[REVIEW + GIVEAWAY] WITHIN THESE WALLS by JL Berg

Author: J.L. Berg
Genre: New Contemporary Romance (Standalone)
Aug 18, 2014

***A portion of the sales during the first week of release will go to a children's heart charity.

WTW iBooksSynopsis 

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


Excerpt 
“What is your deal, Jude?” she yelled, taking several strides toward me.
“My deal?”
“Yeah, you’re sweet and endearing one minute and then brushing me off the next. I don’t get it. What do you want from me? Am I a charity case? Do you get off on hanging out with the poor sick girl but then tire of me easily?”
Closing the last few inches between us, I got in her face.
“You have no idea what you’re talking about,” I hissed.
“No,” she answered, “I really don’t. You don’t tell me anything.
You are this big, giant mystery that I know nothing about.
Why is that, Jude?”
“It’s too much,” I simply said.
“You mean, I can’t handle it,” she inferred.
“That’s not what I said, Lailah.”
“No, but that’s what you meant. You’re just like everyone else. I’m too fragile. I’m too weak. Let’s sugarcoat the truth, so it doesn’t upset Lailah. God forbid that we upset her,” she said in a mocking tone.
“Well, I’m neither weak nor fragile. I’ve endured more pain than most people see in a lifetime, so don’t think for one single second that I can’t handle anything you can.”
 “I know you can.”
“Then, why put me through all this? Do you even care a little about me?”
Her voice was quiet and timid.
“I care too fucking much, Lailah.”
Without a second thought, I grabbed the nape of her neck and pulled her body to mine before fusing our mouths together.
She gasped in surprise, pulling back slightly, but then she surrendered, melting into me completely.
My hands tightened around her waist as I deepened our kiss.
I knew this had to be her first kiss, and I intended to make sure it was well worth the wait.

REVIEW

Life really has way of its own.
Jude didn’t know that his one selfish decision could affect other’s whole life.

Losing someone you loved and imagined to be with for the rest of your life is really tragic.
Holding to one thing that would remind her, Jude stayed and kept his hands tight on it. Jude left behind everything. He chose to be stocked in the place where he lost her. Torturing himself. He lives an empty and routinely life for almost 3years. Until the night he saw Lailah.


“She was gone. I thought my world has ended when she died three years ago. Yet, here I was with air filling my lungs and blood pumping through my veins and felt everything because I was alive. I was still here.”
- Jude

Lailah – who has this bucketlist that a 23-year-old woman should have been accomplished, but she haven’t. YET. An innocent, kind hearted girl who hangs with a 7 year old girl.  J Who was sick in the entire of her 23 years of life.  Who loves her pudding.

Lailah has her pudding every night mysteriously. Hmmm… interesting. 

“Remember when I said you were Rapunzel, sitting up in your tower, just waiting for your prince? Well, he’s your Flynn…and he found you.”

Fate has a jest of its own. You lose something. You should gain something, better. But in the end, the better thing that you gained, could it be kept forever?

And losing and gaining has silver lining that so called process. And process is a journey. And journey might be a beautiful or unpleasant experience.

You will experience a lot.  Pain. Joy. Hurt. Excitement. Betrayal. Pleasure. Lost.

Go figure how Jude and Lailah takes their journey.  

“Why else would I have been given a chance at love so late in the game if I weren’t going to be saved in the end?”
-Lailah


“I want you slow and tender, fast and hard, and everything in between” – Jude

“Two long lives without the other – is it worth it?” – Lailah

“He chose his own life, and now, I guess I’m choosing mind – alone” – Lailah

 
I kind of wanted some more when I came to the last page. I know JL Berg can pull more out of the lives of Jude and Lailah. You know, you have to agree with me, the characters just have the potentials.


Overall, this book deserves 4.5 stars! Well done JL Berg. J

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About the Author
J.L. Berg is the USA Today bestselling author of the Ready Series. She is a California native living in the beautiful state of historic Virginia. Married to her high school sweetheart, they have two beautiful girls that drive them batty on a daily basis. When she's not writing, you will find her with her nose stuck in a romance novel, in a yoga studio or devouring anything chocolate. J.L. Berg is represented by Jill Marsal of Marsal Lyon Literary Agency, LLC.  
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A portion of the sales during the first week of release will go to a children's heart charity.

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