Sunny has it all. She's only in her mid-thirties, but she has achieved great career success with her own business. However, she is hard on herself, because she is recently divorced, and she feels she is overweight. This wonderful, engaging book is Sunny's journey through feeling more positive about herself and her body as it is, and finding romance as her authentic self. I look forward to recommending this title.

This was a treat. I loved the body positivity and having a female main character who was real and flawed. The fact that this book represents all types of bodies and that men still find them desirable was relatable and enjoyable. I look forward to more books by Katie Sturino! Thanks NetGalley for the arc!

If you’re looking for a fun, feel-good read that’s all about self-love, second chances, and some seriously messy—but hilarious—dating adventures, Sunny Side Up is a perfect pick. Sunny Greene is freshly divorced, navigating the plus-size fashion world, and juggling romance with plenty of laughs along the way. She’s relatable, sassy, and totally inspiring—kind of like a modern-day Carrie Bradshaw with a big heart. I think you’ll love how real and upbeat her story is. It’s a great choice if you want something lighthearted but meaningful with a strong dose of confidence and humor.

☀️ Book Review: Sunny Side Up by Katie Sturino

If you're searching for a refreshing, body-positive rom-com, look no further than Sunny Side Up. Katie Sturino's debut novel introduces Sunny Greene, a 35-year-old publicist navigating life after a divorce. Her journey of self-acceptance and body positivity is both inspiring and relatable.

Why You'll Love It:

Authentic Protagonist: Sunny's evolution from self-doubt to confidence is portrayed with authenticity, making her a protagonist readers can root for.

Engaging Writing: Sturino's writing is sharp and engaging, with witty dialogue and well-developed characters.

Uplifting Themes: The novel delves into themes of friendship, love, and personal growth, providing moments of both tenderness and tension.

Final Thoughts:
While the plot occasionally leans into predictability, the book's charm lies in its uplifting message and the strength of its central character. Sunny Side Up is a feel-good read that encourages embracing one's true self.

I thoroughly enjoy Sturino's social media presence alongside her body positivity advocacy, so of course I was happy to scoop up her first novel, Sunny Side Up. Her FMC, Sunny Greene, is just like many of us: in her mid-thirties, successful, single, and not looking forward to attending her brothers' nuptials alone. She's also plus-sized, much to her chagrin. (I mean, how hard is it for Bergdorf Goodman to carry plus-sized clothing that is ACTUALLY cute?) Readers join Sunny as she moves through her own body positivity and the challenges of dating in NYC in what is a humorous and light-hearted debut.

Love and success look different to everybody, and Sturino emphasizes this with Sunny's story. This will be a perfect (and inspiring) poolside read this summer. Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was an uplifting, fun book! Loved Sunny and her outlook on life, even when things weren’t going her way. This was very relatable.

Sunny Greene owns a PR firm, lives in a great apartment in her favorite part of NYC and has her rescue dogs while coping with her recent divorce and when she’s preparing for a trip with her newfound friends she will have to confront self-esteem issues that have plagued her life.
Deciding to turn the page after her trip, with an idea for a new enterprise and under pressure to find a date for her brother’s wedding, she will end up dating a down to earth mailman and a charming tycoon while her ex-husband will try to crawl into the mix.
This was my first read by the author and not at all what I was expecting. The book left me with mixed feelings about Sunny’s journey as I came to love her empowerment, how she takes on a new venture without neglecting her existing business and takes control of her life as a whole, but I was not board with other things. Still the story is a good read and I know other people with a different mindset will love it from beginning to end.

Move over Sex in the City and Mr. Big. We’ve got Sunny and she owns this city and her own fashion and her big messy online presence and irl messes. I can’t wait for everyone to fall in love. My only regret in reading the preview is not getting to listen and encounter the story through audio for the first time.

With an ex husband and a career that isn’t what she wants—yet!—Sunny Greene is at a tipping point. Will she accept defeat or strive for what she wants? And as she does, who will she become and what will she sacrifice to get there? While deep questions, they are presented in an irreverent voice that I’ll follow all around the big city. Super fun story with a great resolution.

Sunny Side Up is a very uplifting novel putting women in the right image for themselves not for anyone else.

Sunny is a successful business woman living her dream in NYC. Unfortunately her dream of a successful marriage wasn’t to be.Sunny is now a successful divorced woman who has tried to get back into the dating life. With the help of her two best friends she does try the dating life with not much success. Then with her friends and a trip to the islands Sunny realizes she can never find a swimsuit she likes for her body type. So on this trip an idea was born. Plans are put into place and at the same time her love life goes into full swing. Can you say Silver Fox and Me. postman?

I really loved this book. I read it in one day. I loved the message it sent to women of a specific size. The friends made from divorce. How this three successful businesswomen always built each other up. Sunny came into her own and stood on her own two feet. She took changes, made mistakes especially with men but took her lumps and moved on. Very impressive character well written. Beautifully written story with a great message.

Thank you NetGalley and Celadon Books for the ARC. Bravo to the author!!!!!

Great debut fiction by Sturino.
I loved the female friendships. The story was not predictable which is nice to see. The author really got her point across about body diversity and acceptance.

This was a fun, fast read. It’s the kind of book you can bring on vacation or finish in a weekend. I liked the premise: a confident, plus-sized woman starting over after a divorce and deciding it’s time to put herself first. Sunny is bold, stylish, and ready to date again while chasing a new business dream. The body-positive message and sense of reinvention were both refreshing.

At the same time, I had mixed feelings. The story leans heavily into privilege, and that made it harder to connect at times. While Sunny’s size is relatable, her lifestyle really isn’t. She lives in a gorgeous New York apartment, shops at Bergdorf’s, revives her business effortlessly, and just seems to win at everything she tries. It didn’t feel like there was much on the line, which made her journey less compelling.

The romance storylines were light and cute, but they felt predictable. I also found myself wanting more emotional depth. The book touches on self-love and personal growth, but it stays pretty surface-level. I kept waiting for a moment of real vulnerability or reflection that never quite came. It was like the setup was there, but the follow-through was missing.

Some of the writing also felt a little forced, especially the dialogue. At times it came off more like social media captions than real conversation. It made it harder to fully believe in Sunny as a character, even though I liked the idea of her.

Still, this book will definitely appeal to readers looking for a quick and stylish escape. If you enjoy light, fashion-forward stories with strong female leads and a dose of romance, this could be a great pick. I just personally wanted a little less gloss and a little more grit.

Thanks to NetGalley (Edelweiss) and Publisher for the digital copy of this book; I am leaving this review voluntarily. I thought this quote from the author was on point: “Sunny is a necessary hero in today’s world where women are told they need to look a certain way to find love or success.”

I was absolutely on board with this book! Portraying a female character who is heavier than the cookie cutter heroines we normally read is a great way to show body positivity and being comfortable in one’s own skin. It’s something to cheer about. Another positive is that the main character is in her mid-30s and divorced. Normally, someone that age has had a series of breakups and is closed off to love, but that’s not the case here.

This is the type of book that is the perfect beach read/summer novel. Narrated by Yael Rizowy, I thought they did an excellent job and would definitely listen to something of theirs again,

3.5⭐️. This was a story that many women can relate to dealing with ideals society sets up that are impossible to meet. Sunny was a very relatable character and I really enjoyed her and her “First wives club”. She goes through a lot of work to accept herself for who she is. I loved that she was a smart, very capable woman and that she accomplished her goals on her own.

3.75 ⭐️

I had mixed feelings about this novel. It felt like a recipe that needed tweaking—all the correct ingredients were present, and yet the final product wasn’t quite right.

I loved Sunny’s journey from diet-culture-victim to body acceptance/neutrality (vs body positivity). I’d probably read her newsletter in real life! But I found the novel focused on this concept so much, especially during the first 40% or so, that it was detrimental to the overall story. The first half of the book read very slowly, and I had trouble maintaining interest.

Things really picked up during the second half, as a love triangle (almost quadrangle) began to take shape. Without spoiling too much, I appreciated the author’s decision to make Sunny’s choice of man very clear in the end. But for people who don’t like love triangles, maybe skip this book. Sunny definitely treads some moral gray area when balancing her two beaus.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and Celadon Books for providing this advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.

This was a fun, relatable and bingeable read. Was it unrealistic at times?? Yes. Did I absolutely devour it? Yes. It was so refreshing to read about a plus size person in their mid-30’s finding love and success after a shocking divorce. If you are a millennial woman, you will find Sunny completely relatable in her discussions around her weight and finding clothes you love that you also feel good in. This was a nostalgic read that reminded me of sex in the city/shopaholic chic lit that I used to read, and I think it’s the perfect summer read.

I read and listened to audio, and they were both great!

completely loved this book and it was excellent on audio as well!!! cannot recommend it enough! 5/5 stars

Publishing June 24

Sunny is a complicated character.
She started her own business, helped her husband start his own business, got talked down to repeatedly about her body and ideas, got cheated on and got divorced.

Now, Sunny has a couple new gal pals and needs swimwear for a vacation they're taking together. Instead of choosing a store that's more likely to have what she'd like, she finds herself trying on ugly one-piece swimwear in a size 14 (oh, the horror...). Irritated that Bergdorf's doesn't have what she's looking for, she takes a swimsuit that fits to her tailor and modifies it. (If you had a tailor in the first place, why even try on the ugly suits?). In any case, the experience of creating her own swimwear makes her happy so she decides to start her own company of high end plus size swimwear.

In the meantime, we are to understand that Sunny has deeply rooted feelings of inadequacy in her body, but she decides to walk nude in front of the construction guy outside her window and then have sex with him, which feels like a huge leap. She then attracts the hot mailman and also the hot gazillionaire she pitches her new line of swimwear to. All to say, it was an astonishingly quick leap from hey my husband repeatedly told me I was fat and now I've recently gotten divorced and gained 40 lbs and having a panic attack in a dressing room to let's get naked!

I loved several parts, especially about body neutrality over body positivity, but the dialogue between Sunny and Mr Postman was often yicky, and I felt like she frequently crossed boundaries with her employee Avery.

Thank you to Celadon Books, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for digital and audiobook ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

📖 Book Review 📖 If your given name at birth is Sunny, perhaps there is some magical super positive attitude that radiates magnetically. Thirty five and divorced was not how Sunny envisioned her fabulous life in NYC but looking at the plus side, she finally snagged an apartment in her favorite neighborhood of Chelsea. In a society filled with pressure - from finding a date to her brother's upcoming nuptials to an unhealthy obsession with being thin - she navigates it all with a refreshing humor and grace. Katie Sturino delivers a breezy beautiful read that will light up your summer. Sunny Side Up is a beautiful read that will not only have you rooting for our girl; it’s a reminder to be that woman who fixes another woman’s crown without telling the world it’s crooked.

This book took me straight back to those feel-good 90's rom-coms we all secretly adore! "Sunny Side Up" delivers that perfect blend of laugh-out-loud moments while tackling something so many of us struggle with—truly accepting ourselves.

Sunny Greene fascinates me because she's this PR powerhouse with a gorgeous Chelsea apartment and thriving career, yet inside? Total chaos of insecurities. That opening swimsuit scene at Bergdorf's hit way too close to home—I literally cringed and nodded along simultaneously. We've all been there, right?

What makes this story resonate is how Sturino peels back the layers behind Sunny's self-doubt. Her divorce left scars deeper than she admits, and those family dynamics? Whew! The way she misinterprets how her mom sees her broke my heart a little. Those past experiences shaped her in ways that felt genuinely human rather than plot devices.

The absolute joy of this book, though? Watching Sunny embrace her full-bodied figure and realize her worth. She transforms into this magnetic woman who's sexy, smart, and unapologetically herself when she stops overthinking everything. And yes—the spicy scenes definitely deliver! The love triangle had me constantly switching teams between charming mailman Dennis and business tycoon Ted. No spoilers on who wins her heart!

I demolished this book in two sittings. The writing just wrapped around me like a cozy blanket from page one, and honestly, not a single boring moment throughout.

If you need a charming romance that celebrates plus-size heroines finding love while finding themselves, this one's a total gem.

Thank you, Celadon Books and NetGalley, for my electronic advance copy for review.

Katie Sturino - new year new author for me. This story follows 𝗦𝘂𝗻𝗻𝘆 𝗚𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗻𝗲, a 35-year-old PR business owner in NYC who’s picking up the pieces from a fresh divorce. After a mini meltdown moment in the Bergdorf swimsuit department, she decides it’s time to shake things up. What follows is a journey of starting over, self discovery, and 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛 first and foremost. Sunny is 𝗽𝗹𝘂𝘀-𝘀𝗶𝘇𝗲, confident in her work and fashion sense and I was all about the body acceptance. This story had me hooked from the start. Loved the characters and the setting of NYC. The side characters were fantastic. I loved her circle of friends. This romcom vibe is perfect for this summer. Hope you enjoy.

Thank you to @netgalley and @celadonbooks for this eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.