heartbreakingly beautiful. there is always something so tragic and amazing about romance novels that focus on characters trying to heal together and cara bastone did it so beautifully. i could not stop reading and was always wanting to pick it back up when i wasn't reading. look at trigger warning but i would recommend this book to everyone, even if you don't love the romance genre

I was excited for this as I really enjoyed Cara Bastone’s last novel. Unfortunately, I was pretty disappointed with this. I felt the pacing was pretty off and didn’t enjoy either of the main characters. Lenny seemed one-dimensional to me and this was one of the cases where Lenny and Miles truly seemed better off as friends. However, I did like how grief was depicted and the scenes between Lenny and Ainsley.

I was really excited to read this having previously read Ready or Not and loving it. Lenny and Miles’ story is so beautiful and really tugged at my heartstrings. Love the banter and how real everything felt.

4.5⭐️ - Messy, heart tugging, chaotic, and full of fast paced dialogue set against a vivid NYC backdrop. The characters are highly unlikable and flawed…dare I say, even slightly rude and blunt at first. For a moment, the story felt a bit cringy & over the top. However, it’s a slow burn & as the layers peel back, the characterization becomes both moving and compelling. I loved how the main characters grew with true depth and intention throughout the entire book, rather than shifting tones midway for the sack of trauma dumping. The majority of the plot focuses on friendship, grief, healing, and personal development. This is a lit fic leaning love story, much like You, Again by Kate Goldbeck rather than a romcom. A great read for sure.

Cara, Cara, Cara, you slay me but brought me back to life. I liked “Ready or Not,” but I LOVED “Promise me sunshine.” It shines a light on the resistance we have towards dealing with grief, and how, in time, we will have to become vulnerable enough to take our armor off and deal with it. And oftentimes the best person to walk alongside us in a grief journey is someone who has walked a sorrowful path themselves.

Miles: the perfect MMC-if you like a grumpy king (my favorite,) he’s your guy. And he so sweetly is oblivious to his constant RBF. Dry humor extraordinaire, this guy.

“nearly tripping over something waiting for me in the hallway. It’s a Tupperware with a sticky note stuck to the top. Eat this. It says. What a poet.”

Lenny: the girl who has experienced unimaginable lost but who continues to show up even though she’s not always sure how. She’s able to see through Miles’ gruff exterior and bring out the fierce loyalty that is hard to see for most. She is the definition of “when life throws you a shitstorm and you don’t know whether to laugh or cry, do both, and see what happens.” She finds the strength to accept help and thus starts an unexpected friendship.

“Are you familiar with the Spice Girls?” he asks in surprise. “Are you familiar with the Spice Girls?” I ask in even more surprise. “I was alive in the nineties. So, yes.”

This book will have you laughing and crying for its entirety. I will not be forgetting this one any time soon.

Thank you, Cara, for the beautiful story, and thank you Random House for the ARC.

Make this less formal:


This story was an emotional rollercoaster in the best way possible!

Lenny is struggling to find her footing after losing her best friend, Lou, to cancer. Babysitting for Reese, a single mom, and her spirited daughter, Ainsley, seems like a good distraction until she meets Ainsley’s uncle, Miles.

The writing of this story pulled me in immediately, capturing the rawness of grief and the beauty of finding hope again. It wasn’t just about romance, it was a heartfelt exploration of healing, friendship, and family.

The enemies-to-friends-to-lovers dynamic between Lenny and Miles felt so natural, and their individual growth was inspiring.

Both characters were layered and real, and their journey was as heartwarming as it was moving.

This book is a touching reminder that love and second chances can bloom even in the darkest times.

Thank you NetGalley and Dial Press for this ARC

I don’t think I have the words for how beautiful and heartbreaking and heartwarming this book was. Grief is so challenging to really capture but Bastone does so with ease in Promise Me Sunshine. Our protagonist Lenny recently lost her best friend and her journey throughout the grief process is one that I related to easily. I saw parts of me in Lenny as I’m sure anyone who has lost a loved one could. The romance in the book was so well done and paced as well, such a lovely book and my first 5 star of the year!

Also, having a small appearance from characters from Ready or Not was a nice touch for those who loved that book as well!

📕 Promise me Sunshine
by Cara Bastone
⭐⭐️⭐️⭐️

Cara Bastone’s Promise Me Sunshine is a heartfelt exploration of grief, balanced with her signature humor and charm. The portrayal of grief is raw and authentic, making for an emotional yet meaningful read. The characters are well-developed, and their interactions felt genuine, with moments that made me both laugh and tear up.

However, the book’s length was a drawback for me. While I understand that grief is a complex ongoing process that can take a long time, the pacing felt drawn out, particularly after the 70% mark. Even though the story remained compelling, I struggled to maintain momentum as it felt like the resolution was taking too long to arrive.

That said, Cara Bastone’s talent for blending humor, heartache, and humanity shines through in this novel. It made me go through such a roller-coaster of emotions. It’s a story that will resonate with readers who appreciate emotionally rich narratives, but be prepared for a journey that takes its time.

Thank you so much to Cara Bastone, NetGalley and Dial Press for the advance copy!

Cara Bastone knows the exact formula to make me feel every single emotion in one book and leave me feeling emotionally overjoyed and satisfied.

I love every single thing about Lenny and Miles, individually and together. starting with Lenny, she is full of so so sooo much love, and since her best friend passed, she’s had no where to channel all that love. when she joins Reese and Ainsley’s little family dynamic, she’s finally gets a reprieve from her immense grief. she not only gets to love on Ainsley, but she finds an unexpected comfort in Miles.

sweet, sweet Miles. my heart just broke and healed for him constantly throughout this book. like Lenny, he has soooo much love to give, but unlike Lenny, he doesn’t know how to express it in a way other people can absorb. he comes off as awkward and judgmental, when all he ever is is deeply caring, selflessly loving, and always ALWAYS thinking of the people he loves and how he can help them. I child right an entire dissertation on Miles’s entire character so I’ll just leave it at he is the best example of unconditional love I have read since Shep in Ready or Not.

the way Lenny and Miles help each other heal, grow, connect, rest, and find comfort is so breathtakingly beautiful to read. they help each other best channel all the love the hold so deeply. their love for Reese and Ainsley is boundless and made better by knowing each other. their love for each other is steadfast and honest and always dependable. they are truly so beautiful, heartbreakingly, truthfully, heartwarmingly perfect I can’t stand it.

thank you so much for this ARC, I will hold this story in the most special place of my heart. absolutely beautiful.

This author can write. If you’re looking for a super tender MMC who’s not afraid of grief this sweet love story is for you. The quirky MC and fantastic inner monologue make this story.

Cara Bastone has DONE IT AGAIN! The woman knows her slooooooow burns, and I was loving every moment of this one. This is my favorite of her books that I've read so far, and it's not even close (and I say that having enjoyed the others I've read!). Lenny and Miles are such lovable lead characters, and their journey from enemies to friends to lovers is so rich and beautiful. This is not a light read, with much discussion of grief and loss. But those topics were handled with the sensitivity and seriousness they deserve, and add such depth to the characters. Which is not to say it's all sad: the story is also full of humor, family, friends, and joy. I'm going to be thinking about these people for a long time to come.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review, and for absolutely making my week? month? year? with this one.

Promise Me Sunshine is simultaneously hilarious and poignant. The story follows Lenny, a nanny mourning the death of her best friend, and Mikes, the uncle to the child Lenny is nannying.

Lenny has a “live again” list after losing her best friend and soulmate. Miles offers to be her grief person, the rock she needs while she puts the shattered pieces of her life back together.

This book is a slow burn and all the relationships in the story are carefully developed and nuanced. From Ainsley, the child Lenny looks after, to her mother Reese and Miles and their family dynamics. From Lenny’s own family and her relationship with her best friend who died. Everything is carefully unpacked, which does mean that the romance comes slower.

But once it’s there, it’s THERE and it’s beautiful and romantic. Everyone needs a Miles and Miles also truly needed a Lenny. He carries baggage too and Lenny is the right person to help him work through it.

I absolutely adored this book. It made my heart ache and warm and heal simultaneously and I wholeheartedly recommend it. Thank you to NetGalley and The Dial Press for the ARC.

I loved this book! I really enjoyed watching these characters evolve and learn more about themselves and each other. The development of Lenny and Miles was really special and I loved getting to know them throughout the book. Overall, I will definitely be reading more from Cara Bastone in the future.

Review posted on Goodreads on release date.

This is my second Cara Bastone book and it did not disappoint. What a beautiful way of tackling grief. I enjoy a good strangers to friends to lovers slow burn and this delivered wonderfully. Miles may be a new worthy book boyfriend.

I just had the immense pleasure of reading Promise Me Sunshine by Cara Bastone. Cara’s most recent release, Ready or Not was one of my absolute favorite books of 2024 — so to say I was excited to read this is an understatement.

I was also a little wary since this novel, while 100% a love story, heavily revolves around grief. Well, as it’s done for the past six years, grief continues to surprise me. And this book was such a comfort.

Promise Me Sunshine follows Lenny, who recently lost her best friend and Miles, who is no stranger to grief. They become an unlikely pair of sorts as Miles helps Lenny return to the world of the living and Lenny helps Miles fortify his own life. Watching their bond - and their feelings for each other grow felt like a gift.

As usual, Cara delivers top shelf humor and heart and somehow has you caring about characters before you’re three pages in. (How, Cara? HOW?!) But Promise Me Sunshine is special. Cara’s approach to grief — all flavors of it — is compassionate and kind while also unflinching. Grief isn’t cute, guys. And she doesn’t shy away from that. But that’s the beauty of this book — it’s honest in its depiction of the constant companion that is grief. And it helped me feel a bit less alone in it.

Let me be clear, though — this is a love story and the romance is [chef’s kiss]. The way Miles takes care of Lenny?! SWOON. These two characters understand each other in a way that no one else in their lives can and it’s the loveliest. It will be a long time before I can shake them. (And you won’t hear me complaining about that.)

If you are looking for a warm, honest, hopeful read that’s stacked full of humor and heart, you’ve found it.

Promise Me Sunshine comes out on March 4, 2025.

A ⭐️HUGE⭐️ thanks to @netgalley and @randomhouse for the ARC! And to @carabastone, for the big hug of a book I didn’t know I needed.

I really enjoyed Bastone’s Ready or Not and now, after Promise Me Sunshine, Bastone will be an auto-request author for me. It’s not perfect, but it’s sweet and endearing and has great banter. I am a sucker for great banter that makes me actually laugh out loud.

As a reader, it’s easy to see where this friends to lovers trope is going to end, so this is a story where all the joy is in the journey. Lenny is grief stricken and has let her entire world fall apart (with no explanations on how she’s surviving in NYC like this) and Miles, once we’re past the grumpy, has major golden retriever energy. They make a deal for Miles to help Lenny through her grief and for Lenny to teach Miles how to be a good uncle. The plot is slow and steady, but the magic is in the secondary characters and situations that Lenny and Miles collect along the way.

And we get an Ethan appearance! When will he get his own story??

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital copy and a chance to read this early. All opinions are my own.

This book was so special. Cara Bastone is truly a talented author. As the synopsis says, Lenny IS a mess but she is so relatable and loveable. Miles was hard for me to love for awhile, but once we got to know his character he grew on me. I also adored Ainsley so much. While I think I like Ready or Not better, this one was still great. Cara knows how to write relatable stories and characters with depth, while also giving us appropriate humor.

I loved it! This was such a well written book with a beautiful story of love and coping with the loss of a loved one and the heartbreak and healing that can come from that.
Cara Bastone is quickly becoming one of my favorite romance authors.
Highly recommend!

Again, Cara Bastone has opened up a world of lovely but complex characters. I enjoyed getting to read through as the characters evolve in their friendships and grief. This novel portrayed difficult circumstances but managed to still be a cozy read that I looked forward to getting back to reading. My only critique would be that the ending felt too long. The story was wrapping up in a more long winded way vs leaving me wanting more. However, the ending was the perfect way to come full circle.

Thank you for providing the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Okay I’m back from crying my eyes out.

Oh my god this book. This is so much more than a romance. The way Cara Bastone wrote about grief and healing was truly beautiful and heart wrenching.

Watching Lenny navigate her life after her best friends death was so raw and realistic. Because truly, how do you go on after losing your soulmate? She was so relatable in her set backs and coping mechanisms. And Miles. MILES. What a man. He is the definition of steadfast and loyal. He was so tender and gentle but also so fierce in his love and care for Lenny. The way he would do anything for her and quietly cared for her even before she knew what to ask for was just incredible, the definition of quiet love.

This is definitely a slow burn but I honestly didn’t mind it at all because Lenny’s (and to a certain degree Miles’) character development and grief was more central to the story. And from it we got to see such a beautiful friendship blossom between them before we even got a hint of romance. And also their banter!! Their ability to go from lighthearted banter to devastating heart to hearts was so real and engaging. And the progression of their relationship was so natural.

A definite tearjerker, I cried multiple times throughout the book (sometimes while simultaneously laughing) and completely fell apart at the end from the mixture of emotions that ran through me. I’m not okay, but that’s okay.