Cara Bastone has quickly become an auto-buy author for me! I wasn't sure if her latest would live up to my enjoyment of Ready or Not, but it certainly did. I hope this one receives all the attention it deserves because it is highly enjoyable, the characters are memorable and relatable, and it's a wonderful narrative.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for sending me a copy of this book to review.

This was a fun romance novel, and I enjoyed it a lot. I am looking forward to reading more by this author.

Thank you so much to Random House Publishing Group & NetGalley for this e-arc.


A lovely love story that is entwined with self-discovery and grief. The sweetest thing was how Miles assisted Lenny. Helping someone grieve and heal isn't always simple, but I appreciated that he was doing the same. That Lenny also assisted him with Reese and Ainsley made me very glad. I enjoyed seeing them fall in love and support one another. This book was great.

Thank you NetGalley and The Dial Press for an advanced readers copy of Promise Me Sunshine in exchange for an honest review.

I think I just found my new favorite book and who would've thought it was about handling grief?

Lenny just lost the love of her life, her best friend, her confidant. While it's been a few months, all of the feelings are being felt and she doesn't know how to begin moving forward again. Why should she get to continue living a life when her other half is gone?

Enter Miles.

While seemingly grumpy and average, he takes it upon himself to help Lenny complete her Live Again List, left to her after Lou's death, in exchange for helping Miles form a relationship with his 7-year old niece that Lenny nanny's. Grief Wingman Miles "brings Lenny back to life" and shows her that when it comes to grief, the only way out is through.

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CLARA. GIRL. This book was so beautiful and really eye-opening. As someone who is lucky enough to have not had to experience this level of grief, understanding how it can look and feel was both scary and important. Everyone deserves to have a Miles in their life.

The whole time I read this, all I could think of was imagining what it'd be like if I had to experience losing my best friend of 17 years and let me tell you, a LOT of tears were shed. I'd be going through it right along side Lenny.

I'm so glad a book like this exists.

I loved this book so much! I loved the characters and the growth they had throughout the book. I feel like the book really touched on grief and healing, as well as showing that grief is different for everyone. This book was beautifully written.

Promise Me Sunshine is a quirky, fun story with depth and a lot of heart. Dealing with grief and family issues, this story will pull at your heartstrings, but its quirky fmc and her love of fantasizing will win you over within pages. It's a grumpy x sunshine, friends to lovers romance set in NYC, about learning to live again after the death of someone close to you. It validates grief and the multitude of feelings that come along with it and provides a shred of hope for some light at the end of the tunnel. It's sweet, romantic, and fun.

So cute! I did overall like Ready or Not more though! The audio was done so well by Alex Finke, which really elevated it for me! Her books are sneaky emotional!! Lots of grief explored and what it means to move on from a friend who has passed and a slow burn romance! I had a few qualms with our FMC which took me out of the book a bit, but was still a really enjoyable story.

To be loved is to be known, and this book is a perfect example of being fully, truly, thoroughly known inside and out. Love is in the details, in the hugs, the back rubs, the listening, the uncomfortable and awkward silences. Love is in what we say and what we do. Love is going to hell for your person and pulling them out when they can’t do so on their own. Love is miles. And love is Lenny. And love is not just romantic love, sometimes your great big beautiful love is a platonic one. Love is intimacy, and intimacy is being understood.

Thank you netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the e-arc in exchange for my honest review… 2 months late.

I loved it.

I started this and stopped right away due to language that turned me off. Sorry, it's a DNF for me.

Beautifully written love story wrapped in grief and self discovery. The mask Lenny wears daily until “seen” by Miles is one so many wear and the epitome of ‘you never know what someone else is dealing with.’ The side character development was wonderfully done with none too overpowered and all important to the journey.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to review this book. I rated this a 4.5 star. This book was absolutely adorable. The way that Miles helped Lenny was the sweetest thing. It isn’t always easy to help someone with grief and healing, so I loved the fact that he was also healing. I was so happy that Lenny also helped him with Reese and Ainsley too. I loved watching them fall in love and help each other. I was dying slowly when Miles was making her wait though but I definitely understood why he did it that way. Such a great book!

I absolutely loved this book. I liked Lenny's quirky "falling in love with everyone she meets" thing. And her grief was so real.

Some people might think the grief was too much. But I felt like it accurately expressed how much she missed Lou and how her life wasn't the same without her.

I liked how careful Miles was with her, waiting until she was actually ready before starting something. This was such a sweet story.

“He walked into hell and pulled me back out.”

I will never be able to get over this book. I lost count of the number of times I cried while reading this book, but I don’t stay that as a deterrent. It was beautiful and heart-wrenching in the best ways, and it will stick with me for a long time. While this is a romance at heart, this book tells Lenny’s story first and foremost. We meet her when she is buried under a mountain of grief after the most difficult loss of her life, and Miles enters her life at the perfect time.

There is a lot of discussion around grief and mental health, and I think Cara Bastone handled these topics with care and a kind of authenticity you don’t often see. Her writing style is absolutely fantastic. The way she crafts a sentence is so clever, but still extremely accessible. I was in awe of some of her word choices and how she managed to bring forth really visceral feelings. It felt like a very realistic depiction of the complicated feelings Lenny was navigating.

Lenny’s emotional roller coaster was quite the ride, and I rooted for her every step of the way. Her friendship with Miles was beautiful and the romance was paced perfectly. It is more of a slow burn, which made so much sense for these characters and where they are at the beginning of the book. It also made the romantic payoff so worth it, but what stuck most with me was the friendship highlight. Miles was Lenny’s love interest, but Lou (her best friend) was and would always be her soulmate, and I thought that was such a beautiful sentiment.

10/10 recommend this one. I have no choice but to read everything else Cara Bastone writes.

ARC provided by Random House Publishing Group via NetGalley.

Steeped in the female protagonist's grief over a close friend's death, the novel nevertheless delivers on the titular promise. Bastone is a master at immersing her stories in New York city settings and uses that technique to take us on a figurative journey along with the character's literal peripatetic existence as she grapples with loss. The romance is a slow-burn, with the two main characters guiding each other to also (re)establish loving relationships with family. One of the rare romances that also gives agape (platonic unconditional love) and philia (fraternal/sororal love) as much importance as eros (romantic love). The recurring waves of sorrow may be challenging for some readers but there are moments of levity and the author is to be commended for not flinching from representing the impact of losing a loved one. The happy ending feels well-earned.

3 stars.

This is my second book by this author and I feel like I'm in the minority. All my friends have been loving and gushing over this book and her previous one but I feel like I dont't get it. The story was fine and I loved the deeper topics but compared to the other romance books I've read, this one just doesn't stand out to me .

This book completely surprised me. I had never read anything by Cara Bastone before, so I didn’t really know what to expect, but what I got was so much more than a typical romance.

Right from the start, I was drawn into Lenny’s story as she struggles with grief after losing her best friend. Lenny’s sharp humor and big heart made her impossible not to root for. Her pain felt real, and I connected with her struggles and moments of hope. Miles is exactly the kind of guy you want in a story like this too. He’s patient, kind, and steady without being perfect. Their slow-building romance felt genuine and it was so much more than just falling in love. It was also about finding comfort and safety when life gets hard.

This book literally breathed life into me. Bastone balanced enough joy and comedy to carry you through such a sad, universal feeling. Grief is something we all face, and this story is about what happens when you keep floating, when you really need to keep living because the only way out is through. I love that this book doesn’t suggest someone will save you, but that someone who cares will be there to hold your hand when you want to stop swimming. You don’t have to do it alone.

What really made this book stand out for me was the way it balanced the heavy emotional moments with lighter parts that had me laughing out loud. I laughed, I cried, and by the end, I felt both heartbroken and hopeful. Miles’ care for Lenny was so wholesome and if you want a romance that goes beyond love to explore grief, healing, and human connection, "Promise Me Sunshine" is absolutely worth reading!

A special thank you to NetGalley and Random House for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Rated 4.75. I loved another of Cara Bastones books and hoped this one would not disappoint. And it did not. Her character development is beautiful. The love story between Lenny and miles was wonderful to read. I’ll recommend this book again and again.

thank you to netgalley for the e-arc. i still don't know what it was i didn't like about this other than everything felt forced. the relationship between lenny and ainsley, between lenny and miles, the mom trying her best but falling short. everything about the book could have been a little bit more.

Both main characters are dealing with grief when they meet. As they get to know each other they help each other get through their grief all while they are falling in love. Sweet story!

it’s hard to find the words for a book that felt this perfect, but promise me sunshine was everything i could want in a story and more. this gentle, heartachingly beautiful book explores grief, healing, and love in such a real and tender way. miles and lenny’s connection felt like sunlight slowly breaking through the clouds. it was so soft, steady, and quietly life changing. i was kicking and screaming inside the whole time.

i loved the whole list thing. i was especially moved by how miles supported lenny without trying to fix her, offering presence and at times, pressure when it was necessary. his relationship with his niece ainsley melted me. miles continually showed up and did the work (the dance 😂😭)!!! lenny absolutely killed me. her quirky internal monologues and imaginary stories about the men she met made me fall even harder for her.

the emotional depth here is what made it a six star read for me. i loved that lenny bridged the gap for him and reese to truly become family, and how the romance bloomed through all the little things. there were so many subtle moments that built into something undeniable. there’s something so special about a slow burn love story wrapped in healing and hope, and cara bastone completely nailed it. i can’t stop thinking about these characters or how this book made me feel. it was an instant favorite.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️♾️
content: open door (ch. 32)

thank you to dial press for a gifted copy. my thoughts are my own.