Let’s just say I love their words and what they create with them. Like a lot. Like a lot a lot.

So when I found out two of my all time favorite authors and people were cowriting a book together, I might have actually shrieked so loudly that it alarmed members of my family. To say I was excited for this book and story to be in my life is the understatement of the century, and to say that I LOVED this book is putting it too mildly. This book was everything I didn’t even know I needed in my life.

M. Mabie and Aly Martinez wrote one hell of a book with When the Walls Come Down. They killed it…and shockingly they didn’t kill or emotionally maim any of their characters off in this book. (Which if you’ve read their books before you know that must not have been an easy feat!) They infused their distinctive voices into writing a book that made me laugh, made me swoon and melt, and that even brought some tears to my eyes.

It was perfection.

Simply put, this book is one of the best books that I have ever had the chance to read.

When the Walls Come Down is a story of endings and beginnings. A story of kismet and serendipity. A story of two people who meet each other at the exact right and wrong time. It is a story of two people who are beyond right for one another, who have the most incredible pull to one another, yet soon find that there is more trying to pull them apart too. This story is about the walls we put up. The physical, emotional, and mental walls that can cage us in if we let them. This book is a story about hard choices, real truths, and all of the feelings and swoon and fire that comes in between.

This book is all about Shane and Maggie, their tangible spark and connection, their utterly incredible journey together, and what happens when those walls that were so thoughtfully crafted start to crack and crumble and come down to reveal what truly could be.

This story is all about Shane and Maggie. Their distinctive voices are infused through every breath of this book and it just gives it such a life, such a personality and vivid feel to it that shines through every word. this book follows Shane and Maggie as they’re both at a crossroads in their lives. It’s the endings and beginnings coming together in so many ways, with their literal spark and connection pulling them closer and closer to one another. From the moment those two meet, they can’t stop seeing one another, they can’t stop wanting to be together, and they can’t stop thinking about what could be. This story allows you to be with them as they take that chance, as they experience that pull, and as they come face to face with the walls that just might be trying to keep them apart.

This book is sweet and funny and light. It is bursting with tangible spark and life with Shane and Maggie. It is a book that will have you swooning and melting and falling more and more for those two with every word you read.

And that is just scratching the surface of what makes this such a special and fantastic story.

What I loved about this book was that it had it all. It had the humor and the banter that was so glorious and that made my cheeks literally hurt because I was laughing and smiling so much with these two as I read their story. I loved that there was such a heat with these characters. Their connection was on fire and was practically palpable through every part of this story. These authors completely brought that to life and that set this book on fire. I loved that even though their story was light and fun and easy in some ways, it also made me and these characters work for it. It had that emotion, it had that heart, it had that perfect amount of struggle that fit this story and these characters and what they were sharing. It was just enough and it was everything to read.

What Aly Martinez and M. Mabie created in this book for Shane and Maggie was spectacular. There’s no way around it. They wrote one hell of a book. They wrote a story that I loved from the very first word. They created characters that I rooted for from those very first pages. They brought me back to a world that I didn’t even realized I missed so much until I was right back in the thick of it. They wrote a love story that stole every part of my heart and that had these characters taking up every emotion and feel I had along the way.

When the Walls Come Down lets these authors’ writing shine. The cohesiveness of their writing, of what they create with Shane and Maggie, and what they allow you to experience with their characters on this serendipitous adventure is nothing short of magical. You can tell through every word of this book that these authors’ truly loved what they were writing, that they loved these characters and they loved what they were creating in this book. That love is so infused into every word. That love and life creates the most effervescent spark through every moment of this book. That love that embodies the writing of this book and the characters it allows you to fall in love with is truly what sets this book apart.

I love that this book not only gave me another opportunity to read words by these authors, but it brought me back to some of their characters that have owned my heart for years. (Let’s just say there was a lot more squealing when those characters I LOVED came back into play with Shane and Maggie!) Getting to be back in these worlds as they collided, getting to be there with Shane and Maggie as they fought for and against what they were feeling, as they felt that glorious push and pull grow and grow, and getting to be there through everything that came their way was nothing short of wonderful.

I just loved Shane and Maggie.

I loved how right they felt together. I loved the spark and fire and chemistry that was there right from the start. I love that everything felt so serendipitous, even in those moments when I wondered how they were going to make it through. I love that I believed in them, that I rooted for them, that my whole heart was in it with them through every turn of that page. I loved that these authors really allowed me to understand and get their characters on the deepest of levels. They let me get why every single thing happened to the way that it did in this story, and they let me be there in those moments as it all changed and as Shane and Maggie took their chance at it all.

I loved that through every word of this book I was with the two of them, taking cracks at those walls, living in the humor and glorious banter filled connection they shared, while fighting and hoping with my whole heart that those two would find a way to figure it all out.

Maggie Light is a girl ready to take on the world. She has dreams and goals, and much to her older brother’s chagrin, she is ready to take them all on with her new adventure that brings her to San Francisco. What she wasn’t expecting was one Shane Warren who makes her question everything she thought she knew and wanted. Maggie is fierce and fun and just real. She is easy to relate to, she is beyond easy to love, and her banter is on a whole different level. She is a girl searching for that new beginning that will bring her closer to the life she’s always wanted and dreamed of, and she isn’t afraid to put in the hard work that’s needed. She is a gem and you will love her right from the start.

Shane Warren is a man who’s been through a lot. After a not so swell time and a divorce that changed everything, he is back on his feet and loving his new life. That is until he’s forced, in a not so subtle way, to realize that he might have just become a little too complacent in that new life he fought so hard for. Enter in Maggie Light, a girl who truly changes it all for him and makes him realize even more the walls that have been caging him in. She keeps him on his toes, and she brings out the heart melting charm that Shane is ready to give. Shane is just the best. He is charming, kind, and real. He is a good guy who is trying to figure out a way to have it all, and you will love getting to be there with him as he makes his way through.

Maggie and Shane are beyond right, and you will love getting to be there with the two of them as they share what they do, as their connection builds to an unforgettable level, as the wrenches are thrown into their plans, and as they try to make their way through. Their story together is light and fun and feels like the best breath of air you’ll feel deep in your soul, yet it is very real, very honest and heartfelt, and it has a level of emotion to it that you won’t soon forget.

What M. Mabie and Aly Martinez created with the two of them will have you loving every word, believing in the two of them with your whole heart, and needing for everything to work out for Shane and Maggie because the rightness of them truly knows no bounds.

When the Walls Come Down is a story that I will never forget reading. This book, Shane and Maggie, and everything they shared made me so inherently happy. It made me believe in rightness of these two, it allowed me to feel every lick of their connection and what they shared, and it had me knowing through every word that I would always keep a part of that Shane and Maggie magic with me.

Aly Martinez and M. Mabie crafted a truly exceptional story in this book. They took two characters who would could not have been more right or more perfect for one another, and they created one hell of a story for them. The magic and literal goodness of them shines through every word of this book, and will have you believing in them with all that you have. Their words were everything. They gave me a story that made me so happy, that made me melt and swoon with the amazingness of Shane and Maggie, and that had me knowing I would never get enough of everything they were creating.

When the Walls Comes Down is a story of the walls we have around ourselves, our hearts, and that can fence us in if we let them. It is a story about what happens when you meet the one person who changes it all and starts taking pieces of those walls down in a way you didn’t even know was possible. It is a story of the literal magic and goodness that can come to your life when you start breaking those walls down (or climbing over them), when you take a leap of faith into the unknown that scares you shitless, and when you see what could be on the other side of that wall.

It is a story of orange TicTacs, magnificent banter, and allllll the murdering one needs (you’ll get that when you read the story!) It’s about late night Amazon shopping, Peach and the Old Man, and even more fantastic nicknames than you can count. It’s especially about the one person who truly makes all the difference and changes everything. It’s about all of that and so much more.

This book is hands down one of the best books I have read this year and ever, and I honestly just feel lucky that I had the chance to read it. M. Mabie and Aly Martinez gave me it all with Shane and Maggie, and I for one will treasure what I got with them. And honestly, I am just counting down the minutes until these authors write together again because I NEED more of their combined words and talents in my life. Stat.

If you are looking for a book that will make you laugh your ass off, that will have you swooning something fierce, that will give you one hell of a love story that will have you believing in everything these characters are sharing, and that will have you loving everything you get the chance to experience….RUN YOURSELF to this book and to Shane and Maggie. It would be wrong not to.

I am telling you, this is the exact book you need in your life this second. It will make you feel it all, it will be a breath of air you didn’t even know you needed, and it will give you one hell of a fireworks show that will have you completely mesmerized and taken from start to finish.

And honestly, that is just part of what makes this such an incredible and unforgettable book, so just do yourself a damn favor and read it. Read it. Love it. Live it all. Laugh it up and melt into the puddle with these two. Take it in and be prepared to never want to let that magic of them go. Enjoy it all because it is truly something you need in your life…and you will love it!