cutesy little fun read but nothing out of this world. i enjoyed the characters but found the plot rather slow.

This was my first Cara Bastone book and i will be reading the rest of her books because I loved it so much!

""we stare into one another's eyes absently, almost the same way that two people hold hands as they stroll along"

This may be a top book of the year for me, i will be thinking about it for a long time.

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


OMG this book was so adorable, I could not get enough. I loved every single bit of this story. This book took my heart and then broke it some many times. The grief aspect is done so beautifully that it broke me so many times. This is such a beautiful written story about heartbreak of grief and slowing opening yourself back up and learning how to live your life again without falling into grief.

The friendship that blossomed between Lenny and Miles as they slowly work their way through Lenny list was done so beautifully. They both helped each other through their own grief. The slow burn between them was keeping me on my toes that it got to the point where I was begging them to kiss.

Lenny grief is honestly done beautifully. It showed that it doesn’t matter how much fun you have, grief will hit at the most random times and that it’s okay. I loved how she wanted to prove to herself that she can live and do things by herself. I related to her so many times that I just need to give her a hug.

The things that Miles had done for his niece had me begging for a video clip of him dancing with her. Like please I need to see that video I beg.


Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

A HUGE thank you to Headline Eternal for approving my NetGalley request and allowing me to read an ARC ahead of [book:Promise Me Sunshine|214269328]’s release date! 💛🧡❤️🩷🩵💙💜

I know it’s not even published yet but can somebody please turn this into a film already!!!!! It’s a want and desperate need. It’s giving strong 00’s Rom-com vibes where NYC is a main character too! From the go I found myself obsessed with Lenny + Miles and I feel like I’ve lived out the entirety of the book with them. I forgot I was reading.

Friends to lovers is so hard to get right but I feel like Promise Me Sunishine got it so so so right, there was no insta love and the slow burn was realistic given the grief Lenny is going through. It was incredibly realistic so much so that you could feel everything both characters was going through. It’s a book that will stay with me forever and I will look back on fondly and look forward to a yearly reread. This is my 6th Cara Bastone book, I don’t know what she puts in her books but I love them all. I recently reread her love lines series and it’s still some of my favourite reads ever. So it will come as no surprise that I’m already counting down the days until I can reread this especially with the audiobook!

Promise Me Sunshine is out on 4th March 2025 and I can’t wait for my hard copy to get here because that cover is ✨everything✨

💛🧡❤️🩷🩵💙💜

“but with you,len, when i met you.... i sort of feel like i met myself”

do u remember when i posted my review of ready or not by cara bastone and wrote that i couldn’t wait to read more by her? well… i was very lucky to read promise me sunshine before its release and i can truly say that cara’s become one of my favourite authors… and u know how picky i could be with my favs!

promise me sunshine’s that kind of book that has its own way to surprise your mind and mostly your heart and trust me because i have felt truly a lot emotions while reading lenny’s story because it’s way more than what it could seem from what have u seen and trust me that’s way better!

lenny’s such a strong character! i wanted to hug her all the times…reading her path to let’s say trying keep swimming (in a sort of way) in life while trying to accepting the changes happened during her existence was sometimes heartbreaking but at the same time was amazingly beautiful because it was so perfectly good written and i’m just so proud of her!!

miles was so good as a male main character… and we aren’t surprised because cara bastone’s the same woman that wrote shep from ready or not and if u know u know 😁 if u don’t just do yourself a favour and go and read that book too u’ll thank me later but returning to our miles he’s that type of person that everyone needs in life because he’s loyal, comprehensive…i could go on and rant about him… but let’s say that if i had a person like miles in my life he would be in my top 5 for sure! Reading about his experiences in life was took the story in a whole new level because it showed even more how everyone in the world deal with things in different ways and that there isn’t a manual on how and do a thing!

there are a lot of aspects portrayed in the story that even if i could write a book about this story it won’t be enough to transmit the feelings i felt and so my best advising it’s to just go and read this story without knowing much honestly because the sensation while reading will be everything trust me and if u aren’t convinced yet… read these quotes please:

“home is where the heart is.my heart died in a cancer ward six months ago."

“grief is a relationship.it's the way we figure out how to keep loving them even though they re gone.and in order to do that we have to keep on going.and going and going.you're not betraying her by healing, you are honoring her.you are learning to love her exactly as she is.as someone who isn't here anymore... that's who she is now.and this journey through grief.. it's what we do for great loves of our lives”

“he treats you well?”
“mom, he walked into hell and dragged me back out”

now that u have read these quotes well go and put this book in your tbr now 🫵🏼

least but last i would like to truly thanks netgalley,headline and cara bastone for sending me the e-arc of this of book in exchange for my honest opinion!

Promise Me Sunshine is the first book I have read by Cara Bastone. I had seen a lot of good reviews for one of her previous books Ready or Not so when I saw this available for request on NetGalley I was very excited to read it. I did not expect to love it as much as I did but I enjoyed every second of this book. This is such a heart-warming, heartfelt read. It follows Lenny as she deals with grief due to the death of her best friend, Miles helps Lenny learn to 'live again' and Lenny helps Miles connect with his niece and sister. This book deals with grief and loss in an honest and emotional way. The development of the relationship between Miles and Lenny was beautifully done, they are great characters who are really entertaining together. I loved their story and I look forward to reading more by Cara Bastone!

What a beautiful, beautiful book. Honestly, this was nothing like I expected it to be.

We meet Lenny not long after the loss of her best friend, Lou, who died of cancer. She is a mess and grieving the love of her love. She doesn’t know her up from down. Until Lenny meets Miles who becomes her co-captain, there to walk her through her grief and be her support system due to having dealt with grief himself.

This is a beautifully written story about two people who come together to help each other live and love after their own individual tragedies. We join them as they rediscover living again with a great found family aspect to it.

The best part of the whole thing is just Lenny and Miles’s relationship and how naturally it flourishes. I want my own Miles. Why are fictional men always the best?

This is going to stay with me for a long, long time.

I think this book will resonate will a lot of people especially those who have been through grief or are currently experiencing it. I was rooting for Lenny the whole time and wanted her to be happy. Miles was such a good companion to her in the beginning as he was someone who when through a similar experience as well and wanted her to continuing living her life to the best possible version of herself. It was very rewarding once Miles and Lenny became lovers and they are both so good to each other. I adored how patient Miles was with Lenny.

Three and a half stars.

Lenny has been a bit of a mess since her best friend, Lou, died from cancer. Best friends since school days and room mates, their bond was closer than sisters. Now she can't face her parents, can't face going back to the apartment they shared, she is barely holding it together and is scraping a living with short-term babysitting gigs.

A plum job comes up, looking after seven-year-old, Ainsley for her busy single mom. Unfortunately, her technique for building rapport and comforting Ainsley when her mother leaves are seen by Ainsley's uncle Miles as irresponsible and immature so he tries to get her fired, arguing that he can look after Ainsley just as well or even better.

Miles too has known heart-breaking grief and recognises it in Lenny, he offers her a step-by-step plan to learn to live again IF Lenny can help him to connect to Ainsley and her mother, his half-sister who he only met shortly before their father died.

I don't know how to review this, I did really like it and Miles is an absolute sweetheart under the gruff exterior - he just wants to make everyone safe, but it was also so very sad. Even now I feel sad just thinking about it!

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

Unfortunately, I don’t have much to say beyond that I found this to be incredibly boring and dull.

The book wasn’t what I expected going into it, since it’s pitched as a romance, and instead I’m just smacked in the face with this tidal wave of grief that I found to be handled well at times and then unbearable to read at other times.

The writing was just a bit stilted and lifeless, and I found I had to force myself to keep coming back to the book to eventually finish it.

Just not my cup of tea, sadly, but the cover is lovely.

6 stars

You know that interview of Andrew Garfield where he talks about grief and his mom? This book is about that type of grief. The type of grief that you feel like your heart left with them.
This book is also about how everyone handles a loss differently and how sometimes you don't know how to ask for help when you're "drowning" and that sometimes there are people that come to your life and don't need to be ask to help you "get out of the water".
Miles and Lenny... they connection was beautiful. The slow burn and the friends to lovers were done amazingly. I'd never cry with a first kiss, and theirs did it. It was heartwarming and feet kicking in the air and giggling and blushing type of kiss.... it was magical.
I love this book, as you can see with the rating, but the way this book touched me... my feelings, my heart, my soul! This one will stay with me forever. From now on, this is my comfort read.
This is a book. I'll take zero criticism about it. For me, this book is perfect and you don't like it, that's a you problem.
Cara Bastone has become one of my outbuy authors, and this book is proof of why.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

⭐️ALL OF THE STARS EVERY SINGLE LAST ONE OF ‘EM⭐️

it’s very seldom that I feel this way after a book but this was like a warm hug on a cold day mixed with an absolute gut punch but in the best way?

Sitting down to write this review with my tears drying but also with a huge smile on my face feels like it encapsulates the exact vibe of this book. It was tender, beautiful and achingly real and I don’t think you necessarily have to have felt grief in your life to get why this book is so special because Cara absolutely twists everything into your bones with this story that you just cant not feel it.

Our fmc Lenny is a nanny and is going through it but there’s a real strength there even from the start even if she isn’t the type to admit it. Our MMC Miles is just absolute gold dust and decides to help Lenny get back to “living” while she helps him win over his niece that she babysits.

The writing, the imagery, the tension and the slowburn is just so deliciously well done that I feel like these characters are real. This has the depth that I look for in every romance book I pick up and I’m just in awe with it. No doubt this book will be going on my 6 star reads list.

Yes I did preorder it the minute I hit 50% because I knew it was going to be THAT book for me and finishing it I can confidently say that I was correct, this book is an absolute gem

Thank you to NetGalley and Headline for sending me the arc!

This is such a heartbreakingly beautiful book. Cara Bastone writes stunning romance stories, so I knew my expectations would be met with this one. I absolutely loved Lenny and Miles and the way their relationship evolved throughout the book. There's no better way to describe this book than as a beautiful exploration of grief, love, and friendship that somehow manages to be heartbreaking, funny, wholesome, and romantic all at once. They go from strangers to friends to lovers, and Miles plays such a significant role in Lenny’s journey, always being there for her, supporting her through her grief, and understanding her choices. My heart just barely survived this story.

I didn’t expect to find a new all-time-favourite book when I started this but I did.

I loved Lenny, I loved Miles, I loved all the side characters.
I loved watching these becoming friends and being there for each other. I begged this book to handle my heart with care and it did.

I can’t believe how grateful I am that this wonderful, beautiful, touching book exists.

here’s to the best book about grief i’ve read!!🥁

now, i might be biased because if i’m being honest, i didn’t read about grief a lot but this…it was so raw, so tender, so beautiful…

my sweet, precious <b>lenny</b>. i wanna give her the biggest hug in the world🤍 she made me feel too much, i cried when she cried, i laughed when she laughed. i never wanted to be friends with a character like i want with her. she was so real like you know the feeling of seeing something so random and remembering a person you lost then you just start crying because the person isn’t there with you anymore?? yeah she had that feeling a lot💔

when lenny lost her best friend, <i>her soulmate</i> she lost a part of herself too. when you’re friends with someone a very long time your personalities melt in together and you don’t know which part is you and which part is your friend. reading about her grief was so hard because i kept imagining what would i do if i lost my best friend and i can’t even think how hard it could be. me and my best friend are living in different cities right now but <b>lenny and lou</b> were not only best friends but also roommates. seeing her struggle to go home because everything there was reminding her of lou, not being able to talk to people because she’s not the same lenny without lou…it was so real and relatable.

<b>lenny</b> had a <b>“start living again list”</b> which was the essential point of this book because miles helped her get through that list and it was so sad to see her trying to heal from the sadness she carried everywhere but also beautiful because she did heal at the end🥹🫂

i feel like if i had a <b>miles</b>, all my problems would be solved.

he was like a rock against the sea, so strong so reliable. whenever <b>lenny</b> was feeling down he was there to pick her up. the way he brought her back to life and did it in such a beautiful way that she could survive without him too. he taught her how to lean on people without depending on them. he taught her how to live again and it was the most beautiful thing.

he knew how devastating it was to lose someone since he lost almost all of his family. the only people he had left was his sister and niece but he didn’t know how to connect with them. ugh seeing him struggle made my heart break😭he wanted to be there for them but didn’t know how to so he needed lenny’s help which was so cute because he would look at lenny for approval after saying something and i meltttttt🫠 he just wanted to look after the people he has left🥹

i want, no i <b>need</b> whatever they had. <b>lenny</b> has a colorful personality. even when she’s drowning in her grief she has such a sparkly personality that it’s impossible to not fall for her. i just loved seeing how <b>miles</b> was supportive of whatever lenny does. she would say the craziest thing and he would listen to her with a small smile on his face.

in a way, they saved each other. both were so lonely after losing their loved ones and seeing them heal each other, patch their broken hearts was so beautiful. miles was the solid person lenny needed to lean on and lenny was like the light in the lonely house miles was sitting alone. which is something incredible because if you ask lenny she would probably say she doesn’t feel like a light🥹

4.25⭐️. The absolute star of this show was Miles - I love him so much! Without a doubt one of the best book boyfriends out there 😍 He starts off appearing to be the stereotypical grump but, as you get to know him, you realise that it’s a protective front driven largely by his insecurities and he’s actually one of the loveliest, kindest people.

He and Lenny develop the sweetest friendship:
“Lenny, the stakes are low with you because you’re the most loyal person I’ve ever met. You’re fully on my team. Now that you’re here, I think there’s very little I could do to kick you out…I don’t have to worry about losing you. I can just…relax.”

That starts to morph into romance in true slow burn style:
“My heart seems to be running up a hill inside my chest. I wonder what’s at the top.”

“Why should I be scared of kissing you, Miles? I’d just be getting even closer to the safest place in the whole world.”

The only thing that didn’t quite hit for me as hard as it should, and I can’t really put my finger on why, was the grief aspect of this story (although I thought this quote was beautiful: “Grief is a relationship…It’s the way we figure out how to keep loving them even thought they’re gone.”) Even though we were given a few flashbacks and were told that Lou (Lenny’s best friend who has recently passed away from cancer) was the love of Lenny’s life, I didn’t connect to their relationship and feel the pain of Lenny’s grief in the way I have with other books that have dealt with similar topics.

BUT I still absolutely loved this book. My first by this author and definitely not my last! Huge thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-arc of this book.

i love this author so much!! the slow burn was slow burning it this and it was so much deeper than just the romance!

3.75 rounded up to 4⭐️
This was my first time reading a Cara Bastone book, and if I had to describe the experience in one word, it would be: warmth.

I loved Lenny and Miles’s personalities. You can truly feel the author’s research and commitment to exploring grief woven throughout the pages.

The beginning is captivating, though I had some trouble connecting with the story in the middle. However, the third act is the strongest part of the book. The ending is realistic, beautiful, and perfect—a warm hug to the heart.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Absolutely beautiful!

From beginning to end, it was a total joy to read.

Seriously, I want all of you to do yourself the favor and run to your nearest bookstore on March 4th, grab a copy of this book and enjoy it. This is already a top read of mine for this year, and I can confidently say that even though it’s February.



Lenny has recently lost her best friend and soulmate, Lou. Struggling with grief, she can’t seem to find her way out of it, letting it consume her. Her only distraction being the nannying gigs she picks up here and there. Enter Miles, the grumpy uncle of Lenny’s recent babysitting kid, and who himself is no stranger to grief. He sees himself in Lenny. Like calls to like, after all. And so they strike a deal. Miles helps Lenny navigate her grief and Lenny helps Miles to connect with Ainsley. A recipe for success!



This book is an exploration of grief, love and friendship. It manages to be heartbreaking, funny, charming, sweet and sexy at the same time.
Miles and Lenny’s relationship evolves from strangers to friends to lov-ahs in such a heart-warming way. We have two fiercely loyal characters, who constantly show up for each other, who see and understand each other thoroughly. The small gestures that show true friendship, attentiveness and love. No unnecessary drama, the sweetness of it all. I ADORE them. And Miles. Oh, Miles! He easily made it to the top 5 of my book-boyfriends list. I genuinely had tears in my eyes from time to time, simply because he was too sweet. Everyone needs a Miles in their life.



I also want to highlight how well grief was described and how much I loved the message of this book. How important it is to simply show up, to be there for someone but also how important it is to be vulnerable, open yourself up to help and most importantly, show up for yourself!



I will not shut up about this book for the foreseeable future.



„Promise Me Sunshine“ is out March 4th 2025!



Eternally grateful to NetGalley and Headline for providing me with an earc of this book in exchange for an honest review! This won’t be my last Cara Bastone book.

Promise Me Sunshine follows Lenny, who has been struggling since her best friend passed away. While babysitting seven-year-old Ainsley, she meets Ainsley’s uncle, Miles. The two strike up a deal - Miles will help her create a “live again” list, and Lenny will help him reconnect with Ainsley and his sister.

Despite loving the premise, I sadly didn’t enjoy this book as much as I thought I would.

I found the writing to be repetitive and choppy, and the pacing was inconsistent. Some scenes were really dragged out, whereas others didn’t have enough time dedicated to them. The plot was very slow, and I found myself bored for most of the book. I also found the portrayal of grief to be underwhelming, and it felt quite shallow.

I also couldn’t connect to the characters. I felt like I didn’t really know Miles as a character, and he didn’t have much substance to him. Lenny acted and spoke more like a teenager than an almost thirty year old. I found her incredibly annoying, and it felt like the author was trying to make her overly quirky,

I enjoyed the friendship between Lenny and Miles, but sadly I didn’t buy their romance. I didn’t feel any chemistry between them, which made their romance feel unnatural and forced. I think I would have preferred it if they had stayed as friends.

Overall, this was unfortunately not a book for me. Thank you to Headline Eternal and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC.