anyone that she and Sam were no longer together when he died. Alison figures this is a one-day issue and agrees. However, Sam's parents are too upset to pack up his condo and get it ready for sale, so Alison volunteers to do it. As does Sam's best friend, Adam.

Over the next four weekends, Alison and Adam work to get the condo ready for sale and work through their own issues. Mainly, why Adam does not like Alison. Alison finds out that Adam does not dislike her, it is a bit of the opposite.

3.75 stars
This was such an interesting plot for a book, and I found myself pretty engaged for the first half of the book, just to see how things were going to play out, but it start to feel like things were getting dragged out and I did start to loose interest by the end. It was a good book, but ultimately not one that will be very memorable to me.

Sam broke up with Alison and then, six months later, he died. At the funeral everyone still thinks they were together. He was the adventurous type, she's an introverted homebody.

What's really great about this story is how it explores a woman's journey through her decision to get a double mastectomy due to the cancer gene found during genetic testing. While trying to cheat this disease she struggles with how to live life to the fullest without going the Eat, Pray, Love route.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Grumpy + Sunshine = A Fun Time!

While pretending to still have been dating her ex-boyfriend Sam at the time of his death to comfortchis parents at the request of Sam's sister (I know, it's a lot LOL), Allison falls for Sam's grumpy friend, Adam while helping him pack up Sam's apartment. This grumpy + sunshine themed story has all the elements of traditional rom-coms and is sure to check all the boxes to satisfy anyone who enjoys this genre!

Thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of "Four Weekends and a Funeral" by Ellie Palmer. All opinions are my own.

First off, love the title and cover. Huge fan of "four weddings and a funeral" so immediately knew this authors taste was good. Her writing was wonderful. The conversations and dialogue felt real. I loved the character development and seriousness that was included. Even with these serious and painful topics of death, cancer, guilt, etc., this still felt funny and romantic and beautiful. I cannot wait to read Palmer's next book!!

I never would have thought I'd enjoy a book involving a funeral so much. Alison was relatable, as a people-pleaser myself, and I enjoyed how well Ellie Palmer wrote the evolving relationship between Alison and Adam. This was a delightful read over the holidays and left me satisfied and cozy, like a good christmas cookie.