this book made me SOB.
brief synopsis: lenny loses her best friend & kind of just goes through life, not living. just existing. she gets a job as a nanny & ends up meeting miles. my sweet baby miles 🥹 miles notices something off about len & decides to help her get back to the land of the living.

this is more than a romance. it’s a story about love, grief, & trying to pick yourself back up when you feel like part of you is missing, a part that you can’t live without. both the main characters in this book are sweet babies that deserve the world. i adore the start of their friendship, i LOVE that this is such a slow burn. lenny truly needed to (try) to heal & i am so glad miles recognized that & took his time!! i love their friendship dynamic and how their love grows. MILES IS AN ACTS OF SERVICE KING. he LOVES to take care of lenny but also helps her realize that she can take care of herself. my man miles is so dependable & thoughtful & selfless (i have heart eyes). lenny is sunshine in human form but got lost in the clouds for a little bit (understandable af tho) i love seeing her growth & healing journey. such a beautiful story i loved it

thank you to the publisher for providing this book for review via netgalley. all opinions are my own <3

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Genre: ❤️Romance
Recommend:✅

I absolutely devoured “Promise Me Sunshine”, and I know that Lenny and Miles, our romance protagonists will stick with me for a long time. This one wasn’t your typical romance, it was much more a story about grief and learning to live, and love, again.

The story removes around Lenny, who lost her best friend Lou after an extended illness. After she loses Lou, Lenny finds herself completely adrift until she meets Miles, the estranged brother of the woman she nannies for. Lenny and Miles form a strange connection and find themselves agreeing to help each other. Obviously, sparks fly.

“Promise Me Sunshine” was so sad at parts but also joyful and deep. And, thankfully, the romance bits were *really* good. Butterfly inducing. Loved this one and I think you will too!

You’ll love this book if you love:
✅Stories about Grief
✅Enimies to Lovers
✅Complicated Families

Rating: 5.0⭐️

Promise Me Sunshine by Cara Bastone is a beautifully written, deeply heartfelt story about love, loss, and learning to live again. This was my first book by Bastone, and it absolutely won’t be my last.

Lenny is navigating the grief of losing her best friend while adjusting to her new job as a nanny. Enter Miles—the grumpy, emotionally guarded uncle of her nanny family—who has experienced his own share of heartbreak. As they cross paths, Miles helps Lenny rediscover joy, reminding her that grief isn’t linear; it’s messy, painful, and sometimes unexpectedly beautiful.

This book made me laugh, made me cry, and most of all, made me feel. Bastone perfectly captures the complexities of grief and healing with raw emotion and warmth. If you love stories that balance humor and heartache, this one is a must-read.

Promise me Sunshine is officially a new favorite for me. Absolute perfection. No notes! I devoured every page and didn’t want it to end. Huge thanks to NetGalley and Random House for the early access to this gem!

This book is just so beautiful. It made me laugh and cry and fall in love with life all over again.

Grief is such a difficult subject, but Cara manages to do it so lovingly.

I adore Miles and how kind and patient he is with Lenny, pushing her without coming across as disregarding her feelings. And Lenny is the most real and relatable character I've read in a while.

This is such a beautiful love story. Filled with charming characters. I highly recommend it. And I'm looking forward to reading more from this author.

I am blown away by how beautiful this story was. Guys it is a romance, but more important, it’s a book about friendship and grieving. It deals with how devastating the loss of your true best friend can be and also about how friendship can pull us out of such devastating loss. Do not go into this thinking you’re gonna get a happy romance because that’s not what it’s about. This is a story about grief and living. But it’s so beautifully done. I’m still sitting with this book and emotionally reveling in it.

Thank you #Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Wow, where to i even start?
Beautiful. Beautiful. Beautiful. From beginning to end just beautiful. Loved every single moment with this book.
The amount of emotion I went through reading this book, from feeling giddy to full on laughter to sobbing. This is so heart warming, I loved it so much. Beautifully written, the pacing is great! The story itself is chef's kiss.
It's that kind of book that you would re-read for comfort when you just want to be comforted.
I don't usually reread books but this is definitely one of the top books I'll revisit again! Will definitely buying a physical copy!

Please give me a Miles of my own, I need that, I need him in my life, my comfort. <33



thank you netgalley for the arc!

Cara Bastone has done it again. Another story that is beautiful and quirky and heartbreaking and joyful and such a journey.

I immediately connected with Lenny and how she was functioning day to day and contributing to society during the day while falling apart each night. And I immediately fell for Miles and his ability to see Lenny and be what she needed. When he told her he wouldn't let her drown? What an important moment. The way these two move through their struggles and grief together was so beautiful to read. Add in an adorable, quirky child and you have won me over for life.

This was absolutely beautiful. It captured what it feels like to grieve and live so perfectly but was also so funny. I cried and laughed. This was my second book by Cara Bastone and it did not let me down. I loved this so much. I think this book healed something in me. 10 out of 10 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

Loved it. No notes.

5 outta 5 ⭐

The journey this book took me on was **chef's kiss**

We meet Lenny. She is in the thick of grief, having lost her best friend to cancer. And she is a mess. She's doing Mary Poppins side gigs and finds herself intertwined with a grumpy neighbor who thinks he can help her.

I was just sucked into this world and I was rooting for these characters. I found the love story to be gentle and tender and yet still built that romantic tension that keeps you turning pages to get to "the good stuff."

I enjoyed the third act (spoilers.... no break up) - no need to roll my eyes at some dumb miscommunication or I'm not worthy type break up.

Thanks to Netgalley and Randomhouse Publishing for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

When Lenny’s bestfriend dies, she finds herself struggling to want to live. But then she meets Miles and what follows are months of him nursing her back to life until she’s able to take care of herself again.

This is the first book that deals with grief where we don’t have a chance to bond with the deceased character before they die, but i still felt the pain as viscerally as if I were Lenny herself. It felt like I was grieving right along with her for the Lou that we were seeing through Lenny’s memories.

Then we had the beautiful dynamic between Miles and Lenny. Friends, but also, so much more.
Miles acts as someones who reminds Lenny of the beauty in living, even when it’s the last thing you feel like doing. Their relationship was tender and unique and the banter was so well written. Honestly? I would happily go the rest of my life looking at the world through the eyes of characters like Lenny and Miles.
Then we had Reese and Ains and they were the cherries on top! I liked seeing how these characters interacted differently with Miles versus with Lenny, and how even those relationships evolved throughout the book.

I also ADORED the pacing of the romance intertwined with all the character growth😩 the slow burn really slow burned in this one but the best part is that this was so much more than the romance.
It felt like a love letter to friendship and the people you let hold your hand when all you really want to do is let go.

I also loved that this wasn’t about suppressing the pain. It was about feeling all the glorious & awful feelings that we humans are destined to endure, and the beauty that comes when you’re out on the other side of it.

Overall, I love books that feel distinctly like the human experience. That show in such an obvious way how much it hurts to be human, but also how much wonder there is in living and loving and being loved. Cara Bastone’s book gave me all of that and so much more and I need everyone to read it.

If you love:
☀️ Complicated relationship with grief
☀️ Friends to lovers (& so much more than that)
☀️ Family dynamics
☀️ Grumpy x sunshine
☀️ Slow burn & sooo much pining

Then this one is for you🥹

Thank you to Random House, NetGalley and Cara Bastone for this e-arc ♥️

Cara Bastone has done it again with Promise Me Sunshine—a beautifully heartfelt, emotionally rich book that perfectly balances grief, healing, and the unexpected magic of human connection.

Lenny is a FMC you can’t help but root for. She’s raw, vulnerable, and trying her best to navigate life after losing her best friend. Her struggles feel sooo real. Enter Miles, the grumpy yet secretly soft-hearted MMC, whose own experiences with loss make him the perfect (if reluctant) companion on Lenny’s journey to healing. Their dynamic is perfection—grumpy/sunshine at its finest, with banter that’s equal parts hilarious and heartwarming.

Promise Me Sunshine is a reminder that even in the darkest moments, there’s still light to be found. A must-read for anyone who loves stories of resilience, found family, and slow-burn romance that lingers long after the last page.

This was such a gorgeous story. Deep characters, themes, and plot balanced perfectly with humor. Lenny and Miles were so good to each other and it was so refreshing to read a story about a mature relationship where the two are so accepting but also push each other to be better. Cara Bastone does such an amazing job striking a balance between heavy and heartfelt. An auto-buy author for sure!

I absolutely loved this book!! Although it is definitely a romance, it is also a story of friendship and grief. Lenny and Miles’ relationship was built in such a wholesome way that had me cheering for them the entire book! The comedic timing of Ainsley was perfect, and the cameo from Ready or Not was the cherry on top for me!! Ι’ve already purchased a hard copy to re-read in the future!

this book is a beautifully written story about learning how to live after a loss, how to handle grief. as such, it does get a bit heavier at times, but it was a realistic representation of this complex moment of life. when it comes to the romance storyline, it's definitely slow-paced and i felt like it was a secondary plot for most of the book, with only small and few glimpses of tender moments between the main characters. however, it completely makes sense within the story being told, and it's very sweet.

Lenny has been overcome with grief after the death of her best friend, Lou, who lost her battle with cancer. Lenny is avoiding a lot these days; her parents, the apartment she shared with Lou, and the list of things to help her live again that she promised Lou she would do. While avoiding anything that makes her feel grief, Lenny gets hired to babysit Ainsley. Ainsley and her mom, Reese are the perfect distraction. But, along with them comes Miles, the grumpy uncle/brother. Miles can sense that Lenny is struggling with something, because he too has suffered from grief and the loss of someone he loved. Miles offers Lenny a deal, he will help her with her "live again" list if she helps him connect with Ainsley and Reese. Soon Lenny and Miles are spending a lot of time together and Lenny sees a different side of Miles that she was not expecting.

Review:
4.5 stars. Promise Me Sunshine was a beautiful love story. It is not your typical romance. It is filled with grief, sadness, laughter, devastation, etc. etc. This story was so real to me. There were extreme highs and extreme lows. The lows were gut wrenching, devasting, and heartbreaking. Lenny's personality is one of my absolute favorites. She is funny, witty, and filled with so much love. While reading, I couldn't help but think how much I wanted to be her friend. I laughed out loud so many times at the things she would say and do, but my heart also broke for her when she was stricken with grief. I could not imagine her pain and sorrow. This story has so many levels of dimension and character development. It is also beautifully written and so well done!
Thank you to NetGalley, Cara Bastone, and Random House Publishing for this ARC of Promise Me Sunshine in exchange for an honest review!

DNF @ 30%. The writing style was very choppy and disjointed and the characters were very one-dimensional. Lenny is unpredictable in a way that inspires anxiety, and Miles is boringgggg.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group, Dial Press Trade Paperback, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC!

I love Cara Bastone’s writing. Her characters always feel unique. This book is no exception. It’s messy and sad and hilarious all at the same time!

I will be honest, I wasn't sure what was happening at the beginning. But I quickly fell in love with Lenny and Miles.

This was a five star read for me. I will read anything Cara Bastone writes!

Please read the trigger warnings. This book deals a lot with grief at various stages.

QUICK GLANCE-
My format- Audio🎧 (11 hours and 11 minutes)
Other formats- 📖Physical (416 pages)
Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️(skip chapter 32 for closed-door modifications)
Language:🤐🤐mild-moderate
CW: ⚠️Grief, loss of a loved one, cancer

MY THOUGHTS-
This book was EVERYTHING!! From the very first page, I wanted to slow down and savor every moment. It had me grinning from ear to ear, laughing out loud, and wiping away tears as my heart shattered and healed again and again. The raw emotion and vulnerability of the characters are handled with such tenderness and care. I received an ebook version from @netgalley, but I’ll definitely be purchasing a physical copy to reread and treasure forever. This book has captured my heart completely!

😞 😆 Grumpy/Sunshine
🔥 Slowburn
🤕 ❤️ Hurt/Healing
👫Walking through grief
💞 Deep friendship before love (my personal fav)

Grieving the loss of her best friend to cancer, Lenny finds solace in the grumpy stranger, Miles, who is the uncle of the girl she's babysitting for.

Absolutely terrific of a story this is. Dealing with grief & loss, this book weaves us through Lenny & Miles' story and how grief looks different for everyone. God, I cried so many times.

As much my heart broke for Lenny, I was more emotionally attached to Miles. Lenny's anxiety & depression were portrayed in a way that felt too raw and real. Miles was unreal to begin with. The amount of support, love, & care he has for Lenny was something to be read in books only. Their banter was therapeutic & loved them so much.

Pacing was brilliantly done & I couldn't have imagined it any other way. Also, I really liked the value Reese & Ainsley added to the story without being overbearing.

This reminded me a lot of "Love, Holly" by Emily Stone too. I'll be thinking about this for days to come.

<i>Thank you Netgalley & Publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.<i>

4/5 🌟

I really enjoyed the journey Cara Bastone takes us on in this books. It felt very real to be able to see Lenny’s grief and how hard it truly is to lose someone. I truly didn’t think i was going to like this one as much as i did but it pulled so many emotions out of me and for that i will continue to recommend this book!!

Thank you to netgalley for a copy of this book!