Promise Me Sunshine Summary: A Hearts of New York Novel
Introduction
A woman sleeps on the Staten Island Ferry because she cannot bear to go home. Her best friend is dead, her apartment is a museum of that loss, and her only plan is to keep moving.
Then a weekend nannying job puts her in the path of a suspicious, overprotective bricklayer who mistakes her exhaustion for addiction.
Promise Me Sunshine by Cara Bastone is a contemporary romance built around that collision.
Set across Manhattan’s Upper West Side, Brooklyn, and upstate New York, it follows two people carrying separate griefs who strike an unusual bargain with each other.
👉 Watch on YouTube: Promise Me Sunshine Summary | Cara Bastone
TL;DR
- What it is: A contemporary romance and romantic comedy, the second book in the Hearts of New York series.
- Who it follows: Lenny Bellamy, a professional nanny stalled by grief, and Miles Honey, a stoic bricklayer and reluctant uncle.
- The setup: Lenny agrees to teach Miles how to bond with his seven-year-old niece; Miles agrees to help her finish her late best friend’s bucket list.
- Core themes: Grief as an ongoing relationship, found family, self-sufficiency before romance, and loyalty.
- Tone: Bittersweet, urban, funny in places, and restorative by the end.
- Structure: 33 chapters across three parts — After, Still After, and Forever After.
- Romance style: Slow-burn, grumpy/sunshine, with the male lead falling first.
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Characters in Promise Me Sunshine
| Character | Role |
|---|---|
| Lenny Bellamy (Helen Elena) | The narrator and protagonist, a professional nanny living out of a backpack after her best friend’s death. |
| Miles Honey | Reese’s half-brother, a bricklayer who becomes Lenny’s list partner and protector. |
| Ainsley Hollis | Reese’s seven-year-old daughter, whom Lenny is hired to care for. |
| Reese Hollis | A high-achieving single mother and daughter of a famous musician. |
| Lou Merritt | Lenny’s deceased best friend and former roommate, who appears in flashbacks and wrote the “Live Again” list. |
| Jericho | A young man whose bike is hit by a car; he becomes Lenny and Miles’s first mutual friend. |
| Rica | A perceptive member of Lenny and Miles’s new friend group. |
| Jeffy | A cynical but loyal friend of Jericho and Rica who joins the group. |
| Eva and Kevin Bellamy | Lenny’s parents, who live in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. |
| Emil | The Ukrainian doorman at Reese’s building who befriends Lenny and Ainsley. |
| Marzia Marcutio | A family friend and dental hygienist who shares information about Lou’s illness. |
| Ethan | Miles’s hometown friend who runs a bar in Brooklyn. |
| Anders | Miles’s deceased cousin, whom he regarded as a brother. |
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Promise Me Sunshine Summary: The Full Story (Spoilers)
Spoiler warning: this section describes the plot, including the ending.
Lenny Bellamy is six months past the death of Lou Merritt, her best friend and roommate, who died of ovarian cancer. She has stopped living in their shared Brooklyn apartment and works as a floating short-term nanny instead. On her worst nights she sleeps on the Staten Island Ferry rather than go home.
Her latest assignment is a weekend job for Reese Hollis, a single mother on the Upper West Side and the daughter of bluegrass legend Carp Hollis.
Lenny meets Reese’s seven-year-old daughter, Ainsley, and Reese’s half-brother, Miles Honey, who lives in the apartment above.
Miles is immediately wary of Lenny’s disheveled appearance. He suspects she is an addict or an alcoholic, and he is fiercely protective of his niece.
After Miles witnesses Lenny’s emotional volatility and finds her “Live Again” list — a bucket list Lou originally wrote for herself during her first bout of cancer — he proposes a trade. Lenny will teach him how to bond with Ainsley, whom he only met two years earlier. In return, Miles will act as her list partner and grief companion.
The two work through the list together.
They eat a famous sandwich, recreate a scene from Titanic on a boat bar, and attend a K-pop concert. Along the way, Miles offers Lenny a place to land and eventually lets her stay in his spare studio apartment so she can stop sleeping on the ferry.
Lenny pushes Miles to face his own suppressed grief over the deaths of his mother and his cousin Anders. Their relationship grows to include new friends — Jericho, Jeffy, and Rica — and a group camping trip at Blue Creek Campground.
Tension builds during a trip to Miles’s childhood home upstate and a wedding, where Miles calls Lenny his “copilot.” Lenny realizes she is in love with him, and the realization triggers a surge of guilt, as though her happiness betrays Lou.
Miles refuses to pursue a physical relationship until Lenny is able to “float on her own.” He keeps a private “Kiss Lenny” list of milestones he wants her to reach regarding her own self-sufficiency.
Lenny begins taking charge of her life. She signs a formal work contract, starts yoga classes, and reconciles with her parents after months of silence. She cuts the long hair she grew at Lou’s request and donates it to a charity for children with cancer.
In the ending, Miles and Lenny share their first kiss on the Staten Island Ferry, the same place they once sat as strangers. Miles moves to a new apartment so Reese and Ainsley have space to thrive.
Lenny finally cleans out her old apartment with Lou’s belongings inside. The book closes with Miles and Lenny at the Met, viewing Lou’s favorite painting and looking toward a shared future.
Promise Me Sunshine Summary by Chapter (Spoilers)
This section offers a brief summary of each chapter for readers who want to see what is inside the book.
Promise Me Sunshine contains 33 chapters across three parts: Part One: After (1–15), Part Two: Still After (16–25), and Part Three: Forever After (26–33).
Part One: After
Chapter 1: Lenny arrives at a luxury Upper West Side apartment for a temporary nannying job and meets Reese Hollis and her daughter Ainsley. She also meets Reese’s brother Miles, who is immediately grumpy and judgmental toward her.
Chapter 2: Lenny sleeps on the Staten Island Ferry because she cannot face her own apartment after her best friend’s death. She returns to work looking disheveled, and Miles stays at the apartment all day claiming he is there “in case” he is needed.
Chapter 3: Lenny takes Ainsley on an elaborate outing involving tutus, museums, and a movie, then dinner at a diner where Miles joins them. After Ainsley goes to bed, Lenny overhears Miles on the phone suggesting she might be “strung out.”
Chapter 4: Lenny gets into a shouting match with a reckless driver, and Miles physically intervenes. They ride the ferry together through the night, where Lenny reveals that Lou died of cancer, and Miles shares that he lost his mother and cousin in an accident.
Chapter 5: Lenny finishes the temporary gig and says goodbye to Ainsley. Miles catches her on the way out and proposes a trade: she teaches him how to bond with kids, and he helps her complete her “Live Again” list.
Chapter 6: Miles takes Lenny to a hole-in-the-wall shop to cross “eat something famous” off the list. He explains that Reese is actually his half-sister whom he only recently met, and he defends Lenny when an acquaintance makes insensitive comments about Lou.
Chapter 7: After Lenny trips and scrapes her knee, Miles takes her to his apartment for first aid. He insists she nap on his couch to recover from exhaustion, and Lenny finds his home warmer and more family-like than Reese’s.
Chapter 8: Lenny takes Miles to a sporting goods store to find an activity for connecting with Ainsley, and they settle on badminton. They discuss Lenny and Lou’s shared history, and Miles shields her when she has another breakdown.
Chapter 9: Miles uses the badminton equipment to spend an afternoon playing with Ainsley. Lenny learns Reese is frustrated by Miles’s constant presence, and she defends his intentions; Miles leaves her a container of food to make sure she eats.
Chapter 10: Miles takes Lenny to a bar on a boat to cross off “doing the Titanic thing.” They discuss his one serious past relationship and his belief that companionship matters as much as passion.
Chapter 11: The two bond through constant texting and late-night check-ins when Lenny cannot sleep. Miles comforts her through a three-hour crying spell at her apartment and encourages her to talk about Lou.
Chapter 12: Lenny encourages Ainsley to give Miles “feedback” on being a better uncle. Reese comes home drunk and has a sharp emotional outburst at Miles about their father’s secret, and Lenny tells Reese that Miles was the one who encouraged her to stay on as nanny.
Chapter 13: Lenny wakes on Miles’s couch and tells him about her K-pop concert tickets. Miles agrees to attend only as a “backup” and pushes her to invite Jericho instead, so she begins building friendships beyond him.
Chapter 14: Lenny visits the Met alone and is overwhelmed by memories of going there with Lou. She flees to the Staten Island Ferry in a panic and calls Miles, who comes to find her.
Chapter 15: Miles makes Lenny run a hill for her health, then takes her to Coney Island for beer and shrimp. They talk about their romantic fantasies and what they want in a partner, and Miles holds her hand.
Part Two: Still After
Chapter 16: Ainsley is devastated that Reese has a work conflict during her school dance. Lenny pressures Miles into offering to take Ainsley himself, and Ainsley immediately begins coaching him on how to dance.
Chapter 17: Miles and Ainsley bond over a silly obstacle course show on TV. Lenny takes Miles to a glasses shop to celebrate her making a new friend, and they playfully argue about whether he is flirting with the saleswomen.
Chapter 18: Ainsley and Lenny use Miles’s kitchen to bake a surprise birthday cake for Reese. While searching for his keys, Lenny reaches into Miles’s pocket, creating a moment of intense physical awareness between them.
Chapter 19: Lenny attends the 5Night concert with Jericho, who has become a fellow fan. They meet Jericho’s friends Rica and Jeffy at a bar, where Miles later joins them and smiles watching Lenny enjoy her new friendships.
Chapter 20: Lenny and Miles return to his apartment and clean silver glitter paint off each other, then fall asleep on the couch. At breakfast they discuss their deceased loved ones, and Miles stops Lenny from hacking off her hair in grief, washing it for her instead.
Chapter 21: Lenny takes Miles to a tattoo parlor, where they get matching wolf tattoos on parallel tables. Miles explains the “I’m here!” meaning behind a wolf’s howl.
Chapter 22: Miles organizes a camping trip for the friend group at Blue Creek Campground. They swim in a river, and Lenny and Miles share a hammock, where she realizes her attraction to him is becoming overwhelming.
Chapter 23: The group plays a competitive game of Hearts, and Miles carries Lenny back to the campsite when she refuses to stop teasing him. Later, Miles comforts her by the river under a sleeping bag and tells her she is the most loyal person he knows.
Chapter 24: Miles takes Lenny to his childhood home upstate to winterize it and invites her to a wedding for his ex-girlfriend’s brother. Lenny finds the house full of memories of his mother and discovers Anders’s room is still kept as a shrine.
Chapter 25: At the wedding, Miles faces his hometown reputation and his ex, Kira, with Lenny acting as his “copilot.” Kira has found happiness elsewhere, which relieves Miles; afterward he cries for Anders and gives Lenny a locket with a photo of her and Lou.
Part Three: Forever After
Chapter 26: Lenny wakes up in love with Miles and is immediately swamped by guilt and fear. She goes to Lou’s grave but cannot enter, and instead calls her mother for the first time in months; they have a tearful reunion.
Chapter 27: Lenny brings Miles to her parents’ home in Brooklyn for a chaotic Italian dinner. Miles endures three rounds of grappa from Lenny’s father and is eventually embraced by the family, and he tells Lenny’s mother she is “perfect.”
Chapter 28: Miles helps Lenny see that her guilt comes from fearing that healing means betraying Lou. She tries to confess her feelings, but Miles stops her from kissing him and tells her they need to wait; she later discovers his own “Kiss Lenny” list.
Chapter 29: Miles keeps a respectful distance to give Lenny space, which frustrates her as she tries to “play it cool.” Reese notices the tension and asks Lenny whether she is in a whirlwind love affair with Miles.
Chapter 30: The friend group goes to a “no pockets” disco bar, where Lenny tries unsuccessfully to seduce Miles. He explains he is “obsessed with getting this right” and wants to be sure she is okay before they begin a relationship.
Chapter 31: Lenny starts yoga, signs a formal work contract, and helps Jeffy at his bookstore. Miles and Ainsley perform a surprise dance routine at her school talent show, which Reese returns early to see, and Lenny cuts and donates her long hair.
Chapter 32: Miles finds Lenny on the Staten Island Ferry and sees her new haircut. They share their first real kiss in the rain on the deck, then return to the studio apartment and spend the night together.
Chapter 33: Reese takes a leave of absence to spend more time with Ainsley, and Miles sells his luxury apartment to start his own bricklaying business. Miles and Lenny clean out her old apartment together, and the book ends at the Met in front of an O’Keeffe painting.
Beneath the Surface: What the Book Centers On
| Theme | How the Book Presents It |
|---|---|
| The Nature of Grief | Lenny avoids her apartment, sleeps on the ferry, and describes herself as living in a “scraped-out husk.” Miles describes grief as a “heart transplant” and as a companion to be endured rather than fixed. |
| Found Family and Reconciliation | Miles and Reese move from resentment over their father’s secret to a working relationship. Jericho, Rica, and Jeffy become part of Lenny and Miles’s regular circle. |
| Self-Care as a Prerequisite for Love | Miles creates a “Kiss Lenny” list of milestones involving eating, contacting her parents, and cutting her hair before the relationship becomes physical. |
| The Power of Loyalty | Miles tells Lenny he will not let her drown, and Lenny defends Miles against his own family’s judgments. |
| Living for the Dead | The “Live Again” list, originally written by Lou, becomes the structure Lenny uses to re-enter her own life. |
Promise Me Sunshine Snapshot
- Genre & Subgenre: Contemporary Romance / Romantic Comedy
- Core Narrative Tropes: Grumpy/Sunshine, He Falls First, Mutual Healing, Found Family, the “List” trope
- Tone & Atmosphere: Bittersweet, urban, humorous, restorative
- Primary Conflict: Lenny’s paralysis after grief, and Miles’s struggle to be accepted by his biological family
- Pacing Style & Plotting: Character-driven, slow-burn romance with episodic list tasks driving the external plot
- Structure: 33 chapters across three parts — After, Still After, Forever After
- Publisher: Dial Press Trade Paperback
- Publication Date: March 4, 2025
- Pages: 416
- ISBN-10: 0593595734
- ISBN-13: 978-0593595732
- Series: Book 2 of 3 in the Hearts of New York series
Memorable Quotes from Promise Me Sunshine
“Life is what happens during the yadda yadda.” — Lou Merritt
“If we do this, I will not let you drown.” — Miles Honey
“Something good for you, something bad for you, and a change of scenery. That’s the winning formula.” — Miles Honey
“The first one saying, I’m here! I’m here! And then the other one says, Me too! Me too!” — Miles Honey
“Grief is a relationship. It’s the way we figure out how to keep loving them even though they’re gone.” — Miles Honey
“Lenny, when I look at your face, I feel like I’m finally home after a really long day at work.” — Miles Honey
“Every time I fall in love with you there’s lightning.” — Lenny Bellamy
“Get over it already, loser.” — Lou Merritt
Is Promise Me Sunshine Right for You?
Promise Me Sunshine suits readers of contemporary romance and romantic comedy who are comfortable with a story centered on bereavement.
The grief is present on nearly every page, so readers looking for a light, low-conflict romance may find the emotional weight heavier than expected.
The romance develops slowly, with the physical relationship arriving late in the book. Readers who prefer a gradual build, extended friendship, and a male lead who falls first will recognize the pattern.
The novel also carries substantial non-romantic content: sibling reconciliation, a parent’s secret family, and an adult child repairing a relationship with her parents.
Readers who enjoy character-driven stories with episodic structure and a New York City setting are the most direct audience.
Books Like Promise Me Sunshine
- Ready or Not by Cara Bastone: Shares the same author, the New York City setting, and the series’ focus on complex family dynamics.
- Wait for It by Mariana Zapata: A slow-burn romance featuring a woman caring for children and working through past trauma.
- The Happy Ever After Playlist by Abby Jimenez: Centers on profound grief and a bucket-list-style path toward healing, with a protective male lead.
- Book Lovers by Emily Henry: A contemporary romance with a strong focus on sibling relationships, career independence, and finding home in an unexpected place.
- Beach Read by Emily Henry: Follows two writers in a slow-burn relationship while one of them processes a death in the family.
- The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston: Combines a New York setting, a romance plot, and a protagonist grieving a loss she cannot move past.
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