When the Walls Come Down

4.5-4.75 STARS When it comes to romance novels, I always \”one-click\” Aly Martinez\’s books before ever reading the premise of her latest release. The reason for this is simple she never fails to deliver the goods! But M. Mabie is a brand new author for me, so I had no idea what to expect when I delved between the pages of When the Walls Come Down–a collaborative venture between the two. Pushing any trepidation aside, I dove in with eager anticipation. And the bottom line? This creative pair hit a home run the first time up at bat. Because the resulting product of their collective effort is nothing short of magic!! As a spectator to Shane and Maggies burgeoning romance, I experienced the full gamut of essential feels. Their story is sexy, fun, charming and witty, with just a smidgen of angst sprinkled throughout. Typically, too much or unnecessary angst will find me heading for the hills. But When the Walls Come Down is a perfect example of how to do it right. Its also a fresh new take on an existing premise Ive seen play out one too many times. For these reasons and more, I fell head-over-heels in love with Shane and Maggies heart-felt story. A huge win for me, because along the way, Ive found myself another go to author to add to my discriminating list.

I started reading Aly Martinez last year and I am hooked. Her stories have all captured me and left me thinking about them for days after I\’ve finished. This story was different in the best of ways. This was my first time reading anything by M. Mabie and I have to say this was such a fun and feel good story. I am loving the way these two ladies work together and I will definitely be looking into more from Ms. Mabie. Shane and Maggie will have you hooked from the beginning, you will laugh out loud a few times, with the best of feels thrown in the mix. This was a great story to read during this time. And knowing these two authors wrote this story during this crazy time for this exact reason just makes me love it even more. Absolutely a must read!!

When the Walls Come Down was a refreshing easy story to just fall into. I love Aly Martinez books, have read almost all of them, but Ive never read M. Mabie. The two authors together were golden and wrote an incredible romcom story with fantastic characters. I was totally invested into this story and so very much wanted to see them get their HEA!! Shane and Maggie were incredible in the starring role in this story. I absolutely loved their chemistry, banter, and sense of humor, it was instant upon meeting like they were made for each other. It was all fun and games there are some bumps in the road to their HEA. This was a great summer read, I hope that there two co-write another beauty like this again!! This definitely one of my favs this year!!

This book was incredible. Romcom isn\’t my go-to, but the sprinkles of wit, humor, and banter all throughout this book took me away from the mundane of quarantine and into a world that brought me out of a funk. The way the authors combined humor with heartfelt interaction and the growth between two characters with the same motivations was seamless. Mabie and Martinez are a stellar writing team and I hope to see more from them together. Their writing flowed flawlessly, and the characters they developed were relatable. The cameos from their previous books were eased in, and even for me — someone who hasn\’t read some of the books the cameos came from — I didn\’t feel lost or unsure of their places. It also didn\’t have spoiler-y content for previous books and I fully intend to go back and read their stories. Now, onto the current. I adored Maggie. She was a spitfire with a shining personality and intelligent to boot. Heroines are my favorite, and Maggie is up there on the top 5 of my favorite heroines of all time. She was very sure of herself, confident, with lots of love to give, but she never stood down from a challenge. Her sense of humor was my favorite part. Shane was also a great Hero. His strength stems from routine, and Maggie is anything but routine for this Hero. Combined, these two were unstoppable. They had an obvious connection and the fun they had together is what dreams are made of. Overall, When the Walls Come Down is a fun, heartfelt ride with lots of sass, heat, and grit. Highly recommend.

*audio version* I was so excited when I found out these two authors were writing a book together, even more so once I knew their side characters were crossing over to make this new couple. Shane is the brother of Blake from the Wake series, which was my first read and intro to my M Mabie addiction. Maggie is Heath\’s sister from Aly Martinez\’s Retrieval duet, which was a fun, suspenseful read. You don\’t need to be up to speed with either of these series to enjoy When the Walls Come Down, although past characters do make appearances. Shane and Maggie have instant spark and spend a sexy weekend together before popping their newly formed bubble and realizing who they are in their real lives. These two were sexy flirty, then deliciously steamy, and it left me smiling and wanting more of their story. I\’m not sure how the two authors divided up the writing, but it flows so well that it doesn\’t feel like two different people contributing. Told in dual POV, this book was an entertaining read and left with a perfect HEA. I can\’t wait to see what else comes from this new writing duo. Audio review I purposely waited to hear instead of read this book since I hadn\’t experienced either author on audio. I was happy with the performance and thought the narrators brought the characters to life.

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