4.25 heartwarming stars ⭐️

Content:
⋆✴︎˚｡⋆  8 year age gap ➺ grumpy tattoo artist/shop owner ➺ ballerina dancer/teacher ➺ strangers to friends to best friends to lovers ➺ single older brother (in a father role) ➺ brother’s best friend vibes ⋆✴︎˚｡⋆

*Content warning: there is talk of sexual assault in the book, but no explicit scenes depicting the assault.

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ This is book in the The Brightest Light Series. Each book in this series features a different couple and can be read as a complete standalone. But for maximum enjoyment, follow the recommended reading order.

The Brightest Light Series:

1. The Brightest Light of Sunshine
2. The Darkest Corner of the Heart
3. The Deepest End of Love

❝ Wherever life plants you, bloom with grace.❞

❝ 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.❞

❝ My mother has issues with alcohol.” I freeze. He’s looking right ahead, avoiding my gaze, and gripping his bottle so tightly I’m afraid it may shatter. “They started before I was of legal age to drink, so when I turned twenty-one, I’d already seen what alcohol could do to a person and I didn’t want that for myself. I’m her son, and I was scared it was in my genes or something, so I never risked it.❞

❝ Is it too cliché? Maybe that’s why you’re unsure. Because it’s been done many times before.” But she shakes her head. “Clichés aren’t that bad. Each author can make them unique if they’re original enough, and most readers enjoy them anyway. ❞

❝ Trauma doesn’t define a person, that everyone is different and each survivor has a different timing, and that we’ll know when we are ready to move on if ever. ❞

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.

CONTENT NOTES: This book contains themes of sexual assault (there are no explicit scenes depicting sexual assault), profanity, alcoholism, and explicit sexual content. Recommended for 18+.

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