This book felt like a warm hug. It explored grief, fear of the unknown, and our complex vision of self while also navigating the excitement of falling in love, the warmth of a friend, and self actualisation. Adam and Alison felt like complex characters who understood each other to their core and helped each to navigate the tricky feelings and emotions that arise while grieving. I love this story and I find myself wanting to know what is next for them!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Four Weekends and A Funeral is a closed door, super cute romcom.

Allison is attending the funeral of her ex-boyfriend, Sam, except no one knows they broke up. Allison is a people pleaser so she goes along with the story of grieving gf and ends up having to pack up his condo with Sam's grumpy best friend, Adam.

This is the classic story of grumpy/sunshine with forced proximity.

But this story goes deeper while telling us Allison's story with the BRCA gene. Allison is finding herself while dealing with her internal emotions towards having the gene mutation. Adam is also dealing with his own internal struggles. The two have found each other at the wrong time, but somehow at the perfect time.

Thank you Netgalley, Author, and publisher for an ARC in return for an honest review.

An unexpectedly delightful and entertaining contemporary romance. With dialogue and a storyline that struck me as Emily Henry - esque, I happily cruised through this tale in a day. But for the ending seeming rushed, this was a great read!

Recommended to fans of Emily Henry and Christina Lauren.

Many thanks to NetGalley and G.P. Putnam’s Sons for the complimentary ARC. Opinions are my own.

This was a heart warming debut. This book starts with a big misunderstanding. Alison’s ex, Sam passes away but his family thinks they were still together so she goes along with it. I love how Alison wrestled with her complicated feelings about the lies, who she really is, her growing feelings for Sam’s best friend, and how her life was complicated by her recent mastectomy. There was a lot of heart in this book.

The book started off in such an interesting way that I was hooked and had to finish. I found the characters to be relatable. Adam is the perfect grump in this slow burn, grumpy meets sunshine story. Allison and Adam on the four weekends of packing up the house was interesting. Loved the supporting cast of characters. I liked the trivia competitions - I love trivia competitions. I really enjoyed the good banter in this book. Thank you to NETGALLEY and the publisher for this eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

What a lovely debut! Allison and Adam’s chemistry and sexual tension were so good. The book did a great job highlighting friendship. I loved how female friendship was portrayed in this book, it was so refreshing to read about.

There is definitely an Emily Henry vibe to this book. Despite this being a romcom, it touches on heavy topics like mental health, dealing with grief, self-acceptance and much more. Overall this was an excellent read!

5 stars! This is more than just another fluffy romance novel that follows the same formula. The characters have real struggles and depth and they help each other come out of their shells and discover themselves. Loved the grumpy (Adam) vs sunshine (Allison) characters AND the fun side characters who are found family! The banter, the yearning, the pining, the growth, it’s all chef’s kiss! The spice is fade to black which is a bummer but I still loved it!
I’m so impressed this was a debut novel and can’t wait to see what else Ellie Palmer does!


THANK YOU net galley and penguin random house for the arc in exchange of my honest review.

Alison attended the funeral of her ex-boyfriend but apparently no one knew that they already broke up 6 weeks prior. the whole time at the funeral, everyone assumed that she's Sam's girlfriend. especially his family. when Sam's parents were debating on who should handle Sam's condo and stuffs, without thinking, Alison volunteered. along his best friend, Adam so it's settled. for the next 4 weeks, Alison & Adam spent their weekend sorting through Sam's stuffs and preparing the condo for sale.

of course with this arrangement, the plot was predictable from a mile away. unfortunately i didn't connect with the MC, and I didn't get the couple's chemistry. I know that the topic of this book is survivor's guilt but i found Alison's mindset annoying sometimes. she literally gaslit herself and hurt people who cared about her in the process. good thing it's all solved by the end of the book, tho.

Four Weddings and a Funeral is perfect for lovers of the grumpy-sunshine trope, closed door romance scenes, and fans of Emily Henry and Abby Jimenez.

Set in Minnesota, the book opens with Alison attending her ex boyfriend, Sam’s, funeral. Unfortunately Sam neglected to tell his parents that he broke up with Alison, and now Sam’s sister is begging Alison to pretend that Sam was happily settled down with her at the time of his death for the sake of Sam’s grieving parents. People-pleaser and sunshine Alison agrees, and then agrees again to pack up Sam’s apartment with Sam’s BFF Adam, who’s literally nicknamed the Northshore Grump. Over the course of four weekends in Sam’s apartment, Alison and grumpy Adam fall in love. Adam is actually a furniture maker, and I enjoyed how the author/Alison poked fun at the Hallmark trope, especially since most of this book is set during the holiday season aka Hallmark Christmas movie season. But even though this book is funny at times, their mutual friend’s death and Alison’s own struggles with her breast cancer scare give this book a more serious tone than the typical holiday rom-com. When Alison’s mother was diagnosed w breast cancer, Alison was tested for the BRCA gene and tested positive. Though her scans came back negative for cancer and she’s already had her mastectomy, Alison is still processing what she’s lost and the steps she needs to take in order to ensure a cancer-free future. Even though it was difficult at times to read, I really liked how the author educated her readers on the physical and more importantly mental effect that this ordeal had on our FMC and could have on any one of us or someone we love. Alison’s journey to healing and loving herself is tied directly into her brief but memorable relationship with live-life-to-fullest Sam, and Adam, the only person who seems to see her for who she really is.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

This story was a surprise! What most stood out to me was the inclusion of cancer concerns: BRCA mutation and preventative mastectomy. Alison's experience with breast cancer risk is not just a background note, but central to the story and so compassionately written. "Four Weekends and a Funeral" feel like a realistic story of everyday people and everyday scenarios.

The romance is pretty slow (and fade to black), but there are good hints at chemistry and sensitive adjustment from grief to friendship. I also appreciated how self acceptance is a major theme and that healing and therapy are serious considerations. A fantastic debut.

Thank you to NetGalley & the publisher for providing an eARC for review.

Attention all Emily Henry fans -- this one is for you!! I gave this one a solid 4.5 stars.

Almost immediately, these characters and this story jumped out to me as "real" with relatable flaws and emotions. Both Alison and Adam were lovable characters, with so many sweet moments between the two of them. I loved the way their relationship evolved, how they interacted, and just how funny and deeply intense some of the scenes between them were. And every character, including Ali's friends, were like this! They felt like real people, and that's one of the things I liked most about this.

Fair warning, breast cancer/cancer/cancer treatment (including preventative) is a huge theme in this book. It's pushed a little hard, but relevant to Alison's "flaw" and character development in the book.

All the stars for Four Weekends and a Funeral, I absolutely adored this book! What sounded like a bit of a funny premise turned out to be an incredible read on grief, moving on, and figuring out who you are in your life. The authenticity of Alison and her future not only finding out she had the BRCA 1 gene, but losing her ex-boyfriend was so incredibly real I felt like I was talking with a friend while reading this story.

Oh my goodness, I wasn’t expecting to enjoy this book this much. It’s crazy how your ex boyfriend dying could spiral into so much more. Spending 4 weekends to clean out said ex boyfriends apartment with his best friend not knowing that the messages Sam was sending was all meant for her and his best friend to fall in love. They were meant to be!!! Ugh, I just wish I could stay in this book. Falling in love with her body after having a double mastectomy, learning she doesn’t have to pretend to like things just to find joy in life, and taking the chance on love with the most unexpected situations. I loved this and thank you for providing me with a copy to read.

Oooo this book was a good time. First off, Ellie Palmer is here bringing back chapter titles and I'm INTO IT. As a Minnesotan AND Lowertown resident, it was a) fun to have a clear picture of the setting of the book and b) read an accurate depiction.

Palmer's characters were very likable and relatable, and I love that they are adults. She did a beautiful job of depicting real scenarios in authentic ways. She addressed many topics that everyday people encounter and deal with. Her ability to do so in fiction was lovely. She blended forced proximity, grumpy/sunshine, and "enemies" to lovers well. Palmer created believable growth for her characters. The care Palmer put into the story is evident.

I love a romance, and I love a romance with depth. This one was so good. Alison tested positive for the BRCA-1 gene a few years ago and had a preventative mastectomy before the book starts. This has impacted her perception of herself, her relationship with her body, and relationship with her mom, just to name a few things. Both Alison and Adam are dealing with the grief of losing a friend. They had great tension and chemistry and you could really feel the development of their feelings throughout the story. Alison did get frustrating with her focusing so much on who she should be instead of who she is and what makes her happy. I just adored this story and thought it had a great message.

This book really pulled on my heartstrings. I felt so connected to the main character and honestly believed in her feelings regarding herself. It felt like some imposter syndrome was going on, and that's relatable. I enjoyed the relationship between the main characters and all of the side characters. I felt they were portrayed realistically. And Adam was just so swoon-worthy.

Thank you to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam | G.P. Putnam's Sons for the early review copy. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to the folks at NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for an eARC of this title in exchange for an honest review!

Allison’s adventurous boyfriend, Sam, unexpectedly passed weeks after he broke up with her. She felt compelled to attend his funeral, where she finds out that he never told his family about their separation, and in order to make things easier for his grieving family she reluctantly steps into the role of girlfriend again. She ends up volunteering to help clean out his apartment to get it ready to sell when the task seems too overwhelming for Sam’s parents. Which is how she ends up with Adam, the grumpy best friend of the dearly departed. And I bet you can guess what happens next…

This book was a sweet journey through grief, but not always in the way you would expect. Of course there is the very obvious grief journey with losing Sam, Allison’s short term but sweet boyfriend. But also a life you expected to live, and one you feel you need to uphold. Allison has the BRCA genetic mutation, which means that getting cancer is almost a guarantee. In order to almost eliminate her risk she has a mastectomy. Of course she thinks she is fine and over it and processed everything, but her friends would argue her refusal to live the quiet life she so obviously craves to try and be a mountain climbing, hiking, outdoor lover would suggest otherwise.

Allison is so fun. She made me laugh out loud several times! Her feelings on fall, Christmas music, peppermint mochas, thin mints, and even with the poor circulation in her little toe, made me feel very seen. Her friendships with Mara and Chelsea are also so sweet, and I can’t help but wonder if we’ll get some stories about them someday! (Please, Ellie Palmer?)

And Adam Berg, AKA The North Shore Grump - what a man. I mean, I love a grumpy soft man so that’s all that really needs said!

Overall I really loved this story, the messages on “finding yourself”, and the romance! I did find that it drug just a bit in the middle, some of the dialogue felt a little out there, and the conflict literally made me want to grab everyone and tell them to “GET YOUR SH*T TOGETHER PLEASE!” But I enjoyed this debut and will be on the lookout for what this author puts out next!

The book also has several Henley spottings, IYKYK.

Overall I rated 4 stars! This book is out now, and would highly suggest for you November TBR! It gives major holiday season cozy hallmark vibes. Thank me later!

Alison is a homebody, really enjoys being inside but she cheated death. So she wants to find a new adventure, go crazy. So she met Sam. Sam was perfect, adventurous, not locked down, looking for the next thrill. Sam realized that Alison was not the one and they broke up but remained friends. But then Sam died, and Alison went to the funeral. She founds out, Sam never told his family they broke up. So now she has to act like the grieving girlfriend but she is also extremely attracted to Adam, Sam’s best friend….Adam also seems to find her extremely attractive.

This book was sweet. Alison and Adam fell fast but in a beautiful way and the end was gorgeous. Alison and Adam had a lot of obstacles in their way but it made them perfect for the other person

Thank you NetGalley, the publisher and Ellie Palmer for the ARC

The A's have it...

Alison is thirty (but still new adulting). Her former boyfriend, Sam dumped her six weeks ago. Then he died and his family all thinks they were still dating and she agrees to go along with the fake. She's boring, had a double mastectomy and is cleaning out Sam's place over four weekend.

Adam is an introvert, the opposite of Sam. But Alison has a jones for him, while still pretending she's the grieving girlfriend.

As much as this book is very sad it truly makes you look at life and think what's the best plan of action for me? Alison's friends are delightful and the romance with Adam is very sweet.