An absolutely brilliant debut about grief, friendship, and being your most authentic self. Ellie Palmer has a fresh, clever, funny, insightful voice that will leave you charmed and introspective. I can't wait to read anything Ellie Palmer writes.

Wow - this story. Alison is attending the funeral of her ex boyfriend Sam when she finds out he had not told his family that they broke up. Adam is Sam's best friend and is also attending the funeral. Alison and Adam end up cleaning out Sam's apartment because his parents are too grief stricken to do it. Alison has so much going on in her life and I just really felt for her. Such a good book! 4 1/2 stars

I love supporting local authors and so when I heard about Ellie Palmer and read the blurb I was instantly intrigued. While you were sleeping is one of my comfort films and this book does give similar vibes. However, the pacing is what really caused my dislike for this book. Everything seems to be moving in slow motion and I was just waiting for something interesting to happen after the funeral. Unfortunately this book just couldn't hold my interest and I found myself struggling to pick it back up.

This is one of the best romances I’ve read in a while, I am so impressed that it is a debut. I am deeply obsessed with Adam and Allison and I will be bothering all of my friends until they read this as well. There is so much heart and humor and sweetness in this story, I could hardly handle myself.

this was such a beautiful book. it deals with so many heavy topics and it did it in way that didn’t make it feel like the trauma olympics. the romance in this book as well was so well done. this is the way i wanted the romance to be handled in How to End a Love Story by Yuling Kuang. i absolutely adored everything about this.

thank you putnam and netgalley for the advanced copy!

Four Weekends and a Funeral
By Ellie Palmer

This is a story about finding yourself, forgiving your mistakes, and knowing when to grab your future.

We start with a loss, build a friendship, and then correct a wrong.

I wanted to like this story more, but I found Allison somewhat annoying. I thinks that why it might have taken me so long to get through it.

I did appreciate the humor overly the sadness.

This book was perfect. I truly cannot think of a single thing I disliked about it. Abby Jimenez described it best in her blurb: “a cozy affirmation for introverts and homebodies about love, loss and being enough.”

In Four Weekends and a Funeral, Alison’s ex-boyfriend Sam dies and it’s only when she is at his funeral that she realizes he didn’t tell people. She ends up pretending she’s still dating Sam, which leads her to team up with his best friend Adam to clean out and fix up Sam’s apartment.

Adam is a grump who only speaks in monosyllabic sentences to Alison at first. But they form a tentative friendship that evolves into a connection bursting with chemistry and laugh-out-loud banter.

While this book is light and funny, it also deals with some heavier themes. It reminded me a lot of an Abby Jimenez book in that way, which explains why I loved it so much.

Alison is a BRCA1 carrier who has a preventative double mastectomy to reduce her risk of breast cancer, and I really appreciated reading about something I knew very little about before this book. Throughout the story, Alison struggles with survivor’s guilt as well as the concept of what makes a deserving and fulfilling life. As someone who deals with tremendous amounts of guilt for different reasons, and doesn’t always embrace the quiet moments that I love so much, her struggles really resonated with me.

Adam is lovely, too. He’s a cinnamon roll-at-heart kind of hero with a dry sense of humor who always makes Allison feel fully seen and known. Adam encourages Allison to live authentically and always reminds her of her worth, as a good partner should.

This was a novel full of heart, laughs and love in many forms — Allison’s friends are wonderful and so important to her. As you can tell, I’m beyond impressed with Ellie’s debut novel and will read absolutely anything she writes moving forward.

I met Ellie at a MN bookstagrammer event earlier this year and was so excited to read this one— it did NOT disappoint!!!

Alison Mullally arrives at her ex boyfriend Sam’s funeral, only to find out he never told anyone he dumped her. In order to help the grieving family and friends, Alison plays the part— it’s only for a day after all. Only, Alison agrees to pack up Sam’s apartment with Sam’s grumpy best friend, Adam. Over the course of four weekends the two grow closer and Alison isn’t sure how much longer she can continue to pretend…

This book was a great mix of humor, fun, and seriousness. Alison had a double mastectomy after finding out she has the BRCA1 mutation. After finding out that she “cheated” death, she vowed to live her life more adventurously… only Alison doesn’t really like camping or hiking or anything outdoors really. She started dating Sam in the hopes his enthusiasm for adventure would rub off on her. Sam soon realized she was faking and dumped her.

Read if you like:
• Grumpy/sunshine
• Minnesota
• Guy falls first
• Fake (does it count if he’s dead?) dating
• Forced proximity
• Trivia

Really enjoyed this. The story was a little funny, sad, hopeful and makes you appreciate the people in your life who really see you. Palatable chemistry between Alison and Adam and some lovely banter. Their journey through their loss of larger than life Sam, their individual struggles and guilt alongside their the growing, undeniable connection made for an engaging read. Loved Chelsea and Mara, everyone needs friends like them, especially with the extreme quizzing. 4 ⭐️

Four Weekends and a Funeral by @elliepalmerwrites is a truly poignant and beautiful romantic comedy. ❤️

Blurb: She found the right guy at the dead wrong time . . .

When thirty-year-old post-double-mastectomy BRCA1 carrier and reluctant thrill-seeker Alison Mullally arrives at her ex-boyfriend Sam’s funeral to discover that no one knows he dumped her, she agrees to play the grieving girlfriend for the sake of the family. Little did she know this meant packing 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 to 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 sexual tension. 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?

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

This novel was a treat to read! I loved Alison as a character, her inner struggle with loving herself and finding romance was very touching. Adam is honestly such an amazing grumpy MMC and his dedication to Alison is so endearing! Plus the end of book is pure magic, I loved it. If you want a steamy, hallmark-y romance read, this is the one!!! 🚂🥰✨

Thank you to @putnambooks and @netgalley for the opportunity to read/review this ARC! 🤩📚

🏷️: #fourweekendsandafuneral #elliepalmer #review #bookrecommendation #bookstagram

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
What you’ll find:
🖤Forced proximity
🩷Grumpy / Sunshine
🖤Banter for days
🩷90s nostalgia
🖤A dash of fake dating
🩷Ex-boyfriend's best friend

Palmer’s debut read was a charming read. I love the message that Palmer s drove home in this story.

I feel that if you are a fan of Dewitt or Armas than this would be a great one to add to your TBR.

🎧 Narrated by one of my favs - Karissa Vacker. She does no wrong and she always feels like the perfect fit in whatever I read. Very much the case here. Love the seriousness she can bring, the playful moments, and everything in between.

I split this read between my Kindle and audiobook and I loved both formats! 🫶🏼

If I hadn't know that this was the authors debut novel I would have thought this was written by a veteran! I really enjoyed this one. It was emotional at times but that was balanced out well with moments of comedic relief. This novel tackled real life issues with tact and an appropriate level of sensitivity. I felt as though the characters were relatable and the plot kept my attention throughout. Overall, I would recommend this one to my friends.

📚Four Weekends and a Funeral by Ellie Palmer

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 
🫑

This stunning debut grabbed my attention from the first line. Four Weekends and a Funeral is a heartwrenching yet humorous and sweet novel. Ellie skillfully balanced humor, beautiful writing, witty banter, and heavy topics. It was interesting to learn about BRCA1 and double mastectomy. And I really loved Ellie Palmer's voice.

If you love the grumpy sunshine with a closed-door romance and want to learn about BRCA1, this book is for you.

I'm looking forward to reading Ellie Palmer's next book.

Thank you, @NetGalley and Putnam, for the eARC.

⚠️ TW: BRCA1
⚠️ TW: loss of loved one

While some of the aspects and plot points were a little cliche (as with any romance book), I found this story to be very original and enjoyable to read. The character development that readers see from Allison and Adam is one of the major aspects of this book, and I really enjoyed watching the characters grow. I thought that the side characters were also fleshed out well. My only issue with this book is the constant repetition of Allison's shortcomings. She is dealing with the BRCA 1 surgery and while I understand that it is a major part of this character's life, it was mentioned at least once a chapter and I feel as if the importance of the surgery and it's impact on the character felt cheapened due to the constant repetition. Overall, I enjoyed reading this book and I would recommend to a friend. I am interested to see what Ellie Palmer releases next!

I was seeing a lot of recent buzz with this one. I am happy to say I enjoyed it as much as everyone else. We follow Alison, a 30 year old BRCA 1 carrier who had a preventative double mastectomy. She shows up at her ex, Sam's funeral & agrees to be a grieving girlfriend who helps clean up his apartment with Sam's best friend. Adam is a grumpy man with no holiday spirit. Together they spend long hours packing up Sam's things & forming a bond with each other. I thought it was a great debut & I loved all the characters including the best friends.

This is a story that was so fun to read. The love/ hate relationship with bantering. It had me rolling in laughter, and not want to stop reading.

Al finds herself in a compromising position when arriving to her ex’s funeral and everyone thought she was still his girlfriend. To not hurt anyone’s feeling she played along with it, and then offered to clean out her ex’s apartment with the grumpy best friend she always heard about. The story continues as they grow closer, but oh did they not see eye to eye. We watched Al growing from her self expectations and Adam scare of change.

Al and the author both have BRCA1 which was a big part of this book. It is always nice to see what one goes through when they have a second chance.

Amazing book!!! Thank you Net galley and author for letting me read this for an honest review.

I loved this book from the very beginning. The author jumped right into it, with Alison attending her ex-boyfriend's funeral after a freak accident. Except everyone assumed she was still the current girlfriend. Funny, engaging - I'll be looking g for more by Ellie Palmer.

Yay for Minnesota authors who get Minnesota geography correct! I really enjoyed this story. It was a little deeper than I was originally prepared for, but also just a great story overall. There were so many times when I was able to laugh out loud and get teary, I really felt emotions with the characters throughout the book. Not only were the main characters phenomenal, but also some of the sub-characters stuck out and made a big impact on me.

I will recommend this book to all who read.

Thank you for the copy, this is my honest opinion

Four Weekends and a Funeral-a standalone

By Ellie Palmer-debut author

Publication 8-6-24, Read 8-8-24

Format: e-book 368 pgs.

Genre: Rom-Com, Adult/Women's Fic

Tropes: enemies to lovers, fake dating, forced proximity, closed door, family drama, grumpy/sunshine, opposites attract

FMC: Alison Mullally (30)-dated Sam Lewis and he dumped her 6 weeks ago. She had double mastectomy because she's a BRCA 1 carrier.

MMC: Adam Berg-Sam's BFF, disliked Alison. He's a carpenter. Agrees to help Alison pack up Sam's apartment to sell it in 4 weekends.

🤔My Thoughts: The opposites attract trope is one of my favorites and this doesn't disappoint. Alison had to work to become Adam's friend, and later more. Alison's medical condition was told realistically, and as a breast cancer survivor myself I liked that it was handled with care. This reminded me of the movie While You Were Sleeping except Sam died instead of being in a coma. Sam's family & friends believed he and Alison were still together and Alison went along with it. I loved how supportive Alison's BFFs Mara and Chelsea were towards her.

Overall Rating
4/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

🙏🏽Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam |G.P. Putnam's Sons for this ARC! I voluntarily give my honest review, and all opinions expressed are my own.

This is a heartfelt debut that blends humor and emotional depth. Alison Mullally, after a double mastectomy, attends her ex-boyfriend Sam’s funeral, only to discover his family believes they were still together. She reluctantly agrees to maintain the facade and ends up spending weekends packing Sam’s apartment with his grumpy best friend, Adam. Their interactions are filled with tension and undeniable chemistry, leading to an unexpected connection. The novel beautifully navigates themes of love, loss, and self-discovery, all while incorporating important discussions about breast cancer and survivor's guilt. Palmer's writing is both sharp and tender, making this book a compelling read for fans of emotional yet uplifting romances.