Promise Me Sunshine: A Novel (Dial Delights) Paperback – March 4, 2025

This is a story you'll remember forever. Reading has been my great joy since my parents first took me to the library.I chose a book and carried it home with great anticipation. I'm an old woman now, but still cherish a good book."Promise Me Sunshine" by Cara Bastone was a revelation. I don't often discover an author with Ms. Bastone's skill.The story from beginning to end was unique. The characters could break your heart and make you smile. Lenny and Miles are simply memorable...and loveable.

Everyone should have a miles in their life. He was so patient and loving. I don’t think he was grumpy though, he was going through it too. I loved this book, Lenny was such a great character and they were so cute together.

Wow. That may be too simple a word to describe how I feel about this book. I was completely blown away by the storytelling and characters. This story is about a woman navigating through grief after losing her best friend to cancer. She's helped by the uncle of the child she's a nanny for. Interesting premise. For as heavy a topic as grief can be, the author really found a way to balance humor and heart in such a poignant way. She honored how difficult it is to lose someone you love while trying to move forward through the pain. Honestly, this book is a love letter for someone who is dealing with grief or who has loved and lost someone. I HIGHLY recommend this book in audio. The narrator really brought the epic banter to life.

This book healed me in ways I wasn't expecting it too. Promise Me Sunshine deals with life and love after loss in such a beautiful way. It breaks your heart at times but puts it back together as well.Lenny has recently lost her soulmate and best friend Lou to cancer. She is struggling to keep herself a float and accomplish simple everyday tasks. When she lands a weekend nannying gig for a sweetest girl Ainsley she meets Miles. The grumpy and unsure of where he fits in uncle who lives upstairs.Their initial meeting did not go well and Miles judge Lenny a bit too soon. Then Miles discovers Lenny's Live Again List and volunteers to help her complete the list and start to live again in exchange for her help in connecting to Ainsley and his sister Reese.A beautiful friendship blossoms between the two of them and feelings start to evolve as time goes on.This is an endearing and beautiful slow burn romance that teaches you that life goes on and it's okay to love and live again.Everyone deserves to have a Miles be there for them when going through grief. 💘The only reason this is a 4.5 and not a 5 is a wish the book ended a little differently. I felt like it just stopped. I wished maybe there was and Epilogue and it was in Miles POV and it was of everyone going through the apt. and just him being so proud to stand by Lenny’s side and how in awe he is of her and how she has overcome the grief. Or just a chapter or two in his perspective in general. I know this is about Lenny but also Miles was dealing with the grief of his Mom and Anders.Fav Quote"Just remember. Something good for you, something bad for you, and a change of scenery. That’s the winning formula.""He treats you well?" "Mom he walked into hell and dragged me back out."

As a story about grief – living with it and wading through it – I thought Promise Me Sunshine by Cara Bastone really worked. The friendship between Lenny and Miles is magical. Because Miles has experienced the loss of his closest family members, he is able to help Lenny work through the grief of losing her best friend. Sometimes, that process includes letting Lenny sleep in his empty apartment; sometimes, it's just riding the Staten Island Ferry back and forth all night. While not what I was expecting, I really thought this part of the book was beautifully told.But, the story lost me when it came to the romance. I just wasn't feeling it. In fact, I was cringing and skipping ahead during the first sexy time attempt. It was so awkward and Lenny was so immature. It didn't help that this took place at the very end of the book so I didn't *need* them to get together.I enjoyed reading this.

I’m sorry…this will be winded. ♾️⭐️ All of them. Every last star in the sky!This Two for Tuesday is a little different—it isn’t about two authors, two genres, or even two books. It’s about emotions. Hilarious and heartbreaking. Joyful and gut-wrenching. Uplifting and painful. @carabastone basically wrote this book for me. Promise Me Sunshine feels like a lifeline—a guide to navigating my own grief as I face the reality of losing my best friend.I don’t want to give away too much because I need you to experience this book for yourself. I need you to read it and absorb it. “The only way out is through.” Lenny, Miles, Reese, and Ainsley will get you through. This book is written for anyone who’s ever lost somebody. For anyone who wondered if they’d make it through the pain and out the other side. For anyone who believes in love.But it’s not ALL doom and gloom. It’s a story of redemption. Of breaking down and rebuilding. Of grumpy & sunshine. Of violence towards waffles (trust me). Of the very best of slow burns. Of losing friends and making them. Of accepting help and giving it.Of living.Cara has a way of taking a typical trope and molding it into something atypical in the best way. Not perfect, but beautifully messy, lovely, different, and relatable. She has a way with words that do more than tell a story. They sink into every corner and crevice, filling even the jagged edges. Every emotion, every feeling settles in deep, and you can feel every one.This story and these characters showed up right when I needed them most. They are stamped on my heart, mind, and soul—forever.