I am beginning to suspect I would love anything written by Cara Bastone, including her to-do list. The way she is able to weave together intense emotion (grief) and humor is masterful. This book could have easily been really heavy, given the topic, and while it was real, and raw, and emotional, it was also hilarious and fun and a joy! The way Miles helps Lenny navigate her grief was one of the most precious journeys I’ve ever read, and seeing the way both characters developed over the story and how naturally they came together was something that will stay with me for a very long time.

I really loved this!! I was hooked from the beginning solely by Lenny’s personality and after meeting Miles and his lurking I was so invested!

I loved the idea of them going through Lenny’s list together (and doing non list things). The exploration of grief in this was so beautiful and I really just wanted to give Lenny a hug the whole time. The scene with her reuniting with her mom really stuck with me. <3

All of the characters had such unique personalities and thought they all fit each other so well!

I loved reading Ready or Not last year and adored this even more so I’m so excited to see more from Cara in the future!!

This was such a sweet story. I love how her characters are so messy and never have life figured out but always come out better for enjoying the bumpy ride. This one was especially sad at times and even made me tear up, but it also made me laugh.

This is a fairly serious topic (how to carry on through grief) for such a lighthearted genre. I think this is a good book for someone caring for someone grieving.

Thank you for giving me an arc to read an exchange for a review. The chemistry between the MFC and the MMC was there pretty quickly.. Lenny is grieving loosing her bestie to cancer.. miles is trying to navigate a relationship with his half sister after finding out he was the affair child. Miles spends a lot of time with Lenny as she navigates her grief and Lenny is helping him with his issues. Lenny is working as a nanny for miles half sister… such a good read

This book felt like a rom com and it was a fantastic time. I will never judge how someone goes through grief because there is no right or wrong way. Lenny is awkward and going though a hot mess of a time and is barely surviving. Miles comes and willingly helps her and simultaneously is helping and healing himself. What a beautiful and layered love story. At times the banter was too much and too immature for me. But the ending is like that ending at the end of a good friends to lovers that the payoff if just that good. It was great.

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, to Random House and Dial Press for this e-ARC of Promise Me Sunshine by Cara Bastone in exchange for an honest review. Like most beautiful things, I am unsure of where to begin. There is so much to say about this book and like in this book, grief stands in the center of it. You can't read this book and be filled with grief, be reminded of grief, and then sit in your own grief because you realize that it is over. Saying that I did not want this book to end might be one of the greatest understatements to ever exist, if not the understatement of my lifetime, and potentially the next. This book was so tense and honest. I liked so much that Lenny was quirky authentically and Miles was not the brooding sexy billionaire that was cocky and has a heart of gold. I feel like I could see these people in a coffee shop, and I hadn't realized how that never seemed to be the case anymore. Even on Netflix, you have storylines and actors playing roles where you're like yeah, these are real people. It was so refreshing to see that portrayed in a book.

Honestly, that was the only refreshing thing about this book, and I mean that in the best possible way. Lou feels like a distant memory. She doesn't necessarily haunt the narrative in my opinion, because Lenny's own grief does that all on its own. Lou feels farther than that, a little more detached, despite us getting various flashbacks. And I really loved that that was the case, because this was Lenny's story and Lenny navigating grief. It's a romance between Miles and Lenny and it was so beautifully done, but this book could have been shelved as women's fiction and it would have been just as honest, just as real. Miles was such a sweet center that tied Lenny to earth as she felt drifting and aimless, but the way it was Lenny coming back to herself, as much as she can after the death of one love of her life (her best friend) and figuring out her new reality with the other love of her life, Miles. There was so much love in the way Lou and Lenny's friendship was depicted and the Cara went to such lengths to give their relationship the legs that it needed to be such an emotional story about grief. So, so much to be said, but this book is truly the depiction of the price we pay for SO much love.

4.5 🌟

#NetgalleyARC

A sweet and heartbreaking story of a loss of a soulmate, a best friend. I definitely felt the loss and the pain of that heartbreak. I loved that it dives into the relationship between 2 female friends and the romantic relationship between 2 heartbroken M/F characters. This book made me both cry and laugh. I love her stories. I have listened to all her Audible originals and love them!

🚢 📃🍷💃🕺🚲⛺️

Cara Bastone is a liar. (This is a love story, I swear.)

I am sure you are wondering why I started my review with such a strong statement, so let me tell you a little tale. I posted a "currently reading" story about how I was finally mentally prepared to handle this emotional book. Cara slid into my DMs and said, and I quote, "I promise you'll be okay!!" Well, I wasn't. I cried. Then I cried again. And then, you guessed it, I cried. AGAIN!! So, believe me when I tell you that she is a liar - a liar who wrote a beautiful, heartwrenching, grief-filled, gorgeous story about friendship, finding hope, and romance after losing the love of your life, and I can't stop thinking about it. All the stars!

See, I told you it was a love story.

Miles + Lenny: Miles deserves every boyfriend award in existence. Few men would willingly go to hell and back for someone. It was lovely to read how he patiently guided Lenny through her grief while dealing with his own. Their love story was so beautiful to witness.

Lou + Lenny: Top-tier friendship. Soulmates. Love of their lives. The cause of all my tears. The graveyard scene nearly broke me. This relationship is worth reading the book alone.

Miles + Ainsley: This subplot was super cute and added a ton of levity to the story.

If you can't tell, I loved this. I think you might love it, too.

And Cara, feel free to slide into my DMs and lie to me anytime. Your words are worth all the tears.

I loved Cara Bastone’s debut, Ready of Not. Her sophomore novel, Promise Me Sunshine, is also a gem.
I have rated it 3.75/5 stars (rounded to 4).
The setting is NYC where Bastone once again magically transports the reader. The main character, Lenny, is grieving the loss of her much loved best friend, Lou, who passed away from cancer. Lenny is severely struggling and finds herself taking a new temporary job as a nanny for single mom, Reese, and her daughter, Ainsley.
Ainsley’s single uncle, Miles, is the grumpy MMC who ends up working with Lenny to cross items off a “live again” list that Lou left for her. Miles has experience with living with grief and the journey these two embark on make this novel a romance with depth, as they both unravel layers of themselves together.

Thank you to Dial Press and Netgalley for the electronic arc in exchange for my honest review.

This is not the book that you want to read. If you are emotional or have any kind of big thing happening. It is absolutely the book if you need a good cry and a good dose of friends being the best medicine. This book says so much about grief and the complications around grief. I loved this so much that though I needed to take breaks, I really didn't want to. It was a heavy read, a hard read in places but I came away feeling more healed for having gone through this journey with them.

♾️⭐️

Just when I thought nothing could beat ready or not, here comes Cara with this absolutely incredible story about overcoming grief, love and learning to live again. I am not going to lie I was absolute scared to read this because I heard lots of ✨feelings✨ would be involved, but it was not at all what I imagined—but so much MORE.

I truly cannot believe how much I feel right now after finishing that book. Its like my heart is open & I am all warm and fuzzy inside because that’s just how this author does it!

I loved everything about this book. It was absolute freaking perfection. I knew it was going to be a five star read only a few chapters in. I literally cannot believe the magic that flowed from the words on the pages as I read them. I laughed. I cried. I reminisced about so many different things in my own life.

I JUST LOVED IT SO MUCH MY GOD. Also, Alex Finke is the perfect narrator & she crushed it so hard and everyone needs to listen to this book SPECIFICALLY so they can hear her fantastic voice and story telling abilities.

Tropes:
Grumpy x sunshine
Friends to lovers
Slowburn
He falls friend
Overcoming grief & healing

I wasn’t in the mood for a grief novel. Lately, real life has been more than generous on that front. A story about a woman paralyzed by the loss of her best friend sounded like more emotional weight than I needed to carry.

But Promise Me Sunshine surprised me.

Yes, this is a novel soaked in sadness. It’s also full of humor, charm, and quiet acts of courage. Cara Bastone doesn’t glorify grief or hand it a redemption arc. She tells the truth: living with loss is hard, and doing it anyway is a kind of triumph.

Lenny is barely functioning. Her best friend Lou—more soulmate than sidekick—is gone, and she’s floating through days with no direction and less hope. A babysitting job brings her into the orbit of Miles, her employer’s brother, who’s also grieving in a different, quieter register. They strike a deal: Lenny helps him connect with his niece, and he helps her work through the “live again” list Lou left behind. It’s an emotional scavenger hunt—equal parts therapy and dare—and it’s exactly the structure this novel needs.

Their connection builds slowly. Too slowly, if I’m honest. They’re drawn to each other with a steady, unmistakable pull, and while it’s lovely to see friendship come first, the pacing starts to feel cautious rather than earned. When two people see each other this clearly, the delay in acknowledging it starts to drag. The emotional payoff is still satisfying, but I’d have liked a little less hesitation and a little more heat.

Still, the romance works. Miles isn’t trying to fix Lenny, and she’s not trying to save him. They’re both hurting, but they meet in that hurt with honesty, not pretense. There’s no “you complete me” moment here. What they offer each other is steadier, riskier, and more believable: the choice to keep showing up when it would be easier to retreat. That’s what makes their relationship feel earned—not the slow burn, but the mutual willingness to be seen and still stay.

Lenny’s grief is real, and often beautifully written. But her personality—and especially her friendship with Lou—sometimes strains under the weight of curated quirk. Their bond is deep, but the inside jokes, ritualistic weirdness, and emotionally performative “look how special we were” moments pulled me out of the story. Lenny occasionally veers into manic-pixie territory, but Bastone usually reins it in just before it tips too far. When the writing lets her be raw instead of whimsical, she becomes a much more powerful character.

Ainsley—Miles’s seven-year-old niece and the child Lenny babysits—adds welcome texture. She’s not a plot device or a precocious sidekick. She’s a real kid: joyful, unpredictable, needy, full of opinions and affection. She adores Lenny and Miles, and the scenes with all three of them crackle with warmth. But Bastone threads in something quieter, too: Ainsley sometimes misses her mom, Reese, whose job keeps her away more than either of them would like. The book doesn’t turn this into melodrama, but it allows the truth to breathe. Even in loving, well-supported families, absence leaves a mark—and the novel earns points for acknowledging that without apology or fix-it energy.

Still, this is Lenny’s story. It’s about her grief, her resistance to change, and her slow, unsteady reentry into connection. Bastone doesn’t flinch. She doesn’t resolve everything. Grief in this novel isn’t a detour. It’s part of the terrain. And healing isn’t a triumph. It’s a choice—one you have to keep making, even when it’s boring, painful, or lonely.

Promise Me Sunshine didn’t wreck me. But it gave me something better: the quiet, bracing sense that someone understands what it’s like to hurt and still want more from life.

There’s no grand takeaway here, no syrupy lesson. Just this: love costs something—sometimes everything—but the alternative is a life half-lived. Promise Me Sunshine understands that the risk of being known, really known, is terrifying, especially when you’ve lost before. But it also shows how electric it can be when someone sees your grief, your chaos, your softness—and chooses you anyway. This novel doesn’t promise healing. It promises connection. And in the face of loss, that might be the most powerful thing we get.

Cara Bastone has done it again!

This was an absolutely beautiful book on grief and found family.

Cara’s writing is so realistic and the way she captures human emotions is always 10/10.

Contemporary romances are hit or miss for me. This is the second Cara Bastone book I have thoroughly enjoyed.

Lenny was in a state of mourning after losing her best friend. She takes a job as a nanny. The uncle of the young girl is always around. Miles and Lenny get close and without realizing they help each other heal.

This was a nice story. I enjoyed watching Lenny and Miles grow close and heal.

This was a love story based on navigating grief and the healing journey.

Miles came in to Lenny’s life at the perfect time. Miles is there to help Lenny through her grief because of his past and Lenny is right there teaching Miles how to connect with his family. They both needed each other in order to heal and grow.

I enjoyed the author’s depiction on grief. Some days are a little easier than others, and some days it’s going to consume you. But having the right partner can really make those hard days better.

The characters were both so lovable and I really enjoyed their story!

Many thanks to Random House Publishing Group and NetGalley for this e-ARC!

Wow. Simply wow. Cara Bastone truly outdid herself with Promise Me Sunshine. This book is an emotional powerhouse that beautifully captures the delicate balance between grief and love, illustrating how these two powerful forces are intricately intertwined. At first glance, they might seem like complete opposites, but as Bastone skillfully demonstrates, they are often two sides of the same coin.

The heart of this story lies in the journey of Miles and Lenny, who navigate their own personal struggles with loss and healing. Through Miles’ unwavering support, Lenny learns that it doesn’t have to be a choice between moving on from grief or embracing love—both can coexist. The most poignant lesson Promise Me Sunshine imparts is that healing doesn’t come from pushing away the pain or pretending it doesn't exist. True healing begins when you allow yourself to feel both grief and love simultaneously, giving yourself permission to heal in your own time and way.

The emotional depth of this book, combined with the raw authenticity of the characters, made this an unforgettable read. Promise Me Sunshine is a beautiful exploration of the human experience—how love and loss shape us, how they challenge us, and how, ultimately, they help us grow. If you're looking for a story that tugs at your heart and leaves a lasting impact, this is the book for you.

A huge thank you to Cara Bastone, Random House Publishing Group, and NetGalley for providing the ARC.

I have listened to almost all of Cara Bastone's Audible Original novellas, but for some reason Promise Me Sunshine is the first novel I've read by her. I will officially be tackling the rest of her backlist ASAP and I kind of can’t believe how much emotion and depth she was able to cram into this 368-page book. The story is ultimately about overcoming your grief and finding a way to move on though it is also against a backdrop of the sweetest slow burning grumpy x sunshine romance. I loved Lenny and Miles so, so much and I was biding my time until they became a couple. There is really only one steamy part in the entire book, and it comes at the very end, but it wasn’t all that spicy and it was perfectly romantic and electric at the same time.

The audiobook was a treat for me and Alex Finke’s narration is everything. She puts so much effort into how she narrates a character, and I thought she was able to expertly capture Lenny’s personality and voice. Listening to her lively (and sometimes over-the-top) narration made Lenny feel so real and she managed to nail the emotional pieces when Lenny can barely breath through her tears. I loved the addition of young Ainsley, and she provided so many bright spots in such a tough subject matter. I haven’t lost a best friend in the way that Lenny has, but I have to imagine I would react in much the same way. I loved the secondary characters with as much passion as our MCs and the humor was perfectly balanced with the sadness.

Read this if you are looking for slow-burn tension, a way to feel all of the feels, and dynamic characters.

Book Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐💫
Audiobook Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
My Spice Rating: 🌶️

I received an advanced copy of Promise Me Sunshine by Cara Bastone from the publisher Random House via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

What It’s About: Lenny is deep in grieving her best friend, Lou, who died after a battle with cancer, and Lenny feels like she has lost a part of her soul. She is avoiding her concerned parents, the apartment she shared with Lou, and a list she’s supposed to do to live again. To stay alive, she’s been taking temporary babysitting gigs, and she’s found a great one with an overworked single mom, Reese, and her precocious daughter Ainsley. Except there’s one problem, Ainsley’s uncle Miles is always around and he’s kind of a jerk. Unfortunately though, she’s not fooling him, because he knows about grief and he offers to help her if she helps him build a relationship with Ainsley and Reese.

My Thoughts: A grief study is one of my favorite type of books and I thought this book was really well done, I knew it would be because Cara Bastone is just an exceptional writer and I loved her last books. Lenny’s grief is so well captured and seeing her avoid the people around her so they don’t have to see her like this or no she is struggling. Lenny has lost her best friend who she has known since she was little, in fact the person who gave her the nickname. The way Miles goes from seeming like the biggest jerk to just the most beautiful soul was well done. I really related to this as someone who is awkward and has some difficulty communicating, but genuinely means well. I really liked the connections and the conversations about grief and how these two fell for each other. Ultimately, I loved this book as a grief narrative and I think maybe some parts of the romance might not have worked 100% (don’t know if that’s cause of how slow burn it is and my ability for my brain to put things together when I’m focusing on grief but like in romance setting). Overall this touched my heart and I think if you’ve grieved you will like this quite a bit.

Who Should Read It: People who love grief studies. People who love emotional work.

Summary: A woman grieving the loss of her best friend finds a lifeline with the uncle of the child she babysits.

As a story about grief – living with it and wading through it – I thought Promise Me Sunshine by Cara Bastone really worked. The friendship between Lenny and Miles is magical. Because Miles has experienced the loss of his closest family members, he is able to help Lenny work through the grief of losing her best friend. Sometimes, that process includes letting Lenny sleep in his empty apartment; sometimes, it's just riding the Staten Island Ferry back and forth all night. While not what I was expecting, I really thought this part of the book was beautifully told.

But, the story lost me when it came to the romance. I just wasn't feeling it. In fact, I was cringing and skipping ahead during the first sexy time attempt. It was so awkward and Lenny was so immature. It didn't help that this took place at the very end of the book so I didn't *need* them to get together.

I enjoyed reading this. Thanks to NetGalley for the free arc!

Loved this book!

The grief hits hard in this one and as I have dealt with losing a loved one, I felt every single bit of Lenny's pain. I cried with her, laughed with her and swooned with her over Miles.

In a trade off, Lenny helps Miles connect with his family (Reese & Ainsley), Miles helps Lenny with her grief and this so called "Live Again" list. Through this journey, Lenny can see that there is way more to Mile's gruff exterior and underneath it all he is genuinely a good person.

The issue is that Reese and Ainsley don't see that part of him and he doesn't know how to show that side of him. With Lenny, it seems easy but once he's around his family that seems to change.

Though this book focuses on Lenny and her grief, it is nice to see Mile's story evolve as well.

I loved everything and everyone in this book and highly recommend.

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC.