I could not put this book down i loved it from the very first page it was heart warming the trials and tribulations of a extended family it was funny sad and emotional but i liked all the main characters and dinky was ace :)

I really didn’t enjoy this. The characters were unlikeable in the main part and the whole premise was somewhat artificial.

The Sunday Lunch Club is a good family drama, with heaps of humor and love. It’s Brothers and Sisters London version.

This family consists of two sisters and two brothers and their grandmother and their exs and new love interests and just friends and roommates. It’s a Modern family, just not as humorous. They get together couple of times in a month on Sundays, to eat and to talk and to mess with each other lives. There are old loves, new loves, grown up children and “surprise” children and just surprises. It’s a fascinating and warm family story.

Wonderful and entertaining read.

A pleasant read about an extended family who, as the title states, regularly take turns to host Sunday lunch. As with every family there are some quirks and differences, but as these are revealed we learn most about Anna, and it is really her story. I enjoyed it, although the 'surprise' was I thought fairly obvious. It was well written, and based on this I would read more from this author.
Thanks to the publisher for a review copy.

I heard about this book at a blogger evening and all over social media. I thought this book was a bit predictable in places and it could of gone a lot deeper than it did. I liked the idea but did find it a bit of a struggle

Every few weeks, Anna and her siblings, their partners and sometimes ex-partners meet for Sunday lunch. They talk, sometimes they fight, sometimes they interfere in each other’s business, but they always eat.

When Anna unexpectedly falls pregnant during a one-night stand in her gay brother’s Utility Room, she has to come to terms with impending motherhood at the age of 40. Sitting at the lunch table wedged between her ex-husband Sam, his new girlfriend Isabel, Anna’s new partner (not the father of her child!) Luca, things could be awkward but also at the table are her ageing grandmother, her promiscuous, hippy sister, her flamboyantly gay brother, his lovely partner Santi and their adopted daughter Paloma.

A letter has been hand delivered to Anna's house that is going to change the family forever and will make Anna face her painful past.

I will admit and say that initially I wasn’t sure on this book. At the beginning, the way it was written I felt that I was reading the second book in a series, and things were mentioned that I felt I should already know about, but once I settled into it, I realised that it would all be explained to me by the end, and I became totally engrossed in it.

This is a lovely book about a family sitting around a table every few weeks or so, sharing a meal, sharing news and sometime sharing revelation – but the Piper family certainly aren’t The Waltons!

"I love these Sundays. You're never sure if there'll be way too much food or not enough. There's always some sort of row. Sometimes somebody cries. But they're never dull!"

The Sunday Lunch Club is a lovely read following the varied immediate and extended members of Anna's family. Every so often, they take turns to meet at each others houses for lunch on, yes you've guessed it, a Sunday. The focus is mostly on Anna who is coming to terms with an unexpected and unplanned pregnancy at the age of 40. Also part of the Sunday Lunch Club is her sister Maeve who lurches from one unsuitable relationship to another, her brother Neil, his husband Santi and their adopted daughter Paloma and their younger brother Josh, always rather quiet and enigmatic. Somewhat strangely, Anna's ex-husband is also part of the club. Their split was amicable and they still work together as business partners.  And from time to time, the family's beloved and wise Irish grandmother Dinkie joins in whether by the lunch club meeting in her nursing home room or via Skype.

The family welcomes new friends and new lovers as the lunch club grows and reading the book is like pulling up a chair at the table yourself, joining in with the gossip, drama and laughter of these chaotic lunches. "You'd better get used to it. All the lunches are like this. It's better than telly." It put me in mind of our own weekly Sunday gatherings where my parents, my mother-in-law and my daughters all enjoy spending time together. It can get noisy at times though, just like in the Piper household. Each member of the Piper family has some secret or crisis to deal with at some point during the book. What gets them through is the love, support and understanding they offer to each other.

As the members of The Sunday Lunch Club discover, life is all about taking second chances and being true to yourself. The strong bonds between family and friends are evident throughout in this uplifting and charming book.

An absolutely joyful book which had me captivated from start to finish. I was sad to say goodbye to the characters at the end of the book. I look forward to seeing what the author writes next.

I so enjoyed this entertaining, heartwarming and uplifting book. The idea of a Sunday Lunch Club is a fantastic one that I’d love to put into practice in the future as it’s a great way of keeping a family together and to make some memories that could last a lifetime.

The fly on the wall view the reader has of the family lunches ensures that the reader feels connected to the family and involved in all that happens. It made me feel that I knew all the characters personally and I therefore cared more about them.

There is plenty of action throughout the book that kept me intrigued and turning the pages to find out how everything resolves. The author uses great skill in interweaving dramatic and sad events with funny and sweet moments that were lovely to read about. This made the book seem more real as if this could happen to anyone.

My favourite character was Anna. I admired her courage and how she faced her fears and got on with it when it would have been very easy for her to crumble. Her love for her family was almost palpable and it was lovely to read about how much she obviously cared for her family.

This is Juliet’s third novel and I can’t wait to read more from her. I so enjoyed reading about this family and spending time in their company that I was sad to finish the book.

Huge thanks to Simon & Schuster for my copy of this book via netgalley. I will be recommending this beautiful book to everyone!

I love books about families and their interactions, considering I just had one that I DNF, I’m happy to say this one was a success with me.

The Piper family meet nearly every Sunday at various houses for a family lunch. What I loved was the acceptance of everyone and their circumstances and the inclusion of new partners and especially ex’s. Told mainly in chapters at the Sunday lunches we are privy to the life ups and downs of everyone. Told also mainly from Anna’s point of view, she has just found out that she has an unplanned pregnancy.

Just a really lovely read, with a number of threads running through.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC to read.

The Sunday Lunch Club is a definite 5 stars for me.
This is a book like no other I have read, from the bottom of the first page I knew I was going to love it, the writing style was right up my street and the lunches just made me hungry.
This book follows a family that is far from perfect and how they get together every fortnight on a Sunday for lunch and every fortnight it is held at a different members house. The story is told through Anna's eyes for the majority of this novel, Anna is a great character, she is warm, loving and extremely calm and is a very accepting person. The other characters all have their own part as well which was nice as they all weren't as they seemed from the outset. The chapters start with who is hosting and what he menu is and that does vary drastically from house to house.
I'm not going to spoil this read by revealing anything that will spoil it but take my words absolutely loved it and this is a book that has made me love the idea of this set up but I think it would only work if you had characters that are of this nature and I don't think mine are like this unfortunately.
I would like to thank Netgalley and Simon and Schuster UK fiction - Books and the City for this ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.

The prologue drew me in as there were inconsistencies with how the character was feeling and her guests. Why the anxiety? My interest was piqued as there just wasn’t a logical answer. The Piper family and friends kept that momentum going as I became engrossed in their lives.

I loved all the characters. As they host Sunday lunch and their relationships with each other become clearer, I became more and more emotionally invested. Such a fabulous way to get to know them better! The dynamics between the family interested me as my mum had similar age differences with her siblings. The ages of the Piper clan do impact on the roles they take within the family, especially with absent parents. The respect they have for Dinkie (their paternal grandmother) was so touching. Responses to a dilemma are exactly how a family would react. Each one of them has a breakthrough of some sort and I laughed and cried alongside them. It was oh so easy to fall into the Piper family and feel like a part of them.

I do enjoy being surprised in a story and Juliet Ashton managed to do that a few times. Using the information, I made judgements (some of which were correct, some not). At first I couldn’t work out the significance of the letters and I was intrigued. There was still a twist to come.

The Sunday Lunch Club was a quick read for me as I picked it up at every opportunity I had. This is one of those stories that makes you look at your preconceptions. At how jaded your views can become. This is what I meant by The Sunday Lunch Club being a timely read :) A reminder of the positives.

Full of warmth and belonging, this is one story you won’t want to miss.

I stayed up till 3 on a workday because I couldn’t unglue myself from my Kindle screen. Off this book. Then I proceeded to tell the whole soap-opera like plot of The Sunday Lunch Club to my boyfriend right before breakfast. In a roughly panicked, nearly screamy tone. With loads of hand flapping.

This was supposed to be a feel good book!

BUT THE BABY??? AND THE OTHER ONE? AND WHAT HAPPENS TO THE NICE OLD LITTLE GRANDMA?? AND AND AND… WHAT ABOUT THE GAY DADS WITH THE ADOPTED CHILD, AND WHAT ABOUT THE COMING OUT AND WHAT ABOUT, ABOUT…….. I AM WORRIED ABOUT ALL OF THEM!!!

Whoops, that might have contained mild spoilers. But you might have guessed that this book:

a) is very diverse
b) kept me on the edge
c) had lots of lovely characters
d) ARGHTJSKHSGJS!!!!!!1111

Yes.

Is that enough for you to want to read it?

If not, then let me try again.

I Don’t Know Who You’d Have To Be To Not Be Able To Relate To The Sunday Lunch Club
...That said, although guys might be able to relate to this book as well, I think it’s meant more for women. Anyway, but! It’s got gay dads. It’s got adoptees. It’s got trans people. It’s got straight people. It’s got foreigners. It’s got PoC. And aside from all the minority (or majority) groups, it’s got all sorts of twists to life you could think of! Yes, they’re all very worrying. I was at the edge of my seat.

Speaking Of Which, You Can’t NOT Root For The Characters
Anna’s choices are clearly not top-notch. Sam’s a mumbler grumbler. Maeve’s a pseudo hippie, but only when it’s convenient. Neil is a married gay man who is secretly pretty much just a straight sexist traditionalist, except he likes guys (and the sexist bit is infuriating, but exceptionally well written!) And, so what? They’ve all got their flaws - but in the end that just makes you love them more. I couldn’t help but be attached to all of them. It’s not easy to have a HUGE cast of characters and make the reader fall in love with all of them and feel connected. That’s a feat.

...Especially Dinkie. Gosh, I was so worried about that fragile, wonderful grandma.

It’s Got Food In The Background, Always
I seriously find no need to say anything more..?

As You Can Already Tell, It’s Not Sprinkled With Rose Petals
I can’t place this book. It’s basically just a slice of life? A little of the good, a little of the bad? There’s a bit of romance, although it’s not about that. There’s tragedy, although it’s not about that either. And there are lunches, although obviously it’s not about that. I haven’t read a book this well balanced for a while! Strangely, The Sunday Lunch Club both does and doesn’t have a plot! It reads like real life.

It’s a story about second chances and forgiveness
Actually, The Sunday Lunch Club is a story about much more than that, but it’s also about just letting go of your mistakes and letting yourself be you, and life be life. The resolutions to all of the hangups the characters have are beautiful, but not sugary or over the top. They’re just true to life and honest. I would even say realistic, with just a touch of over-the-top-ness - for comedic effect.

Overall...

It’s not that I didn’t have any problems with this book whatsoever - there were a few things I wasn’t happy about (like, okay. Would a Spanish person really forget he needs to speak English and insert random Spanish words? Have you ever seen me do that in my language? We foreigners don’t do this. It’s ridiculous.) But these things were so insignificant, compared to the novel as a whole, its honesty, sincerity and raw feeling, that I feel that they don’t really matter all that much. On the whole, this novel has been a wild emotional ride, and I’d love to take another one like that! (When I get enough sleep, I mean. Because I it won’t keep me up anymore...)

I thank Simon and Schuster UK for giving me a copy of the book in exchange to my honest opinion. Receiving the book for free does not affect my opinion.

A very interesting read.. Anna and her family try to meet up for Sunday Lunch as often as they can. This is a great example of family, all the secrets and the ties that bind a family however dysfunctional they are. Ultimately it’s about love and acceptance. A lovely book that folds you in and hugs you tight.

Such a lovely book about a family that get together every Sunday for lunch and to catch up with everyones lives.

The story is told throughout the Sunday lunches with just a few little narratives here and there to bring one up to speed with all that has happened in the meantime.

I found the this family story/ romance amusing and interesting. Every family meeting seems quite dramatic, a bit of an earthquake, but the meals and the way the family gathers to enjoy them are hilarious. I liked the Piper family dynamics, older siblings taking care of younger ones. Add babies, pets and the matriarch of the family with her Irish accent and her own secrets and the 'salad' is complete.
Anna, the family binder, makes the most sense, probably because we often follow her thoughts and actions. Some other characters are sketchy, though.
Yet, I couldn't quite understand how can someone keep a secret for 24 years, how there could be a gay and a transgender in the same family... It seems a strech, especially because the family is quite inclusive and open-minded from the beginnig

Oh I absolutely enjoyed The Sunday Lunch Club it was a really new fun and exciting story which I just adored, but my goodness did it make me hungry! The characters were so good, you know they reminded me a bit of the Kardashions. I just loved hearing what was happening and Anna was a really great character I just love her.

A gloriously dysfunctional family story with a matriarch who is a force to be reckoned with. Food and Love defines the brilliant Sunday Lunch Club.

*Book provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review*

The Sunday Lunch Club has all I want in a book: a gorgeous title, a funny title and an intriguing blurb. After reading it, I can say it’s a fabulous story, full of great elements.

The story is based around Anna, who is 40 years old, divorced and is pregnant. The Sunday Lunch Club for her is a bit awkward, because she basically sits between her ex-husband and her new lover. They are joined by her grandmother, her sister and family and her gay brother and his family. And then there is this unresolved thing from her past… Not easy, but it calls for a very interesting story. And it definitely was.

I loved getting to know all the characters during their lunches, how they interacted with each other and also how they were always there for each other. I really liked that the other characters got to share their story as well. Juliet Ashton found a brilliant way to include them all and created a unique storyline.

I really wanted to be part of their family. Each Sunday was different and so much fun to follow. There were secrets revealed, drama caused and the way their family dealt with everything was great to see. The story has lots of funny moments, but also emotional details and scenes. I cried, because of sadness and joy and that’s all thanks to the wonderful writing. Juliet Ashton really knows, how to include feelings in a story and she makes a story special with her brilliant storyline, endearing characters, lots of feelings and drama.

I was hooked from the start and couldn’t put the book down. There were several twists in the plot and that just made it more exciting. I felt like being there with the characters and was actually sad when it all ended.

This is one of these great and captivating books that you can’t stop reading and, once you do, you keep thinking about it. A character-driven novel with a gripping and immersive plot, THE SUNDAY LUNCH CLUB features four siblings and their extended family. There is Anna who is pregnant and in love with a man who is not the father of her baby. Also, the arrival of a few threatening letters risks to bring to light a secret from her past. There is Neil who still can’t feel fatherhood after adopting baby Paloma with her much younger husband Santiago. Then there is Maeve. She has a new boyfriend who everyone seems to like but her thirteen-year-old son Storm. Josh is the shy younger brother everyone in the family worries about, but he seems happier since there is a new woman in his life, although nobody has ever met her, yet. At the head of the family there is their grandmother Dinkie, the one in the family everyone looks up to, but she doesn’t look happy in her new nursing home, and there is something going on between her and her nurse Sheba.

Every few Sundays they meet for lunch together in each home and each chapter opens with that Sunday menu (as an Italian-born, my favorite was Luca’s and his tortellini in brodo!). Everyone is welcome at their Sunday Lunch Club, friends, boyfriends, even ex-husbands and their new girlfriends.

I couldn’t stop reading about these characters and their exciting stories. I wanted to be part of their family and go to their Sunday lunches. They have their flaws and each has a distinctive personality. The members of the family are very close to each other, they accept everyone, and they don’t hold back criticism – “families don’t sugar-coat the truth”. I liked how they tell each other (almost) anything. No lunch is uneventful as secrets are spilled each Sunday.

THE SUNDAY LUNCH CLUB is funny, but also a bit emotional, and, with a few dramatic scenes and shocking surprises, there is never a dull moment. I really didn’t want it to end, but neither I couldn’t put it down and I read it in two days.