Thank you for the opportunity to read this. I will be posting a full review to Goodreads, Amazon, and Instagram.

📖 BOOK REVIEW⠀📚
BOOK:The Sunday Potluck Club
AUTHOR: Melissa Storm
#MelissaStorm
Stars: ⭐⭐
Published: March 31, 2020
https://amzn.to/2U5igdx

I didn’t realize when I picked this book up that it was the start of the series. The premise sounded really interesting as someone who has gone through cancer and dealt with the issues. However, I did have problems connecting to the characters in this book. I have no idea why. But that’s not to say that the issues and discoveries in this book weren’t important. They were really hard hitting and poignant. So I feel it is an important read anyway.

Small Summary:
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 a very special man, Amy is realizing that there’s always room at the table for love and rekindled joy . . .
*****
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Received from Netgalley.

The Sunday Potluck Club by Melissa Storm sounds like a really great story. It is engaging from the start and I like that there is a whole group of women, whose bond formed and strengthened through shared battles. The focus on animals is a huge plus for me as an animal lover myself. I cannot wait to read the entire book!

I really wanted to love this book. It had everything I thought I needed right now: a book set in Anchorage, Alaska, a group of friends coming together to help one another and a cute romance. It was a quick read that I enjoyed sitting down with.

I liked that plot points with the friends helping each other grieve and helping Bridget with her animal shelter dog adoption event.

However, I did not enjoy that the author used Bridget as a plot device to screw up the relationship between Trent and Amy. I also didn't like that the end of the book seemed hastily thrown together.

I would be interested in reading the second book if this becomes a series to see where the characters go.

Thank you Netgalley and Kensington

I had t realized this was only am exception, so I was kinda dissapointed I didn't get read the rest because I was getting invested. I would definitely read the rest of the book, I already want to know how their stories play out.

Thank you NetGalley for the excerpt of this book in exchange for my honest reveiw!
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I really enjoyed this book thus far. The Sunday Potluck Club is about a group of four women who meet in the cancer ward of a hospital. They are each caring for someone important in their life and through this group, they are able to be there for each other. What they kept saying to each other was, 'no one can judge how someone grieves' and I really loved this. As someone who strives to know how to care for people when they are going through something hard, I loved this excerpt and can't wait to read the whole book.
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I can already tell I'm going to really enjoy growing with these four women and their stories as they heal and move forward in different ways.

“The Sunday Potluck Club” by Melissa Storm
I expect you read the back-cover description and are now wondering IF you want to read this story. It is a clean story with love interests and the struggle/growth to survive loss and the support true friendship can provide. It is a good story and I liked it. And since you were interested enough to check out reviews.. I think you will like this story, too. It was worth the read. Happy Reading ! !

I enjoyed the expert and look forward to reading the rest of this story when it comes out. I'm eager to see how grief plays out in the book, and looking forward to themes of strong female friendship.

This was a decent read. I liked the characters and felt slightly jealous that two women could be close and no screw each other over like is so common in this day and age. I wanted a little more from the plot as it felt slow moving in some chapters. Overall a heart warming read.

Excerpt was good, and I definitely wanted to read more. Can't give it more than 3 stars without reading the whole thing.

Just finished The Sunday Potluck Club.....glad I did read Bring me Home first. It gave the ground work about how people bond together during difficult times. This is Amy’s story and tells how 4 people friendships develops and grows, thru a chance meeting. Each of the four friends deal differently with life and each have a totally different personality. Amy is a giver, but forgets that she also must have some “MeTime!” Melissa really is great in writing such diverse characters. I can’t wait for the next book.

I only read the extract from the book, so perhaps the full book would grow on me.
The extract started with the funeral of one of the group. It went on to sharing the life of Amy, one of the group and her return to teaching after the death of her mother.
The book did not grab me and I would not be rushing to read the full book.

Review based on an excerpt only:
Interesting premise for a story of four women who have come together as they have lost loved ones to cancer. Their friendship develops through mutual losses and grief, and they offer support on many levels. These characters are believable, and the story holds the potent for an explanatory of friendship and hope through difficult times. I look forward to reading the complete book when it is released.

This was a very short excerpt - the first 10 chapters - of The Sunday Potluck Club.

So far I enjoyed the story about four friends in Anchorage who meet as caregivers for parents battling cancer.

Amy grates on me a little but I'm trying to give her some grace since she clearly isn't dealing well with the death of her mother. I'm looking forward to getting to know the four characters and learning how the potluck dinners keep their friendship together. I also like that the book is set in Alaska which doesn't come up much in books I read.

I have requested the full review copy when it is available in January.
Edited to add: I received the full copy in late February.

I just didn't enjoy the book as much as the sample chapters. Based on that set up, I though that the book would be more about the four friends and working through their grief.

Instead, this became a typical romance with Amy falling in love with a student's father.
The other friends and their interactions is very limited. There is one dinner and mention of one other in the book but based on the title, I was expecting there to be more.

The subplot with Bridget and the animal shelter was exhausting - and I think that illustrated how sometimes people bury themselves with other projects to keep their grief at bay.

It seems there will be a sequel focused on Bridget. I don't think I'd be seeking it out. This first book didn't make me want to spend more time with these four friends.

Melissa Storm has written such charming and entertaining novel with “ The Sunday Potluck Club”.

The relationships between old friendships and new are pushed with the decisions they are forced to face, whether they feel like they were ready or not. This close-knit group of friends had experienced so much loss yet they helped each other through the tough times.

The dogs and cats in the story kept it entertaining too and I am definitely a sucker when it comes to animals.

A couple of my favorite quotes:

“It is not about what you have, it is about what you do.”

“Dogs are better than dudes, they should put that on a poster.”

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for fair and honest review.

I know it said it was just an excerpt, but I'd hoped that was an error. Unfortunately, it wasn't, and the excerpt ended.

The story isn't one I'm interested in reading based on this excerpt. But the writing was good, and it did show promise - I suspect it's one of those stories that has a slow start, then gradually becomes unputdownable.

I won't be reviewing online, as I don't review books I haven't finished reading.

This was only an excerpt from the book, but I can’t wait to read more. I am already invested in these characters!

An awesome start to a new series by Melissa Storm. Amy and Bridget meet at one of the worst places in the world, the cancer ward of a hospital. It is not them going through the treatment, but their parents. Hazel, Amy and now Bridget, lost their parents but Nichole's father has survived so far. These four women meet on Sundays as an informal support group. Bridget delves into anything to keep busy. Her latest is volunteering to organize an adoption challenge for the local animal shelter. She wants to save them as she could not save her mom. Between the four-legged friend's and their unconditional love and the four two-legged friends, the dinners prove to help with healing. These women are there for each other, supporting each other, and it does help there is a couple of men being thrown in the mix. The Sunday Potluck Club is about food, friendship, comfort, and hope for healing. Thank you to Ms. Storm, Kensington Publishing, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. Looking forward to reading the rest of the series.

Who wouldn't love this book!? The characters make you feel you are part of their lives, you experience their highs and lows just as you would in your own lives with the hope that the ending would turn out well for them, after all a fairy tale always does doesn't it? This is a fabulous book, humorous, poignant and a true reflection of modern life. A great read - highly recommended.

This sounds like a very interesting story. I’m already invested in the characters and I want to find out what happens with the animal shelter. I’m looking forward to reading this book.