This was SUCH a fun read. It’s giving grumpy-sunshine and a little bit of a slow burn, and as it played out between Adam and Allison, I loved watching it happen. Very satisfying story of people finding each other with that “meant to be” quality - where people before (or lack of) weren’t quite right. Frankly I love that in a story :)

Overall I think this was a good read. I loved the main characters and thought their relationship was adorable. It got a little confusing with the amount of side characters that were thrown in. I think it could have been better had the author created less characters, and just focused on the few friends. I wanted to like Mara, I thought a trivia obsessed best friend had so much potential, but she was just so unbelievably boring! Unfortunately I think she misses an opportunity for a second book in a series by not putting more effort into her character.
I understand the BRCA 1 is a personal issue for the author, and she wanted to bring attention to it, but the topic seemed forced in the beginning of the book. I kept wondering why it was just randomly getting thrown in but it did come together at the end.

A refreshing tale that brings two beautiful human beings together! I will try to make this as spoiler free as possible. You start this tale at a funeral. I know — what an interesting setting to launch right from the get go. I guess in that way even though there are attractive tropes that readers go for the take on them and the execution is unique.

Essentially the crux of the situation is that Alison is invited to a funeral…her ex-boyfriend’s that is. However, no one knows that Sam broke up with Alison months ago. Hence she is thrust into the task to clean out his apartment with Sam’s best friend Adam. Therein lies their time together (hence the title of the book).

The author is authentic and so witty which translated so well to her character’s inner monologue. I cannot count the number of times I laughed out loud.

I also love how the author weaves aspects of Alison’s BRCA journey in. It is not done by half measures by any means. Instead, the reader is left gaining a better understanding of the implications of the gene mutation. Alison struggles with survivor’s guilt, having underwent preventative double mastectomy. However, the humor and lightness weaved into the brevity of the matter is well balanced.
Spice 0.25 (closed door)

Read this book for…
Enemies? to lovers
Forced proximity (of sorts)
Grumpy x sunshine

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam Publishing Group for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Quick Summary: It takes attending his funeral to realize that Alison’s ex-boyfriend never told anyone they broke up. After being convinced to not tell his family the truth, she and his best friend, Adam, work together on the weekends to clear out his apartment. They learn about each other, themselves, and love along the way.

My thoughts: I was not expecting to laugh so much at a book that mentions a double-mastectomy and a funeral in the description! I giggled my way through so many chapters. As funny as this is - there is so much real and deep about this story. Health/fertility concerns, grief, jobs, uncertainty, unexpected love. With every new chapter I was more and move invested in Alison and Adam in a genuine and honest way.

This book is a love letter for elder millennials and the pop culture references had me smiling to myself countless times.

Grab a peppermint mochas and some thin mints and curl up with this one as soon as you can.

Oh and read the acknowledgments… I think EIlie would want you to ;)

Y’all 😭 I loved this. I laughed. I swooned. I craved Girl Scout cookies.

It isn’t until Alison arrives at her ex-boyfriend’s funeral that she realizes he never told his family they broke up. Oops. Instead of coming clean about their relationship status, Alison somehow ends up telling his grieving mother that of course she would clean out his apartment, and of course she would work with his silent, grumpy best friend to do so!

Over the course of four weekends of home repair and cleaning, Alison and Adam grow closer. But Alison’s white lie catches up to her as feelings start to develop between them.

FOUR WEEKENDS AND A FUNERAL also included an exploration of Alison’s experience with the BCRA1 gene and her double mastectomy. I love a book that delves into health and how it impacts relationships, and Ellie Palmer really, really understood the assignment.

You can expect:
😬 ex’s best friend
🚂 career soul-searching
🙋‍♀️ intense trivia competition
🛻 truck driving
🍪 cookie party
👯‍♀️ beautiful friendships

Thank you Netgalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam for the ARC.

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 5/5 stars

Well this was absolutely adorable and perfect. When Alison arrives at her ex-boyfriend’s funeral, she discovers he didn’t tell anyone they broke up. She then agrees to go along with it for the sake of the family and is roped into packing up his apartment with his best friend. His best friend being a Bill Pullman in While You Were Sleeping-esque dream guy named Adam.

I adored this book. The pop culture references were straight from my brain. Adam was everything I want in a leading man and he even has a reversible coat. Alison is the perfect leading lady and has a friend group that makes you jealous. Basically everything was 5 stars. I loved it. I highly recommend it.

ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed the humor, the insight, and the style of the novel. It was a fun and engaging read that made me laugh and smile. I adored the romance, the chemistry, and the sweetness of the novel. Alison and Adam were a perfect match, and I loved their banter, their support, and their passion.

This book was absolutely amazing! I loved every bit of it. The grief, the enemies to lovers, the awkwardness. I loved that the author was able to intertwine part of something that happens in her own life into our FMC. I laughed out loud many times and am so grateful to have the opportunity to read it early! Check this book out when it is released this summer for a cutesy rom com that tugs on your heart too!

Thank you so much Netgalley and Putnam for my first ARC in exchange for my honest feedback. What an incredible novel!

Premise of this story was cute. Grumpy guy and a sunshine girl always makes for a sweet romcom type story. Will definitely recommend this one to my girlfriends once it’s released.

Interesting characters and plot. Really different cast, subplots, themes and concept. I thought it was a pleasant book but not a huge standout. Plenty of positives! I didn't think th cover matched the tone though.

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.