Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!
4.5 stars!
This was a beautiful book about grief, friendship, soulmates (romantic and platonic), living life, and loving yourself. This was so much more than a romance. Miles is the ultimate friend turned lover and I loved seeing our FMC’s growth throughout the novel as she grieves and comes to terms with her new reality. Highly recommend!

What an emotional ride!!! 🎢
Lenny is mourning the loss of her best friend, and Miles understands her pain all too well. Their friendship serves as a powerful reminder that we’re not meant to face life alone and that grief is a deeply personal journey, unfolding at its own pace. While some moments felt overly dramatic and Lenny had a few quirks that I found a bit frustrating, I truly appreciated the depth of the story. It’s a realistic take on grief, friendship, love, and the raw reality of navigating life after loss.

Thank you NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group and Dial Press Trade for providing an advanced reader’s copy 🤎

Book Review: Promise Me Sunshine by Cara Bastone

This one is soaring into my all time fav's.

Promise Me Sunshine is about Lenny, who is walking the road of grief after her best friend Lou dies. She is a part-time nanny and at her next job she meets grumpy Uncle Miles. Miles recognizes Lenny's struggles and vows to help her.

This book was so raw, so heart wrenching... and so beautiful.
How do I classify it? It was so much more than a romance. It was about grief, about friendship.. and yes about love. But love in so many different ways.

The romance was perfection. I read a lot of romance, and there was something so special about the relationship and how real and raw is was.
I will remember this one for a long time.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing for this arc. I can't wait to buy my own copy.
Promise me Sunshine is out March 4th!

Cara Bastone did an amazing job at combining those real and painful moments in every day life and adding just the right amount of light and humor. I felt all the emotions throughout this book and didn’t want it to end.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this story of two people finding themselves again after hardship. Miles and Lenny had great chemistry and really balanced each other personality-wise. This was definitely a slow burn, but the tension was on point!

I look forward to reading more of her stories! Thank you Cara and Random House Publishing Group for this ARC.

This story was absolutely beautiful.
You have an FMC who is suffering the loss of her childhood best friend. She is overcome with grief and meets Miles who is grumpy but also the most caring person who has been through grief himself.
He agrees to help her check off a Live Life list created by her best friend if she helps him with something.
The words in this story were beautiful and can be applied to all types of hard situations in life.
I absolutely loved this story.
Thank you, NetGalley, for the ARC!
Cara Bastone, well done!

I loved this book so much! Cara bastone has a way with her words and writes so beautifully difficult situations. I felt the grief so much and it made me so invested.

Lenny is grappling with the loss of her best friend when she meets Miles and the two of them form an unexpected friendship. Lenny helps Miles connect with his niece, while Miles helps Lenny complete tasks on her “Live again list” that her best friend left for her. This books explores themes of grief, love, friendship and family and I loved every minute of it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for this ARC!!!!

What a beautiful story I just couldn’t put down! Grief after loss and how to work through it is the main theme of this story. It’s the core of Lenny and how she views the world only through her grief stricken eyes. She’s real, raw, and messy, and so dang relatable. This woman, even when in the deepest trenches of her grief, is so dang funny.

She finds her buddy to help through the grief in Miles, who now becomes her support. Watching their friendship grow as Miles becomes her support and also working on building his relationship with his half sister and daughter? Only makes me swoon!

Overall, this book is raw, emotional, funny, and shows the values to reaching out to others when you need support. Please pick this up! It’s so good.

Thanks to Dial Press, NetGalley, and Cara Bastone for an ARC in exchange for my honest review!

“Promise Me Sunshine” by Cara Bastone is a beautiful story about grief and how to move through life after tragedy. This story follows Lenny whose best friend/soul mate died recently of ovarian cancer. Lenny is barely making it through her days until she meets Miles the uncle of the girl she starts to babysit. Miles can see Lenny needs help and he knows about dealing with grief from his own experience. So Miles makes a deal to help Lenny get through her grief, if she can share her child care “tricks” with him.

This description may seem like typical romance plot line, but the slow-burn romance that really takes a back seat for the exploration of grief. Bastone wrote a beautiful story that anyone can relate to because we have all dealt with grief in some shape or form. It may also seem like this book is all about sadness, but I honestly laughed a lot while reading. There is so much heart, empathy, and hopefulness in this story. A must read for romance readers!

5 stars

”maybe I’ve been wrong this whole time and the entire world is not through my eyes. maybe I’ve been trapped in a painting all along. smeared and brilliantly applied. every color is from the eye of someone who knows exactly what the hell they’re doing.


have you ever read a book that felt like it was written for you? Promise Me Sunshine was that book for me. an elegiac story brushed with grief, it was raw, nuanced, and achingly human. I adored every inch of it; the bruised, the unvarnished, the moments that burned with quiet shame. yet, amid the sorrow, there was something soft: the embrace of found family, the slow, delicate blooming of friends to lovers, the tender hum of healing. sunshine pressed against the dark, sadness whispering beneath promises, and I felt every pulse of it.

”but the thing about losing the person you love the most on earth is—somehow—you still have to do mundane things like tie your shoes and make enough money to continue to exist in this punishing world.”


Miles and Lenny were the perfect tandem. I found myself enchanted by their journey; from tentative strangers to devoted friends, helping one another through the darkest of days. Miles was the incarnation of the perfect companion, both friend and love interest. what I adored most was how he remained ever vigilant, attuned to the smallest changes in Lenny’s moods, deciphering each unspoken sign she cast his way and how helpless he was to create a concrete bond with his sister and her daughter. Lenny, however, was so achingly relatable it almost unsettled me. In her, I saw some broken yet radiant fragments of myself. she loved with a boundless heart, yet when it came time to face her own emotions, she stumbled, unsure where to begin.

“I said that you walked into hell and dragged me back out.” something crosses his face.”


their love story resembled a slow waltz, each step tender and hesitant, circling around one another. I devoured every delicate, emotionally intimate moment they shared, each one infused into the pages with a quiet intensity. I couldn’t help but fall for them, their imperfect, bruised love story.

”he closes his eyes, opens them and there’s his brilliant love. “there’s only you, Lenny. every time … it’s just you,” he says, muffled as he kisses me. “and you.” he kisses me again. “and you.”


thanks for the free book PRH International

5 stars won't be enough to rate my love for this book. I will admit I wasn't sure about this book just from the fact that I did enjoy Ready or Not but it didn't blow me away. BUT PROMISE ME SUNSHINE -- whew get ready everyone. This book was healing for me, I saw myself in both the FMC and MMC and they left speechless at every page. I would never change anything about this book at all whatsoever. Lenny's journey to healing, her family, the friendships she builds, her falling in love again - GRAB YOUR TISSUES.

This book connected with me in a time where I am also walking through a season of grief that has started to feel lighter but whew in the beginning I felt the darkness that Lenny felt, the despair, and the utter what am I supposed to do.

Truly Bastone has written a masterpiece that I believe every reader can find something to connect with. ALSO -- spice is very limited!!!

Thank you to NetGalley and Dial Trade Press for providing this DRC for review.

Tender, poignant, life-affirming mediation on life and grief and love. By turns, hilarious and heart-breaking. Real characters, real friendship, real chemistry— ugh, I loved it! If there’s any justice, this will get the same roll-out/popularity level of Ready or Not (of which, in my opinion, it is infinitely superior).

First 5 star read of 2025!! I was so thrilled to have gotten an ARC of Promise Me Sunshine. I knew after reading Ready or Not That I would be reading her next novel. Ready or Not was a favorite of mine when I read it last year, but Promise Me Sunshine is on a whole new level of greatness. It was beautifully written and had me reading at a slower pace just to make it last longer. After reading so many romances they can tend to blend together but I can honestly say this book was unlike anything I have ever read. It was refreshing to have a romance with a unique story line and touch on grief so heavily. Bastone did a great job at portraying the ups and downs of grief. Both Lenny and Miles were top tier characters. I HIGHLY recommend picking up this book on its release date.

This is a slow burn romance that tackles grief and the importance of female friendship. In this book Lenny is overcome with the the grief of losing her best friend, to the point that she can't bring herself to go home to the apartment they once shared. She takes a part-time job nannying for a young girl, but she can't seem to conceal her depression in front of the girl's uncle, Miles, who has experience with losing a loved one. When Miles can no longer ignore Lenny's self-destructive behavior, he offers to be her support system, while Lenny helps him connect with his niece.
The slow progression of their relationship felt authentic to the delicate way their relationship formed. Overall this is a feel-good friends-to-lovers romance with emotional depth.

Lenny is grieving the love her of life…She takes a nanny job and meets Miles. Miles has had his own life full of grief and is trying to connect with his last remaining family. This is a great story of how to process grief and find love in the midst of the sadness. A great book, romantic and heart wrenching.
Thanks, NetGalley for the advanced digital copy.

Promise Me Sunshine by Cara Bastone had all the feelings. Lenny is grieving the loss of her best friend, Lou. She is avoiding the people who love her and even her own home, which she shared with Lou. While on a temporary babysitting gig she meets Miles, the uncle of seven-year-old Ainsely. Miles makes it his personal mission to help Lenny through her grief. More specifically, he agrees to help her complete her “live again” list. The relationship that unfolds moves from awkward acquaintance to a deep friendship, and finally to a life fulfilling love (it’s a rom-com, so I don’t consider this a spoiler).

While dealing with the heavy topic of grief, Bastone weaves lightness and laughter into the story. Lenny and Miles’ relationship feels real and raw. Their communication feels authentic – none of this gross misunderstanding and lack of communication that happens about two-thirds of the way through most rom-coms. Even the romantic scenes are written in an awkward and sweet real-life way.

I highly recommend Promise Me Sunshine as an emotional, deeply feeling, rom-com.

Special thanks to Random House Publishing Group – Random House for the digital ARC via NetGalley.

Link to my review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7167614122

Helen is still grieving the loss of her best friend, her person. To keep herself busy she picks ups a nannying job for a single mom. When the little girl's uncle comes a knocking, the two wind up getting along over the common feeling of losing someone important to you.

This was heartwarming and a slow burn romance. I will say that it did take almost 50% to truly get invested but once I did I couldn't put it down.

The theme of healing from grief began to seep through the pages and created an emotional read. The FMC was incredibly relatable to me, and the MMC was very smooth.

It ended with a smile on my face!

One of the best romance books I’ve read in a long time and favorite book of the year so far! I love the friendship and slow-burn between Miles and Lennie and the realistic depiction of grief. Now I want to read Cara Bastone’s backlist.

Plan to publish March 4th 2025

This was a bit of a heavy read. Grief is a heavy topic. I loved how you follow the grief journey and growth of the main character. I’m glad she had someone to help her get through it. I didn’t know when I started if I would be able to navigate the heaviness, but I got invested in the characters and in them getting together at some point. It has a bit of mature content. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC. I enjoy Cara Bastone. This one felt a bit heavier for her, but I still liked it and may read again.

Y’all, this book! It’s hard to know where to even start, because this book exceeded my expectations and truly touched me! I have a feeling this book will be one to stick with me.

I picked this book up without reading the description, thinking I was going to be reading a romance. And, it was, but that wasn’t the whole point by a long shot. This book talks about grief and building friendships and family…and yes, also love. It was beautiful and deep and heart-breaking and life-giving. (Warning: You will feel ALL THE FEELS!) Whether you’ve experienced loss like these characters, learning to work through hard things and living in spite of them is a lesson we all need!

Thank you Net Galley and publishers for the advanced copy!