My first ARC! Thanks Netgalley!

I really enjoyed this book. I loved both of the main characters. I loved Lenny’s entire personality. Her comments toward miles kept me smiling. Miles was the sweetest and so caring. I also really loved their new friend group! And of course, Ains!

Warning to anyone that recently lost someone they love. I feel this book would have been really hard to get through if I was grieving. It was a really great story showing how hard grief is and how important other people are to get you through.

I just finished Promise Me Sunshine and am sitting here with tears running down my cheeks trying to compose myself and figure out how I am going to put into works how much I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVED this book.

I received an ARC from NetGalley but will be going straight to order a physically copy because it is one of those books you just have to have. I know that it is one I will pick up time and time again.

I had read Ready or Not last year, so knew I enjoyed Cara's writing but I was nervous to pick this one up given that it centered around grief. Grief is such a real, confusing, and difficult topic for me and I am usually reading to escape any real life feelings, but I am so happy I did.

If someone tells me that a book made them cry, it is a good chance I won't pick that book up cause again trying to avoid those pesky real life feelings. But this isn't a sad book by any means but a book full of so much hope and healing. There were tears, but they weren't sad tears but full of so much love for these characters. I adored Lenny and Miles so much, I wasn't ready for their story to end.

I will be recommending this book to everyone I know, it was so so good.

4.75 ⭐️ From the very beginning, Promise Me Sunshine was engaging. Surpassing Cara Bastone’s Ready or Not in both writing quality and emotional depth. While the previous book felt more like light entertainment, this one connected with me on a much deeper level. The story had a lot of heart, and Cara Bastone truly outdid herself here and I think the grief was handled well. However, this book would’ve been a 5 ⭐️ if the book was maybe closed-door or toned down the sexual comments, but it was still a fantastic read overall.

The slow-burn romance between Miles and Lenny- THE SLOW BURN 🥴. Watching them build friendship and connecting more felt so natural and real, HONESTLY it was like watching one of those sitcom’s where two characters fall in love and whenever they’re together the world just fades away. Though there were a few cringy moments, the friends-to-lovers dynamic was incredible. I haven’t read much in this trope before, but this book made me appreciate it so much more.

As for character,I’m going to be quite honest. Lenny is a very complex character, and maybe in another book I would’ve despised her but I think it was because I liked how she was written in this book that made me appreciate her more. And the only reason I say I probably wouldn’t like her in another book is only because the things that she would do. For instance, sexually flirting with miles if he had his shirt off or whenever she would make eye contact with a man she would randomly start picturing there future together.

And Miles- my sweet Miles. I LOVE HIM SO MUCH. I mean he made it on Top 10 of the Book Boyfriend List. To be honest, his character is way better than Sheps ( In Ready Or Not ) Don’t get me wrong Shep was cute or whatever but MILES… miles is a true man. I MEAN THE THINGS HE DOES IN THIS BOOK.

He’s thoughtful, sweet, and attentive. Whether it was making sure Lenny ate, encouraging her to rest, or giving her a safe space with him- I mean she couldn’t bare to go back into her apartment that she shared with her best friend, SO HE LET HER STAY IN HIS OLD APARTMENT JUST TO MAKE SURE SHE DIDN’T SLEEP ON THE TRAIN 🙂‍↕️ I’ll just stop talking now because i’m not even doing him enough justice.
As for the ending, it was okay and had a few odd parts, but the journey made up for it.

Another great read by Cara Bastone! I loved the friends-to-lovers and slow burn tropes in this book - expertly done! As a non-New Yorker, I felt fully immersed in the city through the wanderings of the characters. The banter between Lenny and Miles was great, and made me laugh out loud more than once. Huge trigger warning for grief and losing someone to cancer - this was the main topic throughout the book, and a lot of the book was Lenny learning to go through the phases of her grief. Miles will be everyone's new favorite book boyfriend!

This was a feel good heart break book. Completely paradoxical in its cuteness and grief. However, in the end the cuteness and romance prevailed! I appreciated that it was more than just your run of the mill romantic comedy.

It was a realistic account of how lives change/are torn apart after the loss of a loved one. Miles being there as a friend for Lenny throughout was not only great for both of their character development - but hello friends to lovers and slow burn!!!

I liked that there was more to the story than just Miles and Lenny as well. Her newfound friends, and Reese and Ainsley, as well as her family added variety to the relationships explored. The characters were all likable and fit into Lenny’s vibe well. They made for some entertaining depth.

I received this book as an eARC from the publisher via Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. Thank you Cara Bastone and Random House!

Cara Bastone has become an auto buy author for me. I knew it when I read ‘Ready or Not’ and this arc cemented it. This book is so special for so many reasons and it hits me particularly hard. I lost someone close to me and I’m a nanny so when I saw the blurb I literally was like “is this show about me”?
There’s a lot of things I love about this book so let’s start with the type of romance we got
-strangers to friends to lovers in the best way ever. We got to see two people meet, be standoffish, be stubborn, develop an acquaintanceship which eventually grows into a beautiful bond.
- this is probably the second slowest burn I have ever read and I absolutely loved it. I didn’t even notice how slow it was going because of how beautiful the chemistry was between the two main characters
- the way Cara writes about grief is so so so real. There are so many quotes from the book that punched me in my stomach. There are so many scenes that I literally experienced and felt so deeply. And she just does this amazing job of writing really human characters and I love it.
This book is exceptional. An amazing romance. An amazing story depicting and defining brief. Please pick this up when it is officially released because you won’t regret it.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this advanced copy!

“…when I look at your face, I feel like I’m finally home after a really long day at work.”

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️

Promise Me Sunshine is a stunning romance that tackles the idea of how a person can keep living and keep moving forward while navigating excruciatingly painful grief.

While Lenny and Miles both have a lot of pain and grief, this story somehow felt like the coziest hug. I could effortlessly fall into the story and head over heels for all of the characters. Lenny is a nanny for Ainsley, Miles’ niece, who is also the star of some beautiful, heartfelt moments.

Miles offers to support Lenny as she navigates finding her way again after losing her best friend. Lenny is a bit chaotic and dealing with heavy sadness, but really is a ball of sunshine and spontaneity. Miles is such a sweet and nurturing man. He isn’t the most confident in many areas of his life, but he is confident in how to anticipate Lenny’s needs and help her heal.

I don’t want to give a lot more detail about the plot. If you want to feel deeply moved by a contemporary romance, then please check this book out.

Thank you to Dial Press and NetGalley for the advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

This book makes you feel all the emotions. It was a slow burn, slower that I usually like but it pays off once you get there.

This book was a rollercoaster of emotions. It made me laugh, cry, giggle and kick my feet, and more. The grief representation was so poignant and hit close to home at times. It took me a bit to like both the female main character, Lenny, and the male main character, Miles. Since they were both a bit unlikable to me at first, it took me longer to root for them to get together, but once I was on board I was all in on their relationship. I really enjoyed the slow burn romance and how they became friends first. The only thing I could’ve done without was some of the more unnecessary vulgar language, but that’s more of a personal preference. The story was easy to read and very impactful. Would recommend to adult readers, but would not be appropriate for younger readers.

3/5

After losing her best friend Lou to cancer, Lenny is drowning under the weight of her grief. She finds an unconventional method of healing through Miles, uncle to the child she babysits, who offers to help her complete every item on her "Live Again" list that she and Lou crafted prior to her death. Balancing an exploration into grief and healing with a slow-burn friends to lovers romance, Cara Bastone delivers a powerful novel about finding a way forward after tragedy and the connections that can save us. Promise Me Sunshine left me floored by emotions, as Lenny grappled with her grief and moving forward when there seemed to be no way out of her loss. Bastone really gets after the non-linear nature of healing as Lenny begins to find happiness with Miles. The Flashbacks with Lenny and Lou were a nice addition and served to ground the narrative and make her absence more keenly felt by Lenny and the reader. Promise Me Sunshine is one of those books that takes you on a journey you expected but leads you somewhere you did not. There were so many things I did not anticipate with this one, and I promise it's well worth the journey. I can see how this book will profoundly impact many and it has only made me more excited to read more from Bastone.

Thank you Netgalley for the advanced reading copy! I love Cara Bastone and this is her at her height. This book is SO GOOD AND WONDERFUL. It’s about grief at its core, with the FMC Lenny grieving her best friend, who died of cancer. I thought when I sat down to write this review it would just come gushing out of me because of how much I loved this book, but it’s hard to explain how good this book is - I just definitely recommend it. I am going through grief right now, and this was somewhat of a grief fantasy for me - I can’t wallow (I have two kids, a full time job) and boy did Lenny wallow. And then she meets Miles, who picks her up and leads her out of her grief. At one point, she tells her mom “he pulled me out of hell.” What a nice love story - two people slowly realizing they need and want each other because of giving to each other. This book made me laugh and cry SO MUCH and that is something. This is the best book I have read in a while, and I read a lot of books. I highly recommend it for fans of Bastone, New York City, and contemporary/thoughtful romance.

A beautifully written, deeply emotional romance that delicately navigates the painful journey of grief while unexpectedly discovering love. The story follows Lenny, a woman reeling from the loss of her best friend, and how her grief intertwines with a slow-burn romance that she never saw coming. This novel is a testament to the power of healing, second chances, and the quiet ways love can blossom even amidst the deepest sorrow.

Lenny is a woman struggling to move on after the death of her best friend. The loss is all-consuming, leaving Lenny feeling isolated, lost, and unsure of how to live without the person who had been her constant companion. Grief takes many forms, and Bastone’s portrayal of Lenny’s internal turmoil is raw and relatable. She retreats into herself, unsure how to process the weight of her emotions and what her life will look like without her best friend by her side.

Enter Miles, a man who enters Lenny’s life unexpectedly and helps her begin to find her way through the fog of grief. Miles is calm, understanding, and quietly supportive. He doesn’t rush Lenny, nor does he try to erase the pain of her loss. Instead, he simply offers her companionship, a safe space to feel her emotions, and encouragement to take each step forward, however small it may be. What makes Miles such a compelling character is his patience—he doesn’t push Lenny to “move on,” but instead, gently helps her process her grief at her own pace.

The brilliance of this novel lies in the way Lenny’s relationship with Miles develops so naturally and subtly. At first, Lenny only sees him as a friend—someone she can lean on as she grapples with her emotions. She’s not ready for romance, not while she’s still mourning. But as time passes, the connection between them deepens in ways she doesn’t fully recognize at first. Their quiet moments together, their shared conversations, and Miles’ unwavering presence begin to fill the empty spaces in her heart in ways she hadn’t expected.

Bastone’s skillful writing allows the romance to unfold in an organic, slow-burn fashion. Lenny doesn’t realize she’s falling for Miles until the moment hits her—when she finally understands that the man who has been by her side through her darkest days has also quietly become the person who holds her heart. Their relationship is built on mutual respect, vulnerability, and emotional healing. It’s not about “getting over” the loss, but about learning how to live again, to love again, with a heart that’s been broken and mended.

Miles is an incredibly endearing love interest. He’s kind, thoughtful, and perceptive—able to sense when Lenny needs space, and when she needs a gentle push to keep going. He’s not a savior, but a steady presence who quietly helps her navigate through the toughest part of her life. Their romance is tender and authentic, making it easy to root for them as a couple.

Spectacular/life changing/emotional I loved this book. 5 stars!

This book had me sucked in from the beginning. The characters meshed so well together.

This one is definitely not a light rom-com. It deals with some pretty heavy grief throughout the book and can be really sad, but I enjoyed the relationships between the characters and their friendship. The main character is a bit odd and the book felt slow at times, but overall enjoyed it.

This book was ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE! I didn't think that Cara Bastone could outdo herself compared to her debut Ready or Not but somehow she did! This book is very different than her previous release, which really shows Bastone's abilities as a writer. This book deals with some pretty heavy topics but does it in such a way that the reader leaves the book feeling uplifted and hopeful. Miles and Lenny are beautifully written characters that are just upper perfection. Their banter and chemistry were TOP TIER from the very beginning to the very end. Overall, I can't say enough wonderful things about this book, would highly recommend!

This was such an honest portrait of grief. I loved the side by side friendship of two people who were unlikely to connect except through hard, life circumstances. The heavy weight of grief and how it injects itself into every facet of life was written so well. Bastone is also really great at finding moments of levity in her writing, which makes her writing feel so truthful.

Excellent read, I can’t recommend this one enough! I had heard such a great things, so I was hoping it wasn’t over hyped, which it totally lived up to the hype. I laughed and I cried, I enjoy books that actually make you feel things. I’ve already recommended this book to several friends and they’ve devoured it as well.

Firstly, thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, Random House Publishing Group, for providing me with the eARC of Promise Me Sunshine by Cara Bastone, This book comes out March 4th, 2025.

Secondly, WOW. I don't think there are enough words in the English Language Dictionary to evoke my thoughts about this incredible story. Saying "I loved the book" is an understatement. I would give my heart to this book. I would give my mind and soul to this book. Cara Bastone has written a beautiful story about two characters who carry each other through their current life struggles. This book deals with grief, death, and loss. I felt it was handled in a beautiful and respectful way by acknowledging the ups and downs with grief and how sometimes grief feels like your last connection towards a loved one. I really felt that Lenny and Miles were peas in a pod. Lenny's unapologetic and infectious energy collaborated with Miles and his shy but full-hearted personality so well. I LOVED the slow-burn. I despise instant-love/lust and think that what happened with Lenny and Miles was so sweet and genuine and you could feel the connection coming from the pages/words. Also, I too am obsessed with Sandwiches and appreciate the sandwich representation in this book.

I absorbed every word written on these pages. I was nose-deep on my Kindle re-reading the same sentences again and thinking how lucky I am to be reading these words. I even went as far as thanking the author on Instagram for creating such a beautiful book.

I can confidentially say that Promise Me Sunshine will take this year's romance genre by storm and I will absolutely be recommending it to everyone I come in to contact with.

Thank you for the advanced copy of Promise Me Sunshine, because… wow. This was WONDERFUL. I absolutely blew through this novel and knew well before finishing that it would be a top-tier read.

The reader follows Lenny in the aftermath of losing her best friend to ovarian cancer. She masks her grief while nannying, but the little one’s uncle sees through that mask. He becomes an additional main character as he helps Lenny navigate life after such a monumental loss.

Cara Bastone does an incredible job taking a devastating experience and turning it into a genuine, humanizing, and incredibly witty story. This is a slow-burn romance but our FMC falls in love with herself again, as well.

I adored Lenny’s character and personality. The other characters are portrayed well on the page, and the reader is provided insight into the power of community and support. Bastone’s writing is personable and funny. Some of the details and lines are just… gah seamlessly perfect. I truly laughed every time Lenny saw someone attractive and immediately concocted an internal love story from beginning to end.

I absolutely recommend this book and especially to those who enjoyed Ready or Not, those who have also enjoyed the character banter we see in Tarah DeWitt’s writing and similar, and those who need a light when working through any kind of loss.

I will post this to my Goodreads

When I saw Promise Me Sunshine on @netgalley , it reminded me of the cover of Ready or Not by Cara Bastone, which I LOVED. No surprise then when I realize she's wrote this one too and I clicked request for this ARC automatically. Do I need a premise? Hell no. I just want Bastone to get me the way she did in Ready of Not.

How do you deal with the grief of losing your best friend? That's what Lenny is desperately trying to do when she meets Miles at her temporary nannying job. Lenny is going to nanny overnight for Ainsley, Miles's 7 year old niece. Miles, suspicious of this new stranger in Ainsley's life, comes on a little strong by hanging around and seemingly judging Lenny. But in reality, he doesn't know how to navigate being someone's uncle and really wants to do it right so he does what any man would - barters. He offers to help Lenny get through her grief if she can help him relate to Ainsley. With that, the unlikely pair start spending time together in what becomes a deep friendship. But when Lenny comes to the realization that her feelings for Miles run deeper than she thought, she will have to confront how to handle that on her own.

To date, I think Bastone might do friends to lovers consistently better than anyone else. Granted, I'm basing that on this and Ready or Not, but both of these relationships were so well built out and based on so much depth of feeling. These relationships are like the warmest of hugs, in the comfiest sweatpants, while drinking a perfect temperature hot beverage if choice.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐