Thank you to the publisher for the eArc.

4.5

Cara Bastone has solidified herself as an author that I will read anything from. The start of this book had me a little sceptical for some reason but that went away quickly.

This book explores the aspect of romance of being someone’s person so beautifully. It was so tender and emotionally charged I had such a good time with it.

I will definitely be recommending this.

This was EVERYTHING. Reading Promise Me Sunshine was like wrapping myself in a warm, cozy blanket of comfort. *the song "labyrinth" by taylor swift in a book*

first of all, I feel like the friends-to-lovers trope doesn't always get the love it deserves and this was executed flawlessly 🤌 I also really identified with Miles and appreciated his character so much. He's so thoughtful and generous, and seeing him trying to show up for his family even when he’s wasn't quite sure how was so endearing.

I do wish there were more nuggets of some of Lenny and Lou’s core memories together as besties to deepen their backstory, but ultimately I didn't need to feel connected to Lou to understand how Lenny was feeling and connect with her.

What I loved most was how the book handles the heavy theme of grief without ever making it burdensome for the reader. It’s sprinkled with moments of light-heartedness and comedic relief that don’t undermine the gravity of its message, but, instead, add a layer of realism that anyone who’s experienced loss can appreciate. (sometimes you have to laugh so you don't cry...)

overall, Promise Me Sunshine is a journey through the shadows back into the light. if you need a touching story about finding yourself and falling in love again when you least expect it - you must read! (it's set in later summer/fall if you're a seasonal reader!)

This was such an unexpected surprise in the best way possible. I loved every second of this book and it immediately pulled me out of my reading slump. All of the characters were well-fleshed out and I loved them all. This truly was a beautifully written story about love, grief, and healing. I could not imagine the pain of losing my best friend in that way and I felt every emotion Lenny was going through. I felt every emotion possible while reading this book. Cara has been added to my list of auto-buy authors!!! Going to read Ready or Not right now.

Lenny and Miles forever <3

Goodness gracious this book 😭😭😭

I truly didn’t think I’d ever love anything Cara Bastone wrote as much as I loved Ready or Not. She came in koolaid man style to tell me what a dummy I am for thinking that.

I freaking LOVED this book. Like holy heck what even are other books when this exists loved?

I truly can not even describe how beautifully written this is. Raw in its exploration of grief. What it means to live after the loss of the greatest love of your life(especially when that love isn’t a romantic love). How to move forward without that person. How GUILTY you feel for living.

Ugh just go read this book. I love Lenny. MILES. 😭😭I love miles with every fiber of my being. My goodness.

I heard rave reviews of Cara Bastone’s first novel Ready Or Not, but honestly the subject matter of the book did not interest me. However, when given the chance I jumped at the earc of Promise Me Sunshine.
This is a heavier romance about a woman named Lenny grieving the death of her best friend Lou. Lenny is given a short term nannying gig and meets Miles along the way. Miles has also dealt with enormous grief in his life. They both show each other how to live again.
This book does an incredible job capturing grief. It is a love letter to NYC. Readers should check trigger warning before picking it up and know that it is a slow slow burn. In fact, at times it reads more like women’s fiction in the best way possible. I do agree with some other reviews and wish there was an epilogue. Ultimately, though, I really enjoyed my time with book and just got her first novel Ready Or Not from the library.
A huge thank you to Cara Bastone, NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Dial Press Trade Paperback for the EARC. I truly enjoyed my time with this book and wholeheartedly recommend it!

This was such a heartfelt and real look into living and loving again while grief throws your life into complete chaos.

Cara Bastone’s Ready or Not was one of my favorite 2024 reads so Promise Me Sunshine was one of my most anticipated reads this year. And did it live up the hype? Yes, it’s a 5 star read for me! But with caveats, because you might need to be in a certain headspace before picking it up.

This one has Bastone’s signature wit and humor but it’s also HEAVY. Much sadder than I was anticipating. Lenny’s grief is palpable and so many scenes had me in tears.

If readers have recently lost someone they love, this book might be too much. But if you’re further along in your grief journey, I think this book is incredibly relatable. It’ll soothe your soul as you follow along with Lenny as she tries to check things off her “live again” list.

Promise Me Sunshine does deliver on the romance, in the form of Miles, who understands what Lenny is going through and helps her find ways to heal, bit by bit. It’s a very slow burn romance but it builds up in a way that fits both characters perfectly.

Just like in Ready or Not, Bastone’s writing is absolutely beautiful. I love her pacing, her character and setting descriptions, and her ability to lift emotional scenes right off the page, leaving me with all the feels.

This one is sad but worth sticking with. For the romance, for the healing, for the found family, and for the HEA that one discovers when they truly know they can continue living even after the worst pain imaginable.

Also, if you have the chance to listen to this one, do it! It’s narrated by Alex Finke (who also did Ready or Not) and it’s amazing!

This is a cute, fun romance, that delivers on its premise. As a bookseller, I will recommend this book and think it will generally have wide appeal. With that being said, I thought it was just fine.

In this book, Lenny is struggling with her grief after her best friend passes away. She meets Miles and they make an agreement that will help her through her grief, and help him connect with his family. My favorite scenes in this book were with Lenny and Ainsley (the little girl Lenny was nannying). They were very cute, funny, and wholesome.

This book tackles a lot of heavy subjects, specifically grief, in a very raw and realistic manner. This is more of a "women's fiction" book with romance, rather than a romance book. The romance is obviously building up throughout the book, but the MMC and FMC don't actually get together until the 90% mark. It reminded me of authors like Mhairi McFarlane and Ashley Poston.

Unfortunately, a few things in this didn't really work for me. Lenny was giving a little too quirky, millennial cringe for my personal taste. Some of her comments, jokes, etc. just didn't really land for me. And the sex scene... god it was so awkward. I was genuinely cringing throughout the entirety of their intimate scenes. I didn't really connect with either of the main characters like I expected to, which is why this is a 3 star.

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What.Nikki.Reads rated a book it was amazing
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Promise Me Sunshine by Cara Bastone
Promise Me Sunshine
by Cara Bastone
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Where is the 6 stars button.
♾️ 😭♾️😭♾️😍♾️😍😭♾️

🧡 Friends to lovers
🚢 Grief + Loss is a huge part
🧡 Healing through love
🚢 Slow burn
🧡 He takes care of her (understatement)
🚢 She's his niece's nanny
🧡 Single 1st person POV

The books that squeeze my heart are always the books that are hardest for me to write a review for. I just never feel like I can say enough/ the right things.

This book is BEAUTIFUL. It is raw and painful in all the ways grief is. Both Miles and Lenny have experienced grief and lost people they were the closest too. Lenny's is more recent and she is in the thick of it. With grief's hands fully grasping her Miles helps show her there is a light to be shined again.

Miles is the most caring and kind human and must be protected at all costs. Lenny is beautiful (the best damn nanny!) and gentle spirited.

This is a romance... A love story, there is a hea. BUT it's so much more. I think I highlighted half the book.

"He treats you well?"
"Mom, he walked into hell and dragged me back out:"

My words can't do it justice. Please add this one to your tbr.

Thank you @netgalley @randomhouse @thedialpress for this earc.

oh my GOD this was incredible. I have loved Cara Bastone since I read "Ready or Not" last year, and "Promise Me Sunshine" has solidified itself in myself as a "soul book". Everyone is familiar with grief, in various capacities, but wow this book read me inside and out. My heart ached for Lenny and for Miles, both in their shared grief, but also their separate experiences, and they are truly the definition of two people absolutely meant for each other. The development of their relationship was so impactful, and Miles' steadfast-ness brought me to my knees. This was so beautifully devastating, while also being relatable, funny, and quirky, and that is the true stamp of Cara Bastone. She has an absolute fan in me forever. I love her words and her ability to step into my brain and tell me exactly what I need to hear, and I feel so healed by her books by the end. Just truly incredible and an immediate recommend.

Something good for you, something bad for you, and a change of scenery.

Promise Me Sunshine centers on Lenny, who is grieving the loss of her best friend, Lou, to cancer. Lenny is so buried by her grief that she spends her nights on the Staten Island ferry, dozing in and out of sleep on her back and forth from Manhattan. During the day, she spends her time nannying seven-year-old Ainsley. Ainsley's uncle (it's complicated), Miles, is immediately wary of Lenny and her role in Ainsley's life. She doesn't seem responsible, and her nannying style is less than conventional (okay, it's not, Miles is just lowkey a party pooper at the beginning of this book). After stopping Lenny from getting into a fight with a random New Yorker (in her defense, this random New Yorker called her a bitch, so Lenny is very justified), Miles begins to realize there's more to Lenny -- something he is all too familiar with (grief).

Miles and Lenny start a friendship on the basis of him trying to help her live again (she has a "live again" list she made when Lou was a live), and Lenny helping Miles become closer to Ainsley. Lenny grudgingly allows Miles to help her through her list. Slowly but surely, and as she begins to spend more and more time with Miles, Lenny is surprised to discover that it's okay to move on from loss -- not that it means she's forgetting Lou, but allowing herself to enjoy life and find love again.

The premise of this book intimidated me -- I've not experienced a loss like Lenny's, but I am still not a stranger to grief. That being said, I didn't expect to resonate so much with Lenny. Sometimes it feels like all you're capable of is going through the motions -- not *really* living but surviving. You forget how to take care of yourself. I think this book did an amazing job depicting that but balancing it with messages of hope and how to pull yourself out of -- what feels like -- rock bottom. I appreciated how this was still a romance, but the romance plot was SO slow burn that you could get to know both Miles and Lenny as people before getting to know them as a couple. Miles isn't painted as Lenny's "savior," but rather the person she needed to remind her that she CAN take care of herself and she DOES have her own interests and hobbies and personality. I found this book to be the perfect balance of romance and literary fiction -- very reminiscent of Emily Henry but still very distinctly Cara Bastone.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the early digital copy in exchange for my honest review!!

I don’t usually enjoy books about grief but Promise me Sunshine is so much more. It’s about amazing friendships, family and romantic love we all deserve. Loved how Lenny could still find humour through her sadness and Miles oh my goodness loved all of him.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Cara Bastone's Ready or Not was a smash hit but I'm not a fan of the pregnancy trope so I skipped reading it. Promise Me Sunshine is good enough to make me reconsider.

In Promise Me Sunshine, Lenny's best friend and roommate has died and she's not sure where to go from there. Her home feels haunted, her parents are smotheringly concerned. Feeling totally adrift, she's paying her bills babysitting when she meets Miles. Miles is, of course, a grumpy uncle who seems to have an uncanny knack to understand Lenny. Miles brings Lenny back to life. Bastone perfectly paces the romance and I never felt like it was inauthentic for where the characters were in the story. I thoroughly enjoyed this and I will need to explore Bastone's backlist.

This story will make you cry (in a good way). It’s really more about grief than romance. The love story is sweet but I loved how the two main characters helped each other through their own grief and hardships.

I received an arc from netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Wow. Promise Me Sunshine is a story that reaches deep into your heart, holds it in its hands, and reminds you of the beauty of healing, love and friendship, even in the face of immense and debilitating grief.
From the very first page, I was completely captivated by this book.
Cara Bastone's writing is so immersive, so emotionally raw, that it feels less like reading a story and more like stepping inside someone else's heart. As someone who has personally experienced deep grief, Promise Me Sunshine was both a comfort and a revelation. I don't think I have been able to relate to someone and a story as much as l did with Lenny.
Her journey through love, loss, and rediscovering joy felt deeply authentic. Bastone doesn't shy away from the messy, painful, and often unpredictable ways grief manifests-one moment, it's crushing and unbearable; the next, a small glimmer of light peeks through. She captures that feeling so intimately that at times, I had to pause just to breathe, just to sit with my own emotions that this story so eloquently reflected
But what makes this book truly special is its balance of sorrow and hope. There is so much warmth in these pages, so much love. The relationships—both romantic and platonic—are layered and deeply moving, reminding us that even in our darkest moments, we are never truly alone. The way the love story unfolds is gentle yet powerful, proving that second chances and new beginnings don't erase the past but instead weave themselves into it, creating something even more meaningful.
Bastone's characters feel like real people, flawed and beautiful and achingly human. Every interaction, every whispered promise, every hard-fought moment of healing felt genuine. I laughed with them, cried with them, and, by the end, felt as though I had taken this journey alongside them.
Reading Promise Me Sunshine was a reminder that healing is not linear, that love can exist alongside grief, and that joy, however distant it may seem, is always worth reaching for.

Promise Me Sunshine is the story of Lenny, a young woman who has lost her best friend to cancer, and is struggling with existing without her. I have read and enjoyed several of Cara Bastone's books in the past, and I was still unprepared for how much this story invaded my heart. It's an incredible exploration of living through loss and the wild feral grief that can follow.
Somehow, Lenny is silly, fun, caring, and whimsical, but also disconnected, inconsolable, and frozen in her sorrow. Her character is so vivid to me, from her quirky "instalove" fantasies about any handsome man she comes across, to her ability to compartmentalize and suppress just long enough to function.
When she meets Miles as his niece's new nanny, it takes a minute for him to see through the visible damage her grief and depression have caused. Seeing him peel back his own layers for her as he becomes something of a "Live Again" list sherpa for Lenny is so rewarding. The way that he never fails to show up for her over and over again is everything.
Bastone's writing is so well paced, and the intensely long slow burn to get us where we're headed is masterful. I never once found myself taken out of the story, or wishing Miles and Lenny would just "get on with it". The payoff was so worth every word.
I wouldn't call this a spicy story. It's more sweet and steamy, but it's so rich in so many other ways. I highly recommend this book to fans of emotional, inspiring stories with complex characters.
Huge thanks to NetGalley, Random House, Dial Press, and Cara Bastone for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

What begins as a grumpy x sunshine dynamic between two people bonding over their shared grief quickly evolves into a heartfelt friends-to-lovers romance that will have you laughing out loud and feeling deeply. Cara Bastone does an incredible job of tugging at your heartstrings, delivering a story full of emotions, and this one is no different. If you enjoyed her debut last year, you’ll absolutely fall for Miles and Lenny in this charming babysitter x uncle romcom.

I adore this author and her witty writing style. I was laughing out loud within minutes of picking up Promise Me Sunshine, giggling over Lenny’s ridiculous fantasy affairs and the cupcakes!!

Recovering from loss is a heavy topic. Miles enters the story when Lenny is vulnerable, and I really didn’t want him to “save” her, so I felt sort of conflicted! A happy story that gives an important reminder to show our whole selves, accept help, and live.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for the advanced copy of this book!

what is it about ☀️
Lenny’s world feels like it’s spinning off its axis after losing her best friend & soulmate. In the midst of her grieving she collides with Miles. A bit gruff on the outside and brutally honest, he offers to help Lenny find her way through the grief; & promises her life can still be worth living after losing someone you love.

what a beautifully written & special book. at the heart of this story is friendship & healing.
I loved the honesty in this book. Lenny’s story felt so real & I could empathize with what she was going through. The way grief & loss was touched on in this story was so raw & executed so well. I felt like I was going through every step with the characters.
Lenny & Miles were the center of this story & their connection was so endearing, sweet & honest. Their relationship from strangers to friends to lovers was so captivating to watch unfold. They both learned so much from one another & their love grew little by little. The slow burn was burning!!!

Miles what a man 😭. He was the most perfect match for Lenny in every way. He was supportive, beyond caring & held her hand through the hardest moments. He was so attentive & patient with Lenny & her emotions. He is also the acts of service king!! Honestly the most perfect man ever.

Lenny 🥺 ugh i just wanted to give her a big hug 🫂. Everything she was going through was something nobody wants to imagine but seeing her slowly heal & find her way back to herself was so inspiring. She grew immensely from the start to end & her character growth was amazing 🧡.

what a beautiful story of two people meeting each other at their lowest & finding healing together. this is such a special book & you all should pick it up!!

read if you like
☀️friends to lovers
☀️ he falls first
☀️ acts of service is your love language
☀️ grumpy x sunshine (a little bit)

content warnings ‼️
🌶️.5
one open door scene, mentions loss of friend & parent, big focus on grief.

This is such a beautifully written book. The topics are serious and reality but this hit a bit close to home. As someone who lost a best friend at a young age, you begin to wonder and there’s so many questions you don’t know the answer to.

Lenny and Miles had such a beautiful connection, clicked instantly and as their friendship prevailed they came to understanding their griefs differently. Miles was exactly who Lenny needed whether she knew it or not. This journey hasn’t been easy for her but at least knowing someone is there to listen and filling some void in their life helps. I hope Lenny knows Lou loves her and wants her to be happy.

Miles oh how you have a piece of me. The person you are and became 🥺🫶 This sweet soul didn’t know better and he is thoughtful, selfish, and I wish others understood his quirkiness. I think everyone needs a friend like Miles.

Thank you @carabastone @thedialpress @netgalley for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.