Very entertaining story about three very different women. I think gals who read this will see themselves in one of them. I feel like Nora and I are very alike. I love how they don’t like each other much but end up finding how great it is to have them in their lives. Very enjoyable!

Absolutely wonderful - heartfelt and charming. A first purchase for all collections where women's fiction is popular.

This book was not a favorite. I felt that the character development was fantastic in their own personal lives, but the friendship fell a little short for me. It was full of hardship and learning that I really enjoyed. In the end, I would say I liked the book looking at certain characters but not a huge fan and a whole.

Nora, Leanne, and Christine a three very different women brought together by the death of their friend, Molly. This was such a heartwarming story about how friendships don’t have to be perfect to be exactly what you need. I loved that each woman had characteristics that broke away from the tropes they represented, making them feel like more than a character in a book. I could feel the void that Molly left in each of their lives and I loved reading about their journeys to filling it. This was a story about overcoming grief, but it was also about learning to balance independence and vulnerability to those around you.

This book is a wonderful, very good, fantastic read. End of review.

Well not quite.

It is marketed as Women’s Fiction and in general, with the main characters being women it will solidly appeal to such an audience. The women are old enough to relate to women in their 20’s who are still eager and open to life and its journey in a positive manner, but the trials they face will also ring true with women who are older, who have lived through the troubles of being and know that life isn’t all lollypops and bubble-gum.

Nora, Christina and Leanne share one apparent thing in life, their friend Molly. Each share an independent friendship, with never the borders of lines crossing between the three women and each is content to believe they are Molly’s best friend and ignore the reality of the others, despite their sharing a joint history that spanned their early childhood until their early 30’s. But then Molly has the nerve to get cancer and die, leaving the three women bereft and alone with their grief. But ever the troublemaker and insightful as to her own failings as an adult, Molly has plans for her three friends which involve strange gifts that the women have to puzzle to the meaning of and the request that they meet for brunch one Sunday a month for a year. As her final request, the three women agree to make it work, even though their hearts aren’t really into the whole matter. What follows is the slow unravelling of past and current events that draw each of the women into different journeys of self-discovery and the weaving together of the threads of their lives to make a new rope on which to tie themselves together with to withstand both the trials and jubilations of life.


There are some parts of this novel that can leave the reader broadly smiling, but there were parts in which the reader will flat-out roar with laughter; the code word to prove it's her talking from the other side that Molly thinks of to share with her friends for when she is dead is just hysterical reading. This story is beautifully paced, written with humour in almost every scene and then has the power to strike a touch of tenderness that will bring the reader crashing back to earth and feel the heartache of the death of a loved one. Molly is never the main character and yet is pivotal in every scene. The three women are strongly created, knowable and honest. They are not some kind of superstars that regular people can only aspire to be, they are flesh and blood, flawed and eager for life to be the whatever of their choosing, and their journey to discover new friendships and understandings in a manner they least expected it to develop from is the arc of this story.

Each woman is facing personal troubles that they would have previously shared with their friend Molly, but are now alone, trying to cope and be the ‘adult’ in situations that would have them preferring to cower under the covers of a quilt and wait for a mother figure to bring them warm cocoa and biscuits. It is in the trials that they discover a new kind of friendship and learn to trust again in each other. Be it social anxiety, pressures of being a workaholic or not quiet being the perfect housewife and mother, each woman fights a battle that readers will relate to on a deeply personal manner. They will find love, redemption and a renewal of what it means to be alive that will resonate with the reader and their growth cycles will leave you cheering and wanting them to become the overachievers and victors you dream of.

This book is a rare jewel. Funny, powerful, poignant and uplifting, it is well worth the time to read.

DNF - could not invest in the story. Too many characters immediately introduced, dramatic yet nonchalant attitude towards the death of a friend. But the herpes jokes on the infomercial was what really killed it for me.

This book is about three "frenemies" - Nora, Christina and Leanne. They all knew each other when they were younger, but are properly reunited due to the death of their mutual best friend Molly. They have to navigate their way through their own personal grief by attending monthly brunches - one of the final requests that Molly has made of them. As the brunches progress and the story moves on, they start to re-evaluate their decisions and paths that their own lives have taken. They are all incredibly different from each other and this does serve as a sticking point in them being able to form any sort of relationship, however maybe being different to each other is not such a bad thing after all?

I really enjoyed seeing the dynamic between the three women and I was particularly intrigued by Nora, and I think I enjoyed her story the most - she seemed to me to have the biggest journey through a readers' eyes - although I'm not sure she would have realised that herself! The whole story idea was a really interesting concept and I liked the chatty narrative style being consistently in the first person. It felt like we were almost being allowed to watch these lives from afar, with a narrator picking up on key points.

A book that starts with the tragedy of a death and ends with an uplifting coming together of friends. I enjoyed this easy read and even laughed out loud a few times, something I rarely do. Written from the different perspectives of the main characters and even the dog gave an interesting dimension to the book. I'll look out for more from this author.

I could not get enough of this book, the writing was so clever. I loved how the narration was in third person present tense but also how it flipped perspectives from not only between the three main characters, but all the side characters - my fave was Fred the dog! It kept the book interesting and moving at a quick pace. I can’t wait to read another book by this author.

An advanced copy was received from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book is the cutest! That's it that's my review. Just kidding, but in essence this was the perfect read for me during this crazy times. What starts out as a sad story of loss, quickly turns into a heartwarming story about grief, friendship, and learning to lean on others.
Told through the view point of three very different women, who's only common factor is their best friend Molly, this is the story of childhood 'friends' and how their relationship has evolved over time. When Molly dies, the three all believe they have nothing left in common. Nora the recluse, Christina the workaholic, and Leanne think they'll never see each other again. That is until they learn that Molly has left them each instructions and one of those is to get brunch with each other for a year. What started as a chore somehow turns into the only saving grace for these women and makes them realize that the only other people they have to lean on is each other.
I loved the dynamic between these very different women. As a late twenty year old myself, its easy to see how childhood friends grow apart. It's also hard to watch but this book reminds me that there are other things than careers that can tie people together and that sometimes the people that knew you were before you knew yourself will love you no matter what.
Nugent did a great job of giving each women an extremely distinct persona and voice. The way she builds the characters and created a unique story for each of them was outstanding. This book has an incredible amount of depth but the added comic relief Nugent peppers in makes the story all the more relatable. I found myself feeling all the emotions and I even had a few really great laughs.
I cannot recommend this book enough!

This book is the cutest! That's it that's my review. Just kidding, but in essence this was the perfect read for me during this crazy times. What starts out as a sad story of loss, quickly turns into a heartwarming story about grief, friendship, and learning to lean on others.
Told through the view point of three very different women, who's only common factor is their best friend Molly, this is the story of childhood 'friends' and how their relationship has evolved over time. When Molly dies, the three all believe they have nothing left in common. Nora the recluse, Christina the workaholic, and Leanne think they'll never see each other again. That is until they learn that Molly has left them each instructions and one of those is to get brunch with each other for a year. What started as a chore somehow turns into the only saving grace for these women and makes them realize that the only other people they have to lean on is each other.
I loved the dynamic between these very different women. As a late twenty year old myself, its easy to see how childhood friends grow apart. It's also hard to watch but this book reminds me that there are other things than careers that can tie people together and that sometimes the people that knew you were before you knew yourself will love you no matter what.
Nugent did a great job of giving each women an extremely distinct persona and voice. The way she builds the characters and created a unique story for each of them was outstanding. This book has an incredible amount of depth but the added comic relief Nugent peppers in makes the story all the more relatable. I found myself feeling all the emotions and I even had a few really great laughs.
I cannot recommend this book enough! Make sure to pick up your copy on May 5th. If you think you’d like to read this book, get your copy HERE!

I hope you enjoyed my thoughts on Brunch and Other Obligations. If you liked this review please let me know either by commenting below or by visiting my instagram @speakingof_books. Huge thank you to She Writes Press and Netgallery for my advanced copy!

A lighthearted journey of female sisterhood. I found this book to be very enjoyable. I felt as if I was swept into each of the characters lives and inner turmoils. The author developed the perfect narrative, in that the dynamic between the friends was complex enough to keep the reader interested but still lighthearted and at times comical. A perfect read during the current climate, exactly what I needed.

Thank you to Netgalley and She Writes Press for the opportunity to read this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Oh. My. God. To say I adored this book is an understatement.

I can't remember the last time I was so invested in a story and the characters. I just adored this book. Suzanne's writing is witty and brilliant yet manages to convey so many emotions so brilliantly. This is the best quarantine reading you will find - you'll devour this in a day and get lost in another world.

Thank you so much for this ARC - I cannot begin to tell you how much I loved it and I implore any reader to pre-order this immediately.

I saw this book on bookstagram and knew I wanted to read it. I absolutely loved it. It drew me in and I didn't want to take a break. Definitely did not disappoint!

I loved this book. When I first started reading it I wasn't sure about it. I was in the mood for a light read and it began at a young woman's funeral. The story follows Molly's 3 best friends who didn't like each other through their grieving and journey to friendship. I thought the transitions between the 3 friends' characters was seamless. The individual characters were developed in addition to their relationships with each other. I absolutely loved this book and highly recommend it.

This was a cute book that had me laughing out loud at certain points. While the story itself was fairly predictable, I enjoyed the writing style and and it was a nice, light read that flew by. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about the relationships between the women, but like other readers I do wish that the author had taken another 30 or so pages to give the ending a bit more substance, as it did feel rushed. Thank you to the author, She Writes Press and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The premise of this story is that three loosely connected women are drawn together by the death of a mutual friend. Based on this, I wrongly thought "Brunch" would be a predictable read. Instead it is a refreshing take on female friendships, with relateable characters defined by their own terms and notably, not by the overused common ground of husbands and children. While I enjoyed the overall story, I did find their individual journeys lackluster and unfinished.

Looking for something light and easy to read between a couple meaty novels I've read, "Brunch & Other Obligations" by Suzanne Nugent was exactly the kind of lighter fare I sought. I won't rehash the premise, just offer my thoughts.....

Nugent dives right in with the three besties of the recently-deceased Molly attending her funeral. Nora, the studious introvert; Christina, the outspoken and opinionated attorney (ironically, my name is Christina, I'm an attorney and I've been similarly described); and Leanne, the married do-gooder (think Charlotte from SITC).

As we travel through the ladies' obligation to do brunch together for one year after Molly's death (per her wishes), the former childhood friends all approach Sunday brunches with equal amounts of dread, although we never come to understand why these three ladies all despise each other (Molly was the friendship glue and held individual friendships with each of them).

Molly also bequests each of them something at her death: Nora gets her beloved pooch; Christina gets a poofy meditation chair; Leanne gets her pink Vespa-- and each bequest comes with a cryptic message from Molly. Nora is told to just "love the dog.". Christina is told to " FLOAT." Leanne is instructed, in French "let's go, my friend."

And as we near the end of the novel we see that Molly understood something deeper about each of them and what they would need to grieve.

I enjoyed the novel, but felt that the last few chapters rushed through a transition the characters didn't seem ready for. Somehow magically they all become besties in (of course) Paris, having chased Leanne down after she abruptly pulled a "Where'd You Go Bernadette" move and left her life for France. For example, on the flight to Paris, Nora and Christina are still bickering, ignoring each other and generally just annoyed. But magically, 2 days later when they find Leanne, they hug it out and everyone is besties now. Curtain close, the end.

I'm not sure what ending would have been better, in fact I'm not sure a different ending would have worked. But it felt like there was some essential transition piece missing-- the entire book has each of these ladies pretty much hating spending time together. And then in the matter of 2 chapters at the end, it's a love-fest?

On balance, I enjoyed it. It fit the bill for what I needed right now-- a palate cleanser (I'm about to start "Outlaw Ocean" 😬). Would I broadly recommend it? Hmmmm, depends on the reader's mood. Beach read for sure!

Thank you to She Writes Press and Netgalley for the ARC 🥰

I really liked this novel. It tells the story of three women who’s lives intertwine because of the last request of their best friend Molly, who has passed away.

Each of the women share the fact that they’ve known each other since their younger days but don’t really connect now in adulthood.
However Molly decides to try and bring them together every month for brunch, as her last request, in an attempt at bonding them together. What follows is a story of ups and downs, laughs, sadness and fond memories, as they try to navigate life without the person they held dear to them.

I thought the author did a great job here in writing about a difficult issue. She was able to bring joy and laughter through the use of her characters and dealt with the sadness in a very hopeful way. Would definitely recommend. .

I really enjoyed this light read! It revolves around three ladies who have just lost their friend Molly. That's the only thing they have in common until they receive Molly's last wishes.

I liked how the story was told through all of the characters perspectives. Sweet little read you will not want to put down!

This book was so sweet! A quick read with a touch of romance and plenty of heart, it feels light but is also rooted in tragedy and grief. I loved the characters Nugent created, and honestly just wish the book was a bit longer, and that the pacing was slowed down just a bit so we could linger with the characters longer and dive a bit deeper. Also, would love a book about Maeve!!