I loved this book! It was such a cute read and would be a perfect summer book. I heard about it through book of the month and I’m so glad I did because it’s been my favorite romance so far this year! Thank you for letting me read it!

Thank you so much for this gifted copy in return of a honest review. Super cute! This was a super cute romance and I really enjoyed it. It was a solid 4 stars

This was such a rollercoaster of emotions for me. Bennet made so many mistakes but I don’t blame her either all her grief. Henry was such a good guy and I hope he gets everything he wants. This one made me cry

♾️ stars!!! this book means the world to me. 🫂💝🥹

wow, where to even begin?! i just finished while on the train and i am sitting here with tears in my eyes. they’re tears of joy for the beauty that this book encapsulates through its portrayal of grief and growth and love. i cannot believe this is london sperry’s debut novel — absolutely phenomenal writing. i cannot wait to read more from her in the future.

let’s start off with our two main characters. we’ve got bennet taylor, our beautiful, sad girl living in new york with her ~sort of~ best friend sonya. stuck in the pain and despair of grieving her late ex-boyfriend, bennet has lost her sparkle and her love for literally anything. her life is a day to day of get up, find a way to survive, and sleep. enter henry adams, the human manifestation of a ray of sunshine. the kindest, brightest, most caring man with a heart big enough for the entire world despite the burdens he carries. after a whirlwind meeting, henry and bennet engage in the passion project, a plan to find bennet’s passion and bring out her sense of joy once more.

bennet’s grief was palpable throughout this entire story. i have experienced depression, and though it was not caused by loss of a loved one, i understood bennet so deeply. the eternal sadness and weight on your chest, the mess you can’t get yourself to clean up even though you’re drowning in disaster, the inability to properly engage with friends — i get exactly what she was experiencing. furthermore, her character development was one of the most important and outstanding parts of this story. despite originally not wanting to really push herself to do anything new, bennet slowly reintegrated herself into life and remembered what it was to be happy and live for more than just existing. she worked through her grief while learning how to love again, both romantically and platonically. her inner monologue was such an imperative part of this story and it made a lot of sense why she would often progress, then take a step backward. ultimately, i think her grief was deeply tied to her sense of guilt, and her reunion with andy played an essential role in her journey to forgiveness and peace.

i briefly want to touch on three side characters who i thought were critical to this book: sonya, jamie, and sal. sonya bridged the connection between bennet’s past and present, and while their relationship was not at all smooth, its development and recovery was a big step in bennet’s return to real life. jamie was the advice-giver and supporter we all need. though she didn’t always do things exactly the right way, her heart was always in the right place, and her thought process was spot on. she also delivered one of my favorite quotes of this book: “having your shit together is not a prerequisite for love.” and lastly, sal! our beloved grandfather figure who was bennet’s original anchor and her first real friend in a long time. even when bennet was a somewhat cold shell of herself, sal was a friend to her and wanted the best for her. their relationship (singular and also eventually with henry) was one of my favorite subplot points, especially because it was sal and the baby that first made bennet realize she could still care for people.

henry and bennet’s strangers to friends to lovers arc is one of the most wonderful that i’ve ever read. it was done so beautifully, and with so much consideration for each of them every step of the way. with compassion and friendship as their foundation, bennet and henry found a love that could overcome, a love that could thrive.

i am so thankful to my friends anna, rebecca, estefania, and jo for recommending this book!!! a new all-time romance favorite that i will come back to 100%. perfect in every way.

i love this book so much fa currently sobbing bc i love henry and bennet's relationship. henry was so understanding and i related to bennet at times! i was highlighting something on every single page the writing is so beautiful!
thank you to netgalley for the e-arc <3

Bennet somehow finds herself talked into “finding her passion” by the guy she ghosted. As she and Henry explore New York, she begrudgingly finds herself coming out of the black hole of grief she’s been mired in for the past few years. But as feelings surface and secrets are shared, Bennett has to decide whether she’s willing to allow love back in, or continue to close herself off for good.

This story felt so incredibly real. I found myself sobbing at times as I witnessed Bennet unwillingly self-sabotage by pushing everyone away. Gah! There’s so much good stuff in this story. Both Bennet and Henry are so layered and nuanced. They’re both grieving but for very different reasons in vastly different ways. There’s Bennet, who has the pre-disposition for depression and grieving the loss of Sam, not to mention the guilt that she carries with her throughout. Then, Henry, whose dad is experiencing dementia, having to live with the sense of active loss, as well as a helplessness as he’s witness to it. But, while Bennett is mired in her grief, Henry is actively trying to move forward.

The beauty in this story is that it’s never a competition on whose grief or method of coping is better, it just highlights the various, imperfect ways people cope and deal with hard situations. Recently, I found myself in a situation much like Sonya and Henry – witnessing someone else’s grief with no real knowledge on how to help them other than to just be there, and goodness, it’s so hard. Oftentimes, the only thing you can do is to just exist next to them, but at a certain point, if they persist in existing in the grief, you have to point it out like Sonya, and at others, push them out of their comfort zone like Henry.

As a whole, Passion Project is a simple, yet poignant reminder of how showing sympathy can impact people's lives. It weaves a delicate story on finding the joy in the all the big and small things in life, despite the bad. It’s easy to read and easier to like. A lovely, deep, hopeful rom-com that causes introspection, teaches empathy and leaves you happy.

I wanted to love her so bad 🥲 unfortunately (and i don’t see a lot of people talking about this) this book was literally the same concept (with a list basically), state (New York), had almost the exact same locations visited AND touched on the same topics as Promise Me Sunshine - which I read right before this one. Maybe if I hadn’t read Promise Me Sunshine right before I wouldn’t have noticed but i was SO confused and getting major dejavu while reading. I even felt like the audiobook was somewhat similar?? Idk y’all if I’m crazy but then i started chatting with others that have read the same 2 books and they also said they found them eerily similar.

Now that I have that out of the way, I enjoyed the concept of PMS therefore I also enjoyed the concept of this one. I don’t feel like I connected with Bennett much, but I did love Henry. I thought their banter was great and i loved how funny and sarcastic they were towards each other. They definitely had the kick your feet type of banter yano?

All in all, if you read these books months or years a part maybe you won’t catch how similar they are? But if you’ve just read Promise Me Sunshine… maybe don’t try this one right after hahahahahaha

Thank you NetGalley & Penguinbooks for the uncorrected proof and for trusting me for a honest review. (I was given this the day after release day) 💓🫶🏻

Very sweet story about grief, loss and the guilt that can come along with it. The male lead character is great and I found myself rooting for them both.

This was just the book I needed to get out of a little slump and mood read for spring! Bennet’s story is tough and her grief is hard to imagine, but Henry steps in at a much needed time to help her find her passion in life. I really enjoyed the adventures they went on and were rooting for them to end up together! Don’t let life pass you by.

Thank you for this ARC!

“This life is one that I didn’t feel worthy of, but I now know I am. It’s 𝘯𝘰𝘵 too good to be true. It’s just true.”

I hate comparing books but I have recently read a romance with a MC that I ADORED. She was funny and witty and a joy to read about. The MC in this one was…not. In fact she irritated the shit out of me.

I get trauma and guilt and all of that, but I struggle to get invested and root for someone that just revels in being the broken one, the miserable one. So while this book was somewhat enjoyable it won’t be one that I will remember for long.

Thank you to Netgalley, Viking Penguin, and the author for the ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts.

This was such a gem of a book. I can already tell it will be one of my favorite rom coms of the year. Fans of Abby Jimenez will love this one! Could not recommend more!
Thanks to the publisher for providing me with an advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest feedback.

I love a good friends to lovers trope, this one featuring he helping she overcome grief with a summer of random passion projects. So, was the story transparent? Well, yes, but not in a bad way. It came together as expected, but sometimes the “expected” is just the type of story you need.

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I had been hearing such raging reviews about this book that I squealed when I got an ARC of it!

We follow the main character as she navigates the grief of losing her boyfriend while living in a new city- New York City to be exact. She is doing temp jobs and finding little joy in any part of her life. Her roommate sets up a dating account for her in hopes that she will meet someone and begin to experience joy again. In a funny way- she meets Henry who is determined to help her find what she is passionate about in life but doing different things around the city that may spark joy in her. Themes of navigating grief after loss, moving on from a past love, and self-forgiveness.

Henry is a cinnamon roll MMC and you will just LOVE him. This is an easy read that will leave you wanting to hug the main characters. London Sperry's writing will be great for fans of Cara Bastone and Abby Jiminez IMO

Thank you to Netgalley, the author, and publisher for an ARC in exchange for a review. Book was released 4/8/25 and you should definitely get your hands on it asap.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Viking for a digital ARC of Passion Project.

This one is strange for me to review because it is FREAKISHLY similar to Promise Me Sunshine, which also recently came out. I actually had to double-check the pub dates to make sure there wasn't a way for the author to steal the plot. Since I just read Promise Me Sunshine, I found myself comparing the two and I ADORED the former so it was hard to fully immerse myself in this one.

That being said, I loved this one too. Henry is just the perfect most patient book boyfriend that towards the end I thought Bennet didn't deserve. I wish her ah-ha moment wasn't so rushed, like people have been telling her the same things over and over and then finally she believes it? Either way, I enjoyed this and will read more from the author as I really liked her writing style.

if I had a nickel for every 2025 book set in nyc about a girl grieving and a boy trying to help her overcome her grief I’d have two nickels which isn’t a lot of money but it’s weird that it happened twice. what’s not weird is that I loved both of them. much like promise me sunshine by cara bastone, passion project spoke to my soul in a way that is hard to put into words. it is funny and romantic as well as profound and emotional. it made me giggle and twirl my hair, but it also touched something deep within me. the writing flowed perfectly at all times and there was never a minute I wished I was doing something else other than devouring this story. books that manage to make me feel this way are the reason I love reading. an instant favorite.

I really loved this book. There were parts especially in the beginning where I was like “this is giving lit fic vibes” but honestly it was a beautiful love story. Watching Bennet simultaneously fall in love with Henry and her life/herself, and overcome her grief was amazing. Some parts had me absolutely hooked to where I would read until I couldn’t stay awake (in a good way). Henry was also a total dream and I love him. New book boyfriend alert?

You should read this if:
🍕 You’re a fan of more thought-provoking romances
🍕 You love character growth
🍕 You’re looking for book that feels realistic

TW, tropes, and things to know:
Illness of parent, death of partner, depression, anxiety, panic attacks, relationship issues, breakups, Alzheimer’s/dementia, car accidents, alcohol use, one one bed, blind date, slow burn

3.75 stars rounded up!

Overall I really enjoyed this one. I loved the writing style, the setting, and the premise of the book. However, I did struggle a little bit.

I think the grief portrayal was so incredibly well done and written. Grief is not an easy thing to deal with or go trough. It is frustrating for the person grieving, and for the people around them. It is messy, raw, emotional, and so very real. Whever I found myself getting frustrated at Bennet for things she said or did, or didn't say or do, I reminded myself that she was grieving. And that my frustration was mostly because of how raw and real her grief journey was. Props to London because Benner is the most honest and true portrayal of a grieving journey I have ever read.

I will say during the middle I felt myself disconnecting a bit from the story, It started feeling a tiny bit repetitive and that's probably why this rating isn't higher. I kinda just wanted them to talk more and in a deeper way? When Bennet finally trusted Henry enough to open up though the book shone, and her pulling back from that hit very close to home.

Henry was a shining star! What an incredible MMC. Patient, steady, honest, open, a little moody and broody, the perfect match for Bennet. I love how he made her feel safe, how he showed her she deserves love no matter what life looks like for her, and how he always managed to be honest, even when there were moments she didn't want or deserve that honesty, without being cruel.

Overall I do recommend this book! And I was very teary eyed in the end. It's honest and human. I can't wait to read more from London!

Thank you to Penguin Publishing for the advanced copy of this book.
I cannot get over that this a debut novel!!!!
The author has a clear direction, strong voice and makes the most of every page.
Bennett and Henry are opposites yet similar in their struggles. Both are battling their past failures, loneliness, and grief. Their friendship takes the center stage as they open themselves up to being vulnerable with each other and themselves.
The author depicts depression and anxiety in an extremely honest and relatable way. There is a perfect mix of humor, quirkiness, and heartfelt moments that will sweep you away.
This book not only a love letter to New York City, it is a love letter to ourselves. To take chances, to find love, and to embrace new beginnings.

I will recommend to anyone who will listen.

I needed a palate cleanser after reading several dark thrillers in a row, and this was great for that! Bennet Taylor is stricken with grief still a couple of years after her boyfriend's tragic death, and she hasn't really been able to find her place in work, friendships, relationships, etc... since then. Enter Henry, a blind date she ghosts who somehow still stumbles his way in to her life and promises friendship only if she accompanies him on a series of adventures around New York City that they both hope will reignite her spark for something (anything!) to be passionate about. It's cute and sweet while still dealing with themes of trauma, grief, guilt, and loneliness. Absolutely a strong debut for romance lovers that has both sadness and humor in it, and I really appreciate the opportunity to read the ARC!

A debut novel!?! I will now be reading everything London Sperry writes!!! 😍
This was such a heartwarming, emotional, real love story that deals with loss, grief, and finding your place in the world beyond that. The FMC, Bennet, lost her boyfriend two years ago and is now depressed and struggling living in NYC. She does temp work but pretty much spends the rest of her time shutting everyone else out. Her roommate convinces her to go on a date with a guy from a dating app but she fails miserably at that too.
When she runs into Henry again, he convinces her to meet up as friends every Saturday doing things around the city to help her find her passion. I adored Henry! He was so sweet and patient with Bennet and exactly what she needed in her life to get her out of the funk she was in.
The Passion Project is one of those stories that just makes you smile even though it really deals with a lot of heavy subject matter. I read the last 15% on a flight and had to stop several times to stop myself from crying in public! 😭🤣 The only reason I didn’t rate it 5 stars was because Bennet’s decisions in the latter half of the book and the way she treated sweet Henry pissed me off!

Thank you Penguin Books and NetGalley for my copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review.