{"id":3386,"date":"2025-06-26T11:39:13","date_gmt":"2025-06-26T11:39:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/?p=3386"},"modified":"2025-06-26T11:39:13","modified_gmt":"2025-06-26T11:39:13","slug":"sunny-side-up-by-katie-sturino","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/?p=3386","title":{"rendered":"Sunny Side Up by Katie Sturino"},"content":{"rendered":"

Katie Sturino\u2019s debut novel Sunny Side Up<\/em> arrives with the confidence of someone who has spent years building trust with an audience through authentic storytelling. Known for her body-acceptance advocacy and viral #SuperSizeTheLook series, Sturino translates her signature candor into fiction with surprising depth, though not without some predictable stumbles along the way.<\/p>\n

The story follows Sunny Greene, a thirty-five-year-old PR maven navigating the choppy waters of post-divorce life while launching a size-inclusive swimwear brand called SONNY. Fresh from a failed marriage to Zack, Sunny finds herself caught between two very different men: Ted Manns, a polished business tycoon with the power to make her fashion dreams reality, and Dennis, her endearingly gruff mailman who treats her dogs like royalty and makes terrible puns with genuine charm.<\/p>\n

Character Development: Where Sturino Truly Shines<\/h2>\n

Sturino\u2019s greatest strength lies in crafting a protagonist who feels authentically flawed without being frustratingly self-sabotaging. Sunny Greene emerges as a fully realized woman whose insecurities about her body don\u2019t define her entire personality\u2014a refreshing departure from the typical \u201cwoman learns to love herself\u201d narrative. Her struggles with self-worth feel earned rather than manufactured, rooted in the very real experience of a woman whose marriage imploded just as she was finding professional success.<\/p>\n

The supporting cast provides solid grounding for Sunny\u2019s journey. Her \u201cFirst Wives Club\u201d friends\u2014pragmatic Brooke and free-spirited Noor\u2014offer competing advice that feels genuine rather than plot-device convenient. Michael, Sunny\u2019s brother, serves as more than just wedding-plot motivation; their sibling dynamic crackles with the kind of affectionate ribbing that rings true. Even minor characters like Avery, Sunny\u2019s business partner, and Kateryna, her designer, feel substantial enough to carry their own storylines.<\/p>\n

Where Sturino\u2019s character work falters slightly is in the love triangle itself. While Dennis emerges as a fully formed person with his own quirks and motivations, Ted occasionally feels more like a collection of attractive qualities than a complete individual. His wealth, sophistication, and business acumen serve the plot well, but his emotional depth remains somewhat surface-level compared to Dennis\u2019s genuine vulnerability.<\/p>\n

The Weight of Representation Done Right<\/h2>\n

Perhaps the novel\u2019s most significant achievement is how seamlessly it integrates body-acceptance themes without making them feel preachy or performative. Sturino avoids the trap of turning Sunny\u2019s relationship with her body into a constant internal monologue of self-flagellation followed by forced affirmations. Instead, she presents a woman who has moments of insecurity alongside moments of genuine confidence<\/a>\u2014much like real life.<\/p>\n

The SONNY swimwear storyline serves as more than just professional backdrop; it becomes a metaphor for Sunny\u2019s journey toward self-acceptance. The scenes in the Bergdorf Goodman dressing room\u2014both the traumatic early experience and the triumphant later moment where Sunny helps another struggling customer\u2014bookend the narrative with genuine emotional weight.<\/p>\n

Romance Elements: Familiar Yet Satisfying<\/h2>\n

Sturino employs many well-worn romance tropes\u2014the love triangle, the misunderstanding that separates our couple, the grand gesture\u2014but executes them with enough freshness to keep readers engaged. The tension between Ted and Dennis isn\u2019t just about choosing between rich and poor, or sophisticated and simple. It\u2019s genuinely about compatibility, values, and the kind of life Sunny wants to build.<\/p>\n

The sexual chemistry feels authentic rather than forced, particularly in the scenes between Sunny and Dennis. Sturino writes their physical attraction with a warmth that extends beyond mere lust into genuine affection and comfort. The intimate scenes, while not explicit, convey real emotional connection alongside physical desire<\/a>.<\/p>\n

However, the resolution feels somewhat rushed. The final reconciliation between Sunny and Dennis, while emotionally satisfying, happens rather quickly after their misunderstanding. A bit more time spent on their emotional reunion would have strengthened the ending\u2019s impact.<\/p>\n

Writing Style: Authentic Voice with Room for Polish<\/h2>\n

Sturino\u2019s prose reads like an extended conversation with a witty, self-aware friend. Her background in digital content creation shows in the best way\u2014she has a gift for capturing the rhythms of contemporary women\u2019s inner dialogue without falling into millennial caricature. The narrative voice feels consistent throughout, maintaining Sunny\u2019s personality even during moments of growth and change.<\/p>\n

Some passages sparkle with genuine humor and insight:<\/p>\n

\u201cI reminded myself of Noor\u2019s mantra: \u2018No ring? Not a thing.’\u201d<\/h4>\n

Others occasionally stumble into overwrought territory, particularly during moments of high emotion. The wedding scenes, while heartfelt, sometimes veer toward sentiment that feels forced rather than earned.<\/p>\n

Professional Authenticity Grounds the Fantasy<\/h2>\n

Having built her own beauty empire with Megababe, Sturino brings genuine expertise to Sunny\u2019s entrepreneurial journey. The business aspects of launching SONNY feel grounded in reality\u2014from finding manufacturers to navigating investor relationships. This professional authenticity elevates the novel above pure escapist fantasy, giving Sunny\u2019s success a weight that makes her personal happiness feel earned rather than gifted.<\/p>\n

Areas for Growth<\/h2>\n

While Sunny Side Up<\/em> succeeds in many areas, it occasionally relies too heavily on coincidence to drive plot points. The presence of Sunny\u2019s ex-husband Zack at the SONNY launch event feels particularly contrived, serving plot convenience rather than organic storytelling. Similarly, some of the misunderstandings between Sunny and Dennis could have been resolved with simple honest communication, making their conflict feel somewhat artificial.<\/p>\n

The pacing also suffers from occasional momentum issues. The middle section, while containing good character development, sometimes feels overly concerned with maintaining the love triangle tension at the expense of moving the story forward.<\/p>\n

A Worthy Addition to Contemporary Romance<\/h2>\n

Despite its flaws, Sunny Side Up<\/em> offers something valuable to the contemporary romance landscape: a heroine whose worth isn\u2019t tied to her dress size, whose professional ambitions matter as much as her romantic ones, and whose journey toward self-acceptance feels genuine rather than prescribed.<\/p>\n

Sturino\u2019s debut suggests a promising fiction career ahead. She clearly understands her audience and has important stories to tell about women claiming space in a world designed to make them feel too big, too much, too wrong. When she trusts her instincts and lets her characters breathe, the results are genuinely engaging.<\/p>\n

The Final Verdict<\/h2>\n

Sunny Side Up<\/em> succeeds as both entertainment and representation. While it doesn\u2019t revolutionize the romance genre, it brings fresh perspective to familiar themes with enough heart and humor to keep pages turning. Readers looking for romance with substance, body-positive messaging that doesn\u2019t feel forced, and a heroine worth rooting for will find much to love here.<\/p>\n

Sturino has crafted a novel that feels like a warm hug from a friend who\u2019s been through it all and emerged stronger\u2014not perfect, just stronger. In a genre often criticized for unrealistic standards, that authenticity alone makes Sunny Side Up<\/em> worth reading.<\/p>\n

For Fans Of<\/h2>\n

Emily Henry\u2019s Great Big Beautiful Life<\/em><\/a> and People We Meet on Vacation<\/em>
\nChristina Lauren\u2019s The Unhoneymooners<\/em>
\nTessa Bailey\u2019s It Happened One Summer<\/em><\/a>
\nSophie Kinsella\u2019s Shopaholic<\/em> series (for the entrepreneurial elements)
\nHelen Hoang\u2019s The Kiss Quotient<\/em> (for authentic representation)<\/p>\n

Previous Works by Katie Sturino<\/h2>\n

Body Talk: How to Embrace Your Body and Start Living Your Best Life<\/em> (2021)
\nToastHampton: How to Summer in Style<\/em><\/p>\n

Sunny Side Up<\/em> marks Sturino\u2019s fiction debut, building on themes she explored in her non-fiction work while expanding into storytelling that feels both personal and universal.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Katie Sturino\u2019s debut novel Sunny Side Up arrives with the confidence of someone who has spent years building trust with an audience through authentic storytelling. Known for her body-acceptance advocacy and viral #SuperSizeTheLook series, Sturino translates her signature candor into fiction with surprising depth, though not without some predictable stumbles along the way. The story […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3386","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bookreviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3386"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3386"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3386\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3386"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3386"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}