Within These Walls by J.L. Berg

Book description:

Within these walls, he became my solace, my sanctuary and my strength.

I am not strong. I am just a survivor of circumstance.
Isn’t that what we all do? Survive?

Each of us has our own set of circumstances to muddle through. Mine are just more…complicated.

Born with a severe heart defect, I’ve seen the inside of a hospital room more than my own bedroom.

I was drowning, a prisoner to the illness that owned me, until he appeared. He thinks he’s blocked out the world with his tattoos and hard exterior, but I see the real Jude, the one he so desperately wants to forget.

But is he the answer to my prayers or will he break my already damaged heart forever?

My name is Lailah Buchanan, and this is our story of hope, redemption and sacrificing it all for the one you love.

Giselle’s Review:

143. Live until I’ve seen it all.

The perfect ending for a perfect novel. I am feeling so much right now. I’m quite literally speechless. Within These Walls ripped me open, sewed me up, left me in pieces, and then somehow brought my pieces back together.

Within These Walls was so incredibly unique to me because I had never read a book quite like this. A beautiful, extremely romantic, love story that already makes you want to shed a couple tears from the start and also has you swooning and grinning like crazy.

I could not put this book down. Well actually, that’s a lie. I did have to put it down a couple of times but not because I wanted to, but even when I wasn’t reading Within These Walls, I was thinking about it non-stop. I fell madly and deeply in love with the story, the characters, the drama, pretty much everything.

Within These Walls had some amazing set of characters. Lailah was so, so sweet, quirky, caring, and an all around amazing girl because I felt like she could literally do no wrong. Jude Cavanaugh is the rough-around-the-edges, mysterious, but oh so sweet man that has you swooning from the first time you meet him. So at this point you might be thinking “Oh well, that’s nothing new, bad boy, good girl, yada yada.” WRONG. Maybe it was just me, but something about these characters, whether it be the situations they were in or the troubles they faced as individuals, that set them apart from all other characters and truly made them extremely lovable and unique in my eyes.

Besides being unique, Within These Walls is oh so incredibly SWEET. It’s not too sweet that it gave me a bad toothache, because I feel like the darker moments kind of balance it out, giving you that perfect sugar high. 😉

“I will treat you differently, not because of your heart problem or the fact that you think you’re physically fragile or weak. I’ll treat you differently because you’re different to me. You matter to me…So yeah, I’ll continue to treat you differently because I think you are worthy of more.”

Jude Cavanaugh, where have you been my whole life?!

The writing was absolutely flawless and captivating, and the story line was just INCREDIBLE! Everything just flowed perfectly and nothing felt fake. It wasn’t in any way, shape, or form difficult for me to connect with the characters and I truly felt every sweet and challenging moment with them.

Another thing I loved about this book, since I’ve already mentioned characters, writing, and plot, was the life and love sayings. I’m a true quote-aholic, and the characters in this novel were just full of amazing life and love tid-bits.

“You can’t live a normal life without the heartache. It’s all part of the package…Let me fall in love even if it means I’ll get hurt in the end. At least then, I’d know that I’m living.”

“Life: It goes on.” – Robert Frost

Within These Walls is a unique love story that will captivate you from page one. If you are like me it might not only wrap its way around your heart but also remind you to appreciate the little, or even big things you have in life. Lailah’s character and her Someday List really struck a cord in me, as did this whole novel. At the end I was speechless and left wanting more of Lailah and Jude. Hell, I’ll even take some more Roman. 😉

To me, this book is a MUST READ, if you couldn’t already tell, and I can’t wait to see what else J.L. Berg has in store for us!

Add it to Goodreads here!

Read the first chapter here!

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