4.5 / 5 stars

This was my first book by Cara Bastone and less than two weeks later I've already gone and read more from her. I loved her writing style. Promise Me Sunshine did a fantastic job of covering grief and family and friendship and romance without it feeling overwhelming or too heavy. I had a hard time putting this one down.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy!

Promise Me Sunshine
4.5 ⭐️

This was such a beautiful story of grief and love.

Lenny loses her best friend and is barely making it through each day as she lands a babysitting job. There, she meets Miles, who is determined to work his way into his niece’s life. Together they decide to help each other work through the grief and get closer to family.

I love love loved this story. It was so well written and achingly tender at points. I liked Cara’s last book, but this is by far my favorite so far!

Thanks to @netgalley for this ARC!

Beautiful portrayal of real life. SLOW BURN. I was gutted and giddy at the same time and overall just blown away. This book illustrates living life while grieving in such a real and vulnerable way. I loved every second of it.

Lenny recently lost the love of her life, her best friend. She is barely holding herself together and taking on short-term nannying gigs when she meets Miles, the uncle of a girl she started taking care of. Miles is desperate to bond with his sister and niece. Miles offers Lenny a trade…she helps him bond with his family and he helps her navigate living while grieving.

What unfolds next is a beautiful friendship and slowwwww friends-to-lovers that is vulnerable, tender, and equal parts joyful and gut-wrenching. The comedy and banter is well timed and enough to pull you through those grief stricken moments.

This book was devastating beautiful. I loved every character we met and I especially loved Lenny. The book was perfectly paced in my opinion, and it felt like one of those classic rom com movies. It reminded me a lot of New Girl.

Cara Bastone is definitely becoming one of my most dependable go-to romance authors! I've enjoyed every book I've read from her. This one is no exception.

Oh my gosh, I loved this book! I read her last book and loved them both just as equally. If you are into romance, definitely give this a read!

I was a little hesitant going into this story because there are some contexts and tropes where I just have so much trouble getting over the initial fear or horribleness of finding myself in that situation (like accidental pregnancy or a love story rooted in deep grief). However, like with Ready or Not, I loved this book so so dearly. Both Miles and Lenny have become very important to me over the course of my reading; the character development here is absolutely fantastic. We get to see each of them grow independently and together, and it builds up such an amazing amazing story. Five stars.

Cara Bastone, the queen of slow burn, does it again!

Lenny, our heroine, is grieving the loss of her best friend. She babysits kids as a way to help cope. She meets Miles, our hero, when babysitting his niece, Ainsley. I loved how natural the basic plot felt. It felt like something that could actually happen in real life.

I enjoyed the subtle clues we got about both Lenny and Miles' pasts. There was a lot to uncover with Lenny: her friend, why she goes on the ferry, the list, etc. With Miles, it was his relationship with Reese and Ainsley, as well as how he seemed to know the grief Lenny was feeling.

The subject matter of this book is heavy. Cancer, death, grief, family dynamics. All are depressing. Bastone balanced that well with Lenny's quirky personality, Ainsley's character who is young and full of energy, and the humor between Miles and Lenny. It left me feeling joy and hope, when it could've left me sad and withdrawn. Bastone toed the line of loss and hope extremely well.

The slow burn of Bastone's books in honestly unmatched. There were so many subtle things throughout the book that made me giddy. It made me feel like I really got to know both characters and I fully understood why they were attracted to each other. That being said, it was all from Lenny's perspective. While I loved Lenny, I was dying to know what Miles thought and felt. I would've loved if this had been a dual perspective book so we got to see things from Miles' eyes.

The inclusion of the new friends felt misplaced. It disrupted the flow of the book. The story mainly followed Reese and Ainsley while Lenny worked, and then Miles and Lenny outside of work. Then Lenny's new friends get introduced decently far into the book and I had to readjust to new people, new personalities, new names. But then I wonder if that was the point? Is that how Lenny felt getting back into the social sphere? Did she also feel overwhelmed, thrown off, and confused? Either way, the friends never seemed to be a big part of Lenny's journey. They never seemed like they were going to be lifelong friends of hers, which left me feeling like that part of the book could've been cut out.

Overall, another great book by Cara Bastone! Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for an advanced copy of this book to review. All opinions are my own.

Note:
My Rating Scale:
⭐ Not a fan
⭐⭐ Meh
⭐⭐⭐ I enjoyed it
⭐⭐⭐⭐ Loved it!
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Obsessed!

This is a beautiful portrayal of life after death. Lenny is barely holding herself together following the death of her best friend. While flitting between short-term gigs as a nanny she encounters Miles. In exchange for helping him bond with his newish family, Miles endeavors to help Lenny navigate her grief and begin her life again.

This book is devastating, tender, and funny in equal measure. Lenny is a lovable and relatable FMC and her grief is painfully realistic, raw and messy. Miles is wonderful, the perfect “grumpy” to Lenny’s “sunshine”. Their relationship is slow to build and feels incredibly genuine. The supporting characters are well-developed and lovable. I adored this story and as in Ready or Not, Bastone’s beautiful writing as well. Lenny’s journey with Miles through grief is not one to miss!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for this ARC given in exchange for my honest review.

THIS BOOK IS SO CUTE!😭
Do yourself a favour and read this book genuinely so heartwarming and pure🥹
Also my first Cara Bastone book absolutely love loved it!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for the Advanced Digital Copy!!!

this book literally breathed life into me.

what a wonderful exploration of grief and love and what it takes to keep living.

this book does a beautiful job of having enough joy and comedy to pull you through an exploration of such a sad topic that connects every single human. grief is inescapable. we will all experience it.

this book shows you what happens when you keep floating.

i love that this book does not reinforce the idea that someone will save you. but rather, that someone who cares will be there to hold your hand when you want to stop swimming. someone who will answer your call.

it filled me with so many happy tears and i felt so deeply emotional at so many occasions. miles’ care for lenny was incredibly wholesome and something that truly made me feel alive.

this definitely becomes a favorite romance of mind. it’s so fantastical and i cannot wait to listen to it when an audiobook comes out.

Exquisite. I was nervous to start this one because I loved Ready or Not so much, and I just didn't think that Promise Me Sunshine could live up to it. Thankfully, I was wrong.

This is utterly complex in the way that real life is. Lenny is reeling, her best friend is dead and her life is falling to pieces. Miles agrees to help her finish her live-again list, somewhat against her wishes at first, but he grows on her. And grows. This is a very slow burn, but the chemistry and growing friendship between the leads means that I didn't mind at all. There isn't a third act breakup so it's a slow slide into forever that has a lot of really lovely and important things to say about love, loss, and learning to live in the world after everything changes.

This should have been heavy, and it had it's moments for sure, but it was also drenched in sunshine. Cara's narrative voice lends an intimate and light tone to scenes that could have bogged down under their own weight with a less skillful author. A few favorite moments were every time Lenny fell in love with a stranger at first sight, anytime Miles tried to endear himself to his seven year old niece, and how embedded in place every scene was.

This is one of those books that I simply cannot do justice with a review. I don't care that it's only January, I know this is going to be one of my top 5 reads of the year, so get your hands on it as soon as you can. It's that good.

Cara Bastone’s new romance, Promise Me Sunshine is a fantastic read, and a little bit out of the ordinary for a romance in my experience.

I do want to warn people that although I highly recommend this book, it may be very difficult for some people as a lot of the book deals with severe depression, and grief over the death of a close friend.

Promise Me Sunshine is such a mix of serious topics, and fun, humorous moments, it’s really hard to categorize it. In my opinion, it’s part drama, part romcom, and does a good job combining the two.

I will admit that the first quarter of the book was more difficult, because Lenny, the main character, was having such a hard time dealing with her best friend’s death. I felt so badly for her and what she was going through.

As she started to turn the corner, with the help of Miles, the story gets a little lighter, and easier to read, with some really fun moments.

If there was one problem I had with the story it was this. If Lenny looked as terrible as Miles’ reactions made it seem at times, why was anyone entrusting their children to her care. And why was no one else (besides her mother and Miles) asking her if she was okay?

Ignoring that issue, this was a really great read. Miles was such a great guy, so supportive of Lenny, and his niece and half-sister. It was really wonderful seeing all of their relationships grow.

I think Cara Bastone has now become one of my favourite authors and I’ll be looking forward to reading more of her work.

I really love Cara's writing. This story was a lot heavier than I expected but Cara still manages to bring her humor through. I definitely had some tears shed as someone who has gone through loss. I really enjoyed watching the characters blossom throughout the story.

links to come.

A beautiful, heart-wrenching and heart-warming story of working through grief and learning to live without someone you never dreamt of having to live without.

This is my second read from Cara, and I’m in love with this one! It was emotional, it had meaning, and I felt like it was just paced out so well. The characters were unique and it didn’t take much time for me to love them and all their quirks.
I loved that we get to see the relationships in this book develop over time, and it never feels rushed, just beautiful. I cannot WAIT to have a physical copy of this book because I will be re-reading it and annotating the heck out of it!

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House publishing, and Cara Bastone for the opportunity to read and review this amazing piece of work.

Edit: I felt like it was worth editing to add that this was my first five star of the year!!

Cara Bastone has the unfair power and ability to write men who absolutely love and adore their women and I'm here for it every time. Another book of her's where the mmc cares for, loves, adores, dotes on, and pushes the fmc towards doing what is best for herself. I highlighted so much (317 times to be exact) and swooned endlessly. Miles was there every step of the way to help Lenny find her new normal and watching them fall in love was everything.
Thank you to the publisher & Netgalley for the early review copy!

Cara Bastone has done it again! I absolutely adored Ready or Not, so I was beyond excited to get my hands on this one.

I loved watching Lenny and Miles together—their dynamic was equal parts heartwarming and hilarious. Lenny, in particular, completely stole my heart. She’s quirky, lovable, and even in the midst of her grief, she manages to bring light and laughter. Her banter with Miles had me grinning, especially when she pushed him out of his comfort zone despite his reluctance.

The way Lenny and Miles care for each other is so genuine, and their journey together is beautiful and sweet.

This book may just be my heart in human form. This book tore my heart out of my chest and put it back in and more full than it felt. Miles and Lenny, have my heart forever and ever and ever. I don’t think I’ve ever felt connected to characters more. I think everyone hopes to meet and have a miles of their own in this lifetime. I knew from the first chapter that this book was going to be an automatic 5 stars. I can’t wait for the world to have this one.

I really loved how the story unfolds between the MFC and the MMC. I really enjoyed and had some good giggles reading this book.

3.5 ⭐️ In “Promise Me Sunshine” the fmc Lenny is in a very dark place after losing her best friend. Then, one day she takes a nannying job and meets the mmc Miles. Miles is the uncle to the little girl she’s taking care of. Miles see that she is struggling and offers to help her through her grief by crossing things off her “live again list” that her best friend gave her.

The themes on grief were done so beautifully. How to go on in life once you have lost someone so close to you. Bastone did a great job of showing us the dark place Lenny was in, but at the sometime giving comical relief to keep it light.

Lenny’s inner dialogue is hilarious and overall she’s a corky character. The writing is hilarious and had me chuckling. Though at times I did find the dialogue between characters cringy.

Even though this book is mainly focused on grief there is romance. I really appreciate the slow burn in this and when I say slow I mean really slow. I love when characters are falling in love without knowing they are. At first I found Miles a little weird and wasn’t sure if I would root for them to be together, but; once Miles character developed I found him super sweet and genuine. Miles is there for Lenny no matter what. I loved how gentle he was with her!

✨Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing for the advanced digital copy✨