In “Promise Me Sunshine,” Cara Bastone crafts a deeply moving tale about navigating the murky waters of loss and finding unexpected connection when you least expect it. This novel isn’t just a romance; it’s a profound exploration of grief, healing, and the messy, beautiful process of learning to live again after devastating loss. Bastone, known for her authentic voice in novels like “When We First Met” and “Ready or Not,” continues to excel at creating characters who feel achingly real—people you want to both console and occasionally shake some sense into.
The Emotional Core: A Story of Grief and Healing
At the heart of this story is Lenny Bellamy, a young woman shattered by the loss of her best friend Lou to cancer. Bastone portrays grief with such raw authenticity that it’s impossible not to feel your own heart crack open while reading. Lenny’s pain isn’t glamorized or simplified; it’s messy, inconsistent, and all-consuming. She can barely return to the apartment she shared with Lou, avoids her worried parents, and sleeps on the Staten Island Ferry rather than face her empty home.
What makes Lenny’s portrayal so effective is how recognizable her coping mechanisms are—the way she fantasizes about random men she meets, creates elaborate future scenarios, and clings to the “Live Again” list that connects her to Lou. These quirks humanize her grief rather than turning it into an abstract concept.
The novel doesn’t rush Lenny’s healing process, which is perhaps its greatest strength. There’s no magical moment where she suddenly “gets better.” Instead, we witness the painstaking, nonlinear journey of rediscovering how to exist in a world without the person who helped define your place in it.
Miles Honey: An Unconventional Hero
Miles isn’t your typical romance lead, and that’s refreshing. He’s gruff, socially awkward, and initially judgmental of Lenny’s clearly unraveling life. But Bastone carefully peels back his layers to reveal a man who has walked through his own grief—losing his mother and cousin in a car accident years earlier—and emerged with hard-won wisdom about survival.
What makes Miles compelling isn’t just his emotional depth but his willingness to step into Lenny’s mess. Rather than offering platitudes or easy fixes, he provides practical support: food when she’s hungry, a safe place to sleep, and most importantly, permission to feel her pain without judgment. Their relationship builds gradually and believably, founded on mutual understanding rather than physical attraction alone (though there’s plenty of that too).
The Supporting Cast: Fully Realized Characters
One of the novel’s strengths is its vibrant supporting cast. Ainsley, the precocious seven-year-old Lenny babysits, provides both comic relief and emotional anchoring. Her relationship with Miles forms a crucial parallel story about connection and trust. Reese, Ainsley’s mother and Miles’s half-sister, represents another complex portrayal of family relationships with her own barriers and emotional wounds.
The introduction of new friends—Jericho, Rica, and Jeffy—adds welcome dimension to Lenny’s world, highlighting how isolation exacerbates grief and how new connections don’t diminish past ones. Even minor characters like Emil the doorman and Lenny’s parents feel distinctly drawn and meaningful to the narrative.
The Writing: Humor Amid the Heartbreak
Bastone achieves something remarkable in balancing gut-wrenching emotional moments with genuine humor. Lenny’s narrative voice is delightfully quirky, with lines that can make you laugh out loud even as tears stream down your face:
“I can’t stand to look at it anymore,” I gasp. Tears fill my eyes and he’s just a blur of color and light in the mirror now. “I grew it out because she asked me to, but I’m the one who has to haul it everywhere.”
This balance prevents the novel from becoming overwhelmingly somber, instead creating a reading experience that mirrors the unpredictable emotional landscape of grief itself—where laughter and tears often coexist.
Where the Novel Shines
Strengths:
- Authentic grief portrayal – Bastone doesn’t sanitize or simplify the grieving process
- Chemistry between leads – Miles and Lenny’s connection feels earned rather than manufactured
- Rich supporting characters – Even minor characters have distinct personalities and purposes
- Balance of humor and heartbreak – The novel never feels too heavy despite its serious themes
- Healthy relationship modeling – Miles supports without “fixing” Lenny, respecting her journey
Challenges:
- Pacing inconsistencies – The middle section occasionally meanders before finding its stride again
- Some dialogue feels too clever – At times, conversations feel more written than spoken
- Underexplored backstory elements – Certain family dynamics could have been more fully developed
- A few romance tropes feel familiar – Though generally fresh, some romantic beats are predictable
Standout Moments That Define the Novel
“Promise Me Sunshine” contains several unforgettable scenes that perfectly capture its essence. Miles learning a dance routine with Ainsley despite his discomfort shows his character growth beautifully. Lenny’s decision to cut her hair—hair she’d grown for Lou—marks a pivotal moment in her healing journey. And the small, quiet moment when Miles crosses an item off his own secret list of things Lenny needs to accomplish before she’s ready for love demonstrates the thoughtful care underlying their relationship.
Perhaps most memorable is the scene on the Staten Island Ferry where Lenny explains her connection to it:
“I never mentioned this, but when it was time to move Lou to hospice, we picked a facility out on Staten Island… So…now whenever I’m on the ferry, I guess part of me feels like I’m headed toward her.”
In this moment, we understand how grief reshapes our relationship with places and things, imbuing them with meaning others can’t see.
Comparative Context: Where This Fits in Contemporary Romance
“Promise Me Sunshine” sits comfortably alongside other emotionally rich contemporary romances that tackle difficult subjects with honesty and hope. Fans of Emily Henry’s “Beach Read” or Christina Lauren’s more emotional works will find similar depth here. The novel also shares DNA with Abby Jimenez’s “Life’s Too Short” in its willingness to confront mortality within a romance framework.
Within Bastone’s own bibliography, this novel feels like a natural evolution of her voice, continuing the emotional authenticity of “Ready or Not” while digging into even deeper emotional territory. Her signature style—characters who feel like real people you might meet, genuine emotional stakes, and dialogue that sparkles with humor—remains strong throughout.
Final Thoughts: A Romance That Stays With You
Not every romance novel aims to change how you think about life and love, but “Promise Me Sunshine” manages to do just that. It reminds us that grief isn’t something to “get over” but rather something that becomes integrated into who we are. It shows how new love doesn’t replace what we’ve lost but instead helps us carry our losses differently.
Bastone doesn’t offer easy answers or unrealistic healing timelines. Instead, she presents a messy, complicated, beautiful portrait of two people helping each other navigate their broken places. The result is a story that feels true in a way that transcends its fictional status.
This isn’t a perfect novel—few are—but its imperfections only add to its authenticity. Like its characters, it contains both brilliance and flaws, moments of breathtaking insight alongside occasional missteps. And like the best romances, it leaves you feeling more hopeful about human connection than when you began.
For readers seeking a romance with genuine emotional depth, characters who feel like they could walk off the page, and a love story that earns its happy ending through genuine growth rather than narrative convenience, “Promise Me Sunshine” delivers all that and more. It’s a promise well kept.
