Well, it certainly is a predicament Allison finds herself in, still the girlfriend of a dead man! This was such a fresh perspective on enemies to lovers, factoring in the discomfort and tension of grief. That being said, the intertwinement of grief and budding love. The relationship between Allison and Adam grew very naturally and I fell in love with them as a couple. Ellie Palmer's character development reminds me a lot of Emily Henry's, which is the highest compliment. I can't wait to read what she writes next!

This book is a delight, and I really love that it is funny and warm and deals with a lot of different types of grief. Allison and Adam meet for the first time at her ex boyfriend's funeral---except that his parents, and subsequently most of his friends and family, thinks they didn't break up, and treat her like the grieving current girlfriend. Rather than add to the loss of their son, she agrees to help his best friend, Adam, clean out his condo. Adam is grumpy, and hot, and you guessed it - way more perfect for Allison than Sam, who turns out to have been a good friend to her, ever was. I loved the grieving for Sam and for the distance between him and his ex AND him and his friend, Adam, who feels they have grown apart. I loved the grieving Allison does for who she thinks she needs to be or could be in another life now that she has had a double mastectomy to avoid the high risk of breast cancer as a BRCA1 carrier. The escapades between these two are warm, funny, and restorative, which is wonderful, because I do think we need humor to get through some of the more difficult bits of life. Additionally, there are moments like an elementary school play set to the song "wobble," but "gobble baby gobble" for thanksgiving, which had me in stitches.

Thank you to Ellie Palmer, Putnam, and NetGalley for the eARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

I really enjoyed this. I learned a lot throughout as well about BRCA mutation which I didn’t know about before. The slow burn was perfection!

Allison finds herself in an unusual situation when she shows up to her ex-boyfriend Sam’s funeral and is asked by his sister to pretend that they never broke up. Fake dating a dead guy seemed like a harmless enough ask until she is forced to team up with Sam’s best friend Adam to clean out Sam’s apartment over four weekends.

Allison and Adam have great banter and are drawn to each other, but in order to give a relationship a real shot, Allison has to come clean and be vulnerable.

I can’t believe this is a debut!! I really enjoyed it, and I was hooked by Allison and Adam’s banter and connection. This book also features a trivia team, which is always a favorite of mine!

While this was definitely a rom-com, it also contained some heavier notes. Allison carries the BRCA gene and had a preventative double mastectomy. She struggles with guilt and feeling like she took the easy path by avoiding chemo and radiation. I thought this topic was really well handled, and it felt realistic and empathetic toward Allison’s guilt.

I highly recommend this book! It was a funny and romantic debut, and I absolutely loved it!

Content warnings: Death, cancer

Thank you to Putnam for the eARC. All thoughts are my own.

The hype is real with this book. It's everything everyone has already said about it. It's beautiful and heart-wrenching, with everything in between.

Delightful romcom with witty banter and sexy 30+ characters. If you love a good enemies to lovers but with a little bit of dark humor, you’re in the right place. Writing was really enjoyable and the plot and pacing were even. A little angsty at times, but overall I enjoyed this one a lot.

If you are a seasonal reader, then this book is perfect for you; especially this time of year. I thought this was a great cozy book for the start of Autumn.
This is the first book that I have read from this author, and I am so glad that I was accepts for a arc copy. I will be looking for more books, as I really enjoyed the writing style of this author.

This book will bring out all of your feelings, just to warn you. I laughed, cried, and even wanted to throw the book across the room a couple times. That right there should tell you how good of a book this is!

My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spicy meter: 1/2 a 🌶️ (closed door/fade to black)

Four Weekends and a Funeral was the perfect cozy read to get me ready for autumn. The book does move through the major end of year banking holidays, but it really felt like a fall book to me. I loved Alison’s friendships with Chelsea and Mara. I found Alison to be so frustrating sometimes, but I also saw a lot of myself in her people-pleasing tendencies. I also truly related to her being a 30-year-old woman and learning to figure out what she actually wanted for herself. Adam was a sweet grumpy counterpart to Alison’s quirkiness and I did really like that they pushed each other. He’s definitely molded like a classic Hallmark movie character and I ate it up. This book did read like a sitcom at times (think Friends, New Girl, How I Met Your Mother) so once I accepted that, I was able to get really into it. I do see how some people would definitely not love that, but I was able to lean into it. I loved the outlandishness and “would only happen in fiction” moments. I’m dropping a star because the writing style did take some getting past for me at first and the numerous “topical” references that either felt aged (Harrison Ford?) or I just could not relate to and could not be bothered to Google. Overall, this was a solid feel-good read and perfect for a rainy day.

Thank you to NetGalley for sending me the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

This is such a unique story. I really enjoyed the main characters. It made me laugh and cry. Alison and Adam have great chemistry.

4.5 stars rounded up! Alison shows up to her ex-boyfriend’s funeral only to discover that everyone thinks they never broke up. While cleaning out his apartment, she starts to fall for his best friend, Adam. I absolutely LOVED this one! Alison is so hilarious and sarcastic, and I loved Adam 🥹 they are so cute together, and the grumpy/sunshine vibes were immaculate 🤌🏻 I also liked Alison’s friend group and their pub quiz nights, and I loved how Alison realized that it was ok to be exactly who she was with Adam and everyone else. This was an adorable, funny, and heartwarming debut, and I can’t wait to read more by this author!
TW: cancer

Many thanks to NetGalley and Putnam Books for the opportunity to read before pub day! ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. FOUR WEEKENDS AND A FUNERAL is out now!

Everything about this was perfect. The characters, the banter. I adored it and savored every part of it.

Four Weekends and a Funeral ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Obsessed! Absolutely obsessed

Alison shows up to her ex boyfriend’s funeral, but ends up getting roped into pretending they never broke up. Meanwhile her exs grumpy, fine as hell best friend Adam gets talked into prepping Sam’s (the ex) apartment for sale with Alison.

I think you can see where this is going. Sunshine/grumpy trope, set in Minnesota, all the vibes! Definitely a worthwhile read. Thank you @netgalley and @elliepalmerwrites for allowing me to pre-read this gem!

Thank you NetGalley and G.T. Putnam’s Sons for the ARC of Four Weekends and a Funeral! I loooooved this one!! So fun that there were Minnesota references and the banter had me laughing out loud and also swooning for Alison and Adam. The complicated feelings of grief and talk about guilt around health were done SO well, giving great depth without weighing down the story. I can’t believe this is a debut for author Ellie Palmer! Read this one!

This had such an interesting plot, if you're looking for a romance like you have never read before with tropes like,
Enemies to Lovers
Forced Proximity
& Grumpy Sunshine

Definitely pick this one up!

I gave it 3.75 stars rounded up.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC copy for my unbiased opinion.

It’s been a long time since I devoured a book in one day! This was a wonderful story, with good depth and important life lessons. I like when romance reads aren’t too light and airy, and this book did a great job making me giggle while also making me want to cry. I love Alison and Adam, and I also felt sad mourning Sam alongside them.

4.5 stars. I will absolutely read the next book Ellie Palmer releases.

Thank you NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam for an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Allison finds out that she didn’t really break up with Sam at his funeral. And that is how the book starts. Adam is Sam’s best friend and is tasked to pair with Allison to pack up Sam’s things. This hodgepodge of a romcom is derived from romcom movies.

Thank you Penguin Group Putnun & Netgalley for my ARC of this fun rom-com. Fake dating, a dead man. Forced proximity, grumpy vs Sunshine, and enemies to lovers. Allison's ex-boyfriend Sam dies & when she attends the funeral she finds out Sam never told his family (except sister) that they broke up. Sister begs Allison not to say anything & she agrees. Then ends up cleaning out her "boyfriends apartment" with his best friend. It'll only take four weekends.
I loved the characters. The writing was fun and witty with sass and sarcasm. The characters are well developed and show growth throughout the read. The supporting characters are delightful and present the opportunity for a second book in this universe.

Four Weekends and a Funeral is a cute, "grumpy + sunshine" romance with a twist: the "sunshine" character, Alison, is pretending to be something she's not. After Alison learns that she has the BRCA 1 gene mutation and elects to have a double masectomy, she is determined to make major changes in her life to be more adventurous. The problem is, it's not really her personality to be adventurous. When her dare-devil ex-boyfriend Sam dies, Alison is caught up in a white lie where she pretends they were still an adventure-loving couple when he died.

The story focuses on Alison and her ex's best friend, Adam, who together agree to help Sam's grieving parents by cleaning out his apartment. Predictably, they fall for each other, which is extremely complicated given that the family and Adam all think Alison just lost her significant other.

The story has many clever references to movies and books; I always enjoy trying to recognize and identify movie allusions and book quotes in novels. Alison's two best girlfriends are sweet and supportive. The sensitive subject of how cancer - and survivor's guilt - can impact intimate, platonic, and family realtionships is handled with respect, in my opinion; this is not surprising, as the author, like the main character, has the BRCA 1 gene mutation.

I did feel like the book was too long, and it was the beginning of the story that dragged for me. There was one unresolved issue that seemed to be forgotten about by the end of the story. However, the ending was so satisfying and so sweet and perfect, I am glad I powered through to the end.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Highly recommend! I instantly wanted to read it based on the title alone and it was such a great read!

I really enjoyed this book! There were multiple storylines about family, friendship, finding one's self and of course a cute romance. The main character and her friends were the kind of people you'd want to know and spend time with. Thanks #NetGalley