Thank you Berkley Romance for the gifted book

3.5 + stars

Read for:
• Forced proximity
• Hate-to-love… ish
• Author main characters
• Dual POV
• Lit fic with romance (not a Rom Com)

Writing partners, Katrina and Nathan, had a falling out three years ago, just before the publication of their best-selling novel. With one more book required of their contract due, they are forced to put aside the unspoken issue that has driven them apart all these years.

The Roughest Draft is the debut adult novel for this writing duo who usually write YA. I was pleasantly surprised that this book feels fully adult. I often find that authors crossing from YA to adult tend to bring a YA voice with them and, as much as I love YA… I want my YA to be YA and my adult to be adult.

I thought the behind the scenes look at the writing process and the work of writing partners was really fascinating. I found the actual writing fantastic and the human emotion strong, but I did want to yell at the characters a few times to communicate better!

Katrina and Nathan wrote a best seller years ago and haven't talked since. Something happened, but we don’t know what. Both were convinced they would never write together again, especially since Katrina had retired from writing altogether after their book came out, but here they are again, trapped in a house together, trading ideas. And the tension is very cuttable.

In terms of plot, this novel definitely stands out from other romances out there. I was intrigued because I have enjoyed romances about authors from Emily Henry, but this is quite different. Reading about Katrina and Nathan reconnecting in person and through their writing made it so that nothing was left unsaid. This is not necessarily a light-hearted book - these characters are feeling deep emotions. Although I was rooting for them throughout the entire book. I have to admit I didn't connect very deeply to either character. The story is captivating, but I wasn't swooning when they touched.

|| 𝐁𝐎𝐎𝐊 𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐖

The Roughest Draft
Emily Wibberley and Austin Seigemund-Broka
★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

|| 𝐒𝐘𝐍𝐎𝐏𝐒𝐈𝐒:
Can two writers come together and write a romance book? Katrina and Nathan did it before, but after their widely successful book was published they never spoke again. 3 years later they are at the same house and writing another book. The tension is high. The angst is there. What will happen as their work out their issues on paper?

|| 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐈𝐅 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐋𝐈𝐊𝐄:
•Books about books
•Steamy romance
•Complicated relationships
•Second chances

|| 𝐌𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐒:
Emily and Austen are a married couple themselves that write books together (assuming this inspired the book 😉) and typically they write swoony YA romance which I have several books of. So 👏 Glad 👏 They 👏 Wrote 👏 Adult 👏 Romance. You can feel the chemistry on and off page as they write their novel, and you slowly find out what happened 3 years ago. It’s like a first chance meets second chance and I’m just all about this, and I also really want to read the books they wrote in the story 😂 I actually have several of their YA romances and I can’t wait to pick them up and read them all!

Thank you to Berkley and Netgalley for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I got around the 15% mark and had to DNF. Unfortunately, I just couldn't get into the characters or the story. I also wasn't a fan from the start of the emotional cheating that I know is going to take place a few times in the story. This is nothing negative on the authors or the story they created - but it just wasn't for me.

I can see how this book would be appeal to many and be loved by even more but this book was a DNF for me. When I read a romance - if you can call this book a romance - I want a relationship I can BELIEVE in. A relationship I ROOT for. A relationship that I FEEL all the feels about. I didn't get that with this book. I liked the characters as individuals but not really as a couple. I hated the miscommunication trope. The premise overall has a TON of potential. Two former co-authors who wrote several big hits together have a falling out but have to reunite to write another book together. It's been years and they've done life separately. One is engaged, one is divorced. I was feeling maybe we would get some enemies-to-lovers but it was just meh for me. I guess I thought maybe I would be reading a book in the same vein as Beach Read but alas this was not it. I had a hard time connecting to the story and overall just felt sort of bored.

This wasn't for me but I can ABSOLUTELY see how this book would be a favorite for so many others so don't let this review deter you! Also, how cute is this cover??

hough the overall writing was well done, this book was not for me. I felt there was a lot of “telling” and no showing, and I never believed the characters were in love. I hardly saw them as friends. For a contemporary romance, the pacing was so slow. I wanted more out of the flashbacks and had hoped they would establish the chemistry between the chemistry between the two MCs. Instead they built up to a conclusion traders already knew was the point of contention between the characters.

I had high hopes for this one, but it wasn’t for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for providing the ARC.

All I have to say is wow.

This is a second chance romance like no other. Katrina and Nathan used to be writing partners but have not spoken to each other in four years after a falling out. It's not said immediately what the falling out is, but you're able to pick up on it fairly quickly.

The pining and the angst was so perfectly on point in this book. We learn about Kat's struggles with anxiety and how she feels the pressure and the weight of everyone's expectations on her shoulders. We see Nathan trying to navigate a world where Kat hadn't cut him deeply the last time he saw her. And then they're thrust together to finish out their literary contract.

I loved Kat and Nathan's story. I loved that it wasn't easy, or perfect. I loved how real it felt, how they worked to manage their emotions that spiraled out of control. I loved the way the story played out and where it ended up. It was an amazing read.

Even though I know that Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka wrote several YA contemporaries together before, The Roughest Draft was my first experience with their writing and it was their first foray into the adult romance genre. Right from the bat, I have to say that it felt smart, quick-witted and consisted of some really beautiful prose.

Going in, I knew very little about the author duo. However, having read the acknowledgments section as well as being informed by my friend Marie that they're married in real life made this whole book feel very meta. The characters, Katrina and Nathan, put so much of themselves in their writing and you cannot help but wonder if the authors did the same. How much of it mirrored their feelings for each other? How much is just pure fiction? I love the intrigue and layers these questions create in your mind as you get drawn more and more into their world.

While this novel was medium to fast paced, I found myself a little bit frustrated with our characters at times, which made me stop every now and then. Their fall out was built up as this huge thing and you could really see the grudge in the first chapters. After all, they hadn't spoken in four years and hadn't just cut each other out of their lives, but other people as well. Sometimes, the break up felt a bit too big for what actually transpired though and how easily they found their way back to each other. The hurt and miscommunication between Katrina and Nathan I could eventually understand, also why they were holding each other back, but the ghosting of other characters felt petty.

Ultimately, Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka managed to create a beautiful relationship though. It is flawed and it is perfect, it is real and pure fairy tale fiction at the same time. The kind of stuff you wish your romance was made of. The intimacy between Katrina and Nathan is truly one of a kind, but combines all the best parts of "second chance romance"-tropes as well as "best friends to lovers"-themes.
It also gave an interesting peek into the world of writing collaboratively, which interests me now more than ever, and the publishing world as a whole. As a bookworm and someone who would very much like to write and release a book eventually, this setting was one of my favorite parts of the whole novel.

Fazit: 4/5 stars! Beautiful prose for a really meta love story.

A reflection on books, love, and the complexity of the creative process, The Roughest Draft will be a great pick for any romance book lover.

I received an ARC via Netgalley. All opinions expressed are my own.

This book has a lot of hype surrounding it, so I was excited to read it. The premise was promising - a successful writing duo have not spoken for 4 years, and are now living together to write one final romance. It's a hate-to-love second chance romance.

Some books are slow, and as you ruminate on them after reading, your affection grows. I cannot see that happening with this book. I found it painfully to read. There is so much angst and longing and layers of juxtaposition - but I didn't care. I didn't care what had happened preceding their break-up and following hostilities.

This novel started out so perplexing to me- a jumping back and forth between time periods: current day and 4 years ago. Clearly Kat and Nathan have had a falling out, but we don’t really know why.
Once we meet the host of characters, Nathan ends up in Florida at the house where he and Kat co-wrote their last novel.

As the two of them navigate coexisting and writing their last novel, we learn more about their history and watch their friendship reconnect.

What I liked about it:
The mystery of what happened 4 years ago
Kat’s quippy responses
Nathan’s maturation and growth as a character
How they honored marriage

I loved reading this novel that is co-written by the husband and wife team, Emily and Austin. It just fit so well!

If you enjoy quick banter, mystery backgrounds, and second chances, you will enjoy this one!

Get ready to hear about nothing but this book for the rest of 2022. Holy Moly. This wrecked me. A gut-wrenching semi second chance / friends to enemies to lovers, The Roughtest Draft is a raw telling of love, longing, anguish, and desire alongside a beautiful ode to the writing process. This book is everything that People We Meet on Vacation wanted to be, but didn't actually live up to (for me, I know the world loves it, but it wasn't it, still love EH though!)., so if you liked PWMOV, you need this book. It was a fairly agonizing read in that Wibberley and Siegemund-Broka so artfully capture wanting when you can't have and being scared when you can. You're in the trenches with Nathan and Katrina, but end up loving every second of it. I can't wait to read more from these authors and highly recommend this book! Out January 25th!

Thanks to Berkley Romance and NetGalley for access to the ARC!

Unfortunately I had to DNF this book at 65%. I wanted to love it and really feel like I gave it a fair shot, but it just didn't work for me.

Here is what I liked:
- Seeing the way these two fictional authors worked through their writing process. I can only assume it's similar to how the two authors of the actual book write together.
- Overall I did really enjoy the writing style and the two main characters: Katrina and Nathan.

What I did not like:
- The way this book is marketed as a romance- It barely is that.
- The general flow of the book- SO repetitive. Flashbacks from four years ago would come out of nowhere and simply drop a crumb of what the actual storyline was supposed to be about.
- Katrina's fiance, Chris, is the wOrSt and I cannot believe she stayed with him for the majority of the storyline, while she was emotionally cheating on him. Like girl, I understand that you're engaged to him, but break up.

I really went into this book expecting a lot more from the romance end of things and I just didn't get that. It was frustrating to read and triggered emotions I do not like from books.

I did….not like this. I can for sure see how this will appeal to certain readers but it was just not for me at all. When I’m reading romance I want to feel like I believe in the relationship, like I understand the tension and am excited by the prospect of their future. That doesn’t mean there can’t be angst or sadness. But with The Roughest Draft I just didn’t care if the two main characters ended up together because frankly, I didn’t like either of them and I hated their relationship. There was too much miscommunication and cheating and just plain meanness for me. While it lacked pretty much everything I personally like in a romance novel, I will say the writing was well done, unfortunately it just wasn’t enough to save this book for me.

After not paying close attention to the cover, I was pleasantly surprised by the time I got to the acknowledgements that The Roughest Draft was very meta. Penned by a husband and wife duo, it gives us a similar duo with some seriously steamy chemistry as they rekindle their writing partnership to fulfill contract obligations. I thought the pace was great, and loved the alternating viewpoints along with the shifting time frames that gave us more and more insight into their relationship as we went along. Of course, I was also a big fan of the insights into how they viewed writing, how it blended with their own experiences, thoughts, and feelings, and what they brought to the page. Like I said, very meta, but very wonderful.

I'll be looking into what else the pair have wrote now, I'm hooked!

These are new authors to me, I haven't read their YA releases, but I was intrigued by the blurb. This was a weird read for me because on one hand I enjoyed the writing and seeing these characters' passion for their craft. On the other hand, I felt like there were so many tedious descriptions and I started to get tired of the back and forth between the present-day and memories of 4 years ago. At about 40% in I just wanted to get to the good stuff, and maybe finally found out what happened years earlier that drove these friends and co-writers apart. I will admit to skimming from that point on. I think this is more an 'it's me, not the book' thing, as I'm not as patient with my romances as I used to be. I like a good slow burn, but I also need at least some payback early on to keep my attention

Unfortunately I dnfed this one. I could not get into it! It wasn't for me. I hope that others enjoy it more.

This book was just what I needed to start my year off right. I wanted something romantic and funny, but not overly quirky. I want the magic of of Beach Reads and People We Meed on Vacation by Emily Henry. I think this book does a good job of encompassing an escapist read for book lovers.

This book is about two former co-authors reuniting after a terrible work breakup to finish out their contract with their publisher. The story alternates between the Katarina and Nathan, the two authors, as they begin to get comfortable together again. There are also alternating past and present chapters that lead up to their initial falling out and their slow resolution. This book is very meta in that the co-authors of this book have had a successful career of co-authoring books together and also in love and married.

I highly recommend for a comfy and heart-warming read.

Despite being read in early 2022, this book is sure to remain a favorite romance for the entire year. Reminiscent of Beach Read by Emily Henry or What's Not to Love (by the same authors), and oddly, a little bit of You Deserve Each Other by Sarah Hogle, this enemies-to-lovers story shows us two authors who used to co-write but had a falling out coming back together for one last book at the urging of their agents. Told in dual POV and dual timelines, this book manages to tell what could have been a confusing story with masterful precision. Alternating back and forth between the present, when Katrina and Nathan are angrily forced to work on a book together, to the past, when they happily wrote their first and second novels together, the story unfolds beautifully and is one that really sticks with you.

Thank you to Berkley for my eARC and Goodreads giveaway win for a physical ARC! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

5 stars - 10/10

I loved this book. It had all the rom =com feels but was better developed than most and the story was so lovingly told. I was hooked right away and couldn't put it down. The smart reader's rom com!