Oh my gosh, I loved this book. I really liked that it had an underlying theme of slow burn romance and friends to lovers, but it really focused on showing love, friendship, and support, in uncommon ways. It was a beautiful understanding of grief and ways to work through it. Although Miles POV is not shared, it was also a great display of how to be that person to lean on and guide someone.

At times this book had me mad on one page, sad on the next page, and laughing on the next page after that, and I found that to be a beautiful and realistic way of displaying grief and how we often experience it.

I just love all the multitudes of Lenny we are treated to as a reader. And to learn, and grieve, and love along with her. Miles is also such a treat and extremely insightful.

Love the Live Again List and the inspiration to create your own list from that the author included at the end!

4.5 stars. This was so good!! I was worried it was going to be a bit depressing the whole time, discussing deaths of loved ones. But as the story unfolded, I couldn’t put it down. So many tears at the end.

I was looking forward to this since Ready or Not by Cara Bastone. Both really well done.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an advanced reading copy.

Our FMC Lenny has lost her best friend and soul mate Lou, and she is overcome with grief. Our girl Lenny is in survival mode. Our MMC Miles is hard to like at first, but he becomes more likable as he opens up to Lenny and we learn more about him and his own journey through grief.

“It’s hard-won wisdom. A formula I figured out in my dark days. One I still need sometimes. When everything is going dark and you can’t understand why…when the grief catches up to you again…Something good for you, something bad for you, and a change of scenery. That’s the winning formula.”

The relationship is such a delicious slow burn, so when the intimate scenes take place, that’s exactly what it feels like: intimate.

“His shoulder muscles whisper secret things to the palms of my hands. I try very hard not to listen.”

Man. This book was like a warm hug. It is—without a doubt—my favorite book of the year thus far. This is my second Cara Bastone book (the first was Ready or Not—a friends-to-lover romance with a surprise baby that I really enjoyed reading). This one is all about finding love and friendship through—or in spite of or even because of—the shadow of grief. Guys. I felt all. the. feels.

I tried to read this book for a few weeks now and I just can’t get into it… going to be DNF this book, I don’t think the writing style is for me unfortunately.

Promise Me Sunshine is a slow burn (like veryyyy slow burn), strangers to friends to lovers romance, where he falls first, and deals with lots of grief/loss and healing. I’d say this very much straddles contemporary romance and women’s fiction, similarly to this author’s previous book Ready or Not.

The story starts following Lenny, who has lost her best friend and is grieving and lost with what to do with herself. She ends up getting a temp job as a part time nanny where she ends up meeting Miles, the uncle of the young girl she’s watching. Miles is always around (in a good way) and trying to form his own relationship with his niece but has no idea where to start. He recognizes the grief and hurt that Lenny is going through, having suffered loss in his life as well, and wants to help her any way he can.

We see Lenny and Miles make a pact to help one another out and truly be there for one another during the highs and lows of life and grief. The healing was so beautiful and tender and the slow burn of the relationship just worked so well. Lots of rawness and emotions that made this book feel so real and genuine. I do think the heroine was a bit too messy/manic pixie dream girl vibes (and like I get why but it was a bit too much at times). Anyways, I always have a great time overall reading this author’s books and will continue to pick up her new releases.

I received an ARC from the publisher, all thoughts in this review are my own.

This is an emotional story with an HEA. I felt Lenny's pain throughout the book, even cried with her when she broke down. I personally have not experienced losing someone I'm close to but I imagine I would feel like Lenny did. It was nice to see how Lenny and Miles helped each other overcome obstacles that held them back in their lives. Ainsley was a ray of sunshine! How could you not love her personality? I loved seeing how she helped Lenny and Miles in unexpected ways. 

Overall I would recommend this book but don't expect romance to be the main focus of the story. It's more about grief and processing it with the help of an unexpected friend.

This was absolutely phenomenal. The first chapter really threw you into the book, so I was initially a little hesitant, but when it starts picking up, it starts picking up. It was just so completely romantic. And for a book that isn't really about the romance while being completely about the romance, it was great. The pining elements and the general respect and waiting was just amazing. I stayed up two nights in a row reading this and am so glad I did, I can't wait to read future books from Bastone.

Best romance of 2025 so far! This romance was so tender and sweet and also so full of grief, loss and heartache. My favorite kinds of romances blend depth and heaviness with love and warmth, and this one did it perfectly. Friends to lovers continues to be one of my favorite tropes!

This book was wonderful. It will absolutely be a top contender for ,y favorite book of 2025. Promise Me Sunshine focuses on what happens to someone after they have lost a loved one. Lenny is deep I. Her grief, and she has lost her ability to live. Little does she know, her temp nannying job is going to lead her to Miles. Together, they find a way to face their grief and live again.

This was a beautiful story of healing and processing grief. The characters were amazing, and it was so well written. I can’t wait for Cara Bastone’s next novel!

2.5 ⭐️
I really wanted to like this book. The cover is beautiful and I have heard nothing but great things about this author.

The first quarter of the book was enjoyable- I liked the writing style and the main character. But as it went on, I found it difficult to connect emotionally to the characters or the plot, which is weird considering the book was centered around healing and grief.

I almost DNF’d but really wanted to see it through... Thank you to NetGalley for this arc!

Thank you Netgalley, Random House Publishing and the author Cara Bastone.
I totally loved this novel, especially Miles which I wanted to have in my life and Cara Bastone wrote his character beautifully.
Any free time I had I wanted to be part of this world.
Absolutely loved
Highly recommend
5 stars

I adored Cara Bastone’s novel Ready or Not and so I knew going into this, I was going to love it. I was not disappointed. Watching Lenny and Miles fall in love was everything I could ever want. The grief aspect of the book really hit me as I lost my dad a few years ago, so some of these passages truly felt like they were pulled from my brain. The writing is beautiful and the characters are fully fleshed out. I love being able to relate to characters in a book. I can’t wait to read this again.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publishers for sending me a copy of this book!

You know how there are books that you are happy you read at the right time?

This book is exactly what I needed!

Back in 2020, I lost my paternal grandmother, and it was the first close loss that I experienced. At the time I was really young, and didn't know how to fully process my grief, and I lived with a lot of regret.

This book really showed me the importance of how it is okay to go through our grief, and how we don't have to go through it alone.

I think Cara Bastone handled grief with so much care in this book, and while the topic is very heavy, there are a lot of heartfelt moments.

This book is the perfect slow-burn romance and I am so happy that I read it!!

#netgalley #promisemesunshine #dialpress

In this enemy to lovers novel, Lenny meets Miles at a time she needs him the most, deep in the grief of losing her best friend. Taking a job as a nanny to Miles’ niece, Lenny starts to gradually learn to enjoy life again with the help of a “bucket list” left by her best friend.
After reading Cara Bastone’s first novel, I was excited to receive the ARC for this one and was not disappointed! I loved the character development of Lenny, and also enjoyed Miles and his tender personality. Highly recommend for a feel-good read.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange of an honest review.

I really loved this book! Everyone needs a Miles in their life! I felt so sad for Lenny with all the grief in her life and Miles is exactly what she needed. So delightful! I really loved these two MC’s so sooooo much!!!

Thank you Netgalley and Random House for an ARC of Cara's second novel! I kept an eye out for this one since I loved her first novel, "Ready or Not" so much! Lenny is depressed, and struggling with how to move forward in her life after losing her best friend to cancer. She starts babysitting for a little girl whose own mother is also struggling with a recent death, and an Uncle Miles, who is having a hard time navigating his relationship with his sister and niece. I believe that people come into your life when you need them the most, and this book reiterates just that. I loved how the relationships ebbed and flowed and how they all helped each other out in ways they didn't even know they needed. You will feel all the feels with this one.

Thank you to NetGalley, Cara Bastone, and the publisher for a copy of this eARC.

This is 2/2 of incredible books for me and Cara Bastone. It took me a little longer to finish this one because of how wonderful the plot and characters were and how badly I didn’t want it to end. The grief Lenny holds is heart wrenching and the way Miles holds space for it was so beautiful. Please y’all read the hell out of this one. You’ll laugh, cry, swoon, and carry hope on every page.

Thank you Net Galley for the ARC. I loved the story building between Lenny and MIles. The story started off strong but I just felt like this book was longer than it needed to be. I liked how they both were helping each other through grief.

All I have to say is... Wow. I will think about this book for the rest of time. It is seriously a contender for my 2025 book of the year.

I loved everything about this story. From the flawed, fleshed-out characters, to the realistic depiction of grief, every word struck a chord in me.

Our main character Lenny is experiencing an unimaginable loss - her childhood best friend and platonic love of her life recently passed away from cancer. Lenny is frankly... not doing well. She's not sleeping, not eating, and just drowning through life.

When she takes a temporary nannying gig, she meets Miles, the uncle of the little girl she nannies for. Right away, Miles can tell Lenny isn't doing well, and he inserts himself into her life as her self-appointed grief counselor.

"He walked into Hell and dragged me out".

UGH! Miles melted my heart. He somehow knew exactly what Lenny needed, and he let her BE HERSELF!!! He met her where she was and embraced her quirky, funny personality. He truly wanted what was best for her in a way I have never seen depicted in a contemporary romance before.

I am not usually one to annotate, yet I found myself taking NOTES in this book. I found its portrayal of healing so beautiful and I just wanted to commit everything to memory.

Every character helped shape this book, and I felt like I was meeting up with friends every time I opened the pages. I was deeply invested in this story.

If you're ready to laugh, sob, and feel every feeling, read this book. Exceptionally beautiful. Not enough stars to give.