Anthea Crane has just finished up a successful action-adventure trilogy (think Angelina Jolie in Tomb Raider), but she wants to prove she is more than just a great body.  When she hears there are auditions for the lead in the movie adaptation of her mother’s favorite book, she jumps at the chance.  Told that she just doesn’t have what it takes, she convinces them to give her a shot and heads to her hometown for inspiration – a town she hasn’t been to since her mother died when Anthea was eight.  She stumbles upon what could be the perfect opportunity to research being a farmer’s wife – a blind man who won’t know who she is and can’t judge her on her face or her movies.  Cole Daniel’s hasn’t always been blind.  He remembers Anthea from childhood, when she teased him mercilessly, so he can’t resist using this as his chance of getting back at her a little for past hurts.  But as they get to know each other as adults, can they get past their history and have a future together?

I enjoyed Playing the Part.  Darcy Daniel does a great job of giving readers characters with heart and charm.  Anthea is a little bit of a diva, but she’s spent decades being an actor.  She started when she was 8, and at the same time she was dealing with the death of her mother.  It was easier to lose herself in make believe worlds and she’s lost touch with the normal world.  It was fun watching her realize who she could be at her core.  Cole experienced a devastating incident when he was a kid … one with such far-reaching psychological damage that it made him blind.  He’s spent years living a comfortable life but as he learns more about Anthea he starts to realize there could be a different life for him out there.

Playing the Part is an endearing story of two people relying too much on the past, who realize there is more for them in life if they can just let it go.