title: Promise Me Sunshine
author: Cara Bastone
publisher: Dial Press Trade Paperback
publication date: March 4, 2025
pages: 416
peppers: 3 (on this scale)
warnings: lots of talk of death and grieving
summary: Lenny (Helen) is barely getting through since her best friend Lou died six months ago. She can't sleep, eat, or focus, except on the short-term babysitting jobs she gets to pay her rent (on an apartment she can't make herself enter because it still has all of Lou's stuff in it). When she gets a weekend job taking care of seven-year-old Ainsley, she meets the girl's overbearing uncle Miles. Miles offers to help her get through her grief if she helps him get along with Ainsley and his half-sister Reece.
tropes:
- no way out but through
- learning to live again
- cute kid
- trade skills
what I liked:
- believable process of coming back into the light
- great characters
- slow burn
what I didn’t like: n/a
overall rating: 5 (of 5 stars)