Three words. Friends to enemies to lovers! I KNOW!! PLUS it’s told in dual timelines that alternates between the past and present??!

You know how sometimes you just stat reading a book and you immediately get wrapped up in the story and it’s characters?? That’s exactly what happened to me with this book.

What I loved:
it’s dual POV
it’s told in past and present
It’s slow burn (I usually hate slow burn romances but for some reason that didn't bother me in this book)
It’s forced proximity

Okay so why didn’t this book end up getting 5 stars? The dialogue!! i don’t know how to explain this, but let’s just say when I got to the “about the authors” page and read that both of the authors had graduated respectively from Princeton and Harvard, it made so much sense.

Also, the number of times the authors tried to drill it in our heads that Nathan and Kat would never cheat on their partners got really annoying real quick.

But ultimately it was a fun read.

Thank you, Berkley, for my gifted review copy.

Going into reading The toughest Draft, I heard it was angsty. Now, I'll let you know that angsty isn't really my thing. But I figured a book about two writers, forced proximity, and working through their struggles to write again would be right up my alley.

About 15% into the book, we've met the main characters. yes, they're grumpy and went through something that leaves them estranged. The kicker for me is the heroine is in a relationship with her agent, who she doesn't wish to marry & doesn't seem happy with. To please the agent / get him money from a sale she agrees to try to write this book with her old writing partner. I wasn't into that.

I'm sure there are tons of layering to the characters and great explanations for their behavior, so I kept on. We get to the house and I realized I wasn't invested in these characters making it work, Could totally be a case of me, not the book. Plenty of people loved this one and appreciated the angst and grumpy characters, but this is a DNF for me.

After writing their second book, Katrina and Nathan’s writing partnership and personal friendship ended on bad terms. Four years later, they are reuniting to write one last book as quickly and painlessly as possible.

I wanted to love this book BUT something was just not quite right (write?). I loved the premise - y’all know I love books about books. I had a hard time with the dual POV and dual timelines. This was a slow burn, and the pacing felt slow because I was ready for the romance. I also wanted to speed through the flashbacks to get back to present day. I get that they were supposed to read like parallel timelines, but they were so similar it was confusing.

I also really didn’t care for Katrina, and I hated Nathan at times. I couldn’t buy their chemistry. I hate when main characters don’t just talk to each other in romance books, and these two barely communicated at all. I found the reason why they ended their partnership to be really underwhelming. The cover is adorable though!

Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley for my advanced copy. The book comes out on 1/25.

Thank you to Berkley & NetGalley for an E-Arc of The Roughest Draft in exchange for an honest review!-

The Roughest Draft is the most meta book I have ever read but with that, the authors have accomplished a great story.
From the beginning, it was easy to read, but not something that immediately gripped me. The book is told through a dual perspective of our main characters, Katrina and Nathan, as well as a dual timeline: between present-day and four years prior. The positive from the dual perspective is the clear distinguishment between the two characters' voices. Never do the POVs mesh together, as well as it's very clear to see the personality changes/tonal changes between the two timelines. My only issue is the occasional odd placement of these flashbacks that don't seem to mesh into the story as smoothly as they should and are occasionally inconsistent. I understand that the intention was to mirror events between Kat and Nathan in the two different times, but they felt odd and occasionally took away from the present-day portions.
Next, I felt the crafting of Chris's character was done wonderfully. It was easy to hate him and understand Katrina's internal struggle when it comes to him. Her development came full circle towards the end--and I was worried that this development would be stunted when she'd called things off, however, I was pleasantly surprised when the story TRULY became about her, and what she wants. It felt as if I was reading a totally different book for the last 10%, as both Kat and Nathan came into themselves, realizing their flaws (which up until this point it felt like they would remain unaddressed--which is one of my issues with the book, but I'll get back to that) and knowing what they need to do to be able to carry on and "get what they want" for lack of a better term.
I feel like Katrina's story will be monumental to some, and I could see the relatability engrained into her character.
On the other end, I had a love-hate relationship with Nathan. To be honest it was hard to understand his motives for leaving his wife in the flashbacks--it never really felt as if he were enamored with Katrina. However, this may have been due to the fact that he has an issue with admitting his feelings explicitly and often doesn't know how to cope with it. It's hard to understand his perspectives at times because of this. Lastly, I feel as if another downfall of this is the fact that for the first half--or even the first 75%-- of the book it was left a quasi-mystery of what happened between him and Katrina, and when it finally was, it felt somewhat vague and anti-climatic.

Overall, the saving grace of this book was the last ten percent, where these characters' stories finally culminated in a perfect character arc. Their relationship is realized and discussed--not left to just *happen* as it could have. Their personalities are revealed in full and it's clear to see that if that last ten percent matched up with the rest of the book's concept, the final result would have been a bit better. I'm pleased with where this story ended and overall feel satisfied with it.

It has been four years since co-writers Katrina Freeling and Nathan Van Huysen have ended their partnership. Despite their success in the literary world after two books together, they haven't spoken or even looked back since. Until now. Technically, they are under a contract to write one more book, so after both their lives put them in the precarious position of needing to write the book, they are forced to reunite. Back in the same Florida house they were four years earlier, they must figure out a way to write together without completely loathing each other.

I love the premise of this book and I appreciated the bookish references all throughout. After all, it is a book about authors. However, instead of a heartwarming love story, we’re left feeling uncomfortable. I’m not a big fan of cheating plot lines, especially emotional cheating. Although the degree of cheating is far less severe than physically cheating, it’s just as bad. I guess Katrina and Nathan have a case of “right person, wrong time” but the timing was always off as at least one of them was in a relationship during the pining period. Therefore, it was hard to root for either character due to the fact that they had significant others.

I love Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka’s writing, they are excellent storytellers. The fact that they were able to write a book about two co-writers (turned lovers) as a married couple who happen to be co-writers is amazing. Overall, I was left unsatisfied, but it is still worth the read.

Bear with me, as my own words are going to be completely inadequate for this review. This book *enchanted* me. My mind is completely consumed by the beautiful writing that this book held. Each word was deliberately picked and each sentence meticulously crafted. I am in awe at the completely immersive reading experience The Roughest Draft provided for me. I don't know what else to say. Pre-order it. Anticipate it's arrival. Cuddle up and be prepared to be enraptured with Emily and Austin's prose.

I am joining the ranks of other reviewers I've seen on here that are tempted to gatekeep this novel, to keep it secret and keep it safe, because I do not think I can handle people disagreeing with my thoughts. But this book is meant to be read and I hope everyone is able to enjoy the brilliance, wit and care that went into this story! Thank you Emily & Austin for writing this beautiful story . Thank you @berkleyromance for approving this request on @netgalley. These new to me authors are definitely on my radar now!

Read this if you enjoy:
✨ forced proximity
✨ tension and angst for days (years?)
✨ beautiful writing
✨ Beach Read meets Daisy Jones & the Six
✨ insights into coauthoring
✨ Editing scenes that feel like academic foreplay
✨ Learning new words (inchoate? obfuscation?)

The Roughest Draft by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka is a standalone contemporary romance novel. The story in this one is told by changing the point of view between the characters and alternating the current timeline with one from the past.

Katrina Freeling and Nathan Van Huysen had found success together after they had cowritten a book together but their working relationship had ended abruptly leaving the world wondering what had happened. Katrina had given up writing and Nathan wasn’t having the sales he had when he’d written with Katrina. With both needing a success again they agree to return to the home they once wrote in and try to pen another novel together.

The Roughest Draft by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka was a nice story of two authors trying to write together so being an avid reader I couldn’t help but be drawn in. However, my own complaint with this one was I often found the present and past blurring together with everything being so much the same, same location, same activity etc. I get the point of recreating the past but for a reader it would have been nice to have some variety to more distinguish the times leaving me rating this one at three and a half stars.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Oh my god, Emily and Austin are so freaking talented! If you liked BEACH READ by Emily Henry, this book is for you. Two writers are forced to write a romance novel together after having a friendship breakup because one of them fell in love with the other! TENSION. Such a wonderful, life-affirming, banter-y read. Highly recommend!

Thank you @berkleyromance, @berkleypub and @netgalley for my gifted copy in exchange for an honest review.

"They were cowriting literary darlings until they hit a plot hole that turned their lives upside down."

"Relationships, like writing, sometimes take a few rough drafts before they get it right."

Thoughts:

Unpopular opinion. The premise of this novel had me so intrigued - two literary darlings forced to reunite after facing a crossroads in their lives, destined to rekindle and find love - how great does that sound?!

But unfortunately, this romance fell a little flat for me, and I think this was secondary to the pacing. There seemed to be little plot and romance progression throughout the first 60% of the book, and as a reader it not only hindered my enjoyment of the novel, but I also couldn't find that connection to the characters I was longing to feel, the hope and anticipation for the hero and heroine to finally find love.

With that being said, there were certainly cute moments within this romance, dual perspective chapters, and a happily ever after that several readers will enjoy. I know other people have really enjoyed this romance, so I encourage you to read other reviews as well!

The author's note mentioned this idea was sparked during the two author's honeymoon. So interesting that they co-authored a book about two authors that fell in love while co-authoring since they fell in love as co-authors.

Katrina and Nathan met at a writing event when they were just starting out and got along so well they decided to co-author a book which was extremely successful. Nathan who was married to someone else suffered from rumors by the media, well they both did, of an affair. They would go on week-long writing retreats where they would get really close and rumors started. Three years later they are asked to complete their contract with one more book.

This book had a big build-up to the end and went from 3 years ago to when they wrote the book to now, also moving from Nathan to Katrina's point of view. I enjoy going into the characters' heads and feeling their emotions and hearing their motivations also moving from different timelines.  The process in writing and outlining a book all that entails interests me greatly. It is always fun to watch others' process, I think that's why I love to listen to author chats to listen to how they write their stories. Honestly they all do different combinations of things everyone has their own thing that works. Co-authoring is a whole different level of writing and it seems that if you find that one partner that compliments your writing and helps you towards a better story, you can't write without them. The romance along the lines of forbidden romance since they couldn't be or shouldn't be interested in each other since he was married. Then 4 years later she was engaged and he was divorced. I really enjoyed how all the pieces came together and even ended up on the first time he saw her.

Thank you berkleyromance and netgalley for the e-ARC for my honest and voluntary review.

Did they or didn't they? co-authors Nathan and Katrina have a three book deal. The first novel was good, but the second, about an affair, was a torrid best-seller that left the world wondering if art was imitating reality. Their friendship implodes and so does Nathan's marriage. A few years later, Katrina -- now engaged to her agent -- is pressured into writing a final book with someone she can't stand. Nathan agrees, they decamp to the same Florida beach house as their writer's retreat (now owned by Chris, who has informed Katrina she can do whatever she needs to do to get the book written, including bang it out of their systems). The two determine this book will focus on a divorce.

Nathan and Kat tell the story in alternating voices, going back in time to the writing of the previous novel. Faking pleasantries and friendship somehow allows the real thing to reemerge, and the writing and banter flows, and so do the fights, but they manage to make up, as always -- at least when it comes to plot, character or language disagreements.

This slow burn literary romance is as much about the process as plot, and was a fascinating look at how two people work on a book together, written insightfully by a married couple. Five stars for excellent plotting, great dialogue, and using words I had to look up.

I received an advance reader's review copy of #TheRoughestDraft from #NetGalley.

Best friends to lovers writing about friends to lovers??? Yes, please!

The Roughest Draft is one of the most unique storylines I’ve read in a romance. I was so intrigued from the very start of the book. And while it is a VERY slow burn, I felt extremely invested in the storyline. Despite the cute cover, I would not necessarily call this a romcom, it’s more of an emotional romance and gave off a bit of a Beach Read vibe. These friends have been through the ringer, became enemies, and eventually find their way back to each other through very forced proximity.

Read it if you love:
*Forced proximity with a side of hate to love and second chance and maybe even a love triangle… there are a lot of tropes packed in here…
*A sloooow burn
*Insight into the cowriting process
*Great south Florida beach setting

If you are looking for an emotional and bookish romance, this one might just be for you! A solid four stars from me!

I love a good "enemy to lovers" trope and was drawn to the premise of two ex co-authors being forced to reunite to finish the last book in their successful partnership. Why did they have a falling out? Was it because they were in love and it was getting in the way? I NEEDED TO KNOW!

Overall, I enjoyed the book and it was probably the closest thing I've read that I can safely compare to Emily Henry's work, of which have been my top favorite contemporary romance novels lately! The only thing I struggled with was that I felt like the big reveal was a bit anticlimactic and a little drawn out; however, I thought the characters were well-written and I believed the chemistry between them; I didn't find the dialogue cheesy, which I usually do find in a lot of other books of the same genre!

Thank you Berkley and NetGalley for my advanced copy!

Extremely cute and engrossing - the chemistry between Kat and Nathan kept me turning pages until the end, inducing a speed-read. On another note, does anyone want to write a romance book with me and possibly fall in love along the way?

Katrina Freeling and Nathan Van Huysen met six years ago at a writer workshop. There, they form a writing partnership which leads to them co-writing two books together. But their partnership ends on bad terms, for reasons neither would divulge to the public. They haven't spoken since, and never planned to.

Four years later, they still have one final book due as part of their contract. Nathan’s solo career as an author isn’t going well, with his book not selling well and his book proposals being rejected by his publisher, who want another Freeling-Van Huysen book. Meanwhile, Katrina is retired, living in LA, with her fiancé Chris (who is also her agent), who pressures her to write another book to save their relationship.

This leads to Katrina and Nathan going back to the place where they wrote their last book, forced to write a romance book while still both holding onto resentment towards each other from four years ago.

The Roughest Draft is written by two co-authors (who are in love and married) about two co-authors who go from being friends/co-authors to enemies to lovers. This alone had me sold & wanting to read this book. But this book absolutely delivered.

I highly recommend this for fans of Emily Henry, especially Beach Read! Although The Roughest Draft and Beach Read are very different in many aspects, they both gave me this similar feeling while I was reading.

Rating: 4.5/5 stars!!

I wish that I could choose my words in the way that Nathan or Katrina would, but I’m just not that great of a writer.

This book…was amazing.

It stole my breath from me, I got goosebumps, I felt longing in a deep way that is truly hard to explain.

These two characters and their story are addicting and electrifying and sad and hopeful. I could not get enough. I read 25% of this at night going to bed and I woke up thinking about the story and read all the rest of it the next day in one sitting.

This is told as dual POV and as dual timelines. We are finding out what happened between these two writers and why their relationship ceased to exist for four years.

I can’t tell you enough to read this one.

I was lucky enough to get this approved by @netgalley and @berkleypub in exchange for my honest review, but I am going to be buying myself a physical copy to have, it was that good to me.

This title releases on 01/25. Be sure to pick up your copy!

Ok, this will possibly be a super ramble review. But my thoughts/feelings are all over the place.

This book was so literary. And so meta. It follows two writers who must come back together to write their second contracted novel after a huge falling out.

So much of the story is told through the characters writing to each other. I wanted more interactions between them.

And their big fallout was hyped for most of the book and when it came to the reveal it was just not as intense as I thought it would be. Basically if the characters has talked to each other they might have avoided a lot of stuff.

You could feel the tension throughout the book and could feel as it fell away when the characters finally rekindled their easiness with each other. So in that way, the writing was very evocative.

In some ways I felt like the book was a bit pretentious. But as I realized late in my reading this should be considered a more literary romance versus romantic comedy. So that perception is more based on my feelings towards literary fiction.

There was a lot of lovely writing with some very gorgeous lines. But I felt like the story dragged. I really wanted to get to the meat of things and it took 70+% of the book. Such a slow burn.

Overall, this was enjoyable and I would still recommend with some caveats.

[cw - emotional infidelity; depression]

I read this in one day. I loved the sad and bitterness both characters held in the first couple chapters. It kept me intrigued until we started getting deeper into the story of what happened. Katrina and Nathan used to be co authors, but since there biggest and best selling book released, they haven’t talked in 4 years. Nathan is having trouble finding a place for his solo work out in the publishing world when everyone wants the dynamic duo instead. Katrina is retired, living out her days as a house wife though she isn’t a wife yet, but a fiancé to her agent. When he starts to pressure her to write the last book in her contract with Nathan, she ends up back in the same Florida retreat to write hopefully the last book she will ever have to. The story goes back and fourth between the past and present to find out what happened so long ago and why it is still affecting them now. Nathan and Katrina must confront the past, to be able to navigate the presence, and figure out what the future will look like with or without each other. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this in exchange for a review.

The Roughest Draft is a unique romance focusing on two co-authors forced to work together after years apart. Told in time jumps from the past working together and in the present along with both POVs there was a nice flow to keep momentum of Nathan and Katrina’s relationship going.

This story is an incredibly slow burning romance. The tension between Katrina and Nathan was as thick as the Florida Keys humidity. I enjoyed the slow unraveling of characters but at points found myself wanting to speed up the pacing of the past storyline to figure out what happened to cause their rift.

I am not a fan of love triangles and there were one too many in this one for me to love the story and root for these characters in the end.

This book is probably going to be loved by authors but I don't think it works very well for the other 95% of the population that might be drawn to the (well designed, illustrated) cover, dreaming of a different kind of book (like a contemporary romance or rom com). A writing duo writing about a writing duo how skirt too close to love the first time around and allow it to destroy their relationship reconcile to fulfill their contract.
There is a lot of front end work and shrouding of Katrina and Nathan's relationship implosion and a lot of effusive language touting how great their collaboration style is. They are just **so perfect** for each other (as plutonic writers, of course). I think this is where the actual writers may see romance because they are engrossed in this process, but for the average reader it is just not enough to keep me from getting bogged down.
I pushed through the end, and was thankful the pacing improved around 60% but by 85% I was wondering how much more they could still plot out and talk about. I was ready for the resolution.
I wanted to love this, but I just don't have great feelings about it. (I"ve read their YA books and have enjoyed them). I know this will be (and is already is) all over the social media feeds of some of my favorite publishers and authors, but overall I think it doesn't have a broad enough appeal for me to buy this for my library or recommend it over so many other options. So sad.
Thanks so much for the arc!