A gripping story about love, loss, and grief. The Sunday Potluck Club interweaves Four heartbroken women, at the cusp of the most devastating time in their lives. They learn to cope. 
How to lean on each other and journey through identity challenges as a result of the pain they’ve endured. Melissa Storm is a new-to-me author that I’m glad I had the chance to check out. Her words are beautiful, yet easy to read, and I look forward to the rest of this series. Thank you NetGalley and Kensington Publishing for providing this arc in exchange for an honest review.

The story of random strangers bonding over grief is a good premise. However The Sunday Potluck Club did not work wonders for me.

I didn't realize when I started reading that this was only an excerpt. I like the premise of the book, four friends who met while taking care of sick parents, but I was not drawn in enough to seek out the book to finish it.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.

A heartwarming story of 4 friends who come together over the shared experience of losing a parent to cancer.  The story follows Amy as she tries to regain her footing in her own life after her mom's passing.  A lot happens in a very short time, but overall enjoyable.

Amy has a funeral to go to. She has a group of friends who met at the hospital while caring for loved ones. Every Sunday they cook and do therapy

I didn't realize this was an excerpt when I first got the book, but it was enough for me to want to read the rest to find out what happened to the characters.  They are all dealing with the effect of cancer on their lives as they grieve the loss of a parent.  They band together to help deal with the pain and grief.  3 stars, it was good but a little depressing.

Thanks to Kensington Books and Netgalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I love books about friendship so “The Sunday Potluck Club” sounded like a book I would enjoy. Instead, a lot of things fell  flat to me. This story itself was rushed. The characters could have been a little more developed. I did enjoy the humor elements.

Thank you NetGalley and Kensington Books for this digital copy in exchange for a review.

Description


A recipe for living . . .
 
New friends can be found in unexpected places. For Bridget and Amy, that place was the cancer ward of an Anchorage hospital. Now, as each struggles to overcome loss, they lean on each other for support—sharing suppers, laughter and tears.
 
Bridget and Amy aren’t about to let hardship knock them down—Bridget plans to return to her veterinarian school studies, Amy to her position as a second-grade teacher—but neither feels quite ready. And so the Sunday Potluck Club is born, a way for Bridget, Amy, and other women who have lost a loved one to find solace and understanding. Savoring favorite dishes while sharing memories and the comfort of connection, the members of the Sunday Potluck Club nourish body and soul.
 
As weeks go by and the group grows in unforeseen ways, both Bridget and Amy are inspired to find greater purpose.  Amy reaches out to a student whose father bravely faces his own struggle. Bridget volunteers at the local animal shelter, rehabilitating dogs whose unconditional love will bring others a chance to heal. And with the help of two special men, Bridget and Amy are realizing that there’s always room at the table for love and rekindled joy . . .

This is a winner! Well written story of courageous woman who met on a cancer ward.

This was super cute read although it talked about a lot about loss and grief. The characters were very likable and showed a lot of growth- which is something that I always look for and love to see in books. These characters have dealt with a lot of loss and hardship, but learned to process and work through it their own way but with the support and love of friends. I loved that the main motto of the Club was to let everyone greave in their own way without judgement. Everyone goes through the process differently and this book really emphasizes that.

This one wasn't really for me but I imagine it would have a lot of value for other people. It's a story with a lot of feeling, heartache and love.

Wasn’t really impressed with the plot or the characters in this book, which dragged along with Amy’s judgmental critiques of her 4 friends. I wish I can say that the 4 women bonded by illness was a triumph but unfortunately they seemed like the least likely bunch to hang out with each other.

Thank you, NetGalley for a copy of this book. I thought this book would be something I enjoy, but for some weird reason I didn't and I just don't know why. I found it super hard to get into and just wasn't gripped nor able to finish it. I do want to reread and give it a second chance.

The Sunday Potluck Club by Melissa Storm

This is a wonderful story about supporting each other through the toughest times when a loved one is going through one of the toughest diagnosis and most difficult to speak about which is Cancer. As a nurse, this is one of the hardest for me is to go through death and dying with patients and I certainly could see that for caregivers and families, having strong support and love from one another can certainly pull you through even the toughest times. It is not only the person suffering that needs the support but all the other families that are affected as well, I thought that Melissa Storm did a beautiful job writing about the human experience through this fantastic novel that is full of heart and understanding. 

The Sunday Potluck Club is about 4 people who developed friendships through these pot lucks in order to help each other move forward with their lives despite the devastating and painful loss they have gone through.

This may have a sad topic but the book is positive and hopeful. Melissa Storm's brilliance is the development of these characters you will love reading about and people you would want to get to know about. I loved the dialogue, the subject matter, and the overall message of this wonderful read. I highly recommend this and look forward to this start of the series.

A heartwrenching tale of grief and life after loss. This book celebrates a host of diverse characters who help each other come to terms with the loss of a loved one.

I went into this book completely blind and I was so glad I did. I had read a preview of it and had forgotten what it was about by time I had gotten time to read it. I’m so glad I did because this book was a wonderful delight to my reading blahs I had been having. I was going through a little bump of finding something that I could keep interest with and that was so different from my usual books and this book was it. I love the fact that these women get together and support each other through the toughest times in one’s life and they are all struggling through it differently and having to accept it. They met when each of their parent’s were going through cancer treatment and built a bond and friendship when you would most likely feel very lonely and not be looking for a friend. This book was so helpful for me in this time of this virus situation and being able to laugh, cry, and sometimes be mad at these characters was the perfect thing to get me through the day. This author has wrote characters that are meaningful and realistic that readers will enjoy. Excellent book.

Losing a parent is hard. Whether it is by natural means or by way of disease. Comfort can be found in many of ways. The Potluck club was a way for the characters in the book to heal and grieve in their own way. This part of the club deals with Amy. She has lost her mom and in dealing with that she meets  Trent and Liv.  This book offers hope for those that are grieving and tips of how to get support from friends.

This book is about 4 women (Amy, Nichole, Bridget and Hazel) who met at the hospital cafeteria while one of their parent was Having treatment for cancer.  Their friendship ensues. The book mostly follows how the characters deals with Their grief.  It has sadness, romance and happiness.  Great read!  It is not as sad as I thought it was going to be with the description.  Thank you Kensington and NetGalley for the ARC.  This is my own opinion.

The Sunday Potluck Club is a great read. I enjoyed it mainly because my friends and I definitely bond over meals, but also because I could relate to having a parent with cancer. When my dad was diagnosed with cancer, I had no one to talk to that could relate to my situation, but in this book, these ladies have found each other and are brought together because of their unfortunate situations. This is a quick read and surprisingly lighthearted after you get past the beginning. It does feel like a lot has transpired in the beginning and at first, I thought I had missed something, but I still enjoyed reading it. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for this read.

This story touched me in so many different ways.  A circle of friends brought together by need when each of them was broken.  They use the worst experiences in their lives to help others face the same pain.  The idea to bond over meals has always been the way a family heals.  Secrets and pain are easier to face when stomachs and hearts are full and you are surrounded by like souls.  Melissa Storm could have picked any number of individuals for her community of healing, I'm just glad I read this book.

2.5*

My first thought when starting this book was that it didnt feel like the start, it felt like so much happened between all of the characters and how much they went through and although they talked about it throughout the book I think it could have made a more emotional story about the woman and the serious issues they were going through. I get how important the message of not overcoming grief but instead learning to live with it and learning to trust and love others enough to share the grief. I wish this story would have included how all the woman came together in the hospital and how they learnt to trust each other enough as they seem like an odd group who made unlikely friends if they hadn't went through their grief together. 

One thing that did bother me about this book was the boundaries crossed by Amy from the very first time she meets her student Olivia. The thing is she does mention possibly getting a more appropriate coworker to help Olivia with her grief of losing her own mum she takes it upon herself to go to the child house and 'fix' her rather than letting her express her feelings like any child would. What slightly annoyed me that no one questioned if that was unprofessional for a teacher to do and instead her friends encouraged her by setting up opportunities for them to meet outside of school which is just a big no. 

I'll admit I was expecting a bit more of a happy fun read about woman who meet up every Sunday and their romances so I was taken by surprise at how there was such serious topics brought up which made me question my own ideas about grief and losing someone you love.