I was intrigued by the premise of this novel. Alison attends her ex-boyfriend’, Sam’s funeral, only to find out he never told anyone (except his sister) that they broke up. So to everyone at the funeral, she is still the current girlfriend. Sam’s sister asks Alison to go along with it, so as not to cause any more heartbreak especially to their parents, who reveled in the idea Sam was finally settling down. Alison is soon tasked with going through her ex’s apartment and packing his belongings up, with his best friend. These two were riding a fine line with their feelings and journey so it took me a little bit to get into the story, but I like how the author ended the book.
Overall, a great read. I enjoyed the chapter titles and loved the punny trivia night group names. Thank you to NetGalley and Putnam Group Penguin for the ARC of this novel.

I read this book in one day, I couldn't stop! I found it so sweet and funny, I was laughing aloud the whole time!

I really enjoyed the unique storyline. Fake dating your dead ex per the request of his sister to help preserve his memory for his parents? Then falling for the grumpy best friend of your dead ex and you're helping him clean out your ex's apartment? Definitely can't find another lol. With such widely used troupes, grumpy/sunshine, fake dating, and enemies to lovers, it so easily could've felt like all of the other books that have those troupes. But it didn't!

I loved Ali and Adam's relationship and their character development, both in their relationship and as individuals. I really enjoyed that their relationship didn't feel forced, it came about naturally. I loved how sweet Adam was to Ali once he started falling for her.

I HIGHLY recommend this one. It'll make you laugh out loud and tug at your heart at the same time.

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

This book follows Alison as she figures out who she is post double mastectomy. Cue the reason it caught my eye and I was dying to read it! I had a prophylactic double mastectomy in June 2023. Unlike Ali, I am not BRCA positive, but had high family history and my own scare. I found myself nodding along with this book as things were discussed like “I need to live a HUGE life because I cheated a cancer diagnosis.” and during discussions of how different your body is/mourning your lost boobs. This book is a fantastic read outside of the mastectomy/BRAC discussion, but I loved the layer of education those parts did provide. The readers are able to fall in love with all of the characters because there’s enough detail given for both main and side characters. If you don’t like spoilers, stop reading here. I was slightly “uncomfortable” with the whole “I’m the ex girlfriend who is faking being the girlfriend while clearly falling in love with the long time best friend.” aspect of the plot UNTIL THE END! The author lead us down this semi rocky path that ended in a beautiful destination. Hiking is a theme in this book and the whole plot was like one big hike. You stick it out through the weeds and end with breathtaking views. I’m super excited about this book being published this fall.. it’ll be a crowd favorite!

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for an advance e-copy of Four Weekends and a Funeral by Ellie Palmer, in exchange of an honest review.

"With a captivating premise and a heartfelt exploration of living life to the fullest, 'Four Weekends and a Funeral' by Ellie Palmer is a delightful read. The well-developed characters, particularly Alison and Adam, bring a wonderful mix of banter, chemistry, and introspection. The book offers moments of laughter, romance, and quiet contemplation, inviting readers to reflect on their own aspirations and what it truly means to live fully. Palmer's writing style makes for a fun and easy reading experience. This charming novel deserves a solid 4 stars!"

Romance readers, and fans of 2000s romantic comedies, add this one to your TBR right now. Like right now.

rating: 4 STARS ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
genre: romance
format: ebook
release date: Aug. 6, 2024

This book had everything that I love in a romance novel: fake dating, grumpy/sunshine, and a little enemies to lovers. I absolutely loved the progression of Alison and Adam’s romance - between the tense silences, text message exchanges, and ultimately, the romantic confessions - I could not get enough of them.

And all of the little Midwestern nods! LOVE. I mean, Bar trivia? A debate about the beauty of cheese filled food? A Packers bar? COME ON.

I think my favorite part about this romance is that it really highlights the feeling of “guilt.” Now, I don’t have survivor’s guilt, but I do have mom guilt. You hear similar stories or see other moms on social media and you think, “I should want to do that. I should want to play pirates and make trains out of paper towel rolls,” but you don’t and then you feel bad. But I think this book highlights that you shouldn’t feel bad - you should be who you are and you shouldn’t feel like you should be another way.

Read if you like:
While You Were Sleeping
Lots of Midwestern Nods
Enemies-to-Lovers Banter
Harrison Ford
RomComs & Hallmark Movies

I really enjoyed this book! I found myself laughing out loud A LOT and got teary eyed a few times. I loved Adam and Al equally and enjoyed their banter.

While I found this book funny I did not feel myself being pulled in, I often had to force myself to pick this book up just to finish it before the review deadline. While this book did sound like it was right up my alley it fell short of my expectations

"Four Weekends and a Funeral" was a beautiful new take on the traditional "Hallmark" (iykyk) romance story. The deeply vulnerable inclusion of Ellie Palmer's own experience with the BRCA 1 mutation added a new level to the story that made the romance between Adam and Ali hit even harder. I absolutely adored the way in which the story maintained real emotion, while also giving the reader the lighthearted joy that one expects from Hallmark romance. I absolutely loved the atypical representation that this storyline brought and I found it beautiful that Ellie Palmer used her own experience and heart to discuss this incredibly unique perspective of someone living with BRCA 1.

On another note! I absolutely adored the grumpy/sunshine trope between Adam and Ali. Their connection bursted off the page and thought that Ellie Palmer's subliminal inclusion of romance movie quotes/homages truly added a special little sprinkle to their love story. Also, as a fellow Twin Cities resident (Go Gophers!), I loved the little Minnesota moments! Minnesota is not often portrayed in the fiction (let alone, romance) genre, so I was so excited to see some authentic portrayals of MN!

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and am so glad I was offered an ARC! So excited to see what's next for Ellie Palmer!

3.5 stars. Aww! This was so sweet. And very informative about recovery from double mastectomy and BRCA 1. Alison gets guilted into pretending to still have been in a relationship with her now deceased ex-boyfriend. His best friend, Adam, is a curmudgeon (my favorite) and a perfect match for Alison. A lovely grumpy/sunshine dynamic. They spend their weekends cleaning the deceased's apartment and bonding. Some really smart, funny dialog and best friend characters that are a hoot. Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC.

Four Weekends and a Funeral by Ellie Palmer 💓

Honest Arc Review!

Let me just say, I loved the representation behind this. It was amazing for the author to use her talents to represent breast cancer and carriers of the BRCA1 mutation. I also LOVED the characters and their stories. Adam and Alison were adorable and I the grumpy/sunshine was well portrayed.

That being said I found it very slow moving. I got a bit bored when Adam and Alison weren’t together. Like when she was at work or with her friends, I found myself eager to skip through until they were together again. Also, I feel like mentioning a lot of movies tends to limit your reader. I find myself an avid movie-lover (mainly horror and action) but I had to look up a lot of the romance ones mentioned to understand what the characters were talking about.

It was a good book, but I probably won’t read it again.

3.5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
N/A spice
4.5/5 Comprehensible ✍🏽✍🏽✍🏽✍🏽.5

Genre - Romance

4.5⭐️ rounded up
Thank you Netgalley for this arc!
I LOVED this book. I loved the characters, plot, relationship dynamics. This book had some of the most fun characters ever, i loved Alison and Adam, as well as a bunch of other animated side characters that made the book more fun. I love that this book was able to balance discussing darker themes while still being funny and light hearted. Alison was such a relatable main character, i absolutely adored her; i really saw myself in her. I enjoyed how cozy and quiet this romance was, its rare to find romances like this that i still enjoy. This book made its way into my heart and isn’t leaving anytime soon ❤️.

First I will say thanks to Netgalley for this ARC.

Overall this book was ok,

The first half was very slow paced with not much happening plot wise, the main character for me was a bit annoying in terms of how she dealt with conflict and the main love interest stopped being interesting very quickly. I kept on reading hoping something remotely romantic or interesting happened and I think it was around 50% when the plot shifted gears. By that point their connection was underwhelming... I almost gave up on this one but I did reluctantly finish to see what happened. Unfortunately, it was overall a meh read for me.

What an AMAZING debut novel from Ellie Palmer. I gobbled this one up - it was original, hilarious, heartbreaking, romantic, and just absolutely lovely. I couldn't put this book down! Adam is the perfect MMC. I can't wait to see more from this author.

This story has it all.

Tragedy, comedy, love, and adventure. Enemies-to-lovers, forced proximity, and grumpy/sunshine. The author has the perfect execution of all the above throughout this story.

The character development, main and supporting, throughout this book is done so well and each character plays such an integral role to the plot.

I appreciate the way the author, Ellie Palmer, incorporated breast cancer and the BRCA1 gene mutation into the story and also the main characters though process and realistic way in which she makes her life choices.

A romantic comedy based in the Midwest.

Alison watched her mom battle breast cancer to later learn she is a carrier of the BRCA1 gene mutation, increasing her chance of getting various cancers. Because of this she has a preventative mastectomy which later leaves her feeling inadequate to have cheated getting breast cancer.

Alison feels she has to live her life in a way very much unlike her to be “deserving” of not getting cancer. She meets Sam, he lives his life on the edge, just what Alison thinks she needs. After a few months Sam realizes Alison isn’t actually a great fit for his adventurous life and breaks up with her. Shortly after Sam dies.

At the funeral all of Sam’s friends and family seem to think Alison and Sam were very much together and Alison can’t bring herself to throw more sad news at the family so she goes along with it.
Offering to clean out Sam’s apartment she is stuck doing it with Sam’s best friend, the labeled “North Shore Grump”, Adam.

Their banter, along with forced proximity, helps a natural friendship bloom and eventually possibly more. But first Alison has to work through her insecurities, figure out the kind of life she wants and believes she is truly deserving of.

I read Four Weekends and a Funeral by Ellie Palmer. It’s a charming enemies to lovers romance that begins after the main female character is at the funeral of an ex-boyfriend. She’s trapped by circumstance when her ex’s family still thinks that she was in a relationship with him. She meets her ex’s best friend who is a grump when she’s around. They are thrown together in forced proximity to help clean and manage her ex’s apartment and his belongings.

Not your typical romance book. Four weekends and a Funeral has a sweet romance at its center, but there are some deeper issues as well. Illness, guilt, death, survival, all of these are a part of this story. I really enjoyed this book, I loved the setting of Minnesota. As a Midwesterner myself, I appreciate books in settings similar to mine. I enjoyed the main character of Allison as we got see her wrestle with some demons of her own and in the end coming to realize she doesn’t need to liver her life a certain way just because of the things she’s been through. Love, friendship and family save the day here. Lovely little read.

From the engaging trivia night that kept us on our toes with intriguing questions to the delightful presence of grumpy characters, every moment was filled with a perfect blend of humor and entertainment. The diversity of activities provided a well-rounded and thoroughly enjoyable experience, leaving us eagerly anticipating more of these entertaining moments. The seamless combination of steaminess and laughter made it an unforgettable and refreshing event. Highly recommended for those seeking a dynamic and fun-filled time!

When the wrong guy at the right time ends (very) badly, can the right guy at the wrong time smooth things over?

This laugh-out-loud story will have you cheering for the main characters! Recommended!

I enjoyed this rom com with a good grumpy sunshine trope! I recommend it to literally anyone who loves a rom com :)

Easily going to be one of my favorite books of 2024!! I identified with the main character, Alison, so damn much. The favorite guilt feeling, the thin mint love, and so much more.

highlights:
- main character with BRCA1 gene
- Jason Kelce love interest (my opinion!!)
- Hints of Nora Ephron
- Trivia!!
- So much depth and character development; you really feel apart of the story

Four Weekends & a Funeral has some of the typical romance tropes, but it’s refreshingly fun and so well-written. Kudos, Ellie - I cannot wait to see what you do next!!