I first read PROMISE ME SUNSHINE back in September and absolutely loved it. Then I read it AGAIN last week and it gone even better…

Lenny is struggling after the loss of her best friend Lou. She’s passing the time – and staying afloat – with nannying gigs, which is where she meets Miles, the grumpy uncle to one of her kiddos. When Miles finds out that Lenny is in the throes of grief, he offers to be her support (he’s been there and knows the pain) in exchange for Lenny’s tips on how to get his niece to enjoy spending time with him.

A rom-com about grief… that sounds completely contradictory. but somehow Cara Bastone manages to make this albeit sad story, very funny. Lenny, though going through the worst time of her life, still hangs on to the essence of who she is, and that person is bright sunshine. The play between her brightness and Miles’ gloom so expertly highlights these two characters and WHY they work so well together. This book showcases what it means to fall in love in real life. Miles and Lenny fall in love running errands and sludging through one of life’s toughest battles. It’s honest and real and refreshing. And Cara’s voice, as with READY OR NOT, just has that pizzazz. You’re immediately in the story and with the characters for the long haul.

I absolutely fell in love with this book and Cara Bastone! This was my first by Bastone, and now I have a new favorite author. This is one of those stories that grabs you by the heart and does not let go.

Lenny is a bit all over the place after her best friend’s death has left her lost. Lenny is doing everything she can to avoid facing the pain, including her parents and apartment. She ends up with a babysitting job watching a little girl, Ainsley. Through this job, she meets Ainsley's uncle, Miles, who through his own grief can see through Lenny's facade and wants to help her. He makes Lenny an offer: he’ll help her tackle her “live again” list (the sweetest!) if she helps him figure out how to connect with Ainsley and Reese (his newfound family).

Through the ferry rides, late-night texts, and help from Miles, Lenny realizes she is going to be okay. This book was a different spin of love and loss that I loved on every single page of the book. I laughed out loud and cried a few times. I continue to think about Lenny and Miles regularly and am genuinely so happy I read this book!

A favorite for 2025!

*Thank you to Dial Press and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review and to PRH Audio for the gifted ALC*

I love Cara Bastone, I really do. Let's plan a choreographed dance to Robyn's Dancing on my Own, mk?

I felt like this had all of the spirit and humor of Ready or Not, but with hard-hitting themes of grief and loss. And yet somehow, it still felt so bright and sunshine-y? Part of that is from Lenny's quirkiness and comedic asides, but there was also so much love between all of the characters. Ainsley was my favorite of course, but I liked how much Miles grew on me. The flashbacks to Lou huuuurt, but this was such a great display of a healthy adult friendship. It did feel like it ended kind of abruptly, but I also may have been distracted at the end of the audiobook. Alex Finke's narration was utterly charming, especially when Lenny was fantasizing about her dramatic futures (and break-ups) with random men.

This book gave me a rollercoaster of emotions. one chapter I'm laughing and the next Im crying. I felt more towards this book because the FMC was so relatable and the things she was going through definitely hit close to home. The way she experienced and went though her grief and how you keep on living after losing such an important person in ones life was so relatable to me; she felt like a real live person, The author did such an amazing job with her writing her that it made us readers empathize with her and what se was going though and it made us feel everything she was also feeling. The MMC, Miles was the most caring and loving person ever written. He always knew what the FMC needed and was always there for her no matter what...even when he started loving her as more than a friend. Even the side characters in this book were well written and perfectly added more to the story and even then main characters. I love that the author added some past scenes of the FMC with the lost friend because it made me feel like I was in those moments with them and made them feel even more real to me. Love that the author wrote the romance to be a slow burn one and that the main characters didn't have insta love or lust; took their time to get to know more about each other though their friendship and focus more about the FMC working through her grief and how to live again after such a big loss.

This was a story about learning to live again after loss.

I really enjoyed this book. Miles was such an amazing lead, I could really see how much he cared for the people in his life. Lenny was a quirky and loving main character. I could feel her grief and worry about being able to live even though her other half had died. It was refreshing to see a story where it really did feel okay to move on from such a devastating loss. At first, Lenny seemed weary about moving on, but she got a sign from Lou that it was okay.

Me and my friends do a monthly book club, and I chose Promise Me Sunshine as our March pick and it was a total success. We met for book club night and it turns out a night with the girlies discussing this amazingly tender beautiful book was just what we all needed ✨

Promise Me Sunshine has been my favorite book club pick so far! I loved it so much, it has a little bit of everything, I laughed, I cried, I swooned and it made me appreciate my time with my best friends even more 💕 From now on, I will read anything and everything that @carabastone writes!

Thank you @prhaudio for the audiobook, Alex Finke @finkeboutit is an incredible narrator. And thank you @thedialpress for putting this one on my radar at the floral event! 💐

All the feelings 😭

This book made me feel how I felt when I read Looking For Alaska for the first time 15+ years ago.

So much grief. So much love. Done in such a delicate, tender, humorous way that now I'm crying again thinking about it.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

If you are looking for a book to break you apart and then put you back together - this is it!

TRIGGER WARNING: Grief

I don’t know that I can put into words all of the things this book made me feel. I cannot imagine having to deal with the loss of a best friend like Lenny did with Lou. My heart truly ached for our FMC trying to continue on in life without the comfort of the one person she had always had by her side.

The MMC Miles can only be described as a prince! This man was the best example of support after loss. The way he worked with Lenny step by step to heal her spirit was beautiful. Move over to all of your previous book boyfriends because this man deserves to be #1!

Next I will be going through all of Cara Bastone’s previous works! 🤩

Thank you NetGalley & Random House for gifting me an advanced reading copy of this book! Best ARC I’ve had the pleasure to read yet!

Cara Bastone excels at writing deeply down-to-earth romances where the stakes feel high but never melodramatic. Her latest is a masterpiece exploration of grief through which the romantic plot is part of the FMC’s healing journey but avoids suggesting she needed a man to come along to fix her. Miles is so perfect for Lenny because he’s been where she has - the survivors guilt, the disorientation, the inability to be able to grasp how to exist in the world without the one you love. And while the plot is undeniably focused on Lenny mourning the loss of her best friend, we also get such a lovely exploration of Miles’ relationship with his sister and niece. You just want to wrap yourself up in this one and have a good cry.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House/Dial Press for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

We meet our main character Lenny, who is grappling with the lost of her best friend. She feels as though she is just existing and isn't truly living. She decides to take a babysitting job for a single mother where she meets the moms brother Miles. Miles sees Lenny in a way that no one else did and he offers to help her fully live again as long as she can help him navigate his relationship with his niece. Cara Bastone does an incredible job of writing the characters and their development in a way that makes you feel like you are there with them. This story involves themes of grief, seeing the good in the hardest moments of life, and seeing others deeply.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for review

TY to Net Galley and Random House for the ARC. While I didn't love this story and characters as much as the author's previous book Ready or Not, I still loved this one. The male MC should be goals for anyone! Heavy emphasis on grief.

Overall good read.
Loved Miles character.
Lenny's development & growth was written well
I did not feel Lenny's grief however, and for me there was a disconnect on who her best friend was despite loving a random band and having cancer. I wanted to see more of their relationship, so perhaps more flashbacks would have improved the story for me.

Slow burn romance-which really worked for most of the book (I love a slow burn) but towards the end it felt dragged out.

I had really high expectations for this book after loving Bastone’s Ready or Not, and Promise Me Sunshine did not disappoint. What an achingly beautiful exploration of grief, friendship and love. The romance was so well integrated into the heavier themes. I absolutely loved it and did not want it to end (an epilogue would have been great!).

Lenny has recently lost her best friend to cancer and she's trying to learn to live without her wrapped in grief. She agrees to accept a weekend nanny job to hold her over while she tries to figure out how to move on with her life. When she meets young Ainsley, she's ready to spend the weekend with the free-spirit, lively child and did not realize she'd be doing this job while Ainsley's grumpy uncle Miles watches her every move. But it turns out that Miles has too lost loved ones and knows a little about the grieving process, while knowing absolutely nothing about how to interact with his young niece and her mother, his half-sister. So Lenny and Miles strike a deal - she'll teach him how to connect with Ainsley and he'll teach her how to live with the loss of a loved one.

I loved this book. I went in expecting a fun romance and while it is a romance, it's also a touching story about love, loss, and grief. Lenny's grief was almost palpable, and her storyline is both heartwarming and heartbreaking, with a side of humor. This book made me laugh and cry. Lenny is relatable, silly, and smart. Miles is a grumpy cinnamon roll. The book is a ten.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group – Dial Press Trade Paperback for the free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

One thing I loved about this book is how the MMC looked at love. At one point he talks about how true/real love is something that grows and evolves with the couple. It made me really think about my relationship with my husband and how much we have evolved as we have grown older. Many times romances are about the intense love and the heat. I loved how this was the small things that made a relationship.

I loved Miles. He generally cares and he always makes sure to make sure those around him are ok. The way he showed he cares didn't always look like that to those around him. It is always the small things that they do that I love.

This book is also very raw when it comes to grief and everything that Lenny is going through after losing her best friend. The writing in this book you could feel what she was feeling. Seeing how grief has impacted her so much and the amount of struggle she is trying to overcome. The babysitter's job she got came at exactly the right moment she needed it.

This is a beautifully written book about grief, life, and love.

I fell in love with Bastone’s writing last year after reading Ready or Not, and this next read certainly didn’t disappoint. Highlights heavier topics than most contemporary romances, but that was definitely part of the reason why I enjoyed it so much - it allowed the story to feel truly human. Though the plot is centered around a mostly heavy subject, the story is still full of entertaining comedic relief moments - Lenny’s humor is truly my cup of tea.

This came highly recommended by a friend and I'm so glad I picked this up! Promise Me Sunshine has so many elements I love in my romance - friends to lover, slow burn, heartache in a multitude of senses that causes emotional growth.... So good! I loved Miles and Lenny together as well as individually. Lenny's grief was just so, so real and I'm impressed by how thoughtfully Cara Bastone navigated such a painful subject.

Lenny (Helen) and Miles are the main characters in a story about grief, moving on, friendships and an underlying slow burn romance. This story was SO slow in the first 1/3 of the book. BUT, I knew there was going to be a romance and it picked up the pace along the way.

Miles is a grumpy, cinnamon roll hero who has such patience while helping Lenny deal with her grief in her own way. He handles all of her meltdowns and you can tell when he actually develops more intense feelings for her.

Miles allows Lenny all the time and space she needs to learn to live again.

I really loved Miles. And I loved how Lenny guided him with his family issues.

But this book sparked all kinds of emotions, there was crying, laughter, angst, anger and those were my emotions as the reader.
And the sub characters supported the storytelling.

First of all, this is a grief book. There is nothing wrong with being a grief book, but I think sometimes things get billed wrong and I want to be clear that the romance is very much secondary. This is about loss and grief and getting through it.

Lenny lost her best friend who was her other half. Lenny is absolutely lost. She's no longer going back to her apartment, she's riding the ferry all night and bathing in public restrooms. She is not at all coping. Enter Miles - the stern kind of grumpy uncle to the girl Lenny is a temp nanny for. Miles is like why is this unkempt woman taking care of my niece. And then Miles is like, oh I will help you through grief and make sure you eat and be the person you can call at 2 am to sob to and also use my studio apartment to live in because I know you can't go home because memories. Miles is perfect and I would like one of those too please.

Lenny was fine and trying. I just did not get the quirk they gave her where she sees a man (ANY MAN) and immediately fantasizes a full life with them. Like she stares at length and the men can tell she's ogling them. It was so weird and didn't fit the rest of the book at all.

I have not experienced loss to the level that Lenny has but I know people have and for them this will resonate. The people I know who have experienced loss and read this book *loved* it. I guess I wasn't in a place for such a deep grief journey. But I am always in a place where I can appreciate a Miles.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy.

This was a gorgeous book about finding hope at the other end of loss and grief.

Six months ago, Lenny lost her lifelong best friend Lou, her constant companion, and she is still deep in grief. She can hardly stand to stay in their shared apartment, and to keep busy and try to pay her rent she is picking up short-term nannying jobs here and there. Her latest job takes her to single mom Reese and her daughter Ainsley. The job looks to be easy enough, except Ainsley's uncle Miles insists on sticking around and observing. What a creep, right?

After an accidental backpack spill, Miles discovers that Lenny's carrying around a book about grief and shares that he's read it too. He then offers to help Lenny through her grief and complete the list of things she is supposed to do after Lou's death to help her live again, IF Lenny stays on and works for Reese long term and helps Miles learn how to connect with Ainsley. Reluctantly, Lenny agrees, and a friendship begins to form.

Lenny and Miles's friendship felt very real to me, and though Miles is awkward and sometimes jumps to wrong conclusions, he's also gentle and perceptive to what Lenny needs. I loved the slow buildup to the relationship, and the ways their friendship also influenced the complicated relationship between Miles, Ainsley, and Reese. There was just so much in this book and it was all good.

This is the first Cara Bastone book I've read and you'd better believe I'm adding anything else she's written to my list.