I didn’t expect this book to have some heavy topics. Allison talks about what she went through and I have a similar story with a family member so I appreciated the writing and openess of those feelings making them seem valid.

I loved every second of this. Ellie Palmer has such a fresh fun voice that is guaranteed to suck readers in and leave them coming back for more. The story, the romance, the characters…everything is so well written. I cannot wait to see what comes next!

It's a funny and sweet romance about a young woman dealing with her double mastectomy after she finds out she is a BRCA-1 carrier. Allison’s old boyfriend, Sam, who dumped her six months previously, dies unexpectedly, and she is mistaken for his current girlfriend at his funeral. She and Sam’s best friend, Adam, agree to clean out Sam’s apartment as a gesture of kindness to his parents. And what happens in four weekends is life-changing for both Allison and Adam.

Allison thinks she needs to become more adventurous, as she has been given the gift of being cancer-free, but she keeps trying to make herself into someone she thinks she should be and not someone she wants to be. She feels guilty for who she is… a homebody who enjoys trivia nights with her friends, Christmas, and Hallmark movies!

There is a lot to unpack in this novel, and the author does it so well. I look forward to seeing what Ellie Palmer has to offer next.

I do think this is a book that perhaps skirts the line between women's fic and romance a bit more than I'm used to for something labeled romance. I didn't hate it but I really didn't love it - I didn't really get much chemistry or swoon from the relationship; The characters also never felt fully fleshed out for me either - like I feel like I couldn't tell you much about either of them, they felt very surface level and it felt like there was a lot of telling versus showing. Ultimately a book that wasn't for me - I rated it 3.5 stars but rounded up
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Ellie Palmer delights in debut novel, Four Weekends and a Funeral.

Alison is in a pickle: her ex-boyfriend's family believes she's still his girlfriend. A situation she could, perhaps easily, get out of it it weren't for the fact that this all comes out at his funeral. She agrees to play the role of his girlfriend to save his image. But what she quickly doesn't realize is this also means she has to help Adam, Sam's best friend, pack up and clean Sam's apartment. They've got four weekends to tie up loose ends. Four weekends that fly by fast and turn into something Alison would have never expected to happen.

Four Weekends and a Funeral is a book that'll live in my mind for a long period of time because of the way Palmer wrote Alison's BRCA1 surgery and overall journey in life. As a spouse of someone with cancer, I typically try to avoid books that have anything to do with the "c" word however; I immediately knew I would be safe emotionally reading Palmer's debut. She doesn't shy away from any of the main character's feelings, while also packing in the drama and sexual tension. Once I started reading, I couldn't stop as I needed to know how Alison and Adam's storyline continued and blossomed. Filled with a fun friend group (hello sports trivia), pop cultural references and low level spicy scenes, this book will be a hit with anyone wanting a quick-paced, romance read.

this was really fun, i like reading stories about lives i have never (and in some cases will never) live and this fell into that category for me, as a 23 year old (with mildly okay health) i was drawn into alison’s story because i didn’t understand it, i loved her bond with adam, overall this was missing a little something for me but considering im probably not the target demographic that makes sense

thank you NetGalley for an ARC of this in exchange for my honest review :)

I absolutely loved this forced-proximity grumpy-sunshine romance. Alison - who is BRCA1-positive - has "avoided" cancer via a preventative mastectomy and is determined to live her best life, even if it makes her miserable. Adam is a grouchy carpenter who can't quite get past his quarter-life crisis. I was rooting for this couple from the first page, and I loved watching them find their way to each other as well as to happier versions of themselves.

There was a lot of deeply somber material in Four Weekends and a Funeral. The funeral, in the first chapter, is Alison's ex-boyfriend's, and the tragedy of his sudden death reverberates throughout the book. Alison's diagnosis and its consequences for her future also carry a lot of weight. And there is a lot of unexplored conflict and sadness, especially in the story's male characters. But I didn't find it at all a difficult or depressing read. The sad things in the story were also important elements of the plot, and the narration handled them deftly, giving the book deep emotional vibes reminiscent of Emily Henry's Beach Read or Rachel Lynn Solomon's Weather Girl.

Other strengths: the Minnesota setting, Alison's loving but conflicted relationship with her mother, her two best friends. Plus, she loves trains, which is not a passion that I've ever seen in a female character, and I love that such a unique characteristic was an important part of the story without dominating the character's personality.

Weaknesses: Alison's friends clearly need sequels and they do not exist. (Yet??)

This is a clean rom-com. Even though the main two characters meet at a funeral, and one of the two has the gene for breast cancer, it still manages to be a light read.

The book follows Alison who feels that by "escaping" cancer, she needs to live a fuller life. However, to her this means being someone other than herself. With help from her friends and a "grump" she finds that she can live a full life while staying true to herself.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Release date August 6, 2024

Sunshine Alison ends up having to pack up her ex-boyfriend’s stuff after he tragically passes away. His best friend and grump Adam is also signed up for this task. All it took was four weekends and a funeral for them to fall in love and it was beautiful written and did not feel rushed at all, but felt a little like it was dragging for me. This was such a unique plot line that I wasn’t quite expecting. The chemistry the characters have is amazing! It is a perfect combination of grump + sunshine, enemies to lovers in forced proximity! Thank you the publisher, author, and NetGalley for this free eARC.

I wasn’t into the story very much at all. This is being pushed as a romance and I didn’t get much romance. What I did get was more of a woman who is going through something life changing and trying to figure it out. Also, the highlight was more her friendships than her romance relationship. I didn’t relate to our MFC which made it hard for me to enjoy her as the author intended.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a chance to red this but unfortunately it just wasn’t for me.

What a standout debut!! I loved the humor, heart and emotional depth in this unique, #ownvoices BCRA 1 story about recently dumped Allison who is dealing with the death of her ex and being forced to work on cleaning out his apartment with his grumpy best friend, Adam over the course of four weekends leading up to the Christmas holidays.

I loved that this book had quirky chapter titles, lots of pop culture references, a tight-knit friend group who likes to win pub trivia challenges, a secret he falls first MMC and a TON of While you were sleeping, fake dating your dead ex vibes!!

Main character, Allison is struggling in the face of her preventative double mastectomy, trying to live her life to the fullest doing things she 'thinks' she should be doing rather than things she actually enjoys doing. Adam helps Allison see that she's great just as she is and she needs to stop trying to live to please others.

Perfect for fans of books like Just playing house by Farah Heron (another #ownvoices BCRA romance). I am excited to read what this talented new author writes next and highly recommend not skipping over the author acknowledgements at the end. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy and @prhaudio for a complimentary ALC in exchange for my honest review!

Steam level: fade to black/closed door

I think this is being pushed as a romance? Loved the friendship trio in this book. Some parts of the story did not jive together but it was a quick and fine read. Thanks to Netgalley for the free advanced copy in exchange for an honest review, book publishes 8/6

Thank you to NetGalley and and G.P. Putnam for providing me a copy of this arc. I choose this arc because it filled a prompt of a debut author coming out with a book in the last 6 months of the year. This author has BRCA1 mutation and she incorporates it into the story. Sam has died and Ali tells a lie and pretends he is his girlfriend. Sam's best friend and Ali spend time together and develop a relationship. This story was good not much fluff but, would of love to known about Sam in the beginning, in name only he was mentioned.

This book was good, it made me laugh. Imagine finding the right guy at a wrong time. Dead wrong. No one knows her ex boyfriend broke up with her so she pretends to grieve at the funeral. Then packs up his apartment with the best friend. It was really good.

Thank you @bookedwiththeemilys for the #gifted e-arc and @prhaudio for the alc!

What a debut!

This book packs a lot. It has some heavy elements, but it’s also a very beautiful story.
Ellie’s voice is refreshing, it feels new, and it’s so dang funny. There were so many lines in this book that had me laughing out loud. I thought Alison and Jack were cute. At first, I was like this grump is a GRUMP, why is she wasting his time, and then surely enough, slowly he grew on me, and I was rooting for them. They had a lot of cute moments, and I thought how everything came together in the end was lovely.

I think the content warnings in this book are important to check out before reading, but I will share this book centers around grief and cancer.

Despite all of the weather talk, this book made me want to book a flight to Minnesota to see what it’s all about!

I was recommended "Four Weekends and a Funeral" by a friend and I am so happy I read it! This is my first read by Ellie Palmer and I loved her prose, wit, and millennial references.

We begin with Alison Mullally (I actually know someone with this name in real life lol) at the funeral of someone she once dated. The deceased's sister is so distraught that she asks Alison to pretend to have still been dating her brother at his time of death, to comfort the parents. I personally found this plot point a little flimsy, but it did not deter me from continuing!

The ensuing love story was adorable, believable, and fun to read. I really liked the romance here, and Alison's two best friends made me laugh out loud multiple times. I also thought the exploration of Alison's mastectomy, and how her diagnosis affected her decisions, was written with grace and respect. I really liked the character growth and symbolism included here.

My only other compliant was the pacing in the second half of the story. I felt as though the "four weekends" ended much too early, and the timing after this point seemed to slow down. Other than that, I had a really fun time with this book! I would recommend this to friends.

Huge thanks to Ellie Palmer, GP Putnam's, and NetGalley for an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

An enjoyable enough read- it could have been better in a lot of ways but it did keep manage to keep me engaged until,the end.

While at the funeral of her ex boyfriend, Alison realizes that he never told his family they broke up. In an effort to not make things awkward, she plays along for the day. This backfires when her ex’s mother asks his best friend, Adam, and Alison to clean out the condo so it can be sold. The two fall for each other over 4 weekends of cleaning.

There’s also BRCA representation. Alison has the gene and her mother had breast cancer. She’s dealing with a lot of survivors guilt.

It’s single POV, slow burn, and like 95% of the way closed door.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for my advanced digital copy!

Thanks to Putnam Books and NetGalley for the #gifted copy of this book!

Wow, this book was an unexpected favorite for me!

Four Weekends and a Funeral follows Alison Mullaly, a BRCA 1 gene carrier who is struggling to figure out who she wants to be with the new lease on life she was given after having a double masectomy. In her quest for finding adventure, she briefly dated Sam, a thrill seeking influencer. After Sam's untimely death, Alison attends the funeral and is surprised to find that his family thinks they were still together despite their breakup being weeks ago. Alison goes along with the ruse, even agreeing to help Sam's best friend Adam in cleaning out Sam's apartment over the next four weekends. Adam is uptight, grumpy, and just wants to get the job done. But after working in close quarters and getting to know each other better, Alison and Adam are surprised to find that maybe there's a little bit of a spark between the two of them.

I really really enjoyed this! I loved the steady progression between these two going from reserved strangers to close companions. Even though the time period was about a month, it felt like a reasonable amount of time for these two to get to know each other.

This book was so incredibly raw and vulnerable at times due to Alison's BRCA 1 journey at such a young age. It's incredibly intense to have a medical event change not only your lifestyle, but it also pushes you to question your own identity at times. I had a similar medical experience in my early 20s and I felt so lost at times in figuring out who I wanted to be. I think Ellie Palmer did an amazing job of combining the swoony romance with moments of guilt and grief.

I definitely felt like this this was a FANTASTIC debut for Ellie as her voice as an author was so consistent, clear, but also unique. It didn't read as a debut in any sort of way. It makes me really excited to see what she comes out with next as she is an author I'll be keeping an eye on!

Four Weekends and a Funeral comes out on August 6th, so mark your calendars and make sure to pick it up then!

Four Weekend and a Funeral by Ellie Palmer was a funny and entertaining read. I rarely laugh out loud when I read rom-coms but I actually giggled out loud at several points in this book. It's funny! I really appreciated that. Overall, it was a solid and well-written romance book and I can't wait to see what else Ellie Palmer writes. The characters were flushed out and felt very real. The side characters were just as entertaining, as well. I think there's a wide range of readers who will really enjoy this book and I cannot wait to recommend it to them.