This book is literally coming back to oneself and letting people in. Lenny is such a strong, loving and passionate character struggling with the loss of her best friend. Her unhinged thoughts felt so real!! Absolutely loved miles with his acts-of-service-always-taking-care-of-you personality. The way he stands up for the people he loves and how much of a listener he is ohhh boy💗 A total dream. Lenny and Miles have altered my brain chemistry and I don’t think they’ll be leaving any time soon. Cannot wait for march 4, 2025!

Thank you so much @NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Honestly this has cemented it for me: Bastone is now one of my auto-buy authors. This books is so carefully paced and written with such love. I wish everyone who was bowled over by grief had someone like Miles to help them find their way back to the surface. I wish everyone who felt lonely and othered after losing loved ones had someone like Lenny to ease their way back into social situations.

I love these two characters so much and I'm so grateful I got to read their story. If you like the romance genre at all, or even just books about being a person and finding your way, read this book!

This story was both heartbreaking and joyful, taking me on a rollercoaster of emotions. I laughed, I cried, and I know that this book will stay with me for a long time to come. It’s a testament to the power of storytelling and the resilience of the human spirit.

Cara Bastone wrote another banger!!!! No one writes funny, realistic and beautiful romances like her. I thought the way she handle grief in this story was amazing she really showed the good the bad and the ugly, the up and downs we have. Words can’t really explain how I felt reading this but I went through the emotions with Lenny.

Lenny is struggling to deal with the death of her best friend, she is also a nanny she takes a short term
Job on the upper west side nannying for a single mom and she meets the moms brother Miles. Miles was skeptical of her at first but recognizes that Lenny is grieving, miles comes to Lenny with a deal help him learn how to be there and connect with his niece the little girl that Lenny is babysitting and he will help her through her grief.


The way Miles handles Lenny, checks up on her, reminds her that it’s ok to cry and stays up all
Night riding the ferry with her because she’s scared to go back to her old apt she shared with her best friend is everything. Miles really cares about Lenny and is so patient with her and through Lenny we learn that there is so many layers of Miles. I adored their friendship that developed into a slow burn romance. This is a relatable love story that will always stay with me.

Thank you Dial Press and NetGalley for this arc

This book takes you through Lenny’s grief from losing her best friend to the love that saves her. My one complaint is the flashbacks to Lou felt choppy and out of place. 3.75 stars

In the wake of grief over losing her best friend to cancer, Lenny has to learn how to live and love again.

This book was SO beautifully written. I loved that this was not a traditional romance. To me, this was more the story of learning how to deal with grief.

I loved the grumpy sunshine relationship between Lenny and Miles. I sobbed when Lenny was at her darkest periods. My heart warmed as Miles was able to form a relationship with Ainsley. I wanted to be friends with their whole motley crew, especially Jericho.

I thought the author did a great job delving into what is a very difficult topic, and I honestly couldn't stop reading. I'm about to go read her entire backlist!

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for this ARC. All views and opinions are my own.

Instagram review will be posted on 11/29/24.

This book will forever have a special place in my heart🥹😭 If I could give it 6⭐️ I would. As a matter of fact I’d give it ♾️⭐️.

This is one of the most beautifully written books I’ve ever read. The depiction of grief is so so real and was hard to read at times because I was able to immerse myself completely into the book (because of the writing style). It felt like I was living it. Like I was Lenny and was experiencing my own grief. But in the other hand… I was also seeing Lenny from on outsiders perspective and watching her grow immensely. It was beautiful. Not only is her character growth astounding but, so is Miles. Honestly… every person Lenny and/or Miles has contact with was impacted by them. They had this way of healing people while also healing themselves (and without even trying to).

I highly highly recommend this book!

☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️
I loved this book so much it might be one of my favs from the year omg
It’s such a cool story and it’s unlike anything I’ve ever read. It follows Lenny and Miles as Lenny is healing from her best friends death (not a spoiler it’s in the summary). Lenny in the beginning of the story is kind of just floating through life after this tragedy. She was surviving, but not really living, and her best friend had made her a Live Again list that Miles began to help her with. He was so patient and helped her with all her problems, her meltdowns and all the messy stuff in between that’s involved with moving on from grief. Every time they talked about grief it was put so well and I was worried the grief storyline would be depressing, but it really wasn’t. It was sad, obviously, but it was also hopeful as she starts to build her new life after what happened. I also thought that since they were such good friends their romance would be kind of sudden, but it’s really not. Lenny slowly realizes she loves him and he’s loved her all along and it just makes sense. I literally loved them so much. I loved all the characters and everything about this. Promise me Sunshine is one of the maybe 2 books I’ve stayed up until 2 reading (granted I went to bed at 12:30 but still). Now I must go figure out how to move on from this incredible read. If anyone has any recs after a rly good read lmk!
Thank you NetGalley for this Early Release Copy of Promise me Sunshine! 🫶🫶

Cara had done it again. I cannot put into words how much I loved this book. Such a beautiful exploration of grief and how to live again. Miles is on the top of the book boyfriend list. He is just so incredibly caring and he does so in a way that is quiet and thoughtful. I really fell in love with each character in this book. I laughed, cried, and swooned throughout this whole book. Truely incredible writing! This is a must read!!! Thank you netgalley for the arc!

I loved the idea of this book as well as the characters. I feel this story had such great potential, but the writing felt off to me. As a reader it did not flow. I would have to reread sentences numerous times as there were very unnecessary amount of details in it. I also did not care for how dragged out the story was. It was a new chapter, yet it was like 5 minutes later.
I was very excited for this book after reading Ready or Not, but this one fell a little flat for me.

This book healed a little piece of me that I didn’t even know it could be healed 🫂

I absolutely *loved* watching Lenny’s relationship with Miles develop. The way their connection slowly grew from strangers to friends to lovers is honestly one of the best I’ve ever read. Both of them had something they needed to heal and it was so beautiful to see how they helped each other reach that goal. Another thing I adored was the side characters, both the friends they made and each of their families. Every time one of them showed up it instantly made me happier (hello Ethan’s cameo!!!)

I think it would’ve been 5 star if it were just a bit shorter (50-60 pages less would’ve been perfect) but other than that I loved everything from start to finish.

DNF at 30%. You really have to suspend belief for this one. The premise was a little too dramatic to be realistic. I’m pretty bummed because I adored READY OR NOT - I thought the trope and plot were so unique and raw in that one and so was hoping for the same with this one. Instead, this trope felt so familiar - the grumpy neighbor is actually a good guy and helps her cross off her bucket list. By 30% I felt like the plot wasn’t picking up and you obviously know the exact ending so just don’t feel like I need to keep going.

On purpose, I'm not reading my previous advance reader review of Cara Bastone's book "Ready or Not" until I've written this one because I don't want to just repeat the same thoughts. As I've experienced in her other books, Bastone does an amazing job of tenderly introducing many aspects of her characters so that you celebrate their wins and feel for their losses. Her stories are heartfelt and lovely and I find I'm always sad when they end. She also does a wonderful job of using the setting of NYC as a character, which I always appreciate.
I would highly recommend this book to others, keeping in mind that it deals with loss and grief. I would also recommend it to readers that enjoy Kate Clayborn. Both authors are must reads for me due to character development that helps you get swept away in the story.
Many many many thanks to Net Galley for the opportunity to read this one early.

Cara Bastone does it again! Simultaneously heartbreaking and uplifting, Promise Me Sunshine is a great follow-up novel to the author's debut, Ready Or Not. Excited to see what Cara Bastone will do next

I really liked her first book and enjoyed this one just as much! Sweet, touching, and kept me wanting to read.

thank you so so so much to netgalley and random house for this ARC.

i don't even know where to start, this book blew me out of the water. lenny's best friend has passed away from cancer, and she is drowning in grief. miles offers to help her through it. lenny helps miles connect with his niece, ainsley and his sister, reese.

lenny and ainsley were so cute. lenny really did seem like someone that kids would like. this book had the perfect balance of talking about lenny's day to day with ainsley, so that we understood what her life was like, without it feeling like we were just reading a list of everything lenny had done that. ainsley is a young side character, but she felt pretty fleshed out. i did think it was interesting that ainsley/reese barely talked about reese's dad dying, especially because ainsley was presumably with him for considerable amounts of time.

lenny and miles made me want to die. miles is so patient with her, and he is just there in whatever way lenny needs it. i loved that they didn't get together for awhile, and that this wasn't instalust/love. their relationship felt developed. i think that i could have read many more pages about them.

finally - lenny and lou. the flashbacks were so beautiful. this book made me think of my best friend and our relationship over and over. i shed a LOT of tears reading about lenny's grief. this book is going to stick with me for quite awhile, it was truly stunning.

Lenny's best friend passed away and she's really having a difficult time. She gets a job as a nanny and the uncle of the little girl she watches is a fixture in the house. They get to know each other and start to confide in each other. Miles has been through a big loss too and he seems to know just what she needs. She has a list that she and her best friend made before her friend passed that is supposed to help Lenny to live again. Miles helps Lenny cross things off the list.

I fell in love with Miles before Lenny did, or at least before she realized it. The way he's there for her, asking and expecting nothing, but helping her ❤️swoon❤️

They don't kiss until about 70% in and sex is probably at the 80% point and the door is only partially open (more sweet than steamy).

I’m not sure how to accurately convey my feelings about this book. I loved it so, so much. The writing is beautiful, I was 100% in the story from the very beginning and didn’t want it to end. While it centered around the heavy topics of grief and loss, it also had so much warmth, humor and purpose. This was both heartbreaking and full of joy. I cried, I laughed. I will take this story with me for a long time.

"Home is where the heart is. My heart died in a cancer ward six months ago." *cue the tears*

Sometimes you just need a good cry—and Promise Me Sunshine drop-kicked me straight into my feels. This book is a heartbreakingly beautiful exploration of friendship, love, and the all-consuming grief of losing your BEST friend.

Lenny and Miles completely worked their way into my heart with the way they showed up for each other in every moment. Miles’s quiet but fierce care for Lenny—ensuring she took care of herself, and stepping in when she couldn’t—absolutely melted me. His love was steady, patient, and deeply selfless.

While this story had me sobbing at times with its unflinching portrayal of grief, it expertly balanced those heavy moments with humor, warmth, and the profound connection of a soul mate in a best friend.

The pacing was spot-on, the story was unputdownable, and the friends-to-lovers was executed perfectly. It made Lenny and Miles’s relationship even more poignant. Every single character felt like a living, breathing person—I wanted to hug them, laugh with them, cry with them. This book is truly something special.

Thanks to Net Galley and Random House Publishing for the ARC! I’ve been a fan of Cara Bastogne since finding her short stories on Audible. I tend to get sucked into the banter and chemistry of her characters and this one did not disappoint.

I appreciate the added complex storyline of grief that you don’t always find in this genre. It was well written and enhanced the storyline.

Loved the sneak peak of a Ready or Not character in this book!