4.5 🌟

Although technically a standalone, I recommend reading A Little Ray of Sunshine first, as two of the main characters are related to the FMC from that book. As someone who really enjoyed A Little Ray of Sunshine, it was fun to read a story that was connected to that world.

This story primarily centers around Lark Smith, an oncology doctor who is sent to work in the ER because she gets “too emotional” with her patients. A dinner out with the renowned “Dr. Satan,” though brings about a unique arrangement that may be her ticket back into oncology.

The other two plot lines, which are certainly important to the story but somewhat secondary to Lark, involve Lark’s mom and Lark’s landlord. Both women are coping with various hardships and end up helping one another.

I’d say that this book is more of a women’s fiction read, rather than a true romance (though there is absolutely romance involved). The more prominent themes are around healing, grief, and family.

I listened to this book and found the audio to be a great option!

Higgins is great at making the reader feel big feelings, and this latest novel does that very well. The bulk of the story centers on Lark, who wants to be an oncologist but is bumped out of the program to work as an ER doctor instead. Lark is dealing - or not - with a past tragedy, and has yet to really move forward with her life. When a grumpy surgeon asks her to pose as his girlfriend for the summer to pacify his dying grandmother, Lark finally starts opening her life up to possibility and growth, though not in the directions you would assume with a typical fake dating trope. At the same time, Lark's mother Ellie leaves her husband and moves in with Lark's landlady, Joy. All three women undergo a summer of change, friendship, and love, and Higgins really brings the women, and the Cape Cod setting, to life on the page. There is one scene with a falcon, a pigeon, and the aforementioned grandmother that had me laughing the whole way through, and then just a chapter later I had tears in my eyes at a heartbreaking scene. I love a book that can make me both laugh and cry. The audiobook is really well done, with a different narrator for each of the three women. If you need a lovely, heartwarming summer read, look no further. Thank you to NetGalley and RB Media for an audiobook review copy.

Rounded up from 3.5
I have a feeling this book did not know what it wanted to be. In the first 15%, I was super excited, thinking this was going to be a grumpy sunshine, fake dating romance. Yay! However, there are other characters mixed in with different POVs, and although there is some romance, this is much more of women's fiction than a romance, which I thought was misleading and disappointing. Although the story revolves around three main characters, it goes much deeper into Lark's POV. The introduction of each character was so painfully long, it took too long for the story to really set into motion, by which point I didin't care anymore. It's sad, really, because Lark was annoying at first, but it got better as we got to know her better. Why not try to make her more sympathetic by introducing more of her backstory in the beginning, given that the author spent so much time introducing her? I liked the exploration of grief and forgiveness and self-acceptance. I really liked when the story focussed more on Lark and her love interest, so I definitely would've liked the story to lean more into the romance and solely on Lark's POV. The narrators did an amazing job in the audio book, but I would recommend other books by this author before I'd recommend this one.
I received an advance review copy of this book for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Thank you NetGalley RB Media and Kristan Higgins. I’ve been so excited for this latest novel and it didn’t disappoint. Get your tissues ready!

Look on the Bright Side by Kristan Higgins is another winner from one of my auto-buy authors.

I know going in that I'm going to sob at some point and holy moly the narrator brings the tears on in full force at certain points in the story. She is so believable and has narrated a lot (all?) of Ms. Higgins books and they make a great team.

The story is about Lark, a doctor who wants to be an Oncologist, but she cries too much, so she is kicked down to the ER. Enter Dr. Santini aka Dr. Satan who provides Lark with an offer of money and a shot back in Oncology if she does him a favor. (no spoilers)

There's a subplot with great secondary characters too.

I always think that these books will turn formulaic, but they never do. I know I'm going to enter whatever New England setting Ms. Higgins puts us in and have a good time, a good cry, and a sense of satisfaction when done.

Don't miss this audiobook if you like Kristan Higgins books, you won't be sorry.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this audiobook advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

Another heart-wrenching summer beach read from the absolute Queen of the tear-jerker women's fiction romances! This book sees Lark and Justin, two high school sweethearts torn apart from a cancer diagnosis just before their wedding.

Fast forward seven years and Lark is working towards becoming an oncologist and gets asks by a gruff big shot surgeon to be his fake girlfriend to help make his daying grandmother happy only to have her falling for his estranged brother.

Moving, perfect for fans of While you were sleeping and great on audio. This is going to make you feel ALL the feels as you soak up the sun on the beach. HIGHLY recommended but take care for readers who are sensitive to books about grief and loss from cancer.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital and audio copy in exchange for my honest review. There is also a secondary timeline featuring an older woman in the book and of course the author's trademark canine companions. Fans won't want to miss it!

📖📖 Book Review 📖📖 Once upon a time, I met a young resident at the hospital where I interned whose meals primarily came from the hospital. In our early days of secret dating, I would sneak homemade meals into the fridge for his overnight calls. Kristan Higgins nails the youthful scrappiness of residency in a perfectly relatable and fun way! When resident Lark is let go from oncology, she arrives starving to a dinner with a renowned surgeon with a reputation that labels him Dr. Satan. A fake dating proposal with the promise of a delicious meals along the way starts a summer to remember.

While Lark’s hospital dating scenario is fake, unlike mine, it sure was delightful to read and her stories reminded me of my days working at the hospital with my then-boyfriend (now husband). The days are long and the stories are wild and often heartbreaking and so sometimes laughter is shared over the strangest things and this book is aptly named. Look on the Bright Side is a beautifully written and narrated book that delves deep into work and life balance in the medical field and offers glimmers of hope, even in dark times.

This was a DNF for me. Almost 40% in and it was more a drama than a romance. I felt like the story had nothing to do with the blurb and all I read about was the MMC, her, mother and an older woman. I just couldn't see where this story was going with Lark and the Lorenzo. I was enjoying Larks backstory, but couldn't understand why I was reading about the other woman, when the blurb didn't even mention anything about them.
The narrators were great in this audio, I'm happy to say that part was enjoyable. I'm sad I had to DNF it but I was led on by a great blurb that just wasn't. what I was getting in the story.

Look on the Bright Side was such a sweet, funny, heartbreaking, and uplifting story from 3 different points of view. Lark, a 33 year old oncologist who has a hard time not crying while dealing with her cancer patients; Ellie, Lark's mother, is an artist that is forced to deal with some surprise marital problems; and Joy, and eccentric older woman that is obsessed with plastic surgery and just so happens to be Lark's landlady.
I laughed out loud but I also cried several times because Lark's grief was palpable. I loved that romance played a part in the story but it wasn't a central theme.