4/5

I saw this all over Bookstagram when it was first self-published and immediately added it to my TBR. I didn’t get a chance to read it right away, so was excited to get an arc before it’s traditionally published next month. Let me preface this by saying I LOVED the friends-to-lovers storyline and Cal is such a sweet book boyfriend. There were, however, things that took me out of the story. I felt like the FMC, Grace’s, use of “boy” rather than man or guy highlighted her young age, especially since her and the MMC, Cal, had an 8-year age gap. This also fell a little bit into the problem I had with Icebreaker where everything was a little too PC and polite. The biggest pet peeve, though, was the “smutty book” discussion and content. It really took me out of what is ultimately a lovely story. Despite those gripes, there was lots to love. Grace’s sexual assault was handled very thoughtfully and handled especially gently by Cal, who was loving, patient, and understanding with her. I enjoyed that the story between them was low angst and felt like their problems were realistic and well handled. Cal’s dealing with custody over his sister, Maddie, and Grace not giving up on him was mature and sweet. The positives definitely outweigh the negatives in this one and I’m excited to read the next book in the series about Maddie - 17 years later!

This whole blurb made me swoon before I even started reading this delightful story. BRIGHTEST LIGHT OF SUNSHINE I mean seriously…. How can it not grab you with title alone. Within the first few pages I was already all googly eyes over Grace and Cal. She was so nervous when she went into that tattoo shop and I was like THAT’S ME! She was so unbelievable relatable. Cal was complete boyfriend goals. He steps in to take care of his little sister and even though he’s completely anti-relationship, he becomes the best of friends with Grace. He’s everything she doesn’t know she needs. I mean he asked her for updates on the books she was reading. How can you not swoon?! They were strangers to friends to lovers and it was just so enjoyable the whole journey. I can’t wait to read more from Lisina Coney!

I have never laughed as much as l did reading this book. I absolutely fell in love with Maddie first of all. She was beautiful in and out and l just love love love her. Now lets talk about Cal AKA Samuel our Main male character who is as handsome as a Greek god, covered in tattoos and has a body to die for. Cal was eight years older than Grace and l loved that aspect about them so much. Why ? l don't know l just did. Cal and Maddie's relationship was just out of this world, their brother/ sister bond was heart warming and sweet. This romantic standalone has a mixture of age gape ( which l am a sucker for by the way) slow burn, dual pov, a protective mmc and some sizzling hot steamy scenes. A tattoo artist and a ballet teacher was a trope l never knew l needed, it was my first time reading a book by this author and she entirely has me hooked. I enjoyed watching this couple go from strangers to friends to lovers. We truly get to see their love form and blossom for each other. The ending tied the book perfectly, to see their happy ending become a reality was a dream and l devoured every second of it. " l bloomed with grace" is one of my favorite lines from the book among many others but l just thought l would drop this one right here. :)

A sweet romance between two unlikely characters who I began to root for before they even kissed.

Grace Allen is ready to begin to heal from a traumatic event in her past. She meets and befriends Cal, a tattoo artist who is also devoted to his 4year old sister, Maddie. Their relationship begins to grow from friendship until the inevitable happens and they fall in love. Read to find out what happens Grace’s relationship with Cal and Maddie.

Written from the perspective of Cal and Grace, we get to experience both their thoughts as this relationship progresses. I couldn’t get enough of the banter between these two. This is the first book in the series and I am looking forward to reading the next book.

Thank you to the @Netgalley and @victoryeditingngc who provided the ARC.

I would highly recommend this book. Put it on your TBR. It will be published on December 19, 2023.

“𝑰 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖, 𝒔𝒖𝒏𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒆. 𝑴𝒚 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒈𝒏𝒊𝒛𝒆𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔, 𝒔𝒐 𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒆, 𝒔𝒐 𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔. 𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒉 𝒊𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓, 𝒌𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒊𝒕 𝒔𝒂𝒇𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒎𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒔.”

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Spice: 🔥🔥.5
Relationship: MW
Tropes/content: Age gap (8 years), tattoo artist/ballet teacher, pseudo single dad to sister, strangers to best friends to lovers, virgin main character, slow burn, praise
Series: The Brightest Light #1

⚠️Check triggers⚠️

After going through a traumatic experience a few years ago, Grace is looking for ways to heal. She decides to get a tattoo to help her with her journey. It's there she meets Cal, the shop owner, who's eight years older with a large build full of tattoos, and a father figure to his four year old sister. An unlikely friendship starts between the two of them and they become inseparable. Their relationship blossoms into more when they both realize they're more than just friends.

I'm deeply obsessed with this book and this couple. I was captivated by Cal and Grace the moment they met at the shop and he called her 'sunshine' (on page 6!!!). I was a goner from that moment on. They have such a beautiful relationship. They both have traumas they are navigating, and I appreciated that they supported each other and it never felt one sided. When he talked her through a panic attack, I almost cried. They truly have a friendship at the core of their relationship, which makes the romance so much sweeter.

This is definitely a slow burn, but when the spice hits, it HITS. It's not the spiciest book I've read, but the fact that the romance is so wholesome, then you're hit with some solid dirty talk, really amped up the spice for me. When he said, "Shh, I know babe. I know it feels good," and praised her, I died 🥵

I'm SO excited for the next book. I can't wait to see Maddie fall in love, but also can't wait for middle aged Cal 😍

While the story deals with some heavy issues in a good way and while I enjoyed spending time with Grace and Cal while they grow and bloom together, it was honestly a bit too long and it dragged in a few places quite a lot. I dislike when couples go around in circles in terms of yes I like you but we cannot be together when there is no real reason why they shouldn't start a relationship. I wish it was a bit more fast-paced.

5⭐

ARC Review

I am delighted with the book. The atmosphere is so nice and comfortable that I didn't want this story to end. I love all the characters so much.

The story tells about a ballet teacher who dreams of becoming a writer, and about a tattoo artist. Life unexpectedly collides them, neither of them even imagined that such a strong and lasting bond would emerge between them — a friendship that grew into an incredible love.

Grace is a strong girl who once experienced something terrible. Now it is difficult for her to trust people, but she is ready to move on, to take the next step in healing. Along the way, she meets Cal, a tattoo artist, with whom she immediately develops a warm friendship. Cal is a big teddy bear, you just want to hug him and not let go. He is so caring, kind and understanding. Everyone who is surrounded by Cal's love and care is very lucky. Gradually, friendship develops into a strong love. They were so lucky to find each other. It's impossible not to fall in love with them. I couldn't stop smiling, they are so cute and sweet, I love them so much.

I'm in love with every character. What is little Maddie worth. She made me laugh every time. Such a witty, sweet and naive, such a small and such a strong baby. Maddie and Cal are so lucky to have each other. Their parents don't deserve them. I'm obsessed with the interactions between them, I need more because I already miss them.

Congratulations to Lisina Coney on her debut! I'm looking forward to the new books to get to know the other characters better.

This was one of the most beautiful books I’ve ever read. It gave me all the feels, there was so much love between Grace and Cal. I loved how they built their relationship from strangers to friends and eventually to something much more. They were so caring and supportive of each other. Maddie was so sweet and I really liked the little family they created by the end. I definitely recommend this book to everyone and I can’t wait to read Maddie’s book.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me a copy of the book.

Brightest Light of Sunshine, by Lisina Coney, is such a sweet romance novel.  Grace is still working through the trauma of a sexual assault when she meets Cal. They quickly become friends and the rest is history! I started this one on a cross-country flight and with one layover, I finished it before landing at my final destination.   It was a quick read and I quickly breezed through it. Thanks, NetGalley and the publisher, for providing me with an ARC ebook to read for this review. My opinions are all my own.

Sweet romance story that gives you the feels and sets you all fuzzy and tingly inside.

Right away you learn that the main character Grace is moving forward from a traumatic past, trying to gain her footing in college socializing, partying, and testing the waters of the dating scene. She has a few close relationships that anyone would dream of and I adored the side characters as much as the mains. She quickly meets super hunky, handsome, very intimidating tattoo man and the rest of the book is them forming a friendship since they keep crossing paths (we’re JuST FrIenDssssuuuuhhhh) and pretending that’s all they are until they figure their shit out.

Stellar build up of sexy tension tho 👌🏼and some sexy spice in there. Personally, some of the descriptions of Mr. hunky giant biceps handsome tattoo man were over the top repetitive and unnecessary, but I really adored his character as well as Grace’s. I didn’t love some of their inner dialogue as it felt too simple and obvious, but overall, I enjoyed reading the story, I liked the very real look at how we can heal and grow from trauma and I would recommend it as a fluffy feel good romance read in the New Adult genre. ✨🤗

📚 The Brightest Light of Sunshine
The Brightest Light Book 1
✍ Lisina Coney
📖 Contemporary, Fiction, Romance
4.5★⚊
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🇲🇽
Una emotiva historia..
Un viaje de sanación, de confianza, de renacer y del amor cuando menos lo esperas.
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.
🇺🇸
Loved the story so much ..
Two persons with their own struggle .. finding light when you least expected..
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A woman ready to move on. A man who can't afford distractions. An inspiring journey of healing love.
Grace Allen feels ready to move forward to the next step in her healing journey, what she doesn't expect is to meet Cal, and begin a new friendship..
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But Cal cant afford any distractions, he has his priorities set, but when the lines start to blur.. he will find he cannot hold those walls any longer..
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Read if you like:
💖 grumpy/sunshine
💖 age gap
💖 friends to lovers
💖 angsty
💖 slow burn
💖 journey of healing
💖 golden heart MMC

Thank you to Netgalley and the author for the book in exchange for a review.

This was a really good book I really loved how this author wrote about the trauma that the main character went through in a really thoughtful and honest way. I loved watching Cal and Grace fall in love though there were some things about this book that moved a little slow for me but this was enjoyable!I think the main thing I'm disappointed in this book was the fact that it was talked about so much as a ballerina Romance and the dance was not mentioned as much as I would have liked (coming from a dancer)


Troupes:
Grumpy x Sunshine (and he calls her Sunshine)
Age Gap
Strong Sibling relationships

18 +
Check TW's!!

I had to DNF (did not finish) this book at 40%. There was way too much of all the wrong things in this book. I can tell the author is trying really hard to fill the book with hashtag-topics. The story got unbearable because of all the different cultural agendas being pushed. The description was very misleading on this one. If you want to read about all the things current culture is trying to shove down everyone’s throats, this book is it. If the author would’ve developed the story more than trying to give every single “hot topic” a mention, I probably would’ve stuck it out.

Brightest Light of Sunshine definitely lit up my reading.

It definitely wasn’t what I was thinking, but it improved on it in many weeks.

I found the opening chapters a little bit jarring as you can were thrust into the scene quite quickly.
I loved the friends to lovers scenario and this was an unexpectedly spicy book.
It definitely should come with a trigger warning for sexual assault.
Overall the story line flowed well and it was a nice story which has dual POV

this is a sweet, fun, loving story! Cal and Grace are cute together, even if I didn’t love their age gap simply because Grace is pretty young but I count that towards my own preferences and biases and didn’t hold that agains this story. I absolutely adored Cal, his whole personality, and especially his relationship with his little sister. he is seriously so freaking attractive being a loving caregiver to her so I totally get Grace’s attraction. and Grace is a sweetheart trying to expand her worldview and experiences in a way she feels safe and comfortable, and she finds that with Cal who is so sweet and kind to her. all together this is a pretty dramatic sweet story, with some deep and dark moments that are made bearable through endless love, laughs, and grace. Kind of how real life works.

thank you for the arc :)

5 ⭐️I fell in love with this book. it’s a perfect slow burn that is a friends to lovers. the trust the main characters have for each other is just so cute. i will be rereading this masterpiece

Such a beautiful love story. Cam and Grace have a love I could only dream of having one day. I can't wait till Maddie's book comes out!

This was a pretty cute romance! I think this is a good read if you're a fan of friends to lovers and/or slow burn romances. I liked both main characters and their dynamic works really well We have Grace who is on her journey to heal after experiencing a trauma, and Cal who has to manage a lot of responsibility in his personal/family life. They're both good for each other and help with the other's situation. I appreciated that we get both of their POVs.

Like I said the romance is cute, but not much really engaging happens in the last third of the book. I wouldn't say I was losing interest exactly, but I was ready to see how their story would end a little sooner than I got to the actual ending. I read it all in one sitting, so it's not a long read, but it could've probably been a little shorter. I'm definitely interested in future books by Lisina Coney!

Thank you @NetGalley and author Lisina Coney for providing me with the ARC of "The Brightest Light of Sunshine."

The story follows tattoo artist Samuel "Cal" Callahan and ballet teacher Grace Allen.
At first glance, their paths seem unlikely to intertwine. However, they forge the most unexpected of friendships, blossoming slowly into something far greater. Yet, their pursuit of happiness is met with numerous obstacles. Grace remains haunted by a harrowing experience that forever altered her life, while Cal is determined to shield his five-year-old sister from enduring the tumultuous childhood he once endured with alcoholic parents.

Can they find solace in one another's arms and build a future together?

✨Thoughts✨
I must commend the author for her ability to delve into the depths of trauma and skillfully transform it into the very essence of her title: a beacon of hope and brightness.

Our heroine, Grace, exudes a profound level of bravery that truly left me in awe. Her strength and vulnerability, beautifully entwined, became a source of inspiration. As for Cal, beyond his intimidating exterior lies a heart of pure warmth and tenderness. His unwavering care and protection, not only for Grace but also for his sister, made him very endearing to me.

Overall, this love story will take you from a heartfelt friendship to a deep emotional connection between our main characters.
I recommend this book to all romance lovers, especially those who enjoy friends-to-lovers.

I got the opportunity to reread this now that it got picked up by a publisher. I somehow loved this book even more than the first time. For a debut novel… wow Lisina Coney stepped up. I haven’t reread this in months but reading this felt like coming home. I love Grace & Cal almost as much as I love Maddie (I can’t wait for her book). I love text message conversations in a book and when it sparks into the main relationship of course I’m here for it. He’s owns a tattoo shop (my favorite occupation) & she’s a ballet teacher 🥹 actually the perfect combo. This gives single dad vibes even though it’s single older brother & AGE GAP! What more can I ask for? 4.5/5 ⭐️

“All beautiful things in life need the sun to bloom and thrive. We might not know each other very well yet, but I have no doubt you’re the brightest light of sunshine, Grace.”