This started out really strong for me, I was swooning over Miles and loved how he was there for Lenny. The story was very sweet and fun to read, but… there was no ending. Like, did I get a different book from everyone else who is giving it five stars?? I wanted more!!

This was a cute book! I always appreciate a romance with a little more depth to it. Overall I liked the story and it was a good character study in grief. I do feel like after they finally got together the rest of the book felt a little out of place. Maybe because it was different from the standard romance format but it just felt a little forced.

Let me just start here and say, I loved this book!

Lenny, lifetime city gal and New Yorker, has just lost her best friend. She’s now unanchored and floating through the world, having lost her person. She’s meets Miles when she shows up for her first day at a new job, nannying for his niece. He thinks she’s a hot mess who can’t possibly be able to take care of a kid. She thinks he’s a big, broody, judgy jerk. Quickly, though, they both learn that there’s more to each other than meets the eye and maybe they might find that they may be the best thing for one another.

Favorite Scenes!
- The Camping Trip
- The Tattoo Parlor
- The Lightening Storm

This book was the most delightful blend of patience, friendship, kindness and love. I love the way Lenny and Miles slowly push each other to open up and grow. The way the hold space for each other. How achingly kind Miles is. And how they each to learn that there’s someone in their corner and for them to both become and be that person for the other.

Promise Me Sunshine made me laugh, giggle with giddiness and cry. Thanks for this beautiful book Cara Bastone! Can’t wait to read the next! ❤️

Thank you Random House and Net Galley, for allowing me to read an advance copy of this book!

I really enjoyed this author's last book, which is why I wanted to read this one. Unfortunately, it was a DNF for me. The FMC just came across as very juvenile (which would have been fine if she was a teenager but she was almost 30), and the MMC was just eh. I couldn't get into the story, and the almost constant cussing (again like a teenager) was off-putting. This book just wasn't for me.

I loved this book so much!
It was so cute, the perfect friends-to-lovers I must say, but at the same time it was a deep and raw exploration of grief and how we cope with that. All the characters felt real and their development was extraordinary. It was so easy to relate to them and get attached!
Miles was THE MMC and being able to understand his past made him even more real and human. I loved him on every single page.
Now I have to read Promise Me Sunshine asap!
Thanks to netgalley for providing me with the e-ARC

This book was everything I could have asked for and more! After reading Ready or Not last year, I became enthralled with Cara Bastone’s writing, and I think I love this book even more. This was such a beautiful story about grief, and I really love a slow burn. Lenny was a complex and dynamic character, and Miles was the biggest softie to ever exist. I loved seeing their layers being pulled back, and how they helped each other through their grief. This hurt me in all the right ways, and I will be grabbing a physical copy ASAP.

Thank you to PRH Audio for the ALC and to Dial Press and Netgalley for the eARC of Promise Me Sunshine!

This book had me completely captivated from the beginning but it also made me EXTREMELY sad. The narrator was almost too good in the way she read the really raw scenes. Lenny and Miles were a really sweet pairing (even if I worried a bit about codependency at the beginning of the story) and I loved watching their relationship develop. I also thought the book tackled grief in a really real way.

Losing one star for me because I feel like the sex scene at the end gave me major secondhand embarrassment and I actually think it felt really unnecessary in this book. I don’t think it needed one and the best parts of the romance were everything else that built it up. Lenny also cringed me out some times lol

Overall though, this was such a great story that really hit in a tender way. Miles is a top tier book boyfriend.

Thank you again to PRH Audio, Dial Press, and Netgalley for the chance to read this (a little late sorry)!!

I jumped at the chance to read Cara Bastone’s new novel and I was not disappointed.

Lenny’s best friend just died of cancer and she’s not doing ok. She’s sleeping on the Staten Island ferry to avoid going home. When she takes a new nanny job and meets the kid’s uncle, Miles, she thinks he’s a grump. And, he kind of is. He appoints himself her grief guide in exchange for Lenny helping him get to know his sister and niece better.

Books about grief keep popping up when I’m not looking for them. It’s hard enough dealing with loss in my own life. But this was so heartfelt and exactly what I needed. It’s funny, but it’s also so serious. Lenny and Miles both treat their grief in such realistic ways. This was an excellent novel.

I really like Kara Bastone’s writing! She’s got a great grasp on the one-liner beautiful descriptions of love. This one, probably more than her others, really delivered a lovely portrayal of supporting someone experiencing grief. I love her NYC backdrop so much, but especially loved the camping scene AND the dinner with Lenny's parents scene. Fantastically written.

Also, I appreciate the slow burn and obvious build up to the intimacy so if a reader were trying to access it as a closed door romance, it’s very possible.

I am so delighted by Miles as the MMC, he is so simultaneously fully himself and also self conscious in some relationships. It was a fabulously written dichotomy.

Lenny was also a very layered character. Like, what happens to a free-spirited person who is completely broken by grief?

I have loved everything I have read by Cara Bastone but this is my absolute favorite thing she has written. I can not express to you how much I love this book. This is one of those books that changed me as a person. I felt so much of what this book says to my bones. This book deals heavily with grief and recovery from loss. I recently had a close family member pass away and this book delt with a lot of emotions I was already feeling. This book made me feel so seen and put so many of my feelings into words. I am so thankful to have my own Miles who has helped me remember to live. I hope everyone gets a chance to pick this one up.

I went into this book and was caught off guard how emotional this book was (in a good way)! Lenny has lost her other half, her best friend. Miles, a grumpy neighbor, uncle to the kid Lenny is nannying for, decides to make a deal: he helps her through her grief and she helps him connect with his niece.

Lenny’s character is contagious! I loved the slow burn romance between her and Miles. Miles is now my new book boyfriend. He’s just perfection in my eyes. But this book is so much more than their love. It’s about learning to move forward and knowing you’ll never forget the one you lost. So many great quotes that I pulled from this book!

Words can barely describe how much I loved this book. While I hate comparing authors (oh if you’re a fan of this and this, try this!) I truly feel that fans of Abby Jimenez will love Cara Bastone’s work. Similar to Ready or Not, Cara tackles some tough topics, but creates incredibly vivid and read characters that you just want to be friends with in real life. I wanted to hug Lenny and take her out for coffee while experiencing her journey and definitely found myself kicking my legs and giggling with Joy whole also wiping away tears during other moments in the story. Cara is absolutely a new favourite author of mine and I cannot wait to see what she writes next!

Lenny lost her best friend to cancer and is now lost herself. Unable to return to the home they shared but in denial of needing help, she takes on temporary babysitting jobs to keep herself busy and uncommitted. But her latest job with Reese and her precocious daughter Ainsley comes with an unexpected bonus: grumpy Uncle Miles. He's the one who sees through all of Lenny's masks and offers her a chance to try to learn to live with her grief in exchange for lessons on how to be an uncle and have a place in Reese and Ainsley's lives.

This is a book about grief more than anything. The romance is there and sweet as can be, but be prepared to have a few good cries as Lenny starts in a dark place and goes back to it several times. Bastone understands grief and how it can hit you like a freight train out of nowhere, with all that pain sometimes bleeding off the page, even as you're seeing Miles put Lenny back together. I had to put it down a couple of times when the words on the page hit too close to home. But I was always happy to come back to see Lenny slowly come alive with every action that Miles helped her take, and it was even better when she was the one who began to take the initiative. It's a little bit of hope that there can indeed be fun and light after a terrible loss.

Delighted thanks to NetGalley and Dial Press Trade Paperback for the moving read!

Mixed feelings about this one. The beginning and end had me hooked, but I think 100+ pages could’ve been cut from the middle. Stayed for Miles. Thanks NetGalley for the ARC.

"This baby will not stop judging me."

Grieving the loss of her best friend, Lenny is barely holding herself together. She is doing temporary babysitting jobs, her latest with a great girl named Ainsley. She keeps it together for her. The problem - Ainsley's broody uncle Miles can see right through Lenny.

Miles is no stranger to grief and offers to help Lenny. He'll help her with her "live again" list if she helps him with Ainsley and her mom.

This book had some heavy parts. Lenny is really struggling with loss and depression. And Miles has his own share of problems. But I loved how the author handled the situations. I loved that they helped each other learn to live and overcome their struggles, and even find love.

Thank you so much to Random House Publishing and NetGalley for letting me read an ARC :)

This book is really, truly beautiful & sad & real & so funny all at the same time. This is a story of grief & healing. It’s about taking care of yourself & taking care of the people you love. Of knowing someone so perfectly & loving them just right. I think this is one that will stay with me for a long, long time.

This was a beautiful story of grief, love & friendship. After Lenny loses her best friend her world is falling apart. She meets Miles who agrees to be her grief guru & help her work through her grief and attempt to get her life back. The trade off is that Lenny will help Miles build a relationship with his sister and niece. Lenny & Miles have the journey of the lifetime together in this beautiful and touching story.

What an emotional read. Lenny is a character that is endlessly endearing. Her broken heart isn’t over a romance, but she’s lost a great love. Miles is a kindred spirit and he edges his way into her healing process. A beautiful story where strangers become friends and then romance blooms. I had several tearful moments as I read this story that explores grief and living after loss. I loved the New York setting such a stunning backdrop for this moving tale. Highly recommend.

No one's doing it like Cara Bastone. This is such a funny, gritty, heart-wrenching, redemptive story about grief and loss and love and joy. I couldn't put it down. Every time I finish one of her books, something I didn't even know was missing gets healed. Thank you!!

I absolutely LOVED this book!! the banter?? the chemistry?? the character development?? this is my favorite arc of the year so far and I will be forcing all of my friends to read this