Harlow Smith is part owner of the popular bookstore Open Book in the Cape Cod town of Wellfleet, Massachusetts. Harlow is the oldest of five children, whose parents own a local art gallery and are still madly in love with one another. Harlow had always been the most stable and reliable of the children. But she has kept a big secret from her family. When she was seventeen years old, she got pregnant while in college and worked with an adoption agency to find the perfect parents for her baby. The day Matthew was born, Harlow held her new son for a short time and then turned him over to the loving arms of Sanjay and Monica Patel. Now almost eighteen years old, Matthew convinces his parents to rent a summer home on Cape Cod not knowing their son was planning to meet his birth mother. Once Matthew approaches Harlow in her store, an emotional journey begins. For Harlow, she has to deal with her long-buried feelings about giving up her son for adoption. Monica feels betrayed and threatened by Harlow, who Matthew appears to be enamored with. Matthew grapples with feelings of abandonment and starts to wonder what life might have been like if Harlow would have kept him.

Kristan Higgins has such talent for creating strong character-driven stories. A Little Ray of Sunshine is about what makes a family. It will tug at your heartstrings as Harlow and Monica have to work through their complicated emotions. At almost 500 pages, Higgins is able to make many characters come alive. It was very nice to see good diversity in her characters. And if you were a fan of Higgins' last book Out of the Clear Blue Sky, which I recommend, you'll enjoy the return of some of the Wellfleet locals (Harlow made a brief appearance in the last book.)

I enjoyed returning to Higgins' Cape Cod filled with people I'd like to meet and places I'd like to roam.

Rated 4.25 stars.

Sweet, easy to read novel about family and motherhood and adoption. Set on Cape Cod with glimpses of the characters from Kristan Higgins' last novel.

Harlow, the eldest of four children, is the responsible and reliable one. She owns a cozy and charming bookstore in Wellfleet in Cape Code. Her life goals consist of making her bookstore, “Open Book,” the best bookstore on the Cape and winning every trivia game she has ever played. Much to her sister Addie’s disappointment, Harlow can't see herself getting married let alone having kids. That’s until she meets Matthew, the son she gave up for adoption almost 18 years ago and told no one about. Matthew convinced his parents to take a family vacation to the Cape secretly hoping he could meet his birth mother and comes into the bookstore one night. Chaos and so much more ensues and like all of the other books I have read by Kristan Higgins, I was absorbed into the Smith’s world from the very start!

Higgins' writing style is one of my favorites. I often don’t get through one of her books without crying as her characters are always so layered with depth and so much heart. A Little Ray of Sunshine explores the adoption process through multiple points of view and the way I rooted for and fell in love with her characters made this such a heartwarming read for me. I work in mental health with at-risk teenagers and many of them struggle with shifting family dynamics and the adoption process. Blending families is not an easy feat and the way Higgins depicted the experience gave me such an important perspective. What it’s like to make that difficult decision for the birth mother and how it impacts their life after as well as what it’s like for the adoptive parents was eloquently and empathetically portrayed.

I also loved the Smith family. They are a tight knit group with loving parents that are still so romantic after so many years, and involved and supportive children. The characters are well developed and I really enjoyed getting to know them. On top of that, Grandpop is my favorite character! What I wouldn’t do to meet him in real life and take him home with me!

Higgins is right, “Motherhood. Not for sissies” and I loved following along on Harlow’s emotional and transformative journey. There is so much depth in this story with incredibly engaging and well developed and relatable characters that makes this the perfect summer read!

I also highly recommend another of Higgins’ reads, “If You Only Knew.”

4.5 stars

Bookstore owner, Harlow gets the surprise of her life when her birth son, who she gave up for adoption almost 18 years ago, shows up at her store on Cape Cod. This visit is also a surprise to his adoptive mother, Monica, who thought she had a very close relationship with her son, Matthew. Unbeknownst to either of them, Matthew had planned for this surprise reunion, when he convinced his parents to vacation in Cape Cod for the summer. What unfolds is an emotional and heartfelt story about family, loss, and healing.

This story had all of the classic feature of a Kristan Higgins book: rich characters, emotional plotline, and thoughtful messages. I absolutely adored these characters, and Higgins did an excellent job of building backstories for all of the supporting characters-- it really felt like I knew them all so well. This will make for the perfect beach read for those who are looking for a book with some substance, as the serious elements are paired with all of the Cape Cod summer vibes.

I thought this book was going to be lighthearted and sweet, and there were moments where it was. Mostly, it was about a woman's journey to find herself and heal after giving up her son for adoption 18 years ago. Her son abruptly surprises her at work one day, and from that point forward the book races into emotional upheaval and surprising moments of clarity and peace.

What I loved about A Little Ray of Sunshine was the writing. Author Kristan Higgins writes with such honesty and such developed characters that it is hard not feel like I know them all. Even the character that was easy to dislike rubbed off on me- an example of the character development and plot that really made the story feel more. I loved Harlow and her grandpa - Grady is adorable and the side characters like Rosie and Robbie need to have their own novel. I felt like Harlow learned to open up so much in A Little Ray of Sunshine and I did not want the story to end!

Higgins is pulling on our heartstrings with this highly emotional, riveting delight! I was hooked from the very first page of this coming of age enlightenment with the various players making strong points in this multifaceted situation of love, sacrifice and greater good. Cynthia kind of felt like a stray character who didn't really add a lot to the story, but created distraction that I could have lived without; however, every other aspect of the book worked really well for me. I highly recommend this book to anyone that enjoys a women's fiction novel filled to the brim with heart, sacrifice and happily ever afters here and there.

Kristan has been a favorite author of mine for more years than I can count. I know when I open up a book from her that I will love the setting, have big feels for the cast of characters - usually love but occasionally strongly dislike (and I think she makes it intentionally so) - and laugh with an occasional cry.
A Little Ray of Sunshine explores adoption from the perspective of three women. Harlow gave her son up for adoption at age 17, Monica adopted that boy, and Cynthia, a distant cousin of Harlow's, was adopted herself. Each POV revolves around a summer of surprise, personal struggle and growth, and found family.
While this wasn't my favorite book of Kristan's, I continue to love her writing. I always have high expectations and she consistently delivers something emotive and heartfelt.
Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for the advanced copy. All thoughts in this review are my own.

There is nothing better than kicking off Summer with a 5 star read...

A Little Ray of Sunshine

I am embarrassed to admit this is my first book by Kristan Higgins, BUT, scout's honor. It will not be my last.

This story hit every single one of my emotions and left me begging for more by Higgins. As soon as I concluded, I ran on over to Amazon to purchase Pack Up the Moon.

A Little Ray of Sunshine, is a story of love, family, second chances and a mothers bond.


Teaser:

kid walks into your bookstore and… Guess what? He’s your son. The one you put up for adoption eighteen years ago. The one you never told anyone about. Surprise!

And a huge surprise it is.

It’s a huge surprise to his adoptive mother, Monica, who thought she had a close relationship with Matthew, her nearly adult son. But apparently, he felt the need to secretly arrange a vacation to Cape Cod for the summer so he could meet his birth mother…without a word to either her or his dad.

It’s also a surprise— to say the least—to Harlow, the woman who secretly placed her baby for adoption so many years ago. She’s spent the years since then building a quiet life. She runs a bookstore with her grandfather, hangs out with her four younger siblings and is more or less happily single, though she can’t help gravitating toward Grady Byrne, her old friend from high school. He’s moved back to town, three-year-old daughter in tow, no wife in the picture. But she’s always figured her life had to be child-free, so that complicates things.

When Matthew walks into Harlow’s store, she faints. Monica panics. And all their assumptions—about what being a parent really means—explode. This summer will be full of more surprises as both their families are redefined…and as both women learn that for them, there’s no limit to a mother’s love.

Do you know what's better than the reunion of two long-lost lovers? The reunion of a long-lost mother and son. A Little Ray of Sunshine is the story of an adopted child walking back into his birth mother's life, and all the joy and pain that come along with that act.

Harlow Smith gave up her son Matthew for adoption when she was nineteen years old, unbeknownst to her entire family. Knowing that she wasn't prepared to give him the life she wanted for him (although her large and loving family would surely have rallied around her) Harlow found a kind couple longing for the challenge of a child, and relinquished her maternal rights. That brave act, still a secret eighteen years later, has been the defining moment of Harlow's adult life and something which is never far from her mind.

And then, miraculously, Matthew walks back into Harlow's life. And a delightful chaos ensues.

While the main ‘spoiler’ for this book is right there in the description (and is in the blurb), I find myself tempted not to say too much about all the characters and their development, because I enjoyed unpacking them for myself so much. Kristan Higgins has a deft hand at writing ensemble casts, and everyone in this story is characteristically well drawn, from Harlow to her adorable grandfather to her snooty cousin Cynthia. And even more impressive, they all manage to have their own arcs and grow in different directions rather than just existing to support the central drama of Harlow and her son finding each other. So if this is all you need to know to pick up the book, please grab it and be on your way!

But if you opened this page up expecting a full review of the book, I suppose I can oblige ;)

As we soon learn, Matthew is almost eighteen, has been using his Gen-Z internet sleuthing abilities to research his birth parents in secret, and convinced his family to book their annual summer vacation out on Cape Cod this year. Not realizing that Harlow moved home to the Cape to run her family's bookshop years ago, they are caught fully off guard when she appears. While Harlow and Matthew are overjoyed at the meeting, Matthew's parents Sanjay and Monica (particularly Monica) are somewhat worried about what this means for their own relationship with Matthew. All soon agree that the Patel family will stay on the Cape for the summer as planned, giving Matthew the chance to get to know Harlow and her family under the watchful eyes of his parents.

Harlow's family, naturally, is taken completely aback by the revelation of her adopted son, and not everyone is thrilled about it. Her parents are hurt that she didn't tell them, one of her sisters is upset that she no longer has the eldest grandchild, and her cousin Cynthia disapproves of all the fuss. Her grandfather, brother, and other sister are more reasonable, but still share the invasive and overwhelming energy of a large, loving family. Harlow at first battles with her family to get them to back off, and then slowly includes them in her son's life. It's a lot of fun to watch, as Higgins gets the chaotic family energy and capricious teenage moodiness exactly right.

Evaluating a work of women's fiction like this is always a little different than evaluating a romance novel, I find, because the expectations are not as clear cut. There is not the same clear definition of a happy ending, nor the same distinction between which characters should grow and progress through the story versus which should support. In this case, all the characters show great development - especially Harlow, as she is able to lay the past to rest and move forward into a new relationship and new chapter of life.

What I liked best, however, was the bittersweet ending. With a seasoned author's understanding of the world (and ability to research difficult subjects), Higgins doesn't try to let the characters have their cake and eat it, too. The hard part about adoptions - even stories that turn out as nicely as this one - is that there will always be another family you're missing, even as the love you feel is multiplied for two sets of parents. Matthew, Harlow, and the Patel family all reckon with this in a way that is beautiful and satisfying even if it has painful moments. So all I can say is - bring the tissues when you pick up this must-read book of the summer.

Thank you to Net Galley for the advanced copy of this book. Another great Kristan Higgins book. I enjoy that this author writes such different stories and I will read her stories without even knowing the storyline. The story as always held my interest from start to finish. This book touches on an ever ongoing issue....adoption. Do you give the baby up, keep the baby, open adoption, closed adoption. So many decisions and none of them are foolproof. So many different lives are affected by the decisions that are made. This story deals with many sides of adoption, the person choosing to put their child up for adoption, the family that adopts and the children who have been adopted. Within one family there are many different perspectives. Such an interesting read with so many emotions packed into it love, forgiveness, anger, loyalty and many more. Don't hesitate to pick this book up for an amazing read!

I really enjoyed this book. Lovely setting with very appealing, well-rounded characters (particularly loved the grandfather!), and the story about the adoption and its aftereffects was well crafted, realistic, and not in any way overwrought. I thought the practice of using the first person voice for the Harlow chapters and the third person for all the other chapters worked very well and was a great way to get different points of view, while giving Harlow extra intimacy with the reader. I'm not sure I had read anything by Kristan Higgins before, but on the basis of this I've started listening to one of her audiobooks ("On Second Thought") and am loving it too, so I'm looking forward to reading more by this author! Many thanks to Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley for an e-ARC of this very enjoyable book.

At age thirty-five, Harper Smith’s life is a comforting routine of working at her family bookstore, Open Book, leading her Trivia team to victories in their Cape Cod town, and taking care of her aged grandfather whose memory is suspect. When Harper was a very young seventeen-year-old college student away from home for the first time, she found herself dealing with the consequences of not so safe sex. And when that consequence walks in the door of her bookstore, Harper’s legs literally come out from under her. Harper’s son, Matthew, whom she gave up for adoption and has not seen since, wants to know his birth mother even though it took tricking his adoptive family to do it.

To say that Harper’s life and that of Matthew’s family is upended is an understatement. Monica Patel thought she knew her adopted son well and as the family commander who is the main breadwinner and uber organizer, she cannot quite understand how all this happened. Her husband, Sanjay, is the peacemaker in the family who tries to smooth over the rough spots. She must work for much of the summer months shuttling back and forth to California while her husband, daughter, and Matthew will live on the Cape temporarily. Monica is being stressed to the max with a very demanding IT job and worrying that somehow Harper will usurp her role.

Harlow has a complicated relationship with her parents and siblings who all live nearby, add the fact she never told them about being pregnant so this major turmoil ups the drama and angst. Making for more complex fun, Harper is attracted to Gray whom she has known since grade school; however, he is a single father so for her, that way lay dragons. Harper has a boatload of guilt for giving up her son and has been punishing herself for the last eighteen years.

This multifaceted, gnarly, anguish filled story is told from three POVS: Harper, Monica, and a distant cousin who works at the bookstore known as Sour Cynthia. Hurricane Matthew has created quite a mess as people of all ages who are related to him struggle to find their footing. Harlow wants to know her son but does not quite know how to have a relationship while her parents create tension after the inevitable fallout. Monica cannot believe her beloved son would do something so selfish and harmful to her family unit. Cynthia, who also had been adopted many years before, feels cheated and misused by life so her outlook is mostly bitter and envious of the seemingly perfect Smith family.

Fans of Ms. Higgin's Women’s Fiction will enjoy the emotion filled tale of families who must cope with adoption from both the perspectives of birth parents and adoptive ones. One of Ms. Higgin’s skills as a writer is to lighten the heavy load with snarky humor as well as characters that readers like and some they loathe. As usual, she take readers on quite an emotional roller coaster ride in this story so grab a tissue and be prepared for a weep and laugh fest.

This was a more serious story than I expected. What happens when a baby given up for adoption secretly, suddenly steps into his birth mother's life? What happens to the adoptive family when the adopted child seeks out his birth mother and wants a relationship with her? What happens to the birth mother's family when they find out that eighteen years ago their daughter had a big secret and now he's come to visit? How does all this effect the birth mother as she tries to form new relationships? If you want to know the answers to these questions, read A Little Ray of Sunshine. It's a highly entertaining page turning look into how adoption can change families with some humor and romance thrown in. Thank you Net Galley for allowing me to read this in return for my honest review.

This was my first Kristan Higgins book and it certainly will not be my last! A Little Ray of Sunshine was an excellent book that follows the lives of Harlow, who at 17 as a freshman in college has Monica and Sanjay Patel adopt her son Matthew. Years later, Matthew is on the brink of turning 18, and tricks his family into spending their summer in Cape Cod so he can meet Harlow.

The story shifts from the perspectives of Harlow, who is elated to finally spend time with her son, Monica who is scared she is going to lose Matthew to Harlow and her family, and Cynthia, a relative of Harlow’s who also works at Harlow’s family bookstore. I liked having all of the perspectives throughout the book, and Monica’s chapters as an adoptive mother who has always felt not good enough broke my heart at times. I started the book hating Cynthia as I think that was intended and liked seeing her humanize herself throughout the story.

At times some of Harlow’s actions with Matthew seemed selfish and she had a lot of growing up to do throughout her summer with her birth son. There was a part towards the end with her actions that started to make me really dislike her, but I was glad she saw what the right path was and decided to put that path in place.

This book had me shedding a lot of tears, some happy with how things worked out in the end for all characters. It also had so many funny moments courtesy of Harlow’s grandfather and best friend Rosie.

When Matthew walks into her bookshop, Harlow immediately recognizes him as her son. The only problem is, she never told anyone in her family that she gave birth to him and put him up for adoption. While Matthews adoptive parents aren’t thrilled with the way he planned this, they are open to him getting to know Harlow. This summer will certainly throw both families for a loop.

What a beautiful book about what it means to be a mother, and a mothers love. I still can’t imagine getting pregnant, having a baby, and giving it up for adoption without ever telling anyone in your family. I had all the respect for Harlow while reading this book, but my heart broke for her as well. This book will tug at all the heartstrings and I really loved it, but it did feel it was a bit too long. That was really the only fault I found with this one!

Every single time I finish one of the authors books I think, what am I supposed to read now? She gives me a serious book hangover but it’s worth it because her books are always some of my very favorites and I so look forward to her releases every year. This time around she tackled adoption and all it’s many facets and I think she did an amazing job at looking at the situation from every angle. You hear from three woman in alternating chapters. Harlow, who placed her son for adoption when she was just a kid herself, Monica who adopted Harlow’s son and Cynthia who has her own secret connection to adoption. So you really get the perspective of people dealing with adoption from all angles and it was such a wonderful representation. The theme of family is obviously so strong here and how that can look in many forms and it was touching, poignant and heartwarming. I’m not an emotional person for the most part but this did make me tear up a few times but it also made me laugh so much and was ultimately such an uplifting and delightful read. This is a must read for sure and will be one of my favorite reads this year no question.

⭐️: 4/5

Harlow is perfectly content, working at the bookstore she owns, surrounded by her large family in her picturesque, New England town. Then, one day, the son that she put up for adoption 17 years before walks through the door, upending her life as she knows it.

When I saw this on NetGalley, I rushed to request it, because I loved how heartfelt and emotional Pack Up the Moon was when I read it a while ago. This one definitely had an equally emotionally delicate storyline, but I’m not sure if I liked it quite as much. I personally found it a bit of a rough read, because I’m adopted, and adoption storylines are a bit of a trigger for me sometimes, so take some of my thoughts with a grain of salt, or at least with that in mind. On the whole, I thought it was interesting how the POVs were done, where Harlow was the only character of the three POVs that was in first person, but we were still allowed glimpses of the inner monologues of two other main characters, each with a different, personal perspective on adoption. Overall though, I found both Matthew and Harlow to be largely annoying, since Matthew was majorly spoiled and Harlow just…didn’t seem to get it or something. I also wasn’t certain where the story was going for a long time, so I wasn’t truly invested in the outcome until about 75%, which is when a lot of the build up was coming to climaxes, so naturally it was more interesting. I enjoyed this overall, but if I were doing an author ranking of the two Kristan Higgins books I’ve read, this would come second.

Thank you to @netgalley and @berkleypub for this eARC in exchange for my honest review!!

A Little Ray of Sunshine by Kristan Higgins offers a look at adoption as told from the birth mother, adoptive mother and the adopted son. This adoption is filled with all the emotion one would expect and more sadness and drama than one would hope. Each summer, the Patel family picks a different place for their summer vacation with Monica Patel splitting her time between family and her work in California. This year Matthew Patel and his family have rented a home for the summer in Cape Cod. Matthew sets up an impromptu meeting with his birth mom, Harlow Smith, without any forewarning to her or to his parents. Cue the emotion and drama as Matthew uses his skills of manipulation to upend most plans. Deeply upsetting his birth family, Matthew decides to spend his senior year in Cape Cod with Harlow and his birth family.
Ultimately, I'm glad that I finished this book. Early on, I couldn't find many redeeming qualities in the characters with the exception of Meena, Bertie and Grandpop. Moments of joy were understated, but the last part of the book offered some growth and redemption.
Thanks to Berkley Publishing, the author Kristan Higgins and NetGalley for this ARC.

I'll be honest, I have never read a book by Kristan Higgins despite being familiar with her name. But when you put bookstore into a plot, I am bound to check almost anything out. It's a little repetitive for my taste in certain spots, but I did enjoy the characters overall and find myself willing to pick another story by her up in the future.

While the writing is excellent and the characters engaging, I do have to say the overall theme of adoption was not shown in a positive light and some scenes may be triggers if anyone is struggling with experiences with adoption. The story kept me reading because I kept hoping redemption was coming but I was left feeling that this was only one side of the story and that there is also great joy that can be found in the process. It has stayed with me, kept me thinking and wondering, and some would say that's what a good book does, but I like leaving a story in a positive light and there just wasn't one here for me.