Like the sun comes up after a dark night, so love comes into the hearts of those who thought that they had no chance at being loved. Catherine Anderson has made this kind of story her stock and trade, and she truly does it well.In this heartwarming story, Laura Townsend is the unsuspecting heroine who will find love in a very unlikely place. Five years ago, Laura had a great life: an exciting career, a boyfriend, and lots of friends. Until she hit her head in a swimming accident, and obtained irreversible brain damage in the process. Now, she’s barely making ends meet with her disability, and various odd jobs. Her grandmother and her friend Mary Coulter suggest interviewing at Mary’s sons’ veterinary clinic. Laura loves animals, and taking care of them is something she can do really well, so long as she is not required to do a lot of reading. Her anxieties about not being able to do that are the only part that has her worried.She never, ever thought that the gorgeous, successful, intelligent clinic owner, Dr. Isaiah Coulter could fall in love with her, even if she loved him in return. But she was wrong.Isaiah is a busy man. He loves his job as a veterinarian, even if he has so much work that he doesn’t even have time to eat. He agrees to consider hiring the brain-damaged young woman who is his mother’s friend’s granddaughter, but he makes no promises that he’ll hire her. She has to be able to do the job. His brother and he cannot afford to carry dead weight at their hospital. He’s sure that she won't even make it past the interview. When he sees her, he realizes how badly he’s stereotyped mentally-handicapped people, and he’s a big enough man to admit it. Laura has a beauty, a light and a sweetness, bringing joy to his life, and she’s incredible with the animals. She takes wonderful care of them and they love her back. She also takes care of the clinic employees, feeding them and making the clinic a warmer place for her presence. His life with Laura in it will never be the same. Before, his mind was focused on medicine. He didn’t even have time for dating. But each day he spends with Laura, opens his mind up to different possibilities. Even though he tells himself he’s not ready for marriage and a family, images of settling down and having a life with Laura seem to play constantly in his brain. And he admires Laura. She’s lost a lot, but worked hard to regain her independence, and to compensate for her lost ability to speak, and read words and numbers. She impresses Isaiah with her generous nature, her intelligence, and her determination. He comes to see that his life without Laura means nothing, because she brings such joy to it.But there is someone who wants to sabotage Laura’s reputation at the clinic, and have her out of the picture. Does Isaiah trust Laura enough to believe in her integrity, and her commitment to doing what’s best for the animals in her care?To my great joy, Isaiah did trust Laura. Even when the evidence was stacked against him. It made me livid to see how this person was sabotaging Laura (hurting animals and people in the process). And some people found it too easy to believe that just because Laura suffered from aphasia, that she was stupid and irresponsible. Honestly, I am glad I read Isaiah’s brother, Tucker’s book (Sun Kissed) before I read this one, because he really annoyed me. He was very judgmental and dismissive of Laura. His advice to Isaiah to break up with Laura was just about the last straw for me. I liked him in his book, but I didn’t end this book being such a big fan of his. I think that the portrayal of how the mentally handicapped are perceived was daring, but truthful. Through Isaiah, I question my perceptions of mental disability. I have heard of aphasia, but I haven’t encountered someone with this disorder. Even though Laura was no less intelligent, she couldn’t communicate as well, so people would assume she was a stupid person, and some treated her that way. One would hope that people wouldn’t hold that against a person, or judge them. But Laura had faced prejudice. Her boyfriend broke up with her because of her disability, and her friends stopped calling. Although her family was loving and supportive, they had their own lives to live. Thus, Laura was trapped in a lonely world, other than her grandmother and the animals she adored. Working at the clinic opened her life to possibilities, and showed her that although her past career as a scientist was over, her ability to lead a productive, happy life was not. Isaiah was a darling guy. He truly wanted to make Laura happy, and accepted and loved her for who she was. He wasn’t ashamed because she had to speak slowly, and couldn’t read writing as easily as others. He was patient with her need to spend a lot longer at tasks others might find easy. But this wasn’t a one-way relationship. Laura takes great care of Isaiah, turning his house into a home, making sure he eats well, and has clean, neat clothes to wear. Although his stupid brother tells him he wouldn’t be happy with a woman of Laura’s shortcomings for long, Isaiah knows that it’s just the opposite. She’s the woman he had been waiting for his whole life. This is another favorite, sweet, inspiring romance from Ms. Anderson. She has way with characters, writing lovable heroes and heroines you are happy to see fall in love. Once I started this book, I literally didn’t want to put it down. Definitely a keeper for me.
Laura, uma prestigiada Engenheira do Ambiente, tinha tudo para ter uma vida feliz e cheia de coisas boas, até que um dia ao dar um mergulho num rio bateu com a cabeça numa rocha e ficou com lesões cerebrais. Isaiah e o seu irmão gémeo tinham aberto uma clinica veterinária que estava a tornar-se um sucesso. Tudo corria bem, até que a mãe dele e a avó dela se lembraram que ambos eram jovens, bonitos e solteiros…Um dia a mãe de Isaiah pediu-lhe para dar emprego a Laura na sua clinica como zeladora do canil de forma a poderem estar juntos diariamente, mas rapidamente, eles perceberam a artimanha das suas famílias. O que não foram capazes de controlar foi a forma crescente como os sentimentos entre eles se foram desenvolvendo e acabaram por se apaixonar perdidamente um pelo outro. O único problema, para Laura, eram as suas lesões cerebrais. Ela acreditava não ser mulher suficiente para Isaiah, mas ele tinha outras ideias…Um livro emocionante sobre o drama entre uma mulher lindíssima mas com deficiências e um homem que tudo seria capaz de fazer para a ver feliz. Foi a primeira vez que li um livro de Catherine Anderson e percebi o porquê do enorme sucesso da autora. Este é o tipo de história que pode acontecer com qualquer um de nós, pois nunca sabemos aquilo que nos espera e se num momento estamos bem. Em relação à deficiência de Laura, a mesma não a prendia a um cama, nem condicionava a sua inteligência, ela tinha apenas algumas problemas em expressar-se e também recorria à ajuda de feijões para não se perder ao fazer contas. A sua deficiência tinha o nome de Afasia, que podem ler neste site (http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afasia) no que consiste. Fiquei curiosa sobre os outros livros desta saga, pois este é o sexto livro, pois numa festa de família podemos já ver os outros membros casados e com filhos e ficamos com a curiosidade de conhecer a pormenores das suas historia. Notei que muitos deles passaram por problemas um pouco semelhantes, que todos tiveram de passar por bastantes lutas até conseguirem chegar ao seu “…e foram felizes para sempre!” e isso faz-me ter vontade de continuar a ler os livros desta autoraPodem ler esta e outras opinoões aqui: http://viv-omundoencantadodoslivros.b...
What do You think about My Sunshine (2005)?
Por algum motivo é-me quase impossível dar menos do que 5 estrelas aos livros desta autora. Adoro-os, sinto que todos me ensinam algo e acho até que são terapêuticos. Em "O Sol da Minha Vida" acompanhamos a vida de Isaiah e Laura numa clínica veterinária. Gostei bastante de conhecer o funcionamento da clínica e também das personagens e da forma como as coisas foram evoluindo entre elas. Quanto ao mistério presente no livro foi interessante e a minha suspeita mostrou-se correcta. Senti que este livro deu pouco espaço ao romance propriamente dito, sendo que este aconteceu quase, quase na recta final e não há muitas descrições de cenas íntimas, algo que sempre houve nos anteriores volumes. Ainda me faltam ler alguns sobre estes irmãos e espero com o tempo vir a ler todos, pois é definitivamente uma excelente saga.
—Calypso
I actually read this book first over a year ago. It was one of the first few non-Nora Roberts romances I read. After reading Bright Eyes and Blue Skies, I figured I'd skim through it so I could catch some of the connections that I'd missed the first time around from not having read the preceding books. Instead, I pretty much ended up re-reading the entire book.My Sunshine is a wonderful romance. Anderson has a real knack for these kinds of stories. It's a real change of pace to read about charac
—jenjn79
In the 6th installment of the Coulter/Kendrick/Harrigan series by Catherine Anderson, My Sunshine, she told us another heart-warming contemporary romance to melt our hearts. Five years ago, Laura Townsend suffered a head injury that impaired her to use language and abandon at brilliant career. Now with her spirits held high, she worked at an animal clinic with Isaiah Coulter. He filled her heart with longing. Now it was up to Isaiah to prove to Laura that they belong together, while he would move heaven and earth for her.
—Kristen
