I was so so lucky to get an arc of this to read a little early and.... my god she's done it again!! Maddie's character is so complex, and in the beginning she seems a little lost and looking for direction. Enter James, her constant and unwavering support from the second he enters the story. He starts as her physical therapist, and don't worry, they keep it professional, but he ends up being so much more for her. I love that Maddie has her character development, but I loved James' just as much. He was also wandering aimlessly through life, only for his flame to be reignited by Maddie. You can tell this man is devoted to her safety and wellbeing, which is exactly what Maddie needed out of life.

I was also so happy to see Cal pop up so much in this book, TBLOS is one of my favorite from last year and now I got to see him all grown up as a dad and father figure to Maddie.

If I could give this book 1 million stars, I would. Lisina Coney is the master of slow burn, age-gap romances and this is no different!

I have been waiting for Maddie's book since I finished The Brightest Light of Sunshine and it DID NOT disappoint. Once I started this book I couldn't put it down. Such a great slow burn! I loved James and Maddie's friendship, they cared so much about it each other. These two separately had been through so much in their past and watching them work through what they went through was so beautiful. The way they supported each other through the good times and bad was perfection and they had such a strong connection and insane chemistry🩷

I have so much love for these characters and I loved the parts with Cal and Grace of course and seeing them all as a family years later was so sweet! Cannot wait for book 3!

I have read the ARC of this book thanks to NetGalley.

I have to say that I liked this book much more than the first one, you can tell that she has improved a lot in the way she writes and develops the characters.

Maddie is a doll, I was already in love with her in the first book and reading her now is a pleasure.

I really liked the character of James, however, not so much that he was 31 and she was 21, I feel that I don't like this particular age gap at all.

Although it wasn't long or anything, I read it in two days, it is true that it was very repetitive, and that it doesn't make sense at the end, it makes the mother suddenly wonderful and apologetic and totally changes from the way she was painted in the first chapters.

In general, it is quite good.

Rating: 4 ⭐️
Spice: 3.5 🔥
Tropes: ballerina x physical therapist, 10 year age gap, slow burn,

Thank you NetGalley fir the eARC 🫶🏾

The Brightest Light series continues to be such a lovely healing story and journey for their characters. It always makes me so happy to be part of it, and I’m so invested in their growth as if they were real people and this was reality tv. Lisina Coney has also always handled sensitive issues and personal struggles in a way that is so real, but caring and from a place of purity.

Maddie was so relatable, and all those inner thoughts raging? Yeah, girl, me too!

There were some parts I felt we really sped through, and I understand that we can’t focus on every aspect otherwise I’d be reading for ages. But I would’ve loved to see more from Maddie’s friends, more about james and his family and friends (aka graham).

Overall, I’m so happy to have read this next book and that Maddie and James got their HEA😭

I’m a fast reader to begin with, but I DEVOURED this book. As soon as I started it, there was absolutely no putting it down. It broke my heart, made me cry, made me laugh, and every other emotion you can think of. Maddie and James might be my favorite book couple yet. The way they understand each other, and can relate to each other’s pasts. It’s really beautiful.
There’s also so much of Cal and Grace in here too from TBLOS and I fell in love with them even more, seeing their relationship from Maddie’s POV. Everything about this book is just really, really well done. The writing is beautiful and the characters have so much depth that I don’t ever want to leave these books!

I seriously devoured this book. Maddie and James have such great chemistry from the very beginning, it basically leaps off the page; and they just make sense together.

Oh my god! I loved this book, literally everything about it was perfection especially the heroine, Maddie. I really love her. And, James I adored him. Plus, I found the trope slow burn laced with that forbidden romance done so well as well. The chemistry was amazing. And the ending was cute too!

When I tell you I ran to request this as soon as I saw it and the noise I produced when I saw I got approved it!!! I devoured this! I ate it up like a starving man.if I could rate it more than 5 stars i would.Loved this first book but I adored this one!
100% definitely recommend!! Can't fault it!
10 stars!!

*thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

Lisina Coney has done it again with another heart-wrenching but beautiful romance. I loved this one so much more than the first which I didn’t think was possible, but Maddie and James were everything!

They made me swoon, they made me laugh and they even made me she’d a few tears since Coney seemed to make this one even more emotional than the last book.

The way she dealt with mental health and trauma in an uplifting way was wonderful to read as it didn’t bog the book down too much.

The romance between Maddie and James was perfectly paced, not too fast and not too slow, full of tension-filled moments and lots of swoony lines. Dr. Simmons was truly the perfect book boyfriend!

And that epilogue? It was the perfect conclusion! After so much heartache and betrayal the pair had to endure, it was the best ending that they both thoroughly deserved.

Thank you so much to netgalley, the publishers and Lisina Coney for my arc in exchange for an honest review!

lisina coney… you have my heart!! maddie and jame’s story was absolutely beautiful and so inspiring to read. i am obsessed and seeing cal and grace as parents was SO CUTE!!!!

I really enjoyed The Darkest Corner of the Heart by Lisina Coney. I was lucky enough to receive an ARC from NetGalley and found it to be well-paced and full of twists and turns but ultimately heartwarming. I wouldn’t recommend this as a light read as it felt like there was a lot going on at all times but I really enjoyed reading about Maddie and James’ story nonetheless. I haven’t read The Brightest Light of Sunshine, and you certainly don’t have to to enjoy this book. But the main characters from the first book feature fairly heavily so I am definitely going to go back and read that next so I can fully appreciate all their appearances. I’m excited to see how the next story in the series unfolds!

#DarkestCorneroftheHeart #NetGalley

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC!
After reading about Cal and Grace, I never knew I needed little Maddie’s story!

Maddie is 21 now and a ballerina! She gets injured and begins going to PT for her recovery. She meets James, her PT, and accidentally matches with him on a dating app. He’s 10 years older and doesn’t want a relationship. She’s afraid of everyone leaving her and has no clue about the future. But….they have something special.

I love how protective James is. He’s also a cat daddy 😍 This was the HEA I wanted for everyone!

I’m not sure who the next book is about, but I’m excited to find out 🩷

Tropes:
Ballerina x Physical Therapist
Age Gap
Family traumas
FWB to more
Cat daddy MMC

When I first saw the description of this book, I was intrigued by Maddie's story. Having read The Brightest Light of Sunshine this time last year, I only knew Maddie as being a four year old girl, raised by her older brother, so the big time jump was something I wasn't sure whether I would enjoy.
I am so glad that I picked this up, as it was such a beautiful slow burn romance, with both Maddie and James having their own struggles to work through in order to be the person the other one needed.

There was age gap, semi-forbidden romance, difficult childhood and strained family relationships, all written beautifully, and I really felt for the characters, Maddie in particular.

I would love to see where Lisina takes us next, perhaps another jump to show us a grown up Lila's story?

HIGHLY ANTICIPATED! i may have yelled when i got the approval email. it’s good, but not as un-put-down-able as the first book. i thought the move forward in time worked, and i liked reading about maddie. i really enjoyed both her and james as characters. maddie deserved a partner like james, and i’m happy she got one!

#netgalley

After really loving Cal and Grace’s story in The Brightest Light of Sunshine I was really eager to dive back into another of Lisinia’s emotional, slow burn romances and I certainly wasn’t disappointed! Set 17 years after TBLOS, The Darkest Corner of the Heart follows the story of Cal’s now grown up sister Maddie and her grumpy, older physical therapist James. Like its predecessor, it was full of tender pining and a delicate, thoughtful exploration of mental health and how some wounds affect us in far greater ways that we might anticipate.

I really liked Maddie’s strength and resilience and found her journey into both healing and what she wanted for her future to be both inspiring and realistic. I also enjoyed how her character arc relied mostly on her own strength and didn’t fully rely on a man coming to save her. James was an excellent brooding love interest and I liked how soft he was with Maddie (and the spice was truly top notch). I did find his preoccupation with the age difference and the at times infantilising protectiveness a little grating, but I’m not a huge fan of the “touch her and die” type of trope so that partly could be me. I loved how they approached the relationship slowly and made sure there was a solid emotional foundation in place before anything physical, and how gracious and thoughtful they were to each other with more sensitive topics. Definitely a couple I was convinced will go the distance!

Overall, I really enjoyed Coney’s sophomore work and will eagerly pick up whatever she writes next!

DCOTH

This book is everything. I loved TBLOS SO MUCH and I knew I was going to love this one just as much! I’ve loved watching Lisina tease this one on Instagram and I am GRATEFUL to have been able to read it a little early!! This was a slow burn, forbidden romance, two people who are broken and trying their best to heal and find comfort and safety within each other and it was so beautiful.

Seeing Maddie all grown up 🥹 warms my HEART. Seeing Cal and Grace again?! Married and in love and parents?! These characters make me so happy, I love seeing them get their happy ending!

Maddie was dealt such a tough hand and throughout the hook she was very clearly struggling. I really appreciated seeing how hard it was for her because it’s not easy, and it’s not the same for everyone. So seeing her struggle, and have a lot of self doubt, and being scared to get the help she desperately needed felt so honest and real and so vulnerable.

James is the grumpiest man alive in the BEST way and I loved every single second. I love his story arc. The parallel’s between his and Maddie’s stories made their connection so much stronger. He was the absolute best thing for Maddie. He made her feel safe, which in turn made him feel so valued. Their relationship was SO GOOD. And they were able to sort of relax and let go of their troubles (a little!!). But they were able so supportive of each other which they both desperately needed.

I cannot WAIT for whatever the last book in this series - I have a good guess! And I can’t wait to see if I’m right!

Thank you so much to Page & Vine and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

The Brightest Light of Sunshine was one of my top books of 2023 so I was super excited when it was announced that there would be another book in this series. Now, the first book does cover a lot of serious topics and was done with such care. This book is a lot darker (no pun intended) mentally than the first one. Although I did devour this book it was not at the same level as Brightest Light for me. Both books contain an age gap but this one just brings up that gap almost every chapter of the book. I personally didn’t think any thing different between the age gaps in both books but the constant reiterating of it in this book just made me not root for the couple at all.

I did like Maddie’s storyline in the book. You can see her grow as a person and all of the struggles she over comes. I LOVED seeing Cal as a dad and just in general in this book as well. He will always be one of my favorite MMC ever written. Overall, it was an easy read but also a let down because this was one of my most anticipated reads of the year. I will still read the 3rd book when it comes out!

I started reading this almost instantly after being accepted to review. This was one of my most anticipated this year. I absolutely adored it. The writing was a bit of a struggle at time with the repetitiveness but it took nothing away from the story. I love these characters and their love story is so beautiful. Can’t wait for more from this author.

There aren't enough words to tell you how excited I was for Darkest Corner of the Heart!
I all but screamed when I was notified that I had been accepted for an advanced reader copy of this book.

The Brightest Light of Sunshine was undoubtedly my top romance read of 2023, and I absolutely couldn't wait to see Maddie all grown up and see where her journey had taken her. The fact that this was also an age gap, (which Lisina Coney does incredibly well) had my excitement skyrocketing.

The Darkest Corner of the Heart follows Maddie, whom has been following her dreams and dancing ballet her entire life. After an injury leaving her unable to dance- she meets her new physical therapist James.

Maddie and James were such likable, genuine characters. They each had their flaws but were perfect for each other.
James was so wonderfully supportive of Maddie, while also uplifting her in the decisions she was making for herself.

Maddie was such a realistic heroine. I completely understood the negative thoughts she had about herself regarding her upbringing. Unfounded or not, she had incredibly realistic feelings coming from someone who had the unconventional and toxic childhood she had.

Getting to see Cal and Grace so many years down the line- and being such supportive 'parents' to Maddie was so lovely to witness.

Moral of the story- READ THIS BOOK. But also read the previous and first book 'The Brightest Light of Sunshine'.
Lisina Coney writes romance and hero's like I have never experienced before, and will never be able to get enough of.
I will forever be first in line for everything and anything she graces us with!


*Thank you to Lisina Coney and NetGalley for an e-book arc copy of Darkest Corner of the Heart in exchange for my honest review.*

I finished this book in less than 24 hours
Such a compelling story and a beautiful sequel in this series !!
Maddy and James have a great story and their journey was so entertaining to read.
My only note is that in the chapter Maddy’s injury occurs, it seems as the scene is written in past and present tense, think those couple of pages need a grammar check.
Other than that, no notes