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

I loved Bastone's previous novel, but this one fell a bit flat. I didn't love the romance and felt like the pacing was off. I think the grieving rep and storyline was done super well, so the romance felt unnecessary.

5 ⭐️

I can’t say enough good things about this book! I felt so many emotions and absolutely savored every bit of it.

Lenny is grieving the loss of her best friend, Lou, and not functioning very well in the process. She takes a temporary babysitting job for single mom, Reese, and her daughter, Ainsley.

“And saying ‘my friend died’ doesn’t convey what really—she was my sister. No. My A-team. My other half. And I’m so f*****g stupid because I didn’t realize she was my whole life until she was gone.”

Miles, Ainsley’s grumpy uncle, sees through Lenny’s hurt and makes a deal with her to help her through her grief if she can help him connect with his niece.

“I’m kind of a grief … expert, for lack of a better term. And I was thinking that in exchange for the babysitter lessons I could … help you get through this.” “How?” “I understand what you’re going through. Not the specifics, but the general idea. I literally know how to keep on living after …”

The way their relationship slowly develops is just so precious and beautiful. This is a true slow burn, where they become friends and confidants before lovers. Cara has a way of mixing humor into her books while addressing serious topics that helps them to feel not quite so heavy.

“Your ex-girlfriend’s brother is getting married, invited you, and you want to take …” I look down at myself. Mud-streaked, hanks of unwashed hair, overalls with a truly nonsensical number of shells in the pockets, dirt under my fingernails, a stretched-out NASA T-shirt. “A swamp thing as your plus one?” His eyes drop to my toes and back up to my hair. The corner of his mouth quirks up into a microscopic smile. “Yeah.”

Lenny is so quirky and absolutely hilarious, and Miles seems grumpy at first but he ends up being the best MMC I’ve read in a long time. He’s so nurturing and kind, and will drop everything to be by Lenny’s side at a moment’s notice.

“He treats you well?” “Mom, he walked into hell and dragged me back out.”

I’m so glad I read this one and can’t wait to meet Cara Bastone on her book tour in a few weeks! Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for the e-arc. All opinions are my own.

“Grief is a relationship,” he continues. “It’s the way we figure out how to keep loving them even though they’re gone. And in order to do that we have to keep on going. And going and going.”

This book is everything. The grief and the banter between FMC and MMC was so so good. I loved that the author directly handled healing and grief in this book and let it be talked about so so very well. This book was so well written and I will definitely be reading more by this Author

Another flawless romcom from Cara Bastone! Her ear for dialog is impeccable, with lines that are laugh-out-loud funny but still sound like something a person would actually say. Her characters have complexity and depth without losing their sweetness. In another writer's hands, Lenny could have been an irritating manic pixie dreamgirl. Instead, she is a heartbreakingly lovable hot mess you never stop rooting for. And while Miles seems a little too good to be true, he has enough rough edges to keep him grounded in reality. This is the second time Bastone has gotten me to read a book containing tropes I ordinarily avoid (unplanned pregnancy in the last one, cancer/grief in this one), and I am in awe of her ability to spin them into a story that's compelling, comforting, and ultimately uplifting.

Lenny is trying to get through this weird period in her life one day at a time. You see, she recently lost her best friend and doesn't quite know how to move on from that. Grief is overwhelming and the only thing keeping her going is her nannying gigs. Lenny moves from one family to the next to keep her busy and her mind away from her more obtrusive thoughts. Enter Miles: the uncle for the cute little girl that Lenny is nannying for. He's rude, always around and criticizes Lenny about everything. Yes, Miles comes across as a jerk, but he agrees to help Lenny with her grief if she agrees to help him get to know his niece better. And so an alliance is formed. But the more time these two spend together the more they get to know one another...will they part ways once they've gotten what they need from one another?

Cara Bastone's books are heavily character based and I loved getting to know Lenny and Miles and everything that made them them in Promise Me Sunshine. I love a book that has me laughing out loud one moment and then on the precipice of tears the next and Cara Bastone knows how to do that so well. I have so many passages highlighted that resonated with me. Grief is such a hard thing to write about and Cara Bastone does it so beautifully.

I loved loved loved the relationship between Miles and Lenny. They were hilarious and as their relationship progressed so sweet. These two knew exactly what made the other tick and were so patient with one another. Their slow progression from strangers to friends to lovers was done perfectly.

What a fantastic book! Always looking forward to more books by Cara Bastone.

5 stars!!!

I knew I would love this one and pre-ordered a copy. Then, I also needed the #BOTM edition which matches my copy of #ReadyOrNot which was also a 5-star read for me.

In this slow burn, we first meet Lenny, who is deep in grief after her bestie Lou died following a battle with cancer. Lenny is essentially avoiding her life. Her parents, her apartment, anything that Lou touched.

She lands a temp job as babysitter to Ainsley for single mom Reese. Along with that, she soon discovers, comes Ainsley’s Uncle Miles who seems to always be lurking and is kind of a jerk.

But Miles has a way of seeing her through, or maybe despite, her grief. He proposes a deal: He’ll help Lenny try to live again by checking off items on a list she has if she will help him connect better with Reese & Ainsley.

Navigating through grief is rarely a straight line. I cried right along with Lenny & with Miles too on their winding journey.

#PromiseMeSunshine #CaraBastone #5StarRead #SlowBurnRomance #Netgalley #BookOfTheMonthClub #BookReview

4.25 ⭐️
1 🌶️

Things I loved:
-Charming and quirky characters
-Laugh out loud humor
-The emotional depth of all of the characters/intricacies of their relationships
-Taking the front seat on a grief journey

Other thoughts:
-The slow burn felt a touch too slow for me at times. This is my second Cara Bastone book, I read the first on audio. I REALLY WISH I HAD AUDIO. I'm in line at the library for audio and I truly do think reading this book via audio will make me enjoy the slow burn so much more.
-I'm a Cara Bastone fan, I love her characters and their charm. There is just something so special about the worlds she creates.

A special thanks for Cara Bastone and Random House Publishing Group for this ARC. While the review copy is gifted, opinions are always my own.

At the beginning of the story, Lenny is taking on a new temporary nanny job to Ainsley because she can't settle in any one place since her best friend died of cancer. While at Ainsley's, she opens the door to the brooding Miles. After a number of mishaps with Miles, he assigns himself to be her personal guide to her grief. While closing out items on her bucket list of things to do to get over the loss of her friend, Lenny processes her grief and learns to live and love again. I love the messy, flawed and interesting heroines that Bastone creates. The grief over the loss of someone so important is well represented. Side characters including Miles are well established. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys reading thoughtfully drawn, emotionally moving and yet still fun characters and their trials.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in return for my honest review.