My grieving heart found a bit of sunshine through this book! RTC

Thanks to Random House and #netgalley for providing me this book in exchange for my honest review.

Promise Me Sunshine follows our fmc Lenny. Lenny loses her best friend and soulmate to cancer. (Fck cancer!!!) Not knowing how to deal with her grief, Lenny is like a ghost, drifting from temporary nanny gigs, staying up all night because sleep eludes her. Lenny receives a request to nanny for Reece’s daughter Ainsley. Much to all of their surprise, Ainsley’s uncle Miles, enters the chat. Lenny is planning their relationship from the get go: how they’ll fall in love, until the grumpy Mcgrumpster opens his mouth. Then all bets are off for their happily ever after.

Miles sees Lenny and is intrigued…he notices the figurative ghost that she’s become and wants to learn her story. Lenny tells him her story; how the loss of her best friend has taken the joy out of her life. Lenny shares her “live again” list with the grumpy Miles, and he suggests that they tackle it head on…TOGETHER. Let the shenanigans begin.

Promise Me Sunshine is an exploration of the grief journey. It beautifully takes you on each of the stages. As Lenny & Miles attempt to navigate through their own grief, they come across a delightful cast of characters and learn that while grief never truly goes away, it does become more bearable.

I’ve personally been navigating my own grief journey, after the loss of my precious son Tyler at the age of 27, back in 2021. Reading this book, I felt SEEN. I laughed and cried. I could totally relate to both Lenny & Miles, as well as Reece and Ainsley. Life is so unpredictable, devastating and beautiful all at the same time, but through it all, it’s worth living! This was an easy 5 stars for me!

Keep an eye out, as there’s a cute cameo from one of the characters from Cara’s book “Ready or not” included!

Again, thanks to NetGalley and Random house for the opportunity to read this beautiful book!

Promise Me Sunshine was exactly the book I needed. Cara Bastone creates books that truly hit all the character development notes for me, while creating a setting that feels like a key element. Promise Me Sunshine didn’t shy away from the true mental health challenges of grief, death and cancer, while using these elements to bring depth to the plot. There are the normal quirky, funny and tender points that Cara Bastone does so well. As I am walking through some intense moments in my own life, I found this book to be the perfect anecdote when decompressing each day. A must read!

I have only read one other Cara Bastone book and I enjoyed it but this…this book has converted me into a fan. A grumpy sunshine romance trope but make it complex in that both characters have had the misfortune of suffering from the grief of losing loved ones. Lenny is in the deep depths of grief, having lost her best friend to cancer recently when she finds a temporary job as a nanny. When she first meets Ainsley, she is forced to deal with the overly intrusive watchful ire of Ainsley’s grumpy uncle Miles. Miles and Lenny eventually make a deal to help each other out, a business transaction that blossoms into a deeper connection than either of them expected. Miles helps Lenny navigate through her grief, as he knows all too well how it feels. Lenny helps Miles bond with his niece and more importantly his sister.

This book really got me. The grief and the trauma, watching how Lenny and Miles interactions grew into love, it was such a mixed bag of emotions. I’m not one to feel a book at a heightened emotional level, there are very few books/authors that can bring me there. Promise me Sunshine is now on that list, and I plan to check out Cara Bastone’s backlist ASAP.

Thank you to Dial Press/Random House and Netgalley for my copy; all opinions are my own. Promise Me Sunshine is out now!

This book has my whole heart! The way Cara Bastone wrote about grief in this book was incredible. I loved our two MCs. Lenny’s journey was so heartfelt and I related to her in so many ways. Miles was one of the top book boyfriends I’ve read, the way he was so willing to be there for Lenny through her grief and how he never judged her for how she handled things was so good. I loved their banter and their relationship was so sweet. This book made me laugh and cry multiple times. Cara Bastone is such a great author, I’ve loved both her books and can’t wait to see what she writes next!

Everything about this was beautiful. Such a unique story line, and I genuinely enjoyed watching the characters growth.
As someone still experiencing grief and how much it hits you and effects your day to day I found this plot line to be so unique and relatable.

Lenny's character is an oddball, quirky, but clearly lovable to the people around her, but she is struggling with the loss of one of the most important people in her life, her best friend since childhood, her roommate and Cancer's most recent victim. While hiding from the world and only providing for herself when she absolutely needs to, she picks up a temporary nanny job, enough to get a little money in her pocket, but not enough time for people to catch on to her current life circumstances. But then she meets Miles, the outsider uncle trying to find his way into the folds of his niece and sister's lives. Miles helps Lenny learn to live again and Lenny helps Miles understand how to be there for his sister and niece. In this heartwarming, heartwrenching book, you will laugh out loud, and you will cry, and you will be waiting in suspense for when Miles and Lenny will tell each other how they feel. This is a fun book that gives nostalgia of the spontaneity of our 20s, the twinges of the pain of real life and the joy of finding friendship and love in the same place.

This book had me in all my feels. I felt all of Lenny’s emotions. I grieved with her and found the happy times with her. I loved miles s a character. The way he was there for Lenny. In between it all the banter was well written. I gave this 5 seats and would definitely recommend to other readers.

This book was SO cute!! It gave me all the warm and fuzzies while also making my so giddy. Miles is one of my new favorite MMCs out there— perfect

The emotions were high when I picked up this book! I had read the early reviews, seen the social media posts, and knew the basic idea behind the plot. I was totally prepared to be ripped apart and then hopefully put back together again, but sadly I never felt those strong emotions. Overall I enjoyed the book and the storyline. I just never really connected with the characters on that level. The book is well written and easy to read and definitely still one I would recommend to others looking for this type of story.

Loved this! Chronicles grief so realistically - it's raw and heartbreaking, but the love between the two leads is so beautiful. Will be thinking about this one for a while!

I loved this books emotional impact! To watch the main character working through her grief while falling in love with the male main character was so sweet. Miles knows just how to help her and shows up for her proving his feelings. I did find Lenny's personality a little jarring and there were a few times it took me out of the story but over all I really enjoyed it!

I fell in love with Cara Bastone’s writing after reading Ready or Not last year. So much so that it made my top books of 2024 list! I was thrilled when I received an early copy to read and review of her latest Promise Me Sunshine.

Lenny’s best friend Lou passed away after a long battle with cancer. After caring for her for so long Lenny finds it hard to transition back into her routine before Lou got sick. She is avoiding her parents, her apartment and everything about her life with Lou. That is until she meets the grumpy uncle of her latest babysitting gig, Ainsley.

“You are not betraying her by healing, you are honoring her. You are learning to love her exactly as she is. As someone who isn’t here anymore… That’s who she is now. And this journey through grief … It’s what we do for the great lives of our lives.”

While there is an underlining of a slow romance in this book, it was really more about friendship, and grief and reaching out for help when you need it even when you may think you don’t. I loved it. I smiled, I cried and I am forever a fan of Cars Bastone.

Thank you Dial Press for this early copy to read and review.

Lenny, even in the depths of her grief, radiated warmth, she felt like the kind of person everyone would want as a friend. She and Miles were perfect for each other, and it was clear they both needed that connection. I also really appreciated that Miles encouraged her to build other friendships; he didn’t try to be her everything, which felt refreshingly healthy. 5 stars!

This book changed how I view the world. Grief can feel lonely and isolating however, Cara shows us how beautiful stepping through it can be. I felt myself rooting for Miles and Lenny along with their new found family/friends. This book hurt my heart at times in the best of ways all before putting it back together.

3.75 stars rounded up.

When we first meet Lenny, she is struggling. She is grieving the loss of her best friend. We follow her healing journey with the help of Miles. I loved the character development. I was invested in their relationship together and separately. This was a true slow burn.... nothing happened until 70% (maybe). The intimate scenes were a little cringy...very hard to read.

I loved Bastone’s last book, Ready or Not, and I’ve heard great things about this book, so I was eager to get an egalley. While I normally love when a contemporary romance novel can tackle heavier topics, like this one does, unfortunately, this book wasn’t a huge hit for me.

I found the main character annoying and unrelatable, and while there were parts of the love story I found charming, a lot of their relationship seemed like a super odd dynamic to me and at times was downright cringy. Instead of weaving the heavy and light parts seamlessly, it felt a big clunky to me being flipped back and forth between silliness and sadness and it just didn’t quite flow for me.

This book was entertaining enough, and I know many people have adored this book, so if you’re a fan of the genre, I’d say it’s worth a try, but for me, it wasn’t my favorite. Having loved her first book, I would definitely read this author again, though this one won’t be among my faves.

I loved this book. I don’t know where Cara Bastone gets her Inspiration for her characters but I have never felt more like my heart is healed and full than after reading her books. This is another amazing book with pain, healing, growth, and the promise of sunshine to keep you reaching for the inevitable happy ending. I love how she doesn’t need to create drama for there to be room to grow, both individually and as a couple. Lenny is so relatable (especially her mini fantasies) and Miles is a dream both as a friend and as more. I can’t even fathom people as inclusive and supportive as she writes, but if that were a world I could walk into, I would.

What works? Every single character. No unnecessary drama.

What doesn’t work? I’ve got nothing. I loved it.

Don’t read this if you need toxic or unhealthy relationships for entertainment. Do read this if healthy boundaries and the compassion of reaching into the darkness to give a hand to a soul in need makes your heart full enough to cry.

Grief is a relationship


Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for the advanced e-book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Promise Me Sunshine is a heartwarming romance that delves deeply into themes of grief, healing, and rediscovery of living life after loss. Major buzzwords & tropes: slow burn, strangers-to-friends-to-lovers, grief, healing. This story is one that takes its time with emotional authenticity and care between both main characters.

Lenny is living sporadic lifestyle trying to avoid triggering locations and learning to navigate the devastating loss of her best friend. Miles is a walking green flag if there ever was one. He’s calm, patient, attentive, and emotionally intelligent—everything Lenny needs. His presence feels essential to her healing, yet never overtakes her own growth.

The communication between the two is cute with banter, mutual respect, and the slow burn is extremely sweet. Honestly, a breath of fresh air. If you’re looking for something touching & hard-hitting, but isn’t immediately consumed by an intense & immediate sexual attraction between the two main characters, I say this might be your book!

The story focuses heavily on the healing process for both main characters, each at differing stages of grief. I believe there’s an extremely well done element of parallelling between the relationship with each other & their individual relationships with their grief. The development of their relationship is gradual and realistic, similarly to their healing journey – a gentle reminder that healing isn’t linear. Rather than rushing toward romance (and healing) the characters were given the space for self-discovery and learning to open up again.

Sidenote: If you read Ready or Not, there’s a little cameo!

Promise Me Sunshine released March 4, 2025.

This is a masterpiece. Seriously Cara Bastone js so so talented. This book is the most beautiful romance and layered love story that encompasses not only romantic love, but the love between friends and family and found family as well.

This story builds slowly and surely and so so beautifully. The characters well developed and the main focus is not just on the two main characters but all the other characters within their lives as well and it makes the story that much deeper and rich. This is not a typical romance book, it deals with a heavy topic in a touching way. The romance is slow and barely there to the point where I wondered if maybe this was just a beautiful story about friendship but it just keeps growing and blooming and all of a sudden it’s this stunning thing. And it’s layered and deeper than a typical contemporary romance is these days.

Cara is so talented, writes so so well, and highly recommend the audio, please never let anyone but Alex Finke read your books it’s the perfect combination.

I will read anything Cara writes and I hope we get more layered and deep stories like this that stand out and bring such a unique story in a time when a lot of stories feel the same.

A little late on my review but When this ARC hit my list I Screamed outloud! I Absolutely loved Ready or Not by Cara Bastone so when i saw she had a new release coming out i immediately pre ordered it. The storyline is so unique from the begining to the end. the way cara paints a picture is like no one i have read before. You cannot help but fall in love with her characters and her humor is perfect! This book deals with topics like loss but does it in such a beautiful way that anyone can relate, especially someone who has been through it before. Miles and Lenny are absolutely adorable together and I think everyone needs a miles in their life. One thing i felt so connected to was Lenny and her grief to losing someone she loves so much to cancer. It is a loss not so easily put into words but Cara did it so well. Thank you for sharing this story and helping us all to live another fictional life. Cara will forever be an instant buy for me!