The Brightest Light of Sunshine

The Brightest Light, Book 1

By: Lisina Coney

Narrated by: Avery Reid, Stephen Borne

A woman ready to move on. A man who can't afford distractions. An inspiring journey of healing love.

Determined to walk away from a traumatic past, 22-year-old Grace Allen feels ready to take the next step in her healing journey—dipping a toe into the dating pool. Although she should probably start by making a friend or two, right?

Samuel 'Cal' Callaghan isn't who she had envisioned as her first male friend in… well, forever. With an intimidating build, tattoos everywhere, eight years her senior, and a little sister under his care, the last thing she expected was to warm up to him so easily. As their friendship evolves, Grace can't help but wonder if Cal is exactly who she's been looking for all this time.

Cal can't afford to lose sight of his priorities—making sure his tattoo parlor thrives and taking care of his little sister. Especially the latter. He wants to make sure 4-year-old Maddie has a healthy and happy childhood, despite their mother going off the rails and her father's blatant neglect. There's certainly no room for love in his life right now. But when a sweet blonde with a veiled past breaks down his walls, he finds it difficult to stick to his guns.

Intended for mature listeners.

©2023 Lisina Coney (P)2023 Podium Audio

Grace and Cal's pairing just worked very well

I'm torn between 3 and 4 stars, it was more a 3.5 star book for me. I really enjoyed the first half, their talk about tattoos made me feel like the ones I have had plenty of times. I have plenty of tattoos and now I just trust the artists with my idea and never regret it.
Grace has had a traumatic experience that leaves her to rely on friends and family when she goes out, which they are so sweet about. But once she meets Cal she senses she can be herself around him and is very safe, because let's be real there are just some new people that we *click* with even if we have trust issues.
Cal is the best big brother he can be when his mother is not the greatest mother she can be to her daughter, Maddie. He was so loving and so caring for her it was so very heartwarming.
Grace and Cal's pairing just worked very well for this story but there was a turning point in the book that made zero sense to me.

Sweet and fun

I would say it is sweet and has some good spice … there is a deeper topic not too explored … in anticipates some of the history and the rest is a bit predictable
But in general well written and makes you jar a good time

Good

Overall a good story! The narration wasn’t my fave, but the characters were compelling and I was committed to seeing them through. Cal and Grace are good together, and this had some spectacular scenes around consent! Open door, 🌶️🌶️🌶️.

Just flat

The story is flat. I was invested and then- just wasn’t entertaining. The more time the FMC and MMC spend together the more I didn’t care. Grace reclaims something and Kal something. It is just kissing that something that keeps me invested.

Angsty

I love Grace and Cal’s Story. Grace had a hard time around men because of a traumatic experience 4 years earlier, but she didn’t feel that way around Cal. They met when Gracie went in for a tattoo, and they became best friends. Cal is primarily taking care of his little sister, because his mom and stepdad are were neglecting her. I loved that he called her sunshine before they got together. He was an idiot towards the end of the book, but he was able to get his head out of his ass. I loved the character growth and the relationship development!