THIS BOOK WAS EVERYTHING. I LOVED EVERY SINGLE SECOND OF IT!! I KNEW IT WAS GONNA BE GOOD BUT OMG THIS GOOD?!!!

For those who read, you may remember Maddie, Cal’s little sister. “Darkest Corner of the Heart” takes place seventeen years later. However, it can be read as a standalone. Book 1 is such a great story, and I believe readers would better understand the history of Maddie’s relationship with her parents if they had read Book 1.

Much like her sister-in-law, Grace, Maddie is a ballet dancer, but faced with a significant injury, she’s out for recovery, leaving her to re-think her future. She connects with her physical therapist, James. He is a former NFL athlete whose career ended due to an injury and understands what Maddie is going through. Their friendship begins after their PT/client relationship ends, though their age gap is a significant deterrent. Maddie is 21, and James is ten years older. James eventually can’t fight his feelings anymore, and wow—I must say the spice scenes are on point here.

Maddie has a ton of insecurities, and James is incredible with her. He is such a big softie and so supportive of her. I loved “seeing” Grace and Cal again and thoroughly enjoyed Maddie, all grown-up, pursuing her own life.

First thing first, I wanted to thank @netgalley and @pageandvinebooks for the opportunity to read this arc💕

The Darkest Corner of The Heart features Maddie Stevens, a young ballerina who has never felt good enough. Not good enough to keep her parents’ love. Not good enough to be independent and stop being her brother’s problem. Not good enough to build the future she wants.

When she injures her ankle before a ballet audition that could change her career forever, she’s convinced her life is over at twenty-one. What's the point of having dreams when they can go down the drain at any moment?

And because the universe has a cruel sense of humor, her physical therapist turns out to be a tank-shaped grouch who doesn't even seem to like her that much. It's totally unfair that, for six weeks, she's forced to look at that handsome beard and listen to that deep voice that makes her head all dizzy. Top that with the fact that he's ten years her senior, and falling for James Simmons is a recipe for disaster.

But when their forced proximity makes the lines start blurring, the forbidden temptation becomes impossible to resist.

I saw this book all over tiktok and I couldn’t lei it slip away! You all know how much I love forced proximity romances and I had to read this one. I actually really enjoyed it. Mental health is the main part of the book and I loved how the author touched the subject.

Omg James the man you are. Other than the fact that he’s a grumpy cat dad, he was the perfect guy for Maddie. The chemistry between was absolutely insane and I loved every second of their romance. The spice was also very well written!!

Like I said mental health is the main focus pf this book and Lisina did an incredible job. Reading of their insecurities and struggles through life felt so real, and I feel like a lot of people can identify with them. Being an athlete is hard and it is even hard being injured and not being able to do what you live for is, trust me, I know how it feels.

I can’t wait to read The Brightest Light of Sunshine, which is the previous book in this series that follows Cal, Maddie’s big brother, and Grace! They had different appearances in this book and I need to know more about them👀

Trigger warnings: age gap (21 & 31) , alcoholism, panic attacks rep, drugs, profanity, death, and explicit sexual scenes

i haven’t read the previous one, but that didn’t stop me from enjoying this one fully. (i’ll be reading the other one eventually, i have no doubt.)

just to start, the cover is absolutely gorgeous. it’s so unique and i’m obsessed with it. as for the actual story, i really liked that too. i sped through it quite quickly. the characters are built to feel very real. it felt as though both of the main character’s storylines were written with care and sensitivity and had been researched completely. it’s a romance and that’s a clear fixture in the story, but as individuals both maddie and james go on their own healing journeys and that’s very important to the story itself.

definitely recommend this to any and all romance enjoyers.

This was so nice and wholesome, I’m not usually one for age gap romance but this swayed me because it wasnt your typical professor/student scenario of some sort.

I also absolutely love when we get a HEA trope and a little fast forward to see how life turned out. This was a fun spicy read with some decent build up of tension!

Ahh! The first book by Lisina Coney hit all the right places in contemporary romance. Emotional heart string pulling moments. Characters you love. Plenty of spice to round it all out. So when she announced that the next one would be about a ballerina and her physical therapist? With that stunning cover? I was in.

And I'm thrilled that I got to read it. This book was thoughtful as it delved into mental health and undoubtedly cute with a great age gap slow burn. Can't wait to see what Lisina writes next!

Well, well, well.. this was a surprise!

I thoroughly and wholeheartedly LOVED this book. It had absolutely everything I adore - age gap, forbidden love, forced proximity, touch her and die, grumpy x sunshine. I couldn't have asked for more!

This is the second book in the Brightest Light series by Lisina. Admittedly I didn't read the first one so there were spoilers in this book BUT it can be read as a standalone. I'll definitely be checking out book 1 though!

I loved all of the characters in this and the way James is so protective over Maddie is just *chefs kiss*. If you've read the first book you'll know that Maddie has significant trauma from her childhood. In this book she is forced to face it as an adult with the support of James and the brother who raised her.

Overall the love story was so beautifully written with all of the elements of forbidden love that I adore. I will be thinking about James and Maddie for a long time. I'm also super excited to see who's book will be next!

Oh man, this book is so special. I have been DYING for Maddie’s story since I finished The Brightest Light so Sunshine. This book did not disappoint!! I loved getting to see Grace and Cal again 😭 James & Maddie have my heart! They both went through such a huge healing journey throughout the book. It really hurt my heart to read about Maddie feeling like a burden, that really got me! Overall, this book is stunning.

After reading The Brightest Light of Sunshine I had no idea how much I would have wanted to see what happened when Maddie grows up. When I saw this book follows her life I knew I had to read it, and it did not disappoint.

The book follows Maddie, a ballet dancer who unfortunately gets injured before a life changing audition. Insert hunky physical therapist, but did I mention he’s 10 years her senior?

I’m not against age gaps and have read quite a few, and this fits the bill. “Forbidden” romance, where both of them are trying to fight the attraction when we know what will eventually happen. This book leans into the typical daddy issues, but it’s more than that. The author talks about mental health in a way that doesn’t trivialize it and actually holds a space for someone to grow from it. Maddie had a rough childhood but the author shows us how someone can still overcome something like that.

I liked the pacing of the story and thought the progression felt natural. It wasn’t a dirty romance like some age gap books tend to be, and I really appreciated that. It made it easy to digest as they were actually getting to know each other.

If you read the previous book I’m sure you’ll enjoy seeing what happens.

Thank you NetGalley for the arc!

I need to start this off by confessing I did not read the first book. But I 100% started it as soon as I reached the end of this one.

This book was heavier than I expected. But I don’t mean it in a bad way. The character’s and the portrayal of their recovery journeys really resonated with me. IMO the relationship was sweet and the perfect slow burn. Lisina did a great job with James and Maddie’s chemistry…..I seriously loved them.

Do yourself a favor read this book. If you like romance I promise you will enjoy it.

The Darkest Corner Of The Heart is the second book of the Brightest Light series and it far exceeded my expectations! Book one was one of my top reads last year and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on Maddie’s story! This one was hitting my feels right from the start. Maddie is a ballet dancer and is injured and has to go to physical therapy. James is her physical therapist and he stole my heart right away!

I absolutely loved Maddie (loved her in book one but she is all grown up now). Her character shows us just how much our childhood affects us even as adults. She deals with anxiety, self doubt, and guilt. I saw so much of myself in her. James is a giant of a man. He is grouchy, a cat dad and was so good with Maddie! Both of these characters were so wonderfully written. I couldn’t get enough of them!

I loved getting little snippets of Cal and Grace and seeing them both as parents. If you haven’t read The Brightest Light Of Sunshine I highly recommend it! It will also give you a little more about Maddie. I can’t praise this book enough and can’t wait to get the paperback so I can annotate it!

"𝑰’𝒅 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒖𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒍𝒚 𝒅𝒆𝒇𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅. 𝑼𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒍 𝒉𝒆𝒓"

(EN)

Honestly, I don't even know where to start, this book has become one of my favorites so far this year and most likely one of my top 10 of all time.

We have Maddie, a ballerina who after a mistake has an injury, for her this affects not only her career, but also her mental health and all the thoughts she normally has begin to get worse. On the other hand we have James, her physical therapist who can't help but feel a desire to take care of her, even outside of her sessions even though he knows he shouldn't.

Let's please talk about how the chemistry and tension between them grows with each chapter, even with only small interactions between these two I couldn't help but get excited with every detail that happened, my favorite part was without a doubt the Mandala thing, in that part, i was holding back the urge to scream with excitement.

Maddie and James just won my heart, they are so adorable together, every thought of both of them, every little detail, everything, absolutely everything, made me not want to stop reading.

Now, if I'm honest, Maddie irritated me because of the attitudes she took and the thoughts she had, it was clear that she needed help, but at the same time I felt so identified with her that it was impossible for me not to empathize and want to cry with some of her thoughts, I also felt that he had good personal development as the chapters went by, I felt that it was not so obvious, but the signs were there, small steps, big advances.

In general, the book made me feel a lot of emotions, the slow burn made the tension grow until we gave us greater interactions between these two, and the fact that they gave us the opportunity to learn more about our mcs individually was everything!

Am I going to reread it? Definitely
Should you read it? Yes please

P.S. I know that many people have been guided by comments on sociamedia, but let me tell you, you need to give this book a chance, it may be good for some people and not for others, but first you have to read it


(ES)

Honestamente, no sé ni por donde empezar, este libro se convirtió en uno de mis favoritos en lo que va del año y muy probablemente en uno de mis top 10 de todos los tiempos.

Tenemos a Maddie, una bailarina que luego de un descuido tiene una lesión, para ella eso afecta no solo a su carrera, sino también a su salud mental y todos los pensamientos que normalmente tienen comienzan a empeorar, Por otro lado tenemos a James, su fisioterapeuta que no puede evitar sentir un deseo por cuidarla, incluso fuera de sus sesiones aunque sabe que no debería.

Hablemos por favor de como la quimica y la tensión entre ellos va creciendo con cada capitulo que pasa, aun incluso con solo pequeñas interacciones entre ambos no podía evitar emocionarme con cada detalle que pasaba, mi parte favorita fue sin duda lo del Mandala, en esa parte estaba aguantando las ganas de gritar de la emoción.

Maddie y James simplemente se ganaron mi corazón, son tan adorables juntos, cada pensamiento de ambos, cada pequeño detalle, todo, absolutamente todo, hizo que no quisiera parar de leer.

Ahora bien, si soy honesta, Maddie llegó a irritarme por las actitudes que tomaba y los pensamientos que tenía, era claro que necesitaba ayuda, pero al mismo tiempo me sentí tan identificada con ella que me fue imposible no empatizar y querer que llorar con algunas cosas, también sentí que tuvo un buen desarrollo personal conforme pasaban los capitulos, sentí que no era tan obvio, pero ahí estaban las señales, pequeños pasos, avences grandes.

En general el libro me hizo sentir muchas emociones, el slow burn hizo que la tensión fuera creciendo hasta darnos mayores interacciones entre ambos, y el hecho de que nos dieran la oportunidad de conocer más sobre nuestros mcs de manera individual lo fue todo!

¿Voy a releerlo? Definitivamente
¿Deberías leerlo? Sí por favor

Pd. Sé que muchas personas se han guiado por comentarios en redes sociales, pero dejenme decirles, nada que ver, denle una oportunidad a este libro, puede que para algunas personas sea bueno y para otras no, pero primero tienes que leerlo

Thanks to Lisina and Netgalley for the ARC

**********Potential spoilers*********


I DNFed this book because I am deeply uncomfortable with a manipulative therapist being used as a plot device to increase a character's anxiety. There are bad therapists but therapy is also an incredible tool that helps a huge amount of people. There are also a huge numbers of barriers to people seeking therapy without books like this scaring people.

Thank you to Netgalley, Victory Editing and Lisina for the review copy.

Maddie has never felt like enough. In her past, her present, or for her future. When she finally gets her big opportunity for her ballet career, she injures her ankle and sends all her hard work down the drain. Her physical therapist, James, is as handsome as he is grumpy, and 10 years older than her. But will their forced proximity cause them to blur the lines of their forbidden relationship?

Maddie has been through so much in her life, and has a lot of overcome for her own mental health. I loved Maddie in the first book so I was excited when I found out that she'd be getting a book of her own and the time jump was perfect! I love an age gap romance and throw in the extra forbidden aspect of him being her physical therapist and I was all in.

Thank you to Victory Editing, NetGalley and Lisina Coney providing me with an ARC for this book!

I have to preface this review with saying how much I loved the prequel; Grace and Cal’s story was a great and fun read so naturally I couldn’t wait for the sequel to come out!

The book is a lot heavier and deals with more complex topics such as mental health issues however i feel that the author did justice and handled this very delicately and well!!

I’m a sucker for the grumpy x sunshine trope and the tension between James and Maddie felt just right!!

I adored seeing the cameos from the characters from the prequel, it felt so nostalgic to see them all grown up since the events in ‘the brightest light of sunshine’!!

This was a fun read. However there were moments where the story felt as if it was dragging a little bit. Moreover I felt as though I didn’t click with Maddie and James as much as i did with Grace and Cal, though that isn’t to say i didn’t love them at all because i did!!

Overall, a cute, quick read!!

Thank you to the publisher for the eARC. All opinions expressed are my own.

I read The Brightest Light of Sunshine and absolutely loved it, so I was over the moon to be accepted for this arc. It is not necessary to read TBLOS before TDCOTH but I highly recommend doing so as it is a phenomenal book and will improve your reading experience of TDCOTH.

First of all, I loved all of the cameos with our TBLOS cast. It made me so happy to see them happy and together all those years later. I wish I could go back in time to read that book again for the first time.

Now onto TDCOTH. This was a great book. I really enjoyed the romance. They really supported each other through everything. They were so so sweet to each other I wanted to cry. And the spice was really nice too. There was an amazing cast of characters, from our old TBLOS friends to the new ones introduced throughout the book.

The main characters each had phenomenal character arcs that they worked on individually and with the support of their significant other. There were so many touching moments throughout.

I recommend this book for fans of forced proximity, 'forbidden' romance, supportive partners, and some more emotional scenes.

This was a really sweet romance. I love the first book, The Brightest Light of Sunshine, and it was great to learn more about Cal's sister Maddie. It was an excellent continuation.

This was very slow burn, so be prepared; however, our MMC James is a cat dad which makes everything better in my opinion.

This book is listed as a forbidden romance, however, it didn't feel super forbidden to me. Yes, there is a 10 year age gap between James and Maddie, but I feel like he was the one who made it a bigger issue than what it was.

Thank you to NetGalley for an eARC of this book.

This was a lovely sweet romance in many ways with a lot of heart. I did really enjoy it and got through it pretty much in one sitting which is always great!

The premise was an interesting take on forbidden romance but wasn’t exactly what I was expecting - it didn’t really feel that forbidden.

The age gap trope is one I actually really like and this was no exception but I felt like it was a little bit overdone- it seemed like MMC was thinking about it constantly, which makes sense but was a bit repetitive to read.

This was super slow-burn - I don’t think anything really happened between them until about 60/70% in which I enjoyed. It was nice watching their relationship develop rather than just bam they’re an item.

Overall though, really enjoyable, quick read.

The darkest corner of the heart by author review ౨ৎ ˖ ࣪⊹

If you take any recommendation from me let it be this one!

Aesthetic: 🩰🫶🏼🎀🧸🐈‍⬛🥼🩻👨‍⚕️
tropes: age gap, injured ballerina x physical trainer, forbidden, slow burn, cat dad

I’ve stumbled upon one of my new favourite series! The way Lisina Coney writes is honestly such a breath of fresh air! She has the ability to make you feel so connected to her characters while still incorporating her mesmerising writing style making you want to read her books in one sitting. A recipe for the perfection of this series! I’ve said it once weand I’ll say it again this series is the new boys of Tommen ʚɞ

The connection between Maddie and James was so pure and I loved how much James cared about Maddies wellbeing. The protective and loving nature of James was so heartwarming to read about especially after his broken past.

Being able to see Maddie all grown up was honestly everything I needed and more with papa bear Cal making his appearance! She’s such a strong character and her love is unwavering 💓

Overall I’m so thankful that I got to read this in advance after getting so connected to this series! I can’t wait to read the third book or literally anything else written by Lisina Coney who instantly became a new auto read author!

♾️✨

After an injury, 21-year old ballet dancer Maddie’s dreams of joining a prestigious ballet company are squashed. She goes through physical therapy with a grouchy hulk of a man, James, who she slowly begins to rely upon for support and, once her PT is over, friendship. Maddie and James’ relationship blossoms to more than friends, though neither wants to label it as such at first, but each of them have things in their past that haunt them as they try to navigate a new relationship.

As a lover of (and former dancer of) ballet, I wanted to love this book. However, it fell a bit short for me. While I did really like the career journey that Maddie went on through the story, I didn’t find Maddie as a character to be particularly enjoyable. She’s supposed to be quite mature for her age, but I didn’t feel like she read that way. She felt very young in the way she handled things. Some of that certainly stems from her trauma, but I found it odd that her maturity was commented on repeatedly, but then she would handle situations in a way that I would not describe as mature. And James seemed so fixated on Maddie’s age in a way that was off-putting to me, as if she were only a number rather than a real human. To be clear, he was fixated on the fact that she was “too young for him”, but that fixation still takes away from who Maddie is and focuses overly much on her age. I also think a ten-year age gap isn’t a big enough difference for how huge the characters made it seem. Yes, a 21 and 31 year old are potentially in very different stages of their lives, but they made it seem like an insurmountable difference.

Thank you to NetGalley, Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op, and Page & Vine for the ARC!