REVIEW: A Little Ray of Sunshine by Kristan Higgins

In A Little Ray of Sunshine by Kristan Higgins, Running her family’s Wellfleet, Massachusetts, bookstore is Harlow Smith’s happy place, especially as she gets to spend time with her fabulous grandfather every day. It also helps to keep the guilt and grief at bay from giving her newborn son, Matthew, up for adoption when she was in her late teens. Not that her family knows anything about it. That changes the day her seventeen-year-old son waltzes into Open Book, ready to meet Harlow and spend the summer on the Cape getting to know her and the rest of the Smith family–unbeknownst to his adoptive parents, Monica and Sanjay Patel.

‘I didn’t raise my child, but I was still his mother, and the fact was both indescribably precious and painful. I had hoped he would contact me someday, but I sure hadn’t pictured him walking into my store unannounced.’

Monica had no idea Matthew was cooking up a plan to visit Harlow when he suggested their vacation this summer should be in Cape Cod. Weeks from his eighteenth birthday, it seems like he’s bound and determined to become an adult overnight. Much to Monica’s dismay. While she knew Matthew would want to find Harlow, even planned on it in the far-off future, she fears he might be dazzled by the attention being showered on him by his biological mom and her family, leaving Monica and Sanjay in the dust. As the summer wears on and her stress level rises with each week, the only thing she’s sure of is that all of their lives are about to change big time. Hopefully for the better when it’s all said and done.

‘Eighteen years ago, Harlow Smith had been the most important person in Monica’s life. She had loved the girl. Today, she wasn’t so sure.’

An amazingly heartfelt novel about three women at very different points in their lives, exploring family, friendship, romance, and what we’re willing to do for our loved ones, A Little Ray of Sunshine was Kristan Higgins at her shining best.

‘What if I had kept him? He was giving me the chance to find out, and it felt like a little ray of sunshine suddenly burst out of my heart, cracking open all the dark places. My son had always been that light. Now, I’d get to see it up close.’

Content Warning: View Spoiler »Cheating (historical, secondary cast), alcoholism, child neglect. « Hide Spoiler

Kristan Higgins’ ability to turn me into a sobbing mess with one scene and then with the next, have me laughing out loud will never get old. And it’s that somewhat heavy subject matter mixed with tons of heart and giggles that keeps me coming back to see what new situations her characters have gotten into.

In A Little Ray of Sunshine, we were once again in Wellfleet, Massachusetts. (Yay!) The smallish town, filled with some crossover cast from Higgins’ previous novel, was as welcoming as always. And one of my favorite parts–to no one’s surprise–is that the bulk of it was set in Harlow’s family’s bookstore: Open Book. So, in some ways, this novel was an ode to booklovers and the cozy bookshops many of us dream about visiting or even owning. And it was also where Harlow’s son she had relinquished to adoption, Matthew, strolled in and found her unexpectedly.

Told from three POVs: Harlow, Monica (Matthew’s adoptive mother), and Cynthia (an older cousin of Harlow’s), adoption and the sacrifices women make in life played a huge part in the story. It ended up being quite a tangled predicament. One where it felt like everyone involved would likely have their feelings hurt in some way or another. (And they did) But the wonderful cast of characters charmed their way into my heart as they traversed new relationships and connections, healed past hurts, and found new ways to carry on while being generous and true to themselves.

Family played a key role in everything. And that included blood relatives, those who had been adopted, and family of the heart. While I enjoyed getting all three women’s perspectives and seeing how their lives grew and changed from their interactions, I’m going to be honest–it was Harlow’s Grandpop, Robert, who stole the show–and my heart. His enthusiasm, wisdom, and utter love for his family and friends is definitely something to aspire to. And I don’t think I’ll be alone in how much I enjoyed his huge role in this story.

QOTD: Have you read any books that took your emotions on a roller coaster ride, leaving you ready to want to go through it all over again?

Book Info:

Publication: Published: June 6th, 2023 | Berkley |

A kid walks into your bookstore and… Guess what? He’s your son. The one you put up for adoption eighteen years ago. The one you never told anyone about. Surprise!

And a huge surprise it is.

It’s a huge surprise to his adoptive mother, Monica, who thought she had a close relationship with Matthew, her nearly adult son. But apparently, he felt the need to secretly arrange a vacation to Cape Cod for the summer so he could meet his birth mother…without a word to either her or his dad.

It’s also a surprise— to say the least—to Harlow, the woman who secretly placed her baby for adoption so many years ago. She’s spent the years since then building a quiet life. She runs a bookstore with her grandfather, hangs out with her four younger siblings and is more or less happily single, though she can’t help gravitating toward Grady Byrne, her old friend from high school. He’s moved back to town, three-year-old daughter in tow, no wife in the picture. But she’s always figured her life had to be child-free, so that complicates things.

When Matthew walks into Harlow’s store, she faints. Monica panics. And all their assumptions—about what being a parent really means—explode. This summer will be full of more surprises as both their families are redefined…and as both women learn that for them, there’s no limit to a mother’s love.