Absolutely delightful. This book manages to deal with grief and be heavy yet hopeful.

Lenny's best friend recently died and she's a bit of a mess. She can't bring herself to go home to the apartment they shared and she's working temporary nannying jobs to stay busy. At her newest gig, she meets Miles, who has been through grief himself and offers to help Lenny through it in exchange for her teaching him how to relate to his niece.

There were some absolutely hilarious moments throughout the book as well as plenty of sadness. It was truly an emotional rollercoaster. Definitely the best romance novel I've read so far this year. Highly recommend.

You can’t go wrong with. a Bastone book! Another slow burn romance that pays off with no third act breakup.

Slight spoilers below!

We meet Lenny at the beginning of her journey of grief after losing her best friend and soul sister, Lou. Desperate to avoid feeling the pain of this loss, she accepts a nanny job that is originally just supposed to last the weekend. Here she meets Miles, the surly half brother of Reese, and uncle to Ainsley. Miles is struggling to figure out his place in the last remnants of family he has, and so far it is not going well. This unlikely pair form a bond that starts out as necessity, but quickly morphs into friendship while sneakily morphing into more than friendship.

I have never read a book that puts words to the internal turmoil of navigating grief like this one does. Promise Me Sunshine is an anchor in the storm of grief that life tends to throw our way. Cara weaves a story that makes you laugh, cry sad tears, cry happy tears, sit in contemplative thought, and imprints on your heart long after the book is done.

"But maybe it won't bring everyone down with me. Maybe instead it'll be the other way around. Maybe they'll bring me up, where the light is."- Lenny

✨ eARC Book Review ✨

☀️ Promise Me Sunshine - Cara Bastone ☀️
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Promise me Sunshine follows the story of Lenny who is in the trenches of grief after losing her best friend Lou to cancer. Lenny has been avoiding her apartment, her parents and generally anything that could potentially remind her of Lou. It is not until she starts a new job as a Nanny that she happens to meet Miles. Miles has also experienced loss and agrees to become Lenny’s grief buddy, helping her to come out of the trenches and finish a list her best friend made her promise to finish.

So let me start by saying this is not your fluffy insta-love romance. It’s a book filled with grief, losing your best friend and trying to move forward in life. It was sad, messy, raw, yet real and quite wholesome. It took me a while to get into the book as I felt distracted. But once I got into the thick of it, I couldn’t put it down. Lenny & Miles friendship was so sweet. I loved their banter together and I loved how when Lenny called, Miles was there with her immediately. But more than that I just loved that they were just great friends before anything. I was pining the whole book waiting for something more to happen between them, because it just seemed so obvious to me. But this was a SLOW BURN, but in the best way. The pacing of their relationship felt very realistic and in tune with what Lenny was going through at the time. It didn’t feel like insta love. It felt real, and messy at times and I just really appreciated that and enjoyed this story.

I definitely recommend this one if you’re looking for more than just a romance book, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

✨Promise Me Sunshine comes out 3/4/25 so be sure to mark your calendars! ✨

A huge thanks for @netgalley, Random House Publishing and of course @carabastone for allowing me to read an e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I absolutely adored this book. Cara Bastone made me feel all the feels with this book. As someone who lost their best friend to death as well, I felt like I could relate. Our grief was different as she actually cared for her best friend durning her sickness, but either way, this book healed parts of me I didn’t know needed heal. And then finding the love of her life in between this grief and rediscovering of herself? It was like the cherry on top. This will go on my favorites list for sure.

“Mom, he walked into hell and dragged me back out.”

This book wrecked me and then put me back together again. A true real life romance. When grief leaves Lenny paralyzed, Miles her grief co-pilot steps in to help her navigate her “new normal”. Miles is the definition of golden retriever. This is a beautiful love story of how to navigate loss and finding joy and the feeling of being alive after. This romance is not over the top unbelievable. Real life situations occur leaving Miles and Lenny better people along the way!

Lenny has been trapped in limbo after her best friend, Lou, passed away after losing her battle to cancer. Lenny and Lou were friends since childhood, connected at the hip, best-friend-soulmates, and Lenny is understandably in anguish. She spends her time avoiding her loved ones, dodging calls from her parents, and even avoiding her apartment, which she shared with Lou; she does, however, keep up with short-term nannying gigs. When she begins a new job for single mom, Reese, watching her daughter, Ainsley, she doesn't expect a hovering presence to keep watch: Ainsley's uncle Miles, who lives in the apartment upstairs, and is clearly protective and suspicious of anyone new coming into Reese and Ainsley's lives. Lenny and Miles don't get off on the right foot, but when Miles realizes that Lenny and Ainsley have an incredible rapport, and that Lenny seems to be coping with something intense, he begs her to keep working for Reese and stay in their lives.

It turns out that Miles is the perfect person to help Lenny work through her own crippling grief, because he has been through his fair share of loss, himself. Miles soon becomes available to Lenny night and day, making sure that she is safe and fed; making sure that she has a partner to cross off each item on the bucket list of sorts that Lou left behind for Lenny; and making sure that Lenny has someone to walk her through the healing process of grief.

I absolutely loved this book - I received an early digital copy, but have already pre-ordered a hard copy because it was so meaningful to me! Several tears were spilled throughout my reading journey. For anyone who has grieved a loss of any kind, this book will speak to you. For me, Cara Bastone was able to put the feelings and emotions of grief into words I haven't been able to express before, which was a beautiful and powerful gift to be able to read. The connection between Miles and Lenny was also beautiful and powerful to read, made even more powerful by the understanding they have for one another based on their shared pain.

In particular, I loved when Miles helped Lenny realize that she was experiencing "guilt" as a result of feeling joy for the first time since Lou passed away; Miles then explains that this does not mean that Lenny is "getting over" the death of Lou or "forgetting" her, but that Lenny is healing and creating a new relationship that will allow Lenny to figure out how to keep on loving Lou even though she is gone. Another beautiful moment for me was at the tail end of the book when Lenny brings Miles to a special spot - one of Lou's favorite places in NYC (which also happens to be one of mine, and a place I have shared with someone I am grieving) - and Lenny "introduces" Miles and Lou to one another.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dial Press for providing a copy of this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Steam Level: 🔥🔥🔥 (mildly descriptive open door scenes)
Trigger Warning: death of a loved one

Lenny hasn't been the same since her best friend died from cancer. She's supposed to go on living, but just getting through each day is a struggle. That's when she meets Miles. He knows exactly what Lenny is going through and decides to help her learn to live again. Can Lenny find a way to remember her friend and make room in her heart for Miles?

Requesting this book from Netgalley was a no-brainer after I loved Ready or Not by Cara Bastone last year. This was another great read with a SLOW burn that fans of Mariana Zapata will adore. As noted in my synopsis and trigger warning, the plot focuses on Lenny healing from the death of her best friend. Definitely something to keep in mind if you're sensitive to this or going through a recent loss. I felt like Lenny's grief was portrayed really well and showed how hard it could be to move forward. Miles swept right in and became Lenny's friend, protector, therapist, and more. He was a bit of a grump in the beginning but just needed someone like Lenny to help him open up and enjoy life. The romance was such a seamless transition from strangers to friends to lovers. There wasn't even a third act breakup! Instead we got to see these two heal each other and move forward together. I did think the end was a bit fast, and there were two pretty big moments that I wanted to see Lenny experience. That being said, I still really liked where the characters were at the end. I'll definitely be picking up whatever Cara Bastone writes next!

Thank you Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Is Cara Bastone capable of writing a book that will not take you one emotional rollercoaster and make you want to laugh and cry and rip your own heart out? If so, I don't ever want to find out, because this was another beautiful journey she took us on with Lenny healing from the loss of her best friend Lou, Miles helping her find her way and them finding love along the way. If you have lost anyone in your life close to you and had to deal with grief, this book will make you feel things and dig deep into your soul. All the stars to this book!

If you are looking for a book to have a good cry to I definitely recommend this one. This book follows Lenny who has recently lost her best friend to cancer. She know longer knows how to live for herself. She is a shell of herself and is just trying to make it through the day. She takes on a nanny gig for a single mom and daughter. While doing this. Nanny shift she runs into Miles. Miles is the Uncle to Ainsley the little girl she is babysitting. They get off to a rough start but he realizes she is grieving and decides he wants to help her because he has been in that situation before. They both become super close and develop a friendship.

This was a great book. My colleague and I are researching grief and even started a podcast sharing people's stories. This encapsulated so much of what we are hearing right now and I think it is something a lot of people need to hear about so that they don't feel alone. If you're a romance reader that has also gone through a loss, this is so powerful and so important. It also discussed family in such a realistic way. Pre order this and add to your tbr list. It can be hard, but also, it's so beautiful and well done.

Thank you NatGalley and Random House for the e-ARC!
3.5 ⭐️ I’m not going to lie I liked this more than I expected to (after not being the biggest fan of Ready or Not). This book provides a unique perspective on handling grief in addition to a really sweet romance. Lenny and Miles come to an agreement to help each other through some tricky spots and along the way they go from strangers to friends to love. Heartfelt, emotional, and humorous in all the right places.

5/5

Thank you Net Galley for this ebook arc!

Deals heavily with themes of grief but provides a realistic viewpoint of the daily struggles with a loved one’s death, main characters remind me of loreli and Luke from Gilmore girls so funny with the best nonsensical banter, one grumpy one hysterical, genuine conversations and getting to know someone as a friend first them a lover, New York is a prevalent setting within the story, talks about how grief is constant and how to work through that, the mmc really knows the fmc so well and shows his love through acts of service, perfect most endearing love story

I loved this book. It is a romance, but so much more. Lenny has lost her best friend to cancer and she is not handling it well. She takes a nannying job and meets Miles, the uncle of the child she is watching. He also knows grief from losing his mom and cousin. They strike up a deal where he helps her navigate her grief, and in return she helps him have a closer relationship with his half sister and niece. What follows is their beautiful journey of overcoming grief and falling in love. For as sad as the premise would make the story sound, it was also filled with hope and humor and joy. I would definitely recommend!

Spiciness: 2/5 🌶️

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group/Dial Press for the ARC!

Emotional and heartfelt. An honest look of a journey through grief and finding yourself. A really beautiful, well written story, but light on the romance.

I thought I would love this, but it really did not work for me. It was incredibly hard to like these characters and I honestly couldn’t understand why the MMC even cared to help the FMC. And when he described her as a project, I was thrown off. Everyone grieves differently and that was just an ick for me.

I have read many books about characters handling the grief of losing a loved one and this one is by far the one that has hit home the hardest for me. After racking my brain the only thing I can possibly think of a negative to this book is that it isn’t longer. I wish I could spend forever in Lou and Miles’s story. There was such a beautiful balance of pain and love and healing and comfort in this book I could curl up and live in its pages forever. Promise Me Sunshine will stick with me for the rest of my life and hopefully one day I will find a love as genuine and pure as my sweet beloved Lou and Miles.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily posting a review. All opinions are my own.
I admit I balked a little at the “slow-burn” descriptors of Promise Me Sunshine, as it comes on the heels of some real mediocre and sluggish books. But this proved to not only be slow-burn done right, but the warm hug I needed in the midst of all the doom-and-gloom of the world.
I immediately resonated with Lenny and her grief, especially as it played out in brief flashbacks that introduce each part, as well as informing her character arc in the main body of the book. Losing anyone is tough (don’t I know it, having lost a few loved ones in the last couple years), but I truly felt for her as she reeled from losing her best friend and struggled to find a reason to live again. And I also love how she’s now trying to do so, while also honoring her friend.
And while the story is told solely through her POV, Miles is also compelling, having also lost family members, and being rather guarded as a result. But while Lenny tries to pull away from human connection, I love how he instinctively recognizes her as someone who needs help. Their bond was super sweet, and I loved their slowly building bond, with them first becoming friends and then developing a relationship beyond that.
While the more internal focus meant that sometimes the pacing did lag in places, the romantic bond kept me engaged throughout, plus there’s also some cute bits involving Miles’ niece Ainsley.
Overall, I really enjoyed this, and would recommend this for readers looking for a well-executed slow-burn contemporary romance with a focus on grief and healing through interpersonal connection.

5⭐️

This book was both painful and healing in the best way. It took me through so many emotions, but every bit of it was worth it.

Miles was such an incredible character—just perfect. I loved how kind, encouraging, and real he was. He wasn’t just there to be a love interest; he felt like a genuinely good person who truly wanted to help. His patience and unwavering support made him stand out so much.

Lenny was beautifully written—her strength and courage were remarkable. I loved how raw and real her struggles were throughout the book. Her journey wasn’t easy, but it was inspiring to watch her navigate it.

The slow and steady progression of their relationship was perfect. It wasn’t rushed or forced—Miles was simply focused on helping her heal, and that made their bond feel even more special. Their love was soft, gentle, and exactly what both of them needed.

The way grief was written in this book was breathtaking. It felt so real, so deeply emotional, and it added so much depth to the story. This wasn’t just about romance; it was about healing, growth, and finding light in the darkest moments.

This book left a lasting impact, and I know I’ll be thinking about it for a long time.

***Trigger Warning*** This book deals with greif. If you recently experienced the loss of a loved one you may want to hold off.

I loved this book. I would give it a 4.5 stars. The banter between Lenny and Miles was so good. The story starts following Lenny and her recent loss of her best friend/soul mate. She is struggling and in comes Miles, the broody MMC that is snarky and unsure of Lenny and her ability to do her job. The classic do not judge a book buy its cover fits their "meet-Cute". I love how Cara Bastone develops her characters and wrote this slow burn romance. This had me wanted to kick my feet in giddiness whenever Lenny and Miles were together and I never wanted to put it down.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for the Advanced Readers Copy.