This debut novel was an enjoyable and good read. Adam is such a grumpy person and Allison is totally opposite. Even though she has her own little problems after being diagnosed with BRCA1 gene. Her best friends Chelsea and Mara were my favorite side characters.

Read if you like:

🥰 Rom-Com
🥰 grumpy/sunshine
🥰 slow-burn
🥰 pop culture references

Quick intro:
Allison, a carrier of the BRCA1 mutation, realizes her ex-boyfriend never told anyone they broke up when she shows up to his funeral. She and his best friend work together over the next month to get his apartment ready to sell falling for each other along the way.

Quick thoughts:
This was a super sweet debut novel by Ellie Palmer. I found the MCs to both be super likable and easy to root for the entire time. Allison’s two best friends were also incredible characters and I ate up the scenes with them. I loved how this book was about friendship almost as much as the romance. Overall, I found this book to have such a healthy dose of realism and I just super appreciate when romance books feel relatable.

Along with a sweet romance, Ellie Palmer weaves deep themes of processing grief, finding oneself, and therapy. I’ve never read a book that dealt with breast cancer and preventative mastectomies in such a close-up and intimate way. I’m forever grateful to Ellie Palmer for writing her FMC to have the BRCA-1 mutation and opening up my eyes to the path these women walk.

Read if you like enemies to lovers, he falls first, forced proximity, handy men, pubquiz, and grumpyxsunshine.

A huge thank you to Putnam Books and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts. I’d definitely recommend adding this to your end of summer TBR and am looking forward to what Ellie Palmer brings to the romance genre next.

Quick Details:
Debut novel
PUB DATE: August, 6, 2024
🔥 Fade-to-black
CW: death and cancer

Four Weekends and a Funeral opens at the funeral of Alison's ex-boyfriend Sam. Only, his family and friends don't know they broke up and treat her as the grieving Current Girlfriend. In a panic she goes along with the misconception and ends up volunteering to clean out Sam's apartment. Unfortunately, his hot-but-grumpy best friend Adam also volunteers for apartment duty.

Alison is trying to make the most of her new lease on life after undergoing a double mastectomy to prevent breast cancer. She devours self-help books and pushes herself to go on outdoor adventures, despite secretly preferring to be curled up on her own couch. Adam has big dreams of quitting construction to start a custom furniture business, but is afraid of taking the risks required.

As Adam and Alison find themselves in close proximity for the four weekends it will take to clean out Sam's apartment, they slowly get to know, understand, and appreciate each other. They develop a friendship and then a relationship that I rooted for from the start.

I love that interwoven through this romance are strong female friendships, the pressures of making the "right" career decisions, and the difficulty and joy of maintaining familial relationships. Alison and Adam both feel realistic and are genuinely good people.

I gave Four Weekends and a Funeral 4.5 ⭐, rounded up to 5 on Goodreads. It's a 2 🌶️ on my personal spice rating scale. I highly recommend this debut novel and I hope that Ellie Palmer's career is just getting started because I would love to read more of her work.

Thank you Ellie Palmer and G.P. Putnam's Sons for providing this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

This book was very different from what I’m used to reading but the story was beautiful. Ali’s ex boyfriend sam dies & she & Sams best friend Adam have to clean out his apartment. While this story it’s a romcom it deals with big topics like cancer, guilt, & grief.

I adore Ali & Adam!! They were perfect for each others.

The side characters were very funny & trivia nights were the best.

“ you are kind of my favorite new person, I’f that’s not too weird a thing to say.”

Thank you NetGalley, Putnam & Elli Palmer for providing with this arc in exchange for a honest review.

This book was a great read and very different from the typical romance books I pick up! It covers a lot of depth within the characters and heavier/more adult feelings like grief and the feeling of living your life to the fullest. Because of these more mature themes, the book felt like it was a much longer read and not a simple light romance. I really enjoyed the author's writing style and I am excited to pick up something else by her soon!

For folks that are fans of Abby Jimenez and Emily Henry...this is up your alley. I loved the MN references, the strong man characters and the quirky supporting characters. Flawed and relatable without overdoing things. Will be keeping this author on my list of people to watch for in the future.

Four Weekends and a Funeral is a romance novel that delicately and creatively addresses some very deep themes of grief, loss, self-reflection, and managing a BCRA diagnosis. Allison & Adam as main characters had the right mix of chemistry and tension as they both undergo journeys of self-reflection and what 'being better' means to each of them, while also going from 'frenemies' to lovers. I loved the development of all characters of this novel, there are moments of 'true friendship' that make your heart shine.

A big thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for the DRC of Ellie Palmer's novel, it was definitely a read I'd highly recommend.

Loving “Four Weddings and a Funeral” (Hulu miniseries, 2019), I was so extremely excited to receive this ARC, and y’all, it did not disappoint. The pacing in the book was one of the best I’ve read within the last year, and I genuinely loved the mountain of feelings I felt throughout the novel— the secondhand embarrassment, the feeling during the first kiss, the pressure from my competitive friends during games (okay, I might be the competitor friend…). The mental health representation warmed my heart with too-real feelings from my past, and I was genuinely sad when the novel ended. I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if this wasn’t one of my favorites of 2024.

Overall rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice level: 🌶️

Allison is Sam’s ex-girlfriend. Adam is Sam’s best friend. Only Sam tragically died, Allison goes along with the plan to pretend she and Sam were still dating and now she’s attracted to Adam. What’s the problem? Nothing a little forced proximity home clean out of Sam’s apartment can’t resolve.

This book touches on so many topics and issues. Grief. Death. Cancer. Strong female friendships. And a sweet, budding love that has you cheering for the couple all along.

So well written and such a sweet book. What a great debut from Ellie Palmer. I can’t wait to see what comes next! (Perhaps Chelsea’s story? I could see something starting there. 😆)

TW: Cancer, death

Thank you NetGalley and G.P. Putnam’s Sons for an ARC of this book in exchange for an bienes review.

This book had me hooked from the very first sentence. As a lover of the Happily Ever After trope, I also know that I can often expect cheesy dialogue and/or unrealistic plot lines. And yes the plot was certainly unconventional, but instead of thinking of it as unrealistic, it felt fresh. Whether intentional or not, I had a nostalgic moment of thinking about the movie While You Were Sleeping while reading this, though with a unique twist. The dialogue may have still been cheesy but not in a forced way; the banter was so cute and I found so much of the text to be cleverly written. This is the exact type of HEA that makes you want to fall in love.

Four Weekends and a Funeral touches on various topics of grief, love, and self-reflection in a delicate and witty. Personally, the writing style was not my favorite, so it was a bit difficult to get through, however, I can see this becoming an easy, heartfelt read. Alison is a wonderful protagonist who struggles with various aspects of her life after a double mastectomy after learning she is a carrier for BRCA1. Palmer delicately and tastefully handles discussing a difficult topic to write about and wonderfully represents Alison as a multifaceted character.
Thank you to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This will top my 2024 list, I have no doubt! I love a debut for many reasons, but one is seeing an author's voice so clearly in the pages. Ellie Palmer writes with such humor and finesse that I found myself highlighting several passages to return to later. I'm blown away by the depth of this story and how smart it is. The BRCA aspect was delicately written and I learned a lot. Books can teach us in such artful ways, and this one moved me at the same time. I was smitten with Adam from the beginning, which is a treat in an enemies to lovers story. Every aspect of this romance was executed masterfully and I will be thinking of this book for a very long time. I'll be telling everyone I know to purchase it in August.

Alison is a 30 year old woman who feels stuck in her life. After she has discovered she is the carrier of the BRCA 1 gene and elects to have a double mastectomy, she feels like she has been given a new lease on life and is struggling to live a life she feels is worthy of cheating death. When Alison's most recent ex-boyfriend, Sam, dies in an accident she attends his funeral only to find out that he neglected to tell his friends and family that they broke up! Alison is now stuck playing the part of a grieving girlfriend tasked with cleaning out her boyfriends apartment with his grumpy best friend, Adam. Over the next four weekends, Alison and Adam bond over their loss of Sam and grapple with their growing attraction to each other.
This was such a great book. I found Alison and Adam to be really three dimensional characters and very relatable. Alison's journey with breast cancer and her feelings of wasting her second chance was so relatable. The banter was great and Alison was adorably quirky and cute. Adam was the perfect amount of gump to Alison's sunshine and they played off each other well as they grow throughout the book. Fans of Emily Henry and Katherine Center will definitely enjoy this story!!

Alison Mullally arrives at the funeral of her ex-boyfriend, Sam. She quickly finds out almost no one knew about their breakup, including his parents. Sam's parents, especially his mother, seem comforted that Sam had someone. Always the people-pleaser, Alison agrees to pretend they were still together. It’s a few hours for the funeral, no big deal. Then the subject of cleaning out Sam’s apartment comes up. Alison agrees to box up his stuff so his parents don’t have to. Again, no big deal. Except she won’t be doing this alone. Adam Berg, Sam’s longtime best friend, is also going to be there. To say they have a rocky start is an understatement. It is obvious Adam doesn’t want Alison there. Determined to get through this Alison tries to befriend Adam. If for no other reason than to make her next four weekends not suck. Soon Alison starts getting some feelings for Adam. He is pretty gorgeous after all. It seems like he might be getting them too. The problem is Alison is still his dead best friend's girlfriend.

This was a very fun read that delves into Alison's relationships with everyone. Alison and Sam’s breakup was pretty friendly. She was drawn to him because of his thrill-seeking ways. See, Alison’s mom had breast cancer and so Alison got tested for the gene BRCA 1. She has it which means she has a high likelihood of developing cancer. Before the book started she got a double mastectomy. Instead of dealing with her feelings about it she tries to push them away. It's easier to fill her life up with amazing things like hiking in nature. Things that Sam loved and Alison tries to love.

Alison’s relationships with Sam and Adam aren’t the only ones she has to navigate. There are her best girlfriends and her overbearing mother too. These are so complicated its no wonder she ended up in a fake relationship.

I enjoyed all the characters Ellie Palmer created. They feel like real people. They aren’t perfect, but I never sat there questioning why Alison kept them in her life. There were times I wanted her to defend herself, especially when it came to her mother, but Alison wasn’t there yet. I appreciate that Alison’s problems didn’t vanish because of love. Minor spoiler but she does end up seeing a therapist to deal with her feelings.

Four Weekends is Palmer’s debut and I am impressed. I recommend this book to anyone looking for a slow burn romance with realistic characters. Tread carefully if you are dealing with loss or cancer as those two topics are big themes of the book. I look forward to seeing what Palmer writes next. 

A big thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam/ G. P. Putnam’s Sons for providing me an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Wow. I ADORED this.

"Thirty-year-old post-double-mastectomy BRCA 1 carrier and reluctant thrill-seeker Alison Mullally arrives at her ex-boyfriend Sam’s funeral to find that no one knows he dumped her, she agrees to play the grieving girlfriend for the sake of the family and pack up Sam’s apartment with his prickly best friend, Adam Berg. After all, it’ll only take four weekends . . .

But Adam doesn’t want Alison anywhere near him. Forced to spend long hours with the grump, and his monosyllabic demeanor, Alison decides she must put her people-pleasing abilities to the test. She will make him like her. And after awkward family affairs and packing up dilemmas, the two form a tenuous friendship . . . if “friendship” means incredible chemistry and tension between them. Can Alison come clean and finally embrace the life and love she's always wanted? Or will her little white lie get in the way of her new, unexpected romance?"

I love this story concept (what a great first line!) and it is so well done -- writing that you immediately get lost in, witty banter, and THE swooniest romance. Like, truly, Adam Berg is the STANDARD. I was kicking my feel and giggling like a SCHOOLGIRL.

But seriously, I think this is a masterclass story with rich characters and a relatability that elicits a tenderness that I won't soon forget. Beautiful representation and thoughtful in its consideration of who we allow ourselves to be, survivor guilt, and honoring memories after loss. It's effortlessly funny and the romance is natural and genuine. I can't wait to re-read this and recommend it to everyone I know.

Read for:

-MAJOR JACK CALLAGHAN FURNITURE MAKER LEANING ENERGY!!!
-a young Harrison Ford LI
-expressions of love through Girl Scout Cookies
-cutthroat bar trivia
-chaotic elementary school concerts
-nicknames you and your friends have for strangers
-sexy magic of Henleys
-"I would never object to being Laura Dern."
-conversations about survivor guilt
-justice for early Christmas music listeners
-ruthless world of overnight parking
-discussion of Hallmark movie plots
-"They can't force me to sit in front of Panda Express while Bruno Mars happens to me."
-A MAN WHO PAYS ATTENTION
-Sexual tension while faucet-fixing
-millennial personal pan pizza energy
-men who build forts for children & leave sandwiches to come check on you
-"Why can't I look at your lips?" !!!
-Forearms, of course
-intimate late night phone calls
-important conversations with family
-"You Billy Crystaled me."
-"I imagine your every detail. Constantly."
-A hand in the pocket spin! (very TALBILB energy!)
-"I knew from the moment I saw you."
-accepting that you're not an adrenaline junkie/hardcore hiker and THAT'S OKAY
-visibility for middle school girls who wrote sad poetry in gel pen
-a cat named Colonel Corduroy
-deserving your life and not needing to prove why

Thank you to G.P. Putnam's Sons and NetGalley for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest, unbiased review. FOUR WEEKENDS AND A FUNERAL is out 8/6/24.

I absolutely adored "Four Weekends and a Funeral" by Ellie Palmer. This debut romance had me hooked from the start with its tender yet laugh-out-loud storyline. Picture a thirty-year-old wannabe thrill-seeker, Alison Mullally, navigating post-double-mastectomy life and reluctantly playing the grieving girlfriend after a mix-up at her ex's funeral. The dynamic with Sam's best friend, Adam Berg, promises four weekends of emotions and unexpected romance.

The book exudes 90s rom-com vibes, complete with excellent banter and a fantastic portrayal of the main character's two best friends. What struck me most was the seamless integration of pop culture references that added a nostalgic charm to the narrative. Despite its light tone, the novel skillfully tackles heavy topics like grief, the mastectomy, and fertility issues in a way that feels natural rather than forced.

"Four Weekends and a Funeral" is truly a one-of-a-kind read. The chemistry between Alison and Adam is palpable, and the author's ability to balance humor and heartfelt moments had me laughing out loud and shedding tears in equal measure. If you're in the mood for a romance with depth, a touch of 90s flair, and characters you can't help but root for, I highly recommend diving into this unique and captivating story. It's a solid 5 stars from me! I can’t wait for this to release on 8/6/2024!

Thank you PENGUIN GROUP Putnam for providing this ARC via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own and freely given.

Ellie Palmer’s “Four Weekends and a Funeral” is a delightful debut novel. The book started off a little rocky for me because I found the premise to be a little outlandish that 1) no one knew Alison and Sam had broken up and 2) Alison would agree to clean out Sam’s apartment with Adam. Thankfully, things started flowing for me after only a few chapters.

I adored the banter between the main character, Alison, and her two best friends, Chelsea and Mara. I also enjoyed the exchanges Alison and Adam shared, whether they occurred in person, over text, or on the phone.

There were a few parts of the book that were laugh out loud funny to me, which is not a normal occurrence for me while reading. There were also multiple conversations in the book I found to be heartfelt and genuine.

Overall, I look forward to following and seeing what Ellie Palmer has in store for readers in the future. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my ARC.

This was a good read, not as fast a read as some but the perfect book to be able to pick up and put down throughout a weekend at home, I honestly enjoyed the friendships and character development outside of the romantic involvement more than anything else. I mean, yes, the romance was also great, but I felt like the old standby misunderstandings due to misleading each other and dishonesty were really unnecessary here. The writing pace was strong, and the character voices rang true. I liked them. I don't feel like there were any cliffhangers or things left unresolved, so it is a good read if those drive you nuts. I look forward to reading more by this author!

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 Ellie Palmer wrote a witty, creative, and heartfelt debut novel. I cannot wait to see what she comes up with next!
This book included the tropes: enemies to lovers, grumpy sunshine, slight forced proximity, closed door romance, and included topics on cancer, mental health, and grief.
Although not a “true” rom com due to heavy topics, the banter between the characters was perfection!

This was a delightful read from a debut author I am already looking forward to what she writes next. I've been a a bit of a book slump and this one pulled me out. I devoured it in one day.

This story was sweet, romantic, and witty while the characters felt realistic and had depth.