Whoa whoa whoa. I started this book and I didn’t really know what to expect. This was my first time reading this author so I went in with an open mind and open heart. Then I found myself feeling profoundly sad…I had to put the book down a few times…I almost convinced myself that you know what this isn’t for me but I had a moment where I couldn’t stop thinking about Lenny. Honest to god I thought to myself literally where is she and what is she doing right now. So I told myself to be brave and finish this book that has evoked such sadness from you. I am so happy I followed my gut. Lenny and Miles healed something in me. I found myself unable to work because I needed to keep reading and then I found myself crying in bed reading the last few chapters. Everything meant something and everyone was monumental. Amazing book I will be reading everything from Cara.

Cara Bastone did it again! I have listened to all of her audible audiobooks and read Ready or Not last year. I love that the book is character driven and not plot heavy. My heart goes out to people who experience anything similar to what Lenny has gone through. Watching her grief journey has been inspiring.

~ARC provided on NetGalley~

Cara Bastone, goddam. I was quick to jump on the Bastone bandwagon last year with her debut, "Ready or Not," and was tickled when the ARC for "Promise Me Sunshine" came my way. I heard only great things online by some other early readers, so I was super excited to pick this up. I knew this book would be handling the topic of grief and loss ahead of time, but I didn't know it would be about cancer and the death of a best friend. I recently lost an important person in my life to cancer, so I feel like I wasn't able to fully interact with the material in the way it was intended. However, the romance was such a sweet antidote to the heavier themes in the book. I loved the premise of the heroine, Lenny, taking a nannying gig with the complaining, self-inserting, Miles. Their instant dislike to gradual friendship worked on so many levels for me, and I felt like I really bought and believed their love story. In her biography in the back, Cara Bastone says she loves capturing real love stories, and I felt that reading this book. She captures the small moments, intimacy, and emotions of falling in love perfectly. I hope I get a chance to revisit this book in time.

☀️"He treats you well?" "Mom, he walked into hell and dragged me back out." 😭

☀️There aren't enough stars to properly convey how much I LOVED every single thing about this book. Saying it was a 5 star read doesn't even begin to scratch the surface.

☀️Ever since Lenny's best friend died, it feels like she's stopped living too. Unable to go home and face the apartment they shared, she spends her days and nights wandering around NYC, taking random babysitting jobs here and there. It's on one of those jobs that she meets Miles, her charge's Uncle. He wants to help Lenny learn to live again and work through her grief, a topic he himself is all to familiar with. What follows is the most beautiful story of love and friendship that I think I've ever read.

☀️First of all, the characters in this book were nothing short of perfect. Lenny, despite her extreme grief, is funny, self-deprecating, and delightfully messy. Miles is the perfect book boyfriend, despite (or because of!) his constant frown and grumpiness. He understands everything about Lenny, even the things she herself hasn't figured out, and he takes care of her in countless ways. He never hesitates to drop everything and be there for her no matter what she needs. The side characters were all equally delightful, from the rag-tag group of friends that Lenny makes, to her parents, to Mile's sister and niece. They were all written so well and I would love to have all of them in my life!

☀️Since so much of this book dealt with grief, it was sometimes sad and emotional, but Cara's writing was so beautiful that I didn't mind having my heart ripped right out of my body. And the way she healed those broken parts made all the hurt worth it! I truly could go on and on about this book, and it is one that will stay with me for a very long time. Definitely pre-order this one... you won't want to miss it!

☀️"Well, I can't promise the sunshine. But I can do everything else."🥹

This was a story about grief, but it was also cute and funny. Miles is probably the most perfect book boyfriend to ever exist. Are there really men out there like him? I hope so.

Lenny, even while going through so much grief, reminded me of sunshine. She just seemed like the type of person everyone wants to be friends with. Miles and her were perfect for each other and I think they both needed each other.

I think this book started out as a 5 star for me and then got a little long winded in the end. But overall, I think this is going to be a top bestseller of 2025.

I also enjoyed the fact that Miles encouraged her to explore other friendships too. He didn’t want to be her everything, he wanted a healthy relationship between them.

Thank you to netgalley for this free advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Contemporary Romance, single POV
5 stars

Amazing. I loved this book so much. Cara Bastone will be a 1-click author for me after this and Ready or Not (also loved). Our heroine, Lenny, has just lost her best friend, Lou, to cancer. Not just her best friend, her soul mate. She and Lenny were roommates and Lenny cared for her during her treatment until she died. We don’t see a whole lot of that on page, just a few flash backs. What we do see is Lenny in the deep dark of her grief. She’s not doing well, avoiding her family, not sleeping, not even going to her apartment because its too painful. What she is able to do is take short term nanny jobs. Lenny can pull herself together to hang out with kids for the day and then go back to riding the Staten Island Ferry all night instead of sleeping.

Day 1 of a new job she meets Miles. Miles is the uncle of her new client and boy is he a judgy prick. After a bad first impression, Miles quickly figures out Lenny is really awesome with kids and is a complete mess. Miles has also gone through losing people very close to him, his mom and cousin, and offers to help Lenny through her grief, and asks that Lenny help him build a relationship with his niece. This is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Miles is shy, gruff and Lenny is the opposite. She’s friendly and impulsive. As a reader you can see that Miles is won over by Lenny pretty quickly but is so kind and respectful and prioritizes her feelings and where she’s at before anything else. He’s able to meet her where she’s at any day. They work their way through a list of activities Lou gave to Lenny to do after she died. Their relationship changes from friends to lovers slowly and it’s so cute - even with the huge amount of grief Lenny is carrying.

This sounds super sad, but it really wasn’t. I love a good cry, but I spent more time smiling over this book that’s I did being sad.

CW: death of a friend, death of a parent, complex parent situation (for Miles & his sister), kid on page but she’s 7 and a delight

Cara Bastone does it again! Somehow she manages to make her characters so relatable and lovable. Lenny is quirky in all the best ways, and Miles is a big, awkward teddy bear. While this is a love story, it is also about grief and learning to live again after the unimaginable happens. I didn't want to put it down and just want to read more by this delightful author.

Cara Bastone's Promise Me Sunshine is the most heartwarming depiction of friendship and love I've ever read. It's a subtle friends to lovers story and it was breathtakingly sweet. It's been a while since I've simultaneously sobbed and smiled as I read a book, but I did just that with Promise Me Sunshine.

Lenny and Miles. Oh, Lenny and Miles. I fell in love with Lenny just as much as I did with Miles. Lenny is a disaster when she first meets Miles. She hasn't been home since her best friend, Lou, died. She's living out of her backpack and sleeping on the ferry between Manhattan and Long Island. She's surviving, but not living. And that's when Miles shows up. Lenny is nannying for Reese, Miles' half-sister, and he stops by on Lenny's first day.

Miles knows a thing or two about navigating grief and he offers her a deal--he will help her live again if she helps him form a relationship with Reese and his niece, Ainsley. Lenny agrees, but she's reluctant in the beginning. I loved the banter and the humor between Lenny and Miles. I cackled numerous times at their interactions, especially as Lenny got Miles to open up more.

Somewhere along the way of coping with the loss of Lou and developing a friendship with Miles, Lenny falls in love with Miles. Oh, Cara, you wove a beautiful story that showcases the reality of dealing with the grief of losing a loved one. I wanted to savor this book, but there was an invisible, irresistible pull by Lenny and Miles to keep reading. I felt as if I had gone on this journey with Lenny and Miles and by the end, I was at peace, too.

Everyone should read Promise Me Sunshine at least once in their life. It's a more than a story. It's a reminder that although we will lose someone we love, we should never forget to keep on living in their memory.

Thank you Dial Press and NetGalley for this e-ARC!

The author hooks you in chapter one by making you privy to the FMCs inner dialog, and it is hilarious, believable, and incredibly relatable.

The writing of this book and these characters, while done so carefully and with intention, seems effortless because you can immediately see each character's full personality. You can see perfectly how and why they relate to the situations they are in, and the people they are surrounded by. Nothing is written just for the laugh. Every word serves a purpose, and you are gifted so many laughs anyway. It achieves what many books strive for but miss when they ‘add sarcasm here’ or ‘insert obvious witty comeback there’. How these characters interact with each other shows a lightness and everyday normalcy that can still exist while being mired in heavy and tragic circumstances. By balancing the emotional load of the storyline with the life and vibrancy inherent, but sometimes hidden, in the characters, the author shows us not only how the characters grow in their own ways, but that they do it together.

Lenny is starting a new nannying job that she wants to keep short term. After the death of her life long best friend, she can’t imagine others depending on her, when she can’t depend on herself to fulfill her basic human needs. When meeting her new client, a single mom with a seven year old daughter, Lenny learns they are trying to adjust to their new and sometimes awkward family structure. This includes their brother/uncle Miles, who they didn’t know existed until recently. After seeing how quickly Lenny endears herself to his niece, Miles asks for her help relating to family members that are like strangers to him. While Lenny helps him with this, Miles gives her a human life line when things get too overwhelming. He has experienced and navigated a similar grief, so Lenny grabs on and accepts his help with both hands.

I wanted to read this book because I liked ‘Ready Or Not’. After reading this one, Cara Bastone has become an auto-read author for me. I loved it.

𝑨𝑹𝑪 𝑩𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝑹𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘
📖- Promise Me Sunshine
✍🏼- Cara Bastone
📅- March 4, 2025
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
🌶️/5

Read if you like
☀️Grumpy sunshine trope
☀️Slow burns 🔥
☀️ Emotional reads

𝑺𝒚𝒏𝒐𝒑𝒔𝒊𝒔

Lenny lost her best friend to cancer. She’s feeling lost without her soulmate. When you lose someone whether you see it coming or not nothing prepares you for how empty you feel. Grieving for the loss of her friend she finds herself unable to go back to the apartment they shared. She takes a job as a nanny where she meets her bosses brother, Miles. Miles himself has dealt with grief, he’s determined to get Lenny’s spark back by helping her navigate through the pain and grief.

𝑴𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒔 💭

This story was beautifully written. Grief is something we all deal with differently and sadly it is something we are never prepared for. I loved how Lenny’s character developed in such a beautiful messy (grieving) way. Miles and Lenny are perfect for each other, she’s funny and he’s grumpy. I feel like I was there feeling every emotion Lenny felt and sometimes I just wanted to reach in the book and hug her tight. May I say how perfect Miles was, very understanding and patient with Lenny 🥹. This is my second book I’ve read by Cara Bastone and it honestly did not disappoint. Do yourself a favor and add this to your TBR if you haven’t already done so.

Thank you to Cara Bastone, Dial Press, and Netgalley for the ebook ARC!

I read Ready or Not by this author and really enjoyed it, so I was excited for this one. I went in completely blind, and let me just say – WOW.

This book is absolutely incredible, surely it’ll be one of my favorite reads of the year. It is primarily focused on grief, in particular the loss of a best friend to cancer, but it’s also about finding friendship as an adult, family, and so much more.

This is the first book I've read by this author. I loved it! It was very well written and relatable. I found myself really loving all the characters in the book. Will definitely recommend this book and can't wait to read more from this author! Thank you for the opportunity to read this before it comes out!

Before I begin, I want to thank NetGalley for a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I thought this story was so sweet. While I haven't gone through what Lenny went through (losing her best friend to cancer), I know what it's like to grieve a future you deeply desired and Cara Bastone illustrated that struggle very well. I appreciated Miles and Lenny's slow burn romance, given the kind of grief that Lenny was enduring, and I loved that Miles gently pushed Lenny out of her comfort zone and was so present with her the entire time! The empathy level was off the charts!

What I wish was more fleshed out in the book was Miles's relationship with his family. I understood his past but I think this could have benefitted from a dual POV with Miles's story as well as Lenny's.

Overall, I enjoyed this and I will pick up Cara Bastone's previous novel, Ready or Not, as well!

Promise Me Sunshine is a story that I will always carry with me. It talks about the hard moments and the raw emotions. It talks about those who’ve moved on. It talks about the ones that sit with you and stay with you, those who meet you where you are. Then it talks about when it’s time to come up for air. It’s a dedication, a transition from the before and after. It’s a different kind of love story. Lenny is uninhibited, Miles is inscrutable, and the bond that they form is unlike any other. It’s the kind that one could only hope for in their own life. And Ainsley, she’s everything you could possibly want in a little human. She’s who you wanna be when you grow up.

Cara Bastone has easily become a favorite. This is like The Seven Year Slip (minus the slip) with a hint of A Walk to Remember (with a happier ending) and a dash of Uptown Girls (yeah, the movie). And I’m here for all of it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the eARC!

I’m DNF this book 51% thru. I can’t take it anymore. I really enjoyed Ready or Not but this book is so boring. I’m waiting on something to happen and skimming pages. I can’t bring myself to waste another minute.

Unfortunately this was a miss for me. And I have too many books to read to waste more time. So for what I did read- 2 stars. Maybe one day I’ll come back to it.

“He walked into hell and dragged me back out.”

This is the second book I’ve read by Cara Bastone and the second book I’ve loved. She has the ability to make you feel the emotions of the characters and to live all of those emotions at once.

This story is a love story, but it’s also about coming back to life after grief. And it’s a reminder that there is no one way for people to experience grief; there’s no right or wrong way to grieve. So while a reader may find characters’ actions or responses to be unreasonable or unfathomable, perhaps just understand it might not be how you would react but it makes sense for the characters.

I really enjoyed the developmental journey Lenny took over the course of the story, and the selfless and loving way Miles supported her and helped her find her way through the grief.

I also appreciated that, like grief, the writing had me riding through a roller coaster of emotion. You never knew what you were going to get: laughing one minute, swooning at flirty banter the next, then hitting me with tears of sadness.

On a tangential note, I appreciated the entirely accurate depiction of the family meals. It was 100% the same way I remember my big Italian meals with my family.

Thank you to the author, Random House Publishing Group, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.

Another amazing book by Cara Bastone! Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Random House for this eARC.

I was first introduced to Cara Bastone's writing through an audible original, Call Me Maybe, then I was happy to pick up the book Ready or Not and have found a real love for Cara's stories and writing style. In this book, we meet Lenny who is in a silent life spiral. After losing her best friend to cancer, she is having a hard time even living day-to-day. Lenny isn't eating, sleeping well, showering, or staying at the apartment that she shared with her best friend, Lou. No one would ever be able to tell all of this just by looking at Lenny which is why Reese thinks it's a great idea to have Lenny babysit her daughter Ainsley while Reese is on a business trip. Everything is a go until Miles shows up, the semi-lurky brother of Reese. Lenny isn't sure if he's spying on her or what but she's happy to end her time watching Ainsley (even though she's had a great time with Ainsley) just to get away from Miles.

Miles is also misunderstood and after Lenny agrees to stay and watch Ainsley more regularly, Lenny and Miles commit to each other to help them with what they need most. Miles will help Lenny live again and Lenny will help Miles be the best uncle to Ainsley he can be.

This story was definitely more sad than I thought it would be, but the story is truly heartwarming. I also liked the way Cara included Ainsley in the story, sometimes it can be risky on how kids show up in a romance, but this was the perfect balance. I felt and cared about both characters which shows great character development. I highly recommend this book.

Ugh Cara bastone did it again 😭 I didn’t think it was possible to love this book more than her last one & this one topped it.

How she wrote grief and how Miles was there for Lenny the whole time, he never pressed her to do anything, but always just there for her when she needed him. Whenever she’d call and he was on his way in 20 mins. Just absolute chills reading this book.

Love Cara’s writing & truly obsessed with the way she writes her MMC.

Also as emotional as this book was, I loved the funny bits here and there from Lenny & Miles.

Truly need a man like miles asap.

Easily a 5⭐️

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

Review: What an absolutely gut wrenching, beautiful, story. I have no idea how to put words to this story. This could end up being my favorite romance of the year. Not many books have made me feel the way this one did. Cara Bastone has a unique way of writing heartfelt stories that touch a part of my soul not often reached. I know that sounds dramatic but read this and you will see what I mean. I loved Ready or Not by her as well but this one was even better somehow.

Bastone develops characters in such a slow, authentic way that once you reach the end of the book you realize how subtle and believable everything was. I seriously don't know how to put into words how good this book was. The small moments are so large and memorable. I would recommend reading this with someone else and looking up the trigger warnings. Grief is a strong topic throughout and seriously hits hard but in a way I will never forget. It's so well written, it feels like the author saw a movie in her head and wrote it out for us.

I can't say enough good things about this, will be in my favorites of the year I'm sure. Take care of yourself while you read it.

Two Sentence Summary:
Still reeling from the loss of her best friend, Lenny is just trying to keep it together—until grumpy, no-nonsense Miles offers her a deal to help them both move forward. As they tackle grief, second chances, and an unexpected connection, Lenny starts to wonder if love might be part of truly living again.

Thoughts:
This book was everything. The slow burn was absolutely perfect, with the kind of tension that keeps you hooked, and the grumpy x sunshine dynamic between Miles and Lenny was chef’s kiss. But what really set this one apart was how real and raw the portrayal of grief and depression felt—there was no sugarcoating, just heartbreak, healing, and the messy, beautiful process of moving forward.

Honestly, this was one of the most emotionally real romance novels I’ve ever read. It made me feel everything—sadness, hope, love, and that slow, aching build toward something new. If you love romances that hit deep and stay with you long after the last page, this one is a must-read.