Where do I start… I LOVED this book 😭🫶🏼 It will definitely be a favourite of 2025!

𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙛𝙤𝙧…
🗽 friends to lovers
❤️‍🩹 grief, loss & healing
🗽 slow burn
❤️‍🩹 found family
🗽he takes care of her

𝙨𝙮𝙣𝙤𝙥𝙨𝙞𝙨…
Lenny is trying to navigate life after losing her lifelong best friend/soulmate… when Miles (the little girl she is babysitting’s grumpy uncle) makes her an offer to help guide her through the following few months that she can’t refuse.

𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆, 𝗜 𝘀𝘄𝗲𝗮𝗿. 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂’𝘃𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂’𝗹𝗹 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻.

𝙢𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨…
This book is everything I had hoped it would be and more 😭 It is a raw & emotional look at grief, but also rediscovering yourself when you really don’t think you can get out of bed in the mornings and face the world. There will be tears - but my goodness it’s still so uplifting 🥹

“𝗦𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂, 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗮𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘀𝗰𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘆. 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝘂𝗹𝗮.”

Miles is one of the best characters I’ve read in a long time - his unwavering support, little bits of wisdom, and how much he cares make my heart squeeze so hard it hurts 💔 I love him so much 😭

“𝗟𝗲𝗻𝗻𝘆, 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗜 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝗲, 𝗜 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗜’𝗺 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗮𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗮 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸.”

Lenny is a little qUirKy, but honestly I loved her and found her really endearing 🫶🏼 Her journey to living again felt so heartbreaking yet so real ❤️‍🩹

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

This book is definitely a slow burn..! But it’s so clear how deeply Lenny & Miles have fallen in love, and I love that so much 🥲 If there ever was a couple to survive past the (non-existent) epilogue it’s these two 🫶🏼

“𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗯𝘆 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴… 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗲𝗿.
“𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗷𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗲𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗴𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗳… 𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗲 𝗱𝗼 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀.”

I’ll be thinking of this book for a long time - I already can’t wait to reread 🫶🏼

What a delightfully sad/funny/tender/warm/romantic/charming book this is! I completely devoured it and was so sad to reach the end. I need more from Lenny and Miles! Cara Bastone has created such a beautiful story here, with characters that feel wildly real and the whole gamut of emotions. This was by no means an easy read as we very much experience Lenny's grief alongside her, with all the ups and downs - and there are some real lows for her - but it's so moving and special. I adored the way Miles and Lenny's relationship transitioned through the story as well - and to think it all started with some really bad first impressions! Lenny is incredibly quirky and even in the pits of her grief, her character has a spark that drew me into the story and had me utterly charmed by her. My heart ached for Miles too, a man who's been through his own awful experiences but continues to show up. Getting to know him, and seeing Lenny get to know him, gave me all the fuzzy feelings. Who doesn't need a Miles and a Lenny in their life?

Alongside all this, there were some really great characters and though they didn't have the biggest parts, each one left an impression and had their own striking personalities, whether Emil, or George, or Jericho. And of course, we can't forget Lou. The flashbacks of their friendship were a lovely addition. There's a lot to love in this book and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the world through Lenny's eyes, the good, the bad, and the (f)ugly. Grab a copy and fall in love (while crying a little)!

I received a free copy of this book. All views are my own.

Heartfelt, Emotional and Messy. Promise Me Sunshine is a story that will stay with me for the rest of my life.
Cara Bastone's writing is fantastic: carefully crafted, but accessible, very easy to read and to get lost into. Her characters feel real and you grow fond of them all, even the more marginal ones, in a matter of pages.
The author handled the topics of grief and depression truly masterfully. With care, but at the same time, without shying away from the ugly, visceral and painful reality that they often bring along. She perfectly balanced the emotional / heavy scenes with funny and lighter moments.

I loved Lenny and Miles' friendship. How he was there to help Lenny really go through it - not around it - and process her grief, with respect and without judgement. Their witty banter and their clashing personalities had me snort and kick my feet so many times I lost count. One of the most tender and vulnerable romances I've ever read and the one that felt the most real.

If you are in the right frame of mind (check trigger warnings, please), this book is a gem. But don't jump into it expecting romance to be the main topic.

4 / 5 ☀️

Huge thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the early copy!

I really loved the story and the message, I think it was so sweet watching them completing the list. And watching Lenny slowly come to terms with everything after her best-friend passed away and honestly I think that's why I've rated it so highly. I loved that aspect of it, I loved Ainsley. I did love Miles but as her companion and Ace throughout this story not as her love interest. It's not like it felt forced or anything it's more that it just didn't feel necessary. I loved their story as a friendship and even in the end I didn't even need or really want them to end up together.

I loved their story for what it was. The story about overcoming grief. Of waking up each day and trying. Of putting one foot in front of the other when everything just feels insurmountable.

4.5 ⭐️

I loved this so much! This story centres around grief following the death of the fmc’s best friend. Although overall, the book definitely had a serious (and sad) tone, it was equally full of sweet moments and banter that had me giggling kicking my feet.

I loved the NYC setting, the romance was slow burn perfection and the mmc was an acts of service king and I loved him.

*thank you netgalley for providing this arc*

3.75🌟

this is the second book i read from cara!
my first thoughts about it is that the beginning of the book was very fast paced - if you like that then this is right up your alley! for me, i got a little bit confused and the first half was also a bit slow plot wise… the second half of the book though! loved!!
you really got to know the characters more and i was actually invested in their story and relationship!

overall: a heartwarming, easygoing and funny book about the journey of going through the loss of a loved one💓

This book had a huge potential to be a five star read, but I was not hooked from the beginning. It took me a couple of days to read this book. This book was cute, the setting was okay and i did like reading about grief, loss and her process of healing. The most unique thing was how she discovered love in a sensitive moment like this one. Lenny was such a cute baby sitter and i had my hopes up that she would bring these feelings back to me and feel way more connected to her than i actually was, the idea was really great but the execution not so much. We also meet Miles, i honestly thought he was so untrustworthy of Lenny and so grumpy, but I really liked how he tried to help her fulfill her wish list. I’d definitely recommend this book!!

Lenny & Miles 💕

💕Lenny’s in the throws of grief. Her best friend of so many years and roommate Lou has passed away from cancer and she’s struggling to function, to sleep or care for herself.

💕When she’s asked to be a temp any for a former employer’s friend Reece, she works wonders with 7 year old Ainsley. But Ainsley’s uncle Miles is constantly hanging around, looking particularly growly.

💕Miles has had his own life and loss crosses to bear, and he takes watching out of Lenny seriously. He holds her up through the sadness and foreignness she’s feeling, until at some point, she’s able to actually care for herself.

✏️Reading this story days after tackling Kristin Higgins’ Pack Up The Moon felt like a deep dive into the dark place of grief. But whereas the one story was focussed on losing a spouse, this beautiful story tackles the loss of a best friend. No less worthy of grief, but not always socially “acceptable”. I love how the “living list” in this story isn’t really set out in black and white, and often is spontaneously crossed off. The hero of this story is not only Miles, who holds Lenny up throughout, but Lenny herself, who figures out how to take one moment at a time, one hour at a time and one day at a time to heal. Having been in this dark place before, I truly believe that’s all that can be done to get through it ❤️

Read an eARC copy courtesy of Netgalley and the publisher
My rating 4.5/5 - ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ 💫
Pub Date 4 Mar 2025

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for granting my request to read this e-ARC and provide my honest opinions.

Promise Me Sunshine is a love letter to every grieving person!It is a book about loss and grief with a dash of love interest added at the side.Personally, I didn't care about the love interest. No, let me rephrase. I was more interested in what was going on with our two MCs: how they navigated their loss, how they lived on even after the great loves of their lives left. 😓

I didn't want to read about their grief with the idea that they would have a happy ever after; I read the synopsis, and I knew what I was getting into. I wanted to read grief in its purest form, and I got it. This story was a beautiful story about grief and what it can do to a person.

However, I desperately wanted to know Lou more; I wanted Lenny to talk about who she is more because, personally, it looked as if Lenny kind of idolized Lou. I wanted to know more about Miles and his newfound family and the ones he lost. The book skirted around the side characters lives like they were not a part of the story.

Overall, this was a good read. Thank you once again for the e-ARC.

Thank you NetGalley and Headline for the ARC

God my aching heart. This was such a beautiful wonderful romance. I loved every part of it and damn did it bring out all the feels. So heartfelt and real. And what is it with love interests named Miles that are just so perfect? First Funny Story and now Promise Me Sunshine? I gotta find myself a Miles

I loved this one so much🥹 The heavy topic of grief combined with the humour and lightheartedness of the side characters and plot was just wonderful together. My feelings were all over the place as I felt them together with Lenny and Miles was just the perfect character to help her through it. I do love that he wasn’t shown as perfect, but he was perfect for her.

I can’t recommend it enough to anyone who’s looking for a heavier romance read. I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for new releases from Cara Bastone!

This book talked about the stages of grief in a real and raw way, how important it is to have others to lean on.
Miles and Lenny had such a special connection. I liked how they helped each other, and also found themselves during their healing journey. The friendship between these two progressed beautifully and naturally. Cara Bastone writes the sweetest and warmest stories!
The balance between the emotional story and the quirky humor was perfectly done as well. My only issue was the pacing, the book felt a bit too long at times.

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘙𝘊 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘺

I WILL NEVER RECOVER. I WILL NEVER BE THE SAME. A MODERN-DAY CLASSIC 🗣️Promise me sunshine! Cara, promise me you’ll never stop writing.

Grief is destructive, ugly and despite our best attempts, not something you can outrun. Cara takes us on a journey of healing with Lenny as she has recently lost her person, partner in crime and best friend, Lou. I find stories about grief hard because I have an avoidant attachment style (LET ME LIVE ✋🏻)
Lou leaves Lenny with a ‘live again list’ but our girl is a hot mess. ENTER Miles who is shy, rough around the edges but the perfect soft boy inside. He signs up to complete the list with her in exchange for tips on how to interact successfully with his niece. (I was picturing drew starkey, buzz cut edition)
MILES IS EVERYTHING. I love him with my whole body. He shows up for his people and has been through so much, but he just wants to HELP 😭

The chemistry between miles and Lenny…the banter!!Cara’s characters are unique, witty and I adore being in their heads. I want to prepare you; you will be moved so deeply by this story. Grief is a universal experience that Cara beautifully captures making this such a vulnerable masterpiece. As Lenny shatters under the weight of her grief, you will see reflections of yourself in the shards. HOW TALENTED IS CARA! TO BE ABLE TO DO THAT!! The vulnerability that pours of out this book reminds you that you will dance in the kitchen again and feel love and joy again 👏🏻✨

Promise me sunshine is out 4/3/2025. Prepare to be sick of me because this will be appearing all over my feed 🥰
*Thank you @headlineeternal for the e-Arc. All my opinions are honest and my own!

Well…this story ripped my heart out 😭😭😭 I am still crying while I write this review

This was such a heartbreakingly beautiful and realistic depiction of grief. Lenny has gone through the most unimaginable pain of losing her best friend and is now having to figure out how to live without her. Miles was the perfect person to help her through her grief, after going through a similar journey himself. I absolutely loved their friendship and the way they both helped each other.

Miles might be my new favourite MMC, he was so sweet and caring and selfless and stoic. The way he forced himself into Lenny’s life at the exact moment she needed him and the way he helped her life again 😭😭

Cara Bastone’s writing is so beautiful and raw and the way she creates characters that feel so realistic is so incredible. The thing I loved most about this story was the way it sprinkled in moments of happiness, joy and laughter amongst all the heaviness and grief.

Thank you to NetGalley and Headline for the advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

This is one of the best books I’ve read for a long time. I was completely and utterly absorbed into this storyline right from the beginning and I read it all in just over a day. Both Lenny and Miles intrigued me, and everything that Lenny was going through broke my heart. It was raw, it was emotive and it was so beautiful in places.
Cara has managed to create two brilliant characters, with such depth and emotion. You go on a journey of healing and discovery with them. But in with all the grief and loss, there’s still a brilliant balance of humour and chemistry between them. They communicate, they understand and they grow, together.
I will be recommending this to everyone! And if this doesn’t feature in my top reads for 2025 I’ll be amazed.
Thank you so much for the opportunity to read and review this e-arc. I loved every second of it.

This beautiful, heartwarming, tender book found its way into my heart and consumed me completely, to the point where I couldn't put it down every time I picked it up and probably would have read it in a day if I'd had the time. I always want to savour the books I love, but unfortunately I'm not strong enough to control the urge to read like there's no tomorrow.

This is a story about grief and love and how to go on living after someone you love dies. How do you pick yourself up every day and go on with your life when a piece of your heart is taken away? How do you find the strength to carry on when all you want to do is hide in your bed and cry until there's nothing left inside? How does the sun have the audacity to keep shining and the birds keep singing when your whole world is shades of grey? Well, these are the kinds of questions Lenny desperately wants answers to, but she doesn't even know where to start looking. She lost her best friend, her soul mate, her other half, and life is so much darker without her. Lenny's a mess, her life has been turned upside down, but there's a list to tick off, a list of things to do in order to go on living. It's just that she's not strong enough to tackle it on her own, and that's where Miles comes in, the grumpy uncle of the little girl she's nannying, who insists that he can help her deal with her grief. He is, after all, an expert on the subject.

I've recently lost someone I love, so this book hit a little harder because I'm also in the process of navigating grief and it's not easy. Nobody teaches you how to do it and life keeps on going, it doesn't stop just because we're sad. There were some things that really broke my heart, but this book also gave me hope. There's always sunshine, and grief never leaves you, but it gets easier to bear.

Lenny's journey is her own and it's nobody's place to judge the way she mourns her friend. The way she held on to her pain and grief, afraid to let it go because she thought it would mean letting go of the love she still had for Lou, was deeply heartbreaking but also relatable. Miles was instrumental in helping her cope with her grief and slowly open up to life again, but much of her healing process was done on her own and I'm really proud of her for that. She's such a special soul, her personality and sense of humour are a delight and I'm glad she found a way to move on without letting go of all the love she has for her best friend.

Miles is absolutely precious! He has such a big heart and loves to help people. All the things he did for Lenny, the way he always showed up when she needed him, all the love and care he showed her, were so beautiful! He's a good one. I enjoyed his storyline a lot and I wish we'd seen more of him with his sister and niece.

Lenny and Miles' love story is so sweet. There's something so incredibly beautiful about watching two people fall in love and being completely oblivious to it. Every interaction between them made me swoon, they're so cute together. It's a very slow burn romance, but very tender and lovely. I loved the vulnerability and intimacy between them, how they helped each other heal, how they weren't afraid to bare their souls to each other. They made me so happy and I love them so much.

I think I could go on and on about this story and about Lenny and Miles. There's so much to say! But I've written too much already. The story ended so nicely, but Cara, if you're reading this, please give me an epilogue. I beg you!

- thank you Netgalley, Headline Eternal and the author for the e-arc!

Ready or Not, Cara Bastone’s incredible 2024 novel, was one of my absolute favourite books of last year so to say I was looking forward to reading Promise Me Sunshine is an understatement. I can say now, without a doubt, that Promise Me Sunshine will remain one of my top books of this year, and yes I know it’s only February.

Promise Me Sunshine contains one of the most powerful, beautiful, utterly devastating and yet hopeful portrayals of grief that I’ve ever read. Bastone creates these perfectly human characters that are messy, vulnerable, relatable and my gosh do they feel all the feelings, and so too do we for them. Understanding and dealing with grief is the central tenant of his novel, and woven in with this is a thoroughly gorgeous slow burn, friends to lovers romance. This really is a stunning novel.

Promise Me Sunshine begins with our FMC Lenny desperately struggling since the loss of her best friend Lou. She’s avoiding the apartment that she shared with Lou, dodging her concerned parents and ignoring the list of things designed to help her live again. All she can manage is babysitting a 7 year old named Ainsley. Lenny hopes that if she acts fine no one will notice she’s falling apart, and yet it’s only Ainsley’s seemingly overbearing Uncle Miles that can seem to see the depth of grief which she’s trying so hard to hide. He makes her a deal, he’ll help her complete her list if she helps him reconnect with Ainsley and her mum. As she begins to spend more time with Miles, Lenny begins to see that, sometimes, losing everything can be the first step to finding yourself again.

I felt so deeply for Lenny throughout the novel, and my goodness did she have me in tears. Her grief is palpable and was exquisitely written by Bastone, and the way Miles helps her to understand that the only way is through, my goodness he’s surely got to be the blueprint by which he judge any other supportive MMCs no? The relationship that they built and the ways that they helped one another, honestly I was genuinely moved.

It goes without saying that this novel deals with a lot of heaviness, but amongst that is so much light and joy. This often comes in the shape of Ainsley and the new friends that Lenny makes, but also in those beautiful small moments that occur between Lenny and Miles.

This really is a very special book indeed.

Promise Me Sunshine was my most anticipated book of the year and it absolutely delivered. It's an absolutely devastating portrayal of grief with the warmth of family and friendship. Miles and Lenny are a relationship that you can see lasting forever because of how slowly but surely they developed their love and trust for each other. This book reached right into my heart, tore it to pieces then gently and lovingly put it back together even better.

Lenny's dedication to Lou was incredibly realistic and I loved that Cara Bastone acknowledges repeatedly that friends can be the true loves of our lives. The sweetness between Miles and his niece Ainsley was hilarious and genuine, and I loved seeing Reese, Ainsley and Miles develop together. Jeffy, Rica and Jericho will stay with me forever - what a cracking band of humans! The skill with which Bastone writes such beautiful, genuine words is astounding and I would read her grocery lists, honestly. The easiest 5 stars in the world!

i loved this book so so much. i knew i would after i finished ready or not last year, and i almost waited to get my hands on the audiobook but one afternoon i was just pulled to this one and I’m so glad i gave in because my emotional state made for an absolutely devastating (complimentary) read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Headline Eternal for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I read all 419 pages in one day - it was that good!

Promise Me Sunshine is such a tender exploration of grief, friendship, and love in all its forms. It follows Lenny, a 30-something woman who works as a nanny and has just lost the love of her life, her best friend Lou. She is going through the worst of it, nannying throughout the day, but wandering around Manhattan at night because she feels that she cannot go back to her Brooklyn apartment, where she had lived with Lou. In one of these short-term jobs, which she admits is all she can handle at the moment, she meets Miles, the uncle of the little girl she's taking care of. Miles sees himself in Lenny because he also lost the most important people in his life over ten years prior. They strike up a friendship, helping each other and, in the process, developing a love that could perhaps go beyond what they had initially anticipated.

I'd heard so many incredible things about this book and I was not disappointed at all. Promise Me Sunshine deals with its topics in such a delicate way; these characters felt so real and their love was beautiful. The book managed to be at the same time sad and joyful, a celebration of life, but also a meditation on death.

Thank you so much to Headline Eternal and NetGalley for the e-ARC!