I was afraid the sad subject matter of grief would hit me too close to home in this book and it did. I was balling at all hours reading this book but it also helped me heal my own self in a way. It was tough for me to read at times but I still enjoyed it.

This story was so beautiful and also so sad and heart wrenching. I had a hard time reading it if I’m being honest. I’m generally not a fan of books that make me cry in a sad way. But it was beautiful and special and lovely as well. If you suffer from health anxiety/anxiety like I do, this might not be a great book to read. I knew going in what it was about but I thought I’d try it. I had to skip some parts to protect my mental health. If you don’t deal with this or you love books that make you cry, read away!

I needed an escape and this book gave it to me. I really like the leads and their relationship together. I was a bit wary that if this was real life, Miles maybe liked Lenny more because she needed him and less because of herself. But ultimately, I just let that go and enjoyed our journey. Happy with the ending. Happy with the slow burn. Absolutely tore through this and will be immediately picking up Cara’s other works.

Thanks to NetGalley, Penguin Random House, and Dial Press for the ARC.

Thank you net galley and publisher for this ARC. I enjoyed this story and the vulnerable truth of trying to get your life back together after such a difficult loss.

Wow. Casa Bastogne has done it again. I fell in love with Miles just as Lenny was. He was so kind and patient and giving and I TRUSTED him as a character. He never had a “bad moment” where I lost trust in him and I really really loved that. I actually really liked Lenny and found her so relatable. The topic of grief is weaved throughout the entire novel in a delicate and beautiful way. I already can’t wait for Cara’s next book!!!

if you are looking to feel deep, real emotion while reading and truly love a book you HAVE to read ‘promise me sunshine’ by cara bastone. Not many books make me feel sadness, grief, and heartache while also making me kick my feet and giggle, feel joy, and love.

Lenny is deeply struggling after losing her best friend and grieving someone you love is something miles is an expert at. through time shared with miles’ young niece and completing a “live again” list, the two hesitantly begin a mutually beneficial friendship.

this is an emotion-packed, extremely slow-burn story all about learning how to live with grief and not drown in it. I’m not sure I’ve ever felt as many emotions while reading as I did while reading this booked. you do not want to miss this one. 🩷☀️

thank you so much to netgalley, random house publishing, and cara bastone for the ARC of this beautiful story! 🫶🏻

Promise Me Sunshine is the second book by Cara Bastone I have read. I loved Ready or Not so I was very excited to receive this book in advance.

This is a friend to lovers romance with heavy storylines woven throughout. The POV is by Lenny - a woman who just recently lost her best friend. It is heartbreaking to see how much grief debilitates Lenny and Bastone does a great job conveying the raw grief experienced by Lenny.

The book is a good mix of light banter and uplifting moments. I really enjoyed all the characters and would be interested of their POVs as well.

This is a quick read and not as good as Ready or Not in my opinion, but a solid read.

Trigger warnings: loss, grief

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

Another masterpiece by Cara Bastone. I frickin love her!

This novel had a heavy undertone as we watch the main character, Lenny, work and grow through her grief. Bastone wrote it PERFECTLY. She has such a way of drawing you in immediately and writing characters that make you fall in love. Miles and Lenny were nothing short of that!

Thank you SO much Netgalley & Random House Publishing Group for the opportunity to read this beautiful ARC!

Lenny and Miles. Miles and Lenny. Is it possible to love two leads this much? I love how much heart this book has, and how it deals with grief as well. Brings to mind Dear Emmie Blue, which I absolutely adored. Cara Bastone hit it out of the park with this one. <3

Grieving the loss of her best friend, a young woman’s life is turned upside down when she meets a grumpy stranger who swears he can help her live again, in this heartwarming, slow-burn romance.

My second book by Cara Bastone and this was just as good as the first.

Lenny is a mess after her best friend's death. While nannying for a single mother in New York, she meets the grumpy uncle Miles (who's really just quiet and awkward around his niece). They strike a bargain - he will help her overcome her grief and she will help him connect with his niece.

This has a quirky FMC and a cinnamon roll MMC and a "live again" list to conquer . It made for a really fun and easy read. The topic of death and grief is all throughout the book but it was truly a beautiful story.

♾️ STARS!! eeeek, this was so good! This book completely broke my heart and then put it back together again.

Thank you Cara Bastone, Random House Publishing, and NetGalley for an advance copy!

Promise Me Sunshine follows our FMC Lenny, as she navigates life, grief stricken, after the loss of her best friend. Enter Miles, the pensive brother of the mom she is nannying for. At first Lenny isn’t sold on Miles, and simply can’t get over her grief. Little does Lenny know Miles and the family that employs her may be her saving grace through this journey of finding herself after such a great loss.

This book truly was so top tier because of the characters. I really loved Cara’s characters in Ready or Not, but Miles and Lenny were unmatched. Their banter and chemistry, mixed with such maturity made me so invested in their story. Throughout the entire book I felt like I was living it with them, and I didn’t want it to ever end.

Also, THE QUOTES! Cara Bastone simply has a way with words and was meant to be a writer, you cannot convince me otherwise. If you don’t read this book for any other reason, read it for the quotes, atmosphere, and character building!

I received an ARC of Cara Bastone’s previous book Ready Or Not, and read it hesitantly because pregnancy storylines are a sensitive subject for me. I enjoyed it so much more than I thought I would, so I was thrilled to receive the ARC of Promise Me Sunshine. I typically don’t enjoy friends-to-lovers romance, but it was done very well in this book. I enjoyed Lenny’s character growth throughout the book, and was glad to see her learn to care for herself and reciprocate the support that Miles showed her. Miles was a fantastic book boyfriend, he had me kicking my feet and giggling at times due to his attentiveness and small gestures that showed how much he cared about the people in his life.

This was a cute and quick read. I though it was very cute and loved the water aspect of it. Cover is great to draw in attention as well.

Loved this sweet romance by Cara Bastone! When Lenny first meets Miles while babysitting for his niece, she is a grieving mess who can’t even go home at night for all the memories that are there. But through Miles patient and tender care, Lenny is able to work through her grief and learn to love again. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

4.5 stars! I absolutely loved this book. I have never read a book that covered grief like this one. The relationship between Lenny and Miles was so beautiful and had so much depth. I now wanna read Ready or Not by Cara!

I tried so hard not sob on the plane but damn…this one got me. Cara writes the perfect balance of grief, humor, witty banter and finding the joy of living. This book was everything and more. The companionship between Lenny and Miles is such a strong bond even though they had a rocky start. There’s this feeling like they’re known each other for much longer, but I think experiencing grief with someone who understands and has been in your shoes will come with that feeling. Miles’ tender caring and acceptance of Lenny had me gripping my aching chest and believing that we’ve all either been a Miles for someone else or had a Miles in our life.

“Miles walked into hell and dragged me back out.”

This was absolutely beautiful and had me laughing one moment and tearing up the next page. Cara Bastone is an auto buy and read author for me and I’m excited for everyone to read this one and can’t believe it comes out next year! Thank you Dial Press and NetGalley for an arc in exchange for my honest review!

Thank you NetGalley, Random House Publishing, and Cara Bastone for the ARC of, “Promise Me Sunshine”

⭐️3.5⭐️

This is my first book from this author (although I have Ready or Not downloaded for a while now to read) and overall I enjoyed the story.

Lenny has a best friend/sister, Lou, who dies from ovarian cancer. Navigating through this difficult and painful death, she takes a job as a Nanny, where she meets Miles, the half-brother of the child’s mom. Miles is navigating through his own losses (parental death, etc) as well as only two years meeting the sister and niece who knew nothing of him (bastard child).

The story follows Lenny & her various struggles as she tackles grief in every aspect of her life. Miles decides to make a deal, help him win his niece and sister over and he’ll show her the best route for living with grief, through the “list” Lou left her in her death. A list of things to accomplish. In the process, they fall in love, and overcome many different obstacles that are necessary in the grieving process.

I loved the relationship between Lenny & Miles. I totally felt their chemistry, and I always appreciate a good strangers->friends->lovers trope. If there’s one thing I would change, it would be how slooooooooow this book felt at times. I mean the slow burn was SLOW. I also wish that the list, at times, had more interesting and impactful moments. The only moments that were impactful, for me, is when Lenny cuts her hair & takes Miles to meet Lou. I did cry, and for that I applaud the author!

I am also sad about the ending. I wish there was a touch more “healing” as in I really wanted to experience Lenny visiting Lou’s actual grave. Like by herself. I wanted to hear her speak to her. I wanted to, so badly, have an epilogue where I see Lenny and Miles in a semi-back to normal state. Instead I felt left with questions with no answers. I felt unsatisfied, and honestly quite sad.

With that being said, I really did enjoy this book, and all of the good parts made the iffy parts worth it! I am really hoping there will be a next book with his friend, Ethan! I need that story.

You can find my review on Goodreads!

Oh wow wow wowwwww! WOW! Ready or Not is one of my favorite reads this year... and now this one is too! It will definitely fall into one of my favorite romance books of ALL TIME.

I love going into books not knowing anything, so I did the same for this and did not read the description. From the first page, I knew this was going to be a very heavy and emotional read and wow... what a ride it was. I have read a lot of books that talk about grief, but never to the extent that this one did. It didn't just brush it, take one chapter to talk about it... no it DOVE into it headfirst. Every second we are with Lenny in her pain of losing the one closest to her. You can feel her pain and just utter loss of how to go about life now through the pages.

And yet, through it all, someone reaches down and helps. In comes Miles! An angel! I know romance readers talk all the time about the "perfect boyfriend" buuuut I'm sorry to say Miles wins! Does he have flaws? Duh, but he's perfect for LENNY. He always knows exactly what the needs and knows when to push her. Their slow-burn, friends-to-lovers journey was -- and I cannot stress this enough -- perfect. Absolutely zero notes.

There are so many other small details I could talk about it, but I will end my review here before I start crying at my keyboard lol. Thank you NetGalley and Dial Press for this ARC!

I can’t believe I am so lucky I get to live in the same time period as Cara Bastone and this book. I have literally straight sobbed my way through the last 30% of this book along with 13 other parts PRIOR. Beyond just the crying my body has had literal physical reactions to this book. I’m talking BONE DEEP ACHING with love for this book, love for the people in my life (specifically my best friends), appreciation for love!!!! and the most longing for love I have literally ever felt.

I wish I could smother dial press in hugs and kisses because I had no idea when getting this arc that it would literally a(e)ffect me this way. Best friendship is beautiful, and friendship in general is so amazing and beautiful and this book was so amazing and beautiful.

An amazing representation of grief and platonic love. But also such a beautiful story about learning to fall back in love with life, accepting life after loss, and letting!!! people!!!!! be there for you!!!!! I literally can’t say enough good things about this book my heart is actually in pieces rn

It’s a story of Lenny, who is just trying to survive each day after a devastating loss. She was a full time nanny but only takes short term gigs while she is in the depth of grief. Her new gig is where she meets the grumpy Miles, uncle to the kid she is in charge of. It turns out this guy with a bad first impression and people skills has also gone through the depths of grief and may be the perfect person to show her that there is life after loss and you don’t have to do it alone.

I read this on a long flight and gosh the number of times I had to wipe my eyes was kind of embarrassing but sorry not sorry for having feelings! The tears must have started at like 30 minutes into reading. To the two ladies next to me that didn’t know they’d be getting ms water works on the plane next to them, sorry! There is so much depth about not just dealing with loss but how to deal with the unexpected, the scary, the unexpected things of life and how to let new people in. Letting people in and helping is not a weakness but a blessing and necessity in life. I truly believe we are meant to live in relationship so this just hit so close to home. I loved their relationship and how much they learn from each other. I giggled to myself softly a number of time and must have been smiling, so the ladies next to me must have thought I was crazy, or they should’ve asked me what great book I was reading!

Maybe it also hit closer to my heart because of the health issues I was dealing with in friends’ parents as well as my own family. There is hardship in life but there are also so many beautiful people and things all around us if we can just let them in. Thank you Cara for this beautiful story even if you made me cry multiple times on a plane next to strangers.