It was a dnf for me. It started strong but I found myself skimming waiting for something to happen and when it wasn’t I gave up.

Sunny Side Up by Katie Sturino was such a fun read. This was my first book by Sturino and I cannot wait to read her other books.
Sturino did a great job with the storyline and the characters. It was such a realistic story about the struggles of feeling good enough at any weight. She captures the struggles of being overweight and being with someone who doesn’t think you are good enough. Finding your worth and learning that your weight does not define who you are.

Sunny is like a Carrie from Sex and the City. She is newly divorced and made a new life in NYC. She is learning how to live life as a single woman and trying dating sites. While planning a divorcation with her new friends she struggles with finding a bathing suit for her body size, so she makes her own. Which gives her the idea to make her own plus size line and start doing her blog again. Her blog is about her life experience, dating, and her sex life. She talks about her struggles of dating 2 men Ted who she is physically attracted to and Ben who she is falling for. What it’s like when your ex tries to come back and you resort back to the unhealthy feelings only to find out he has ulterior movies. I laughed a lot more than I thought I would in this book and didn’t want to put it down. You just need to read or listen to the book. I loved and resonated with this book so much. This is just what I needed to read. Thank you to Celadon Books and NetGalley for letting me read this ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts and opinions.

This book was excellent. It was relevant and relatable. As a plus sided woman I could feel exactly how the character was feeling. I knew what she had been through, the thoughts and feelings. The writing was easy to follow and made the reading enjoyable and easy.

Thank you NetGalley for a free copy in exchange for an honest review. Sunny Greene is a professional, successful woman in New York going through some major life changes. This story follows her as she tries to get over her divorce, start dating gain, and start a new company. The author did a great job addressing body acceptance and the work that goes into it. I also enjoyed reading about dating in NYC and how to find your person.

Funny, realistic, and uplifting book for any woman!
Body image is a struggle for women of all shapes, sizes, heights, weights, ages, colors, demographics...shall I go on? This hilarious rom-com tale about post-divorce Sunny Greene is relatable and realistic on all fronts. No matter what, our besties are always our biggest cheerleaders and sidekicks, just like Noor and Brooke (even Avery). I admire the way Sunny, successful PR entrepreneur, takes control of her own happiness in love, business (another), and self-acceptance. Also, opening herself to the idea of love again after such a scrappy relationship with ex-husband Zack (douchebag).
Inspiration is this book, in a nutshell!

Thank you to NetGalley and Celadon Books for the ARC. This book was absolutely delightful and you can’t help but fall in love with Sunny. As a size 16, recently divorced business owner, Sunny is trying to figure out what her new life is going to look like. Her body feels different and dating has changed since the last time she was single. After failing to find a swimsuit before her divorc-ation with her also recently single friends, she’s inspired to make swimwear for women of all sizes to feel great in. Along the creative way, she meets Ted - a business partner for the swim line and crushes on Dennis, her mailman. Will she find someone she wants to take to her little brother’s wedding while figuring out new ways to love herself?

✅ Sunny, PR exec, recently divorced, trying to find a date for her brother’s wedding
✅ think a plus sized Samantha from Sex & The City.
✅ mutual interest from 2 guys: the postman Dennis & the silver fox investor, Ted
🌶️: the FMC is based on Samantha, what do you think?!?!

Loved the story, loved Sunny, but there was something about the writing that just wasn’t doing it for me. It read like a bunch of front camera facing instagram stories, with the exception of the newsletters that read like newsletters. So in short, it read like non fiction and you all know how I feel about reading non fiction for leisure.

I received a free e-ARC from NetGalley.

3.5 stars, cute rom-com about a plus size woman in NYC coming off a divorce who designs a size-inclusive swimwear line and has multiple attractive men to choose from.

The MC's focus on body-neutrality was refreshing.

If you are looking for a fun, heart-felt, sexy, body embracing novel to read this summer, then I recommend Sunny Side Up by Katie Sturino. This contemporary, steamy romance delivers with humor, friendship, and feminine power. The perfect feel good, uplifting beach read.

Sunny Green is thirty-five, recently divorced and owns a successful PR firm in New York. While going through her divorce, she made friends with two women going through the same thing. The three are planning a ladies-only tropical vacation and decide to go out shopping for the perfect swimsuits. Sunny dreads the department store. She has put on some weight and is tall. Most of her clothes are re-tailored by a seamstress who is a godsend. Sunny loves fashion and embraces bold choices, but has always had panic attacks in the dressing room.

I’ve been on both sides of the feelings Sunny Greene has when she tries to buy clothes at high end department stores, or those little speciality shops at the mall. Especially if you are over a size 12, short, or too tall. Forget finding the latest fashion, let alone a swimsuit. All she finds are solid colored unflattering bathing suits and, even worse, they don’t fit properly.

This is when Sunny decides enough is enough. She is going to embrace her big, beautiful body and design swimsuits that fit EVERY woman. Along the way to embracing her new body affirming attitude, she gets back into dating. I laughed, cringed, and enjoyed her journey. With her new attitude, she certainly has the guy’s attention. There is a cute mailman, a financial backer, and even her ex is sniffing around.

Sturino made Sunny vulnerable, strong, sweet, uncertain, and down to earth despite the glamorous life she leads. She is a powerhouse in the business world, but not in her personal life. I have very little in common with Sunny, but the author allowed me to connect with her. I adored her friends and had firm opinions on where and who I wanted to see Sunny have a happily ever with. Lots of feels with this one, along with genuine friendship, character growth, and uplifting ideals.

While this is a standalone, I wouldn’t mind getting her friends’ stories. I loved how different they all were and how they uplifted each other. Woman seem to be so critical of each other. Sunny Side Up is the perfect feel good romance to pack in your beach tote!

I usually try not to compare books about wealthy single women in New York to Sex and the City because it seems like too easy of a comparison. Sunny Side Up, however, is most definitely a 2025 version of SATC in so many disappointing ways. Sunny and her friends have their problems, yes—all three are recently divorced and dealing with various challenges in the fallout from that—but this book is otherwise so oblivious. I probably should have realized that when the main character nearly melts down upon realizing that she has gained weight … and is now a SIZE SIXTEEN. In a book pitched as featuring a plus-sized heroine and body-positive message, I wanted/expected so much more from Katie Sturino.

Sunny’s adventures are predictably madcap but always work out in the end, and nothing ever really threatens her TV-perfect life. I’m not saying I wanted to see her suffer—the book is a rom-com, after all!—but to write about such a privileged life while never acknowledging or grappling with how that makes Sunny different from so many people around her (including, it seems, her brother and his fiancee) strikes me as incredibly tone deaf in these times.

This would make a great beach read and is entertaining overall. I liked the inclusion of the newsletters as it let the protagonist emotion dump without it being forced throughout the chapters and getting repetitive. I also liked the discussion of body neutrality and appreciated those aspects of the work. Sunny was an enjoyable protagonist, relatable and easy to read about.

What drastically reduced my enjoyment was the love triangle. It even turned into a bit of a square (or double triangle?) briefly. This was really the only source of tension or conflict in the work, which was disappointing. Everything else felt like it happened so easily with no hiccups for Sunny, breezing over what could have been some good moments for growth or meaningful conflict. And then the only conflict arises from dating two people at the same time. Sigh. It was also quite clear which suitor was going to "win" since the author immediately made one of the guys unlikeable over the course of a page turn.

I do love the cover on this one, and I honestly did enjoy this overall. If you're typically a romance reader, you'll probably love this one. My thanks to NetGalley and Celadon Books for allowing me to read this work. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

This was light and fun, good for a summer read. I liked the body positivity aspect and the importance of loving yourself. I could have done without the romance, though or would have preferred if the storyline was different. Overall, a decent read that I would recommend. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC.

Sunny Side Up is Katie Sturino’s debut novel and she knocked it out of the park.

I don’t read a lot of chick lit, but there was something about Sunny Side Up that spoke to me. The main character, Sunny Greene, is not a slim and trim damsel in distress. She is a plus size business owner with a new goal. She’s planning a vacation, but she can’t find a bathing suit that she likes, so she, along with her best friends, create a line for plus sizes, which quickly becomes a success.

She has a newsletter that becomes hugely popular. Kinda reminds me of Carey Bradshaw of Sex and the City (like the blurb says), only plus size. Sunny has a fun sense of humor. I laughed out loud at:

Were there new dating rules she didn’t know about? Moves to practice? How much hair were people working with down there nowadays, anyway?

Sunny Side Up by Katie Sturino has some predictable moments but I enjoyed spending time with Sunny. I loved watching her become all she can be and finding a love interest. So, if you are looking for a light, entertaining read for the beach season, you can’t go wrong with Sunny Side Up.

See more at http://www.fundinmental.com

This was a four star, uplifting, body-positive, and empowering read—and my first by Katie Sturino!

Right away, I connected with the challenges Sunny faces as she learns to love and accept her body. That journey—of recognizing what our bodies do for us, refusing to take them for granted, and not letting anyone else define what our bodies “should” look like—felt incredibly personal and relatable.

I admired the determination Sunny showed in pursuing her goals and stepping into her power. Whether it was dating, discovering physical intimacy, or designing a swimsuit that made her feel unstoppable, Sunny was a force to be reckoned with!

That said, I did find myself frustrated by her continued desire to find a date for an upcoming wedding—especially after telling everyone she wanted to feel confident and whole on her own. I would’ve loved to see that thread handled a little differently.

And while I mostly enjoyed the audiobook, I’ll admit the narrator’s voice wasn’t my favorite—it had a gossipy tone that didn’t quite match how I pictured Sunny: successful, mature, and confident.

Still, this was a humorous, raw, and super relatable read—and one I definitely recommend! It’s available now!

Thank you NetGalley, Katie Sturino, Macmillan Audio, and Celadon Books for the opportunity to read and listen to this inspiring and feel-good story!

Gosh, this was just not for me. This book is pretty messy. This isn't spoiling much, but there is ultimately a love triangle (maybe other man drama?) and I'm just not a fan.

I'll also offer that I think this book being pitched as a rom com isn't a great choice. The most interesting parts of this story (ambition, body acceptance, etc.) aren't romance and those pieces are good! The romance, as noted above, is messy and scattered. I think there was a place for a romantic story line, but to make it be part of the ultimate pay off was a let down. Also, and without spoiling anything, the end should have involved a lot more groveling if it wanted to fully play into the romance angle.

* Thank you to Celadon Books and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review! *

Sunny Side Up is a fun, feel-good read about self-love, confidence, and second chances. Sunny Greene, a recently divorced, plus-sized PR exec, decides it’s time to stop hiding and start living—swimsuit shopping disasters and all. With a mix of humor, romance, and a few messy love interests, Sunny’s journey is uplifting and refreshingly real.

The story balances light-hearted romance with strong female friendships and a relatable heroine you’ll root for. The story doesn’t go too deep, and that’s part of its charm—it’s meant to be breezy, light-hearted, and uplifting. If you’re looking for a beach read that blends humor, female friendship, romance, and self-discovery with a confident plus-sized heroine at its center, Sunny Side Up is a delightful pick. It's fun, funny, and full of heart—just take the characters as they are and enjoy the ride.

3.5 stars - I liked it.

As a woman in a larger body and a longtime follower of Katie Sturino on social media, I was genuinely excited to dive into Sunny Side Up. I’ve admired her for being a fierce advocate of body positivity and size inclusivity, so I came into this book hoping for a story that reflected those same empowering, real-world messages. Unfortunately, I walked away feeling a bit let down.

The book is a quick, breezy read. It follows Sunny—a plus-size businesswoman and influencer—who’s recently divorced and reentering the dating world while trying to get her footing as an entrepreneur. There’s a pivotal moment early on, when she breaks down in a department store dressing room over the lack of size options, that really resonated. Those moments of frustration and sadness? I’ve been there. And I truly appreciated that the story leaned into the emotional toll of living in a world that constantly tells you your body is "too much."

That said, the rest of the book didn’t feel quite as grounded. Sunny seems to stumble into success without much effort, and suddenly finds herself the object of desire in a love triangle with two incredibly attractive, successful men—one of whom is a wealthy CEO. It started to feel more like fantasy than fiction. I get that romance can be aspirational, and everyone deserves a swoon-worthy story, but when nearly everything goes Sunny’s way with little resistance, it loses that relatable edge I was hoping for. Not every plus-size main character needs to be universally adored by conventionally hot men to be worthy of love—and when that becomes the norm, it can feel like a different kind of idealization that’s just as alienating.

There are definitely positive messages here, especially for readers still learning to love their bodies. But as someone who wanted something a little more real, this one just didn’t fully land for me. A decent read, but not the empowering, grounded story I was hoping it would be.

I struggled reading this book and ultimately did not finish it. I wanted to like it, but Sunny was not a likable character at all! She irritated me and was annoying because, despite claiming to have body image issues, she would then do things like strut around her apartment naked and hook up with random guys, which is not behavior someone self-conscious about their body would partake in. Sunny was also very privileged and, despite her challenges, had access to money and never seemed to "struggle." I could not find where her character experienced a difficulty she had to overcome and grow. I like Katie Sturino and her company, Megababe, but it felt like she was able to write this book due to her name and platform, rather than her talent as a writer. Very disappointed in this novel!

It was a fun read until I read online - and via a video interview with the author - that the book was written with the help of a ghostwriter. Sturino openly stated in an interview with the New York Times that she worked with a collaborator because she lacks the "traditional path that a lot of people who write books have had and I needed help." I believe a ghostwriter is fine for a memoir but as a reader I am confused by this perspective - but isn't the point of fiction to show your writing chops rather than telling your own story or propping yourself up as a writer? No thank you. I will stick with writers who write their own stories.

Sunny Greene isn’t just the heroine we want she’s the one we need. Bold, funny, and fiercely relatable, this book captures the chaotic beauty of starting over at 35 with warmth and wit. From swimsuit meltdowns at Bergdorf’s to flirty mailmen and second-chance stumbles, Sunny’s journey toward self-love and romantic possibility is empowering without ever preaching. Sturino writes with a voice that sparkles like a size-inclusive champagne toast to womanhood, friendship, and feeling good in your skin.

Thank you NetGalley for the digital copy in exchange for my honest opinion.