I love how it feels when you find a book at the exact time you needed it. My maternal grandmother went into the hospital a few weeks ago and I've been trying to come to terms with the idea that we could lose her. As a result, reading about a reunion between three sisters and their own very sick mother struck me on a particularly personal note. It provided a strange way to escape my own reality without the burden of a dark and gloomy read. I can't explain how much I enjoyed this story about the incredibly selfish movie star Ronnie Sunshine and her three daughters Lizzy,  Meredith and Nell.  Each of their relationships were fully formed. I  could sympathize with the push/pull that comes with being around  the people who know you better than anyone else and the frustration of trying to maintain your adult identity.  

I really loved the quote "It doesn't matter how many years go by, how grown-up we think we are, how much we presume we have changed or evolved, when we are back in our childhood homes, we become exactly who we have always been."

This book deserves to be a beach book and book club favorite, through Labor Day and Beyond.  Refreshing and so entertaining.

3.5 stars

After reading the summary, I chose this book as one of my summer beach reads because it sounded like it would be a perfect fit. I’ve never read anything by Jane Green before, though I had heard of her other works and know that most of them fall into the “chick lit” category, so with this book, I was expecting a light, easy-to-read story focused around women. That’s pretty much what I got except the part about the matriarch of the family, Ronni Sunshine, having a terminal illness and therefore wanting her daughters to help her end her life (not spoiler, since both these plot points are in the cover summary). While that part of the book lent an element of “seriousness” to the story, everything else was light-hearted enough so that things balanced out in the end.

Overall, I would say that this was a good book and the story itself was enjoyable, however what fell short for me were the characters, none of whom were likable. While I’m perfectly fine with (and actually prefer) flawed characters in stories, the caveat is that the characters need to be realistically written, which I felt was a bit lacking with this story. All the characters felt too contrived and some of the situations they went through felt too convenient, almost as though specifically written so that the characters would go down certain already pre-determined paths. I think what bothered me the most was how cliched and stereotypical the characters seemed to be – for example: the self-absorbed successful actress but horrible mother Ronni, the serious and responsible but emotionally detached oldest sister Nell, the insecure due to being largely ignored “people pleaser” middle sister Meredith, the spoiled and bratty youngest sister Lizzy who always gets her way because she thinks the world revolves around only her. And that’s just the main female characters! The men in the story seemed to have it worse, as almost all of them (except for the 2 sons of the sisters, who were mostly kids throughout the story) were portrayed as “losers” of some sort – i.e.: deadbeats who abandon their first families after they remarry, womanizers who have one affair after another with a variety of women, weak husbands/boyfriends who are consistently emotionally detached from their significant others, arrogant jerks who emotionally abuse their wives/girlfriends in efforts to exert complete control over them, etc. I could go on, but I’m sure you get the picture. It also didn’t help that everything worked out perfectly in the end for all the characters, almost exactly as we (the readers) expected them to. The way everything ended up being neatly packaged and wrapped in a bow for the readers kind of reminded me of those Hallmark (or was it Lifetime?) movies that were quite the craze many years ago.

I usually judge how good a book is by whether it is able to elicit an emotional response from me (i.e. move me to tears) and/or whether it is thought-provoking enough that I continue thinking about the story/characters long after I finish reading. Neither of these elements was present in this case. My frustration with all the unlikable characters made it difficult for me to feel any type of emotional connection with anyone in the story – even when “sad” things happened, I unfortunately could not bring myself to empathize or feel anything emotionally, despite the intent of the author (I’m assuming) to elicit some type of response from most readers (though not really the author’s fault I guess, since I don’t consider myself a “typical” reader).

I ended up giving this book 3.5 stars, mostly because of the writing and the fact that I did like the story, even though I was annoyed with the characters -- no doubt that Jane Green is a good writer and knows how to tell an enjoyable story. I would consider this book on the higher end of the “chick lit” spectrum and even though it didn’t quite work out for me, I would still recommend it for those who enjoy this genre and are looking for a nice, quick summer read. It also might be a good idea to perhaps read the other reviews for a different opinion before deciding.

Received advance reader’s copy from Berkley Books via NetGalley

Best Jane Green book I've read in years. The Sunshine Sisters aren't all sunshine. They're adults who are mostly unhappy in their lives, lost from one another and their mother, and personal lives in shambles. But when their famous actress mother gets sick and summons them home, they start to build their relationships again and in the course of that start, to trust themselves to find happiness. The sisters are flawed characters but so likable - I was rooting for them to figure things out, grow up and choose to find the sunshine in their lives.

Contrary to the cover of this book…it did not evoke the feeling of a beach read for me.

Honestly, it took me a long time to finish reading this one. Though I didn’t exactly hate it…I didn’t quite love it, either.

Let’s go ahead and start with the bad, first.

Ronni Sunshine, epitome of the Hollywood diva (though she never was quite the starlet she likely would have preferred), is also the matriarch of the family. Reading about her life and how she treated her children was painful, and all because of what a narcissistic person she is. God, I just really disliked her. I couldn’t stand reading the details of her tedious life, and could of cared less about her early years trying to become a breakout star, nor what she had to do in her attempt to get there.
Then, if I were to pick another person I didn’t like, it’d have to be Lizzie, the youngest of the Sunshine girls. She’s pretty much had everything handed to her because of her beauty, and the things she actually did earn due to talent? They seem a bit cheap because of her attitude and indifference when it comes to how she would treat others. She was just as despicable as her mother at times, and when she finally realizes how wrong she was about several things in her life, she pretty much thinks she can just take them back, as if she hadn’t abandoned them.

I’m not sure if this is supposed to be some “great family story”, where they lay aside their differences and hug it all out, because if it is, it did not leave me with happy, satisfied feelings. If you couldn’t tell by my last few paragraphs.

By now, you’re probably wondering, ‘why did you rate this three stars if you hated it so much?’

Because I didn’t hate it. Sure, I didn’t love it, but even though it took me forever to get through – and my dislike for Ronni and Lizzie – I was still curious about this family, and I still wanted to know how Meredith was doing in London, or how Nell was doing on her farm.

Oh, and as much as I hate saying it, a certain TMZ-side of me still had to know what was going on with Lizzie and her…”complications”. And yeah, I wanted to find out if there was a chance for redemption with it came to Ronni and the girls. Whatever.

As for recommending this book, if you’re a fan of Danielle Steele, you’ll probably like this, because it kind of reminded me of the few books I’d read of hers in the past.

Favorite Quotes:

For the past few months she has had a huge, mad crush on him and has built him into some sort of demigod, with otherworldly qualities that would mean he would never have a normal, human conversation with someone like her.

She pauses just inside the front door, trying to gauge the temperature of the house. She does this a lot; they all do this a lot, pause just inside the front door to try to sniff out their mother’s mood, try to figure out who they need to be.

It doesn’t matter how many years go by, how grown-up we think we are, how much we presume we have changed or evolved, when we are back in our childhood homes, we become exactly who we have always been, Meredith thinks. I bet we will all just slip back into the roles we have always played, whether we were ever comfortable with them or not.

“Also” — she pops her head back around the doorway, with a big thumbs-up— “yay, lesbians. Big fan.”

My Review:

The Sunshine Sisters was a surprisingly nuanced and thought-provoking family drama that spanned several households and time periods in the lives of four women. I was fascinated by these deeply flawed and emotionally wounded women as well as the various colorful and humiliating memories they retained of their fractured family. Compelling scenes of emotionally provocative and damaging instances from their childhoods with their heinously self-absorbed and mercurial diva of a mother were so well-crafted and polished, they played like a movie reel in my head. Written in the third person from multiple points of view, I was captivated by the richly detailed and evocative storytelling. Each character was fully fleshed out and well inhabited with relatable, heart-squeezing, and cringe-worthy moments from their pasts and their present - all of which were observantly and insightful detailed from several angles. Even as unhappy yet successful middle-aged adults, their manipulative mother continued to pull their strings from her deathbed and lure them into her mechanizations, hoping to right some of her wrongs before heading into the great beyond. As much as they dreaded and fussed, the sisters grudgingly allowed it to happen, and much to their surprise were all the better for it.

The Sunshine Sisters by Jane Green is a 2017 Berkley publication.

This book is the ideal beach read.


Ronni Sunshine was once a famous actress, defining the narcissist personality we so often associate with that occupation. But, she also has three daughters, Nell, Meredith, and Lizzy, all of whom couldn’t wait to get away from Ronni… and each other.

But, now they have all been summoned home by Ronni, who has been diagnosed with a fatal disease… for real this time. She only has a little time left to get her daughters back together in one place, and to apologize to them for being such a wretched mother, and hopefully receive their forgiveness, but she also needs their help to carry out one final, shocking request.

After years of estrangement from their mother, the girls gather together with all their resentments and baggage coming along for the ride. Can they make peace with their mother and mend their broken relationship with each other?

All of Ronni’s daughters bring high drama with them- Nell, a single mom, who has never been able to get over her first love, no matter how hard she tries to feel a connection and real passion with someone else.


Meredith took a dull job, has a boring boyfriend, and finds great comfort in food, while trying to make everyone else happy.

Lizzy, is the youngest, and the most like her mother. She’s a successful celebrity chef, with a husband and young son, but she is also having a long running affair, she can’t seem to withdraw from, having also inherited her mother's spoiled self-absorbtion.


Under the same roof, the sisters become catty, with their barely contained annoyance with each other simmering just underneath the surface. But, when they find out their mother is gravely ill, they each take stock of their lives, and find the courage to take risks, embrace their sisterhood, and commonality with each other, and embark on a new chapter in their lives.

The story got off to a slow start, for me, but I’m glad I stuck it out. The real turning point comes when a writer shows up at Ronni’s, hoping to do a documentary over her life. His presence allows the sisters to look back over their mother’s life, and helps them put their childhood’s in perspective.

Other than Ronni’s illness, the story is not too heavy, and there are several comical moments along the way, but the emotional levels stay on an even keel, so you won’t have to worry about doing the ugly cry sitting poolside.

But, mostly this is a story about three sisters who did not have a strong parental influence in their lives, because their mother was so caught up in her career, always trying to keep the attention on herself and was a real life drama queen, and father who chose his second family over them. They all endured some kind of side effect from their upbringing that influenced the decisions they made and the actions they took as adults, with disastrous results.

They now have the rare chance to change the course of their lives, to make peace with the past and with each other and enjoy the last, but best gift their mother ever gave them… each other.

Overall, this is a nice and easy read, with nice character growth, and a feel good ending.

I adore Green's storytelling skills and this book did not disappoint in that sense. I expected a more upbeat undertone and felt much sadness while reading. The characters were extremely detailed, but not very likeable. Overall, I enjoyed it and am excited for her next book!

Sisterhood of the traveling pain: Jane Green’s latest romantic comedy covers fame, shit childhoods, and death

The mother/daughter relationship is a sticky one and rivaled only by the most difficult of relationships of that between sisters. Prolific beach-read author Jane Green’s The Sunshine Sisters starts at the end of a Hollywood star’s life and then begins at the beginning: Ronni Sunshine, star of stage and screen, raises three daughters in a Connecticut beach town with, depending on the year, little mothering, a little belittling, and not much compassion or demonstrative love. Naturally, the three women turn out to be less than friends, and rather fucked up each in their own way. When Ronni’s illnes
s and rapid decline at 65 forces the girls back together under the same (two) roofs, they aren’t just faced with their relationship with their mother and each other but where their lives filled with avoidance has led them. Still, The Sunshine Sisters has a light heart dealing with such serious matter and Green’s deft take on women shines.

Wendy Ward
http://wendyrward.tumblr.com/

This will go live on my blog tomorrow. Kellyvision.wordpress.com

If you love movies, you probably know Ronni Sunshine. She's done a bunch and, while she's not super famous, you'd know her if you saw her...but that was years ago. Now she has ALS and she wants two things: her daughters to forgive her (and become close, which they currently are not) and for them to help her die. Neither of those are likely.

There are few authors who are more of a summer go to for me than Jane Green. While this is one of her heavier books, it's also incredibly fun. And I love the sisters--Nell, who seems incredibly cold; Meredith, the people pleaser who is about to marry a total jerk; Lizzy, the famous one who seems to be repeating their mom's mistakes. And I even love Ronni, probably because she wasn't my mom.

This is a fun novel that will also make you think. That is my perfect vacation read! (Don't feel you have to wait for a beach or pool or plane, though; this is great any time.)

Highly recommended.

A new release by Jane Green has, for many years, ushered in the summer season. While her early novel JEMIMA J is one of my all-time faves, THE SUNSHINE SISTERS similarly resonated with me; Jane Green has a wonderful talent for creating authentic, thought-provoking stories and characters and I am never disappointed. Best wishes to Jane Green and add this to your reading list!

Ronni Sunshine was not a very good mother. Her career as an actress was always most important to her. But when life throws her a curve ball she isn't expecting, she will call her three daughters home together to try to make up for lost time.

Each daughter dealt with their mother's selfish ways the best way they knew how. Nell, the eldest,was unemotional; Meredith, in the middle, took everything to heart; and Lizzy, the youngest ignored her mother and did whatever she wanted to do anyway. They have all gone on to lead separate lives, and rarely spoke to each other. Their childhood and their relationship with they mother have shaped them into the women they became as women. Nell has lived her life being a mother to her son and running a farm, even though she loves her work and her son, is she really happy? Meredith is engaged to be married and has a great job, but is this the life she envisioned? Lizzy is a celebrity chef and is married with a son, but her life isn't as perfect as it looks from the outside.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I love Jane Green's books. They always send a wave of emotions. This book grabs at your heart strings and makes you feel for these characters How do you reconnect with family when you've been apart for so long. I don't think there has ever been a time when I didn't speak with my mom and my sister. I don't know what I would do if anything would happen to either one of them. The character I most connected with in this story was Meredith. I've always been the type of person to always make sure the people around me are taken care of before I've taken care of myself.

This book immediately makes you think of family and how to stay connected to them. Make sure your relationships are well maintained before it's too late. Life is so short and the next day is not promised to anyone. For those you love, you need to always keep them close so that when they go, as we all will someday, you will not feel as though there was something that you should have or could have done.

I keep going back and forth on this one. On one hand I liked it and it kept me interested enough. Then on the other hand, I wasn't sad to see the book end or to say goodbye to the characters. I had a tough time liking them. The mother, what you see is what you get - we already know that she is a horrible person from the time we first see her. The daughters were iffy to me. The one I may have liked the most was Meredith and even then, it was very little. I felt terrible for her and how she never felt good enough. I didn't like Lizzy at all, and Nell was just there. I didn't dislike her but I didn't like her either.

There was a point in the book where I thought that I could maybe see myself enjoying where the story was headed. Then, I would just lose interest. I like Jane Green and I think her writing has always been superb. The Sunshine Sisters just didn't work for me though. As much as I wish I could have loved the book, it just never made me want to invest further in the story or it's characters. It's a very drama filled plot and the end is good. So if you're even just a little bit curious despite what I had to say, I would definitely suggest giving it a try.

*Thank you to the publisher for providing a a copy for an honest and unbiased review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

By far, this is the best book I have read all year!

Seriously, from the first page until the last, I was captivated by the story and the way that it was told. I loved the characters and all their flaws. I loved how all the women's perspectives were shared, and how you really understood their actions, motivations, and behaviors. I was so sad to see this book end, but I have a feeling I will be rereading it in the near future!

After being extremely disappointed with Jane Green's last release, Falling, I admit I was somewhat nervous to pick up this book. I am happy to report that I was NOT disappointed with this book--in fact, it's now on my list of favorite Jane Green novels!

Usually in novels with multiple character perspectives, it's common for me to prefer one (or two) of the characters over another one and dread that other one's chapter. Not so in this book! I loved all three sisters and related a bit to each of them. Ronni's character grew on me as well. The book has a lot of depth and explores family dynamics, love, relationships, sisterhood, motherhood...everything you'd hope for in a women's fiction novel. The pace of the book was perfect, and by the time I got halfway through it, I couldn't put it down. I was so happy that I was enjoying her latest novel after Falling fell so flat.

My only gripe? The cover. I live the cover but it doesn't relate to the story AT ALL. But...I'm a cover snob!

I definitely recommend this book for your summer reading list!

I love the books by Jane Green. This one was so much like reading about my sisters!

Ronni Sunshine is about to face the biggest challenge of her life. She has been diagnosed with a terminal illness and wants to right the wrongs she feels she has done to her three daughters. Thanks to her coldness and constant criticism of her girls, they all went their separate ways. The sisters are not close and don’t even like each other. Ronni is determined to change all that as her final wish.


Meredith, Nell, and Lizzy have no idea how sick their mother is and really want no part of seeing each other or her again. However, Ronni is their mother and, once summoned, they answer the call despite the problems they are each facing in their own lives.


Nell is trying to make her farm a success while raising her son alone. Money is tight and she’s not sure they are going to make it. Meredith is about to marry a domineering man that nobody likes. Lizzy has a successful career, but her marriage is falling apart.


This is a story of family, hope and finding the true meaning of your life. I have to admit, this one started off slow for me. I didn’t particularly like any of the characters at first. It took me a long time to warm up to them, but then when I did, I found myself really caring about them.


It gives a realistic look at family relationships. Not all are happy ones, but it’s not hopeless either. It’s a poignant, sad and heartwarming story.

If I had the ability, I'd probably give this book 3.5 stars. I like the basic story, of a dying mom bringing her estranged daughters back to make up before she goes. The third person present tense was distracting, and I hated the way the book would randomly jump from one person's head to the next between scenes.

Lizzie's growth through the story is good, as is Meredith's, but the treatment of Nell's sexuality bugged me. She'd in her 40s, never dated a woman, apparently had no idea whatsoever she was a lesbian, has dated one man over the past, say....20 years? Then, the day after she meets Greta, she kissed her, with apparently zero awkwardness, internal reflection, doubts, etc. The next morning, they have sex (again with no doubts or awkwardness or reflection), and suddenly they're going to live happily ever after? It's a nice story, but it doesn't ring true.

The entire ending seemed a bit too pat. But Nell's story in particular felt like it deserved a bit more thoughtful treatment. What Nell must be going through is completely glossed over.

***I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review***

Ronni Sunshine leaves London to star in movies in Hollywood. She has three daughters that she was not a very good mother to but she needs their help when has a serious illness. Secrets, fear and old jealousies come up but can they bring them together to help their mother. Wonderful new novel by Jane Green.

3.5 Interesting story did not have a lull and showed that families don't necessarily have to like each other. Quick Read.