The Sunday Potluck Club

Written by Melissa Storm

Narrated by Stephanie Cozart

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 a
special man, Amy is realizing that there’s always room at the table for love and rekindled joy …

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Mar 31, 2020
• ISBN: 9781980076063

Reviews for The Sunday Potluck Club

[July Cano · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I really enjoyed this story of people who became friends while their family members got cancer treatment. This book would make a great movie.

[managedbybooks · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I didn't realize this was an excerpt but I love what I've read so far. I can't wait for the rest of the novel to be available!

[susan0316 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

New friends can be found in unexpected places. The four women in the novel met in the hospital cafeteria while their parents were being treated for cancer. Bridget, Amy and Hazel all lost their parent and Nichole's father went into remission. The four new friends decided to meet every Sunday and have a potluck dinner to help work through their grief. Their one rule was to remember that every one grieves in their own way and they should respect that in each other and try not to change their friends. The four friends have vastly different lives - Amy is a 2nd grade teacher, Bridget works as a vet tech, Hazel is a decorator and Nichole is a psychologist. It's interesting to say the way that their professions affect the way that they handle their friendship and life in general. This book is a look at how grief manifests itself after a parent's death and how strong female friendship can help with the process. Along the way, it has a little bit of romance and a lot of rescue dogs to help brighten these friends lives. I am looking forward to the next two books in the series to learn more about these four women and their friendship.

[pinkpurlandprose · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Many thanks to NetGalley, Kensington Books, and Melissa Storm for an excerpt from an ARC in exchange for an honest book review of The Sunday Potluck Club. My thoughts and opinions are 100% my own and independent of receiving an advance copy.Just to clarify, I received an excerpt only of this book and that is what this review will be based on. Four women meet in a hospital while caring for sick parents and form a friendship. They have a potluck dinner every Sunday to unwind, relax, share some laughs and to lean on each other. As each of the friends go through the grief process they promise each other that they will let them grieve their own way. Easier said than done. The story is told through Amy’s perspective. She is a teacher who has just returned to work after being off for a year to take care of her mother. She is coming out of the grieving process and just starting to feel more like herself. She is concerned about Bridget who seems to be in denial. Bridget is keeping herself overly busy, setting unrealistic goals for herself and Amy is worried about what will happen when she can’t meet them. Amy has tried to talk to her but Bridget is firm in staying in a happy place. Because this is an excerpt, you get a glimpse of storylines that will happen. Amy has a student, Olivia, who she senses needs her help. Amy gets into a car accident with a handsome man who I believe will be the love interest. I’m not sure if this book is for me. I was thinking something different when I read the blurb. The tone is very congenial. Everyone is super sweet, caring, always concerned for others with never a thought for themselves and their troubles. Everyone tries to put on a brave face despite the grief they are going through. I was hoping for something more real and a bit more raw. Maybe it is a “me” problem, but I don’t think everyone is on their best behaviour all of the time. At least not with their best friends and family. To be fair, maybe it happens later in the story. Without the whole ARC, it is hard to know. This is the first in a series although I’m not sure what that means. Will it have the same characters? Will it feature other Sunday Potluck Clubs? Who knows? I just wasn’t in the mood for sugar-coated emotions and saccharine sweet personalities that know what their friends need without a word being said.I am willing to give this book another look and see what develops later on in the story, however, if it continues on in this vein it would be a pass for me. One of the problems that I have with stories like that is what we in the cancer world call the “Lance Syndrome”. Lance Armstrong rode the Tour de France when he had cancer. You know the type. Someone who is going to run a marathon, climb a mountain or do something extraordinary while going through something as tough as cancer. You might say “That is such a great thing to do! What could be wrong with that?”. Well, nothing, except that it becomes the face of How You Should Deal With Getting Cancer. There isn’t any nuance and it doesn’t allow for everyone’s experience. Everybody’s cancer story is different. Every stage is different, the treatment varies wildly and no two bodies react the same way. Two people with the same cancer and the same treatment will not feel the same way. So if you don’t want to go run a marathon people judge you for not reacting properly, or trying hard enough or be brave enough. But for some people just getting out of bed can be the bravest thing you can do on that day. If you want to do something amazing so you can take your mind off of having cancer and that’s what you choose to do - great, you should. But just because someone else can’t they should be made to feel like they are lazy, negative, uncooperative, and a whole host of other uncomplimentary things that people feel free to say to your face. Don’t get me wrong. Sometimes I love a good, light, upbeat book that isn’t about anything meaningful. It’s just that I tend to respond better to a story when people are more raw, when there is a range of emotions that can help better explain what going through, in this case, grief is like. Usually, the character overcomes their struggle and that can become an uplifting story. I don’t respond well, especially when these are labeled as “women’s stories” or chick-lit when everyone is so upbeat and friendly all the time. I sometimes break out in hives. But don’t get me going on how women are represented in fiction. That would be another rant and I think I should stop this review before it is longer than the excerpt I read.

[kris_anderson-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The Sunday Potluck Club by Melissa Storm is a book of friendship, grief, love, unconditional love of animals and healing. The beginning of the story is a little depressing, but the tone soon changes. This is a story about people struggling with their grief which can be overwhelming. Amy, Bridget, and Hazel became friends after meeting in the hospital cafeteria. Each one had a parent going through chemotherapy. Nichole is the fourth member of their group and is fortunate that her father’s cancer is in remission. The four ladies meet each Sunday for a potluck meal and friendship therapy. Amy is having a hard time handling her grief over the loss of her mother. This is Amy’s third funeral in less than a year and it is wearing her down. She is hoping that by returning to work, her life will return to normal. Brigit just lost her mother and is handling her grief by keeping busy. Brigit refuses to talk about her grief. She becomes involved with the local animal shelter and becomes determined to make sure every dog is adopted by Valentine’s Day which is in two weeks. The three friends get recruited to help Brigit pull off this massive endeavor. Amy has a new girl in her second-grade class who has just moved to Anchorage with her father. The child just lost her mother to cancer. Amy notices the girl does not talk in class nor smile. Amy wants to help the little girl and contacts the child’s father. There is an instant spark of attraction between Amy and the father. But there is an issue that prevents them from moving forward. As Amy gets involved in activities, her grief lessens. We follow Amy and Bridgit as the deal with their grief in their own way. The Sunday Potluck Club is an uplifting story. I enjoyed the Valentine’s Day event at the animal shelter. It was a cute idea and a good way for people to interact with the animals (and help them find forever homes). I would have liked more details on the characters as well as Anchorage. It would have added more depth to the story. There are several good lessons in this story. That each person handles grief in their own way, you should be honest with your friends, and grief takes time. I liked that the ladies were close friends and willing to help each other out at a moment’s notice. People who are there for you no matter what are true friends. The animals sounded like such cuties. The author’s word imagery really brought them life. You can tell that Melissa Storm has animals of her own from her descriptions. The Sunday Potluck Club is an emotional novel with first class friends, agonizing grief, scrumptious potluck, furry friends, fun forts, and a cold climate.

[ladyofthelodge · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

“The Sunday Potluck Club” tells the story of four friends who are united as they care for ill parents. As they learn to deal with grief and loss in different ways, each woman finds a way to survive and thrive. The book mainly deals with Amy, a schoolteacher, and sharing her loss of her mom with a male friend and his child. The book also paves the way for a follow up novel about Amy’s friend Bridget and her dogs.This story started out rather slowly, and I was ready to stop reading about cancer deaths and funerals. I skimmed over parts of the book that became repetitive and wordy. The characters are likeable, but I would have liked less starting and stopping throughout. The ending is predictable. This is a clean read without violence, strong language, or sexual scenes. It is definitely “chick lit.” I received this book from the publisher and from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The opinions expressed here are entirely my own.

[jetangen4571 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

They met in hospital cancer ward while each was caring for a parent in the terminal phase of the disease. After the death of the last one each tries to deal with grief in her own way and that affects how she tries to be supportive to the others. Seems like a good start, but I'm not used to getting only a partial from NetGalley. Seems rather pointless to me.