I don't really know how to rate this book because it was such a non entity. I finished it a few days ago and I've already forgotten the names of most of the characters. At one point the titular Sunshine says this isn't the typical story where the heroine goes back to their home town and find themselves, but it absolutely is. This story has been told before by better authors, this book brings nothing new to the table.

They say you can’t judge a book by the cover, but I totally did with this one! I went into the story blind, but I was hooked from the first chapter. Sunshine Mackenzie has it all - a YouTube cooking show, numerous #1 bestselling cookbooks, and a devoted husband. But when she gets hacked on social media, it all comes crashing down around her. She retreats to her childhood home with her tail between her legs. But don’t give up on Sunshine just yet - she rises from the ashes stronger than ever! This is the perfect summer beach read, and just like Sunshine, this book as it all: lies and truth, love and betrayal, transgressions and redemption. The characters are likable (and, in some cases, totally dislikable), and the writing is quick and witty. At times, I even found myself laughing out loud at some of the snarkiness - something I never do! To say I enjoyed this book would be an understatement. If you’re looking for something light and easy - with some topics that will leave you questioning your personal feelings (**ahem, the pros and cons of social media**), this is the book for you! (Release date: July 11, 2017) Thanks to @NetGalley for the digital review copy - all opinions are my own!

Sunshine had it all: career as a culinary star, married for 14 years, beautiful loft, etc, until she is hacked on the night of her 35th birthday and loses it all. From here, Sunshine needs to find out who has ruined her life and why, who she herself is, and what she wants to do now. The book is a bit mystery, a bit self-discovery, a bit romance, and a lot of enjoyable women’s fiction. Written in the first person, Sunshine isn’t self-indulgent but at the beginning she is the typical oblivious social media centric person. Thankfully, throughout the book, a strong and thoughtful Sunshine emerges.

Last year, I stumbled upon the novel Eight Hundred Grapes by Laura Dave, and it quickly fell into my stack of favorites for the year. I recommended it to all my friends – and even bought copies as gifts. So, it should come as no surprise that I was thrilled when I heard Laura Dave had a new novel coming out this summer or that I read it as soon as I had the opportunity.
Usually, when you love a book so much, the next one does not live up to your hopes for it. This was not the case for Hello, Sunshine. This book is such an enjoyable read. It is both perfect for these summer days and thought-provoking. I like my summer reads to be fun and meaningful. Not too much fluff, but not too heavy. Hello, Sunshine fits this description entirely.

The novel focuses on Sunshine – a celebrity cook on her way to a new Food Network show who lets you know in the first few pages that she is a crappy person who has made a series of terrible self-serving choices. Her honesty in the first chapter is almost painful when readers learn that the reason she is a not-so-great person is because her entire cooking empire is built on a lie. A hacker manages to ruin her career, reputation, friendships, and marriage in a single day by exposing her lies.

Yet, somehow even knowing she herself said she is not a good person and knowing the things she did, I still rooted for her. There was something genuine about this “liar.” More so, she really suffers as a result of the hack. It is so easy to get caught up in celebrity brouhaha and wish to see someone “get what they deserve,” but it is something else entirely to read about it. For instance, as a reader, I did begin to empathize with Sunshine. I did not agree with her choices, but I understood why she felt she had made them. Laura Dave’s does a fantastic job of developing realistic characters.

Additionally, while the plot is entertaining and frothy, the book also brings up a lot to consider about our true lives and the lives we curate for social media. Does social media make it normal to lie or curate a life that is not really your own? Kudos to Laura Dave for crafting an entertaining summer beach read that is also fit for book club discussions.

I am a big fan of Laura Dave and have enjoyed many of her novels, so I was very excited to receive an early copy of her newest work from NetGalley.

Sunshine seemed to have it all when she woke up the morning of her birthday. Her online cooking show was a smash hit with millions of viewers, a top selling line of cookbooks, and she was even about to close a deal for her own show on the Food Network. She had a handsome successful husband, a glamorous home. But by the end of the night she would lose everything. Forced to return to her childhood home can she pick up the pieces of her broken life and discovery who she truly is.

This is would be a great beach read and is a fun novel that I would happily recommend. My book club will love it!

Fun, engaging book about a celebrity chef who loses it all. A good commentary on social media, identity, and the lies we tell about ourselves.

Thank you to Simon Schuster and NetGalley for this unbiased review.

Perfect summer beach read...quick, witty, humorous, as one can get when your life is falling a part around you...You find out how fast YouTube, Twitter and blogs and pull you down when in the spotlight!
I totally recommend if you need a good summer read, no disappointments. I loved it!!

My thanks to NetGalley, the author and publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

As I read this book I kept thinking of a Hallmark movie. Not the bad ones. The goods ones where they hire an actress you've heard of before. I pictured Amy Smart as I read this book (if this gets made into a movie I hope they hire her!). It is a super quick read that kept me entertained the entire time. If you are looking for a deep read, this is not it. This is the perfect book for the beach or after you've read something heavy.

This book is based on the character Sunshine Mackenzie. She is tending bar when she is spotted by an agent who decides she could be his next big star. He takes Sunshine under his wing and proceeds to turn her into the next cooking show sensation. But, all isn't as it seems. 

"Everyone is a fraud, Sunshine. Everyone with an Instagram page, a Facebook account. And certainly everyone with a cooking show. How many of these folks are cooking for themselves, really? They're figureheads. All of them. That test kitchen at Cook TV? It's never busy with the real people. It's their cronies. Other people making the recipes. And don't get me started on the Food Network."
Sunshine, who can only cook a grilled cheese sandwich, is quickly thrust into the limelight. She is enjoying the height of her career when suddenly someone hacks her social media account and calls her out. Her marriage is destroyed, her career is decimated and her manager leaves her.

"It was just a recipe. It was just a video. Until the video became a hundred videos. And a  produced YouTube show. And a cookbook that hit the best-seller list. And a second cookbook that also did. And an empire."
To find her way back she goes home (her real home) in Montauk and tries to find her way to where she started. She is greeted by a sister who isn't happy to see her and a niece she hasn't seen since she was an infant. She is a stranger in her home town.

"We went out to the docks, put our toes into the water. It was one of the perks of living in Montauk. That late-night peace. The moon crawling down over the horizon, everything a gorgeous shade of blue. The sailboats resting in the harbor, the docks quiet and serene."
After taking a job in local chef's kitchen with aspirations of making a comeback Sunshine must decide if that is what she truly wants or if it's time to walk away from it all.

I highly suggested stuffing this book into your beach bag this summer! It's the perfect page turner to read by the pool, lake or ocean!

Quick, easy read. Not quite up to quality of her first novel, but a satisfying way to spend the time. Thank you for the opportunity to read it first

In the virtual world of blogs, YouTube and web sites, Sunshine MacKenzie is all that. The current “IT” girl in the foodie industry; Sunny has the looks, the personality and the followers to be on top. She cooks and chats with her viewers from her industrious, cool, NYC kitchen, just got a huge book deal and signed on with the food network. But the online world we create is not always foolproof and suddenly “aintnosunshine” is raining on her very well performed parade. Her adorable husband Danny and so-called friends do not stick around to see the sun rise again and she finds herself back in her hometown of Montauck, NY struggling to put the pieces of her life back together. When the clouds start to thin, Sunny’s real past helps her see the future a lot more clearer. Another adorable read by author Laura Dave (LOVED Eight Hundred Grapes) This very contemporary tale of what happens when the internet lives we create collide with reality -not so far fetched. Light as a feather, fun, fast paced. Highly recommend this ideal summer beach read.

This is the first book I've read by Laura Dave and I really enjoyed it. I'm always looking for a good story and this was it - a true tale of redemption. I'm glad that it ended in an unexpected, nontraditional way and I loved the twist in the middle. It kept things interesting! Thanks again for providing the opportunity to read this one.

It pains me to write this because I LOVED Eight Hundred Grapes. I am 60% in to this book and I am calling it a day and a DNF. I just can not get in to it. I am not connecting with the characters or the story and I dont' want to see it through because it just doesn't matter to me. I feel awful about not finishing, but there are so many other books I want to read. I feel like at 60% , if it is not clicking with me now, it just isn't for me. Thank you to Netgalley and Simon and Schuster for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Meet Sunshine Mackenzie. It's her birthday, she wakes to her favorite song. She is married to the love of her life and has an amazing job - a YouTube cooking show that is watched by millions. She has just inked a cookbook deal. The public and social media loves her.

Until an email arrives threatening to expose her for who she is. What secrets is Sunshine hiding?

Her Twitter is hacked and things start to come out. Then a picture she wanted no one to see.

In the blink of an eye she loses it all - the job, the cookbook deal, even the husband.

Then we watch Sunshine come back from the lowest point. She heads "home" to her sister, Rain (yes, Sunshine & Rain!) and her niece, Sammy. The sisters don't get along.

Something else unexpected arises, and we watch her cope with that as well.

This was a quick read, but well written. Definitely made you stop and think about the little "lies" we all tell from day to day.

Thanks to Netgalley & Simon & Shuster for allowing me to read this wonderful book!

Perfect summer book - easy, engaging read! You are instantly drawn into the story and Laura Dave does a great job of making Sunshine (extremely) flawed but still likable. The character herself is aware of her mistakes and that goes a long way in terms of helping me to care about her and wanting her to change. I would recommend to anyone who likes Emily Giffin, Lauren Weisberger, or other great beach reads.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

"The only thing America loves more than adoring someone is hating her."

What a delightful little read! Make no mistake, this is chick lit - but it's a perfect escapist read for summer (or anytime really) with just the right tidbits of introspection and social commentary that didn't induce eye-rolling. I was not familiar with this author previously but I'm quite sure I will enjoy her other offerings. The writing is approachable, the insights are sprinkled throughout with a deft touch and the characters are fascinating, yet flawed. "Everyone else cared about something more primal - that they'd decided they knew me, and then decided they were deceived." I thoroughly enjoyed the character's journey, adored the ambiguous ending and remain piqued by the possibility of future stories of this character. "I'm saying it's the way of the world now to display yourself. And there is no putting that genie back in the bottle ...." A lovely little gem.

Thanks so much to NetGalley, Simon Schuster and Laura Dave for the opportunity to read and review her latest book - I really liked it!

Sunshine Mackenzie is living the life - she is a cooking video sensation who is on the cusp of a huge deal with the Food Network and to write a cookbook. Then she gets hacked. She is revealed to be a fake - her background, her skills, her story, her - it's all fake. The fall from grace is swift - she quickly loses her job, her husband, her home. She's forced to go back to her childhood home in the Hamptons and to her estranged sister, Rain. (Yes, the characters are named Sunshine and Rain!) While there, she is forced to take a hard look at her life and herself.

I was a huge fan of Eight Hundred Grapes and her latest will not disappoint. It was an easy read, great characters and had much to ponder - another story about the pitfalls of living our life on social media. Highly recommended!

Sunshine McKenzie seems to be at the top of the world -- a culinary star with millions of followers, a successful line of cookbooks, and a happy marriage to boot. Until one day when everything comes crashing down around her, and nothing she does seems to help.

At first, Sunny's character and her reactions to the things that happened to her, really annoyed me. Luckily, she seemed to grow as the book progressed, which made it easier to care about how she recovered from the mess that was her life. The supporting characters were a mixed bag; I liked some of them, disliked others, but when all was said and done, I understood why most of them were included and how they helped -- or did NOT help -- Sunny move on. The ending of the book left me a bit unsatisfied, and I'm still not quite sure how I feel about that. Nonetheless, I look forward to reading more books by this author.

I would like to thank Simon & Schuster, NetGalley and Laura Dave for the Advanced Reading Copy (ARC) of "Hello Sunshine" by Laura Dave for my honest review. The genre of "Hello Sunshine" is Women's Fiction. Laura Dave is the author of "Eight Hundred Grapes" which I loved.

The authors describes the characters as complex and complicated. Some of the characters seem very shallow and greedy. Sunshine seems to have it all until she doesn't. Sunshine has a famous You Tube Cooking show, is an author of cookbooks, and has a handsome husband that is an architect. Sunshine portrays the honest girl next door, until she gets an E-mail on her birthday that changes her life. It seems that Sunshine's portrayal of a charming life is really not Sunshine's life. Someone hacks into her Twitter account with the intention of destroying her, and proving to the world she is a liar.

Sunshine's life seems to collapse and she heads home to her roots. Why would someone want to destroy Sunshine? How do they know so much about her life? Who can Sunshine trust?  Who could betray Sunshine? These are many of the questions I asked myself while reading. Sunshine was in a competitive field, and there were some "friends" who would benefit if she failed. Some of the characters seemed suspect, but before Sunshine could find any answers, she has to find herself. I felt compassion for  Sunshine, who comes from a dysfunctional family, and has to work out many issues. I loved Sammy her 6-year-old niece showing the maturity of an adult. I was totally shocked when I found who the responsible party for causing Sunshine so much anguish is.

I appreciate that the author questions social media, and how people portray themselves, and how easy it is to find out about any person you want to. Perhaps too much information is put out there. I also like that the author describes the importance of family and friends.  The author also discusses the cost of secrets, and betrayal in relationships, as well as love, hope, forgiveness and determination.  I would highly recommend this entertaining and intriguing novel. I look forward to  reading more books by this author. Happy Reading!

Sunshine McKenzie was a internet cooking star. Just when she's about to get a new show on the Food Network, her fake life comes crashing down. Publicly revealed as a fraud, Sunnie escapes NYC for her hometown of Montauk. Running back to her hometown, will her sister forgive her for not staying in touch for years?

Who was the one that hacked Sunnie's accounts and revealed her true identity? Can Sunnie's marriage survive? Can she put her career back together? Can she and her sister reconcile?

I really enjoyed this book. I couldn't put it down. It's so relevant with today's Instagram society. Do we really know these public characters? Are they really who they say they are? I found myself invested in all of these characters. Even though Sunshine lied about her public life, I still found myself rooting for her.

Thanks to Netgalley, Laura Dave and the publishers for this advanced copy. Loved it!