Promise Me Sunshine (Hearts of New York #2) by Cara Bastone
Lenny’s a bit of a mess at the moment. Her best friend, Lou, recently passed away after a battle with cancer, and her death has left Lenny feeling completely lost. She’s avoiding her concerned parents, the apartment she shared with Lou, and the list of things she’s supposed to do to help her live again. The only thing she can do is temporary babysitting gigs, and luckily, she just landed a great one, helping overworked, single mom Reese and her precocious daughter, Ainsley. It’s not perfect: Ainsley’s uncle, Miles, always seems to be around, and is kind of... a huge jerk. But if Lenny acts like she has it all together, maybe no one will notice she’s falling apart.
Miles sees right through her though. Turns out, he knows a lot about grief and, surprisingly, he offers her a proposition. He’ll help her complete everything on her “live again” list if she’ll help him connect with Ainsley and overcome his complicated relationship with Reese. Lenny doubts anything can fill the Lou has left behind, but she begins to spend more time with Miles, Lenny is surprised to discover that, sometimes, losing everything is only the first step to finding yourself, and love, again.
Review: Lenny's life is a mess. Her best friend and roommate Lou recently passed away from cancer. Lenny is avoiding her parents, the apartment she shared with Lou, and making ends meet on part-time, short-term nanny work. When the uncle of her new charge notices how much she is struggling, she reluctantly agrees to let him help her in exchange for helping him improve his relationship with his niece and sister.
This is really a book about navigating grief, with a side of romance. I felt like this was such a beautiful depiction of grief. Lenny feels bowled over by the immensity of her sadness. I liked that Miles is perceptive enough to notice and persistent enough to force her into letting him help her through the worst of it.
I love Cara Bastone's writing, which feels fresh and honest and true. This was excellent on audio; narrator Alex Finke absolutely brought so much personality and depth to the role and added SO much to my experience. I'm so happy I chose to listen to this one for her narration alone.
Although I give Lenny so much grace as someone who is grieving, I still struggled with this book due to several elements. This book is so Lenny-centered. We do learn a bit about Miles, but it's only in conversation about Lenny about her grief. He feels like her grief doula, holding her hand through this loss more than he feels like someone she is passionately attracted to or falling for. Also, I know grief makes people do crazy things, but sleeping on the ferry all night is dangerous and refusing to communicate with your parents that you claim you're super close with isn't healthy. And how is she supposedly paying for her apartment on part-time nannying work? In New York City?? I also thought their insistence on marking arbitrary to dos off their list was a bit silly.
I think ultimately, I kept comparing this to Cara Bastone's book Ready or Not, a book I truly loved. This one was just more depressing and dragged a lot more for me than that book and suffered by comparison.
Stars: 3
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