LOVED...I usually get bored by hints to a previous time in the story but this one kept me hooked. I had to find out what the big incident was. It was a great build-up and a slow-burn second chance romance. I loved the characters being a writing duo just like the authors too!

This was such an interesting read and totally different than their YA titles. It was complex and intriguing. I loved the alternating between the two characters and the flashbacks. The story they were writing was like the story itself.

While the concept of this holds water, the execution is highly flawed. You can clearly feel the different authors paralleling the contents of the book, and it's not a positive reading experience.

The Roughest Draft is about two ex-co-authors, forced to get back together to write another book after years apart. Knowing this contemporary romance is written by two co-authors that are actually married, as well, just made this synopsis all the more exciting. I couldn’t wait to read it and, damn. I wasn’t disappointed.
This dual perspective romance is told from Katrina and Nathan’s point of view. We meet Katrina, living in Los Angeles as the book starts with her fiancé/agent, not writing anymore since the incredibly overwhelming success of her first novel with Nathan, still struggling with figuring herself out. Then there’s Nathan, recently divorced, writing solo since his writing-split with Katrina but failing to find the same kind of success he’s had before.
While I adored both point of views, Katrina was my favorite character of the two. I loved getting to know her, I could deeply feel her imposter syndrom and her profound anxiety and the fact that she’s so afraid to put herself out there, again, just as well.
Nathan was a great character just as well. He’s a bit closed-off and has a very hard time communicating his feelings, choosing to write them all down and fictionalize them instead of sharing them with the world.. and the people that matter. I really liked seeing him grow as well.
The Roughest Draft is a romance. Knowing how the authors could write excellent chemistry in their YA books, I couldn’t wait to see what they could do with an adult romance and, oh, damn. Honestly, for me, in this story, the chemistry was off the charts. I’ve been reading adult romance every now and then, lately and I’ve never, ever fell for a romance as hard as I did, there. Deliciously slow-burned, filled with tensions from a complex, shared past, the feelings the authors manage to convey on page just made me shiver. It’s so intense, it’s intertwined between the characters’ feelings and the feelings they’re putting on page, in the story they’re currently writing and the two dimensions of it all is just brilliant.
Another thing I deeply appreciated here, is how despite all the deep feelings between the characters, they each were so respectful, in the past and the present, of the other’s complicated situation and it’s just. I loved this so much. Beware: this might feel like emotional cheating to some and I know it can bother some people!
Past and present are intertwined in this story, as we slowly figure out what happened between Katrina and Nathan in their first partnership and why it crumbled to ashes. I’m a huge fan of flashbacks and stories built between past and present, soooo this was one of my favorite things. Obviously.
The writing is beautiful, perfect at conveying all the emotions, making The Roughest Draft a book that will pull at your heartstrings until your heart aches, wanting more always. I know that, when I’ll get my finished copy in the mail, I will re-read some sentences over and over again and hell, probably the whole thing.

My favorite author duo did it again, winning me over with this excellent adult contemporary romance. I fell for the characters, their chemistry, the stunning prose and I immediately added this book to my favorites’ list and pre-ordered it. I hope you’ll do the same. 200% recommending this!

2.5
This novel did not ring true to me. The characters and their past trouble and relationships were not fleshed out. I couldn't understand why Katrina would have stayed engaged for two years when their relationship did not seem genuine, believable or seem to have much going for it at all. The entire premise, of Katrina and Nathan not working together for four years because of feelings they couldn't share, seemed like a reach, given the details the reader is shown. And also, would two people in committed relationships (albeit at different times) both get pulled so easily from their spouse/partner? The chemistry between Nathan and Katrina didn't ring true to me either. There is not a lot a of depth to their feelings and relationship. The writing ruse, while clever and entertaining, wasn't enough for me to accept the strength of their feelings for/communications with each other. In fact, sometimes I felt like the writing premise was too much and the use of language to explain feelings and situations was excessive. This was not a bad novel to read but it was a little slow and because the relationships and emotions did not seem real, I don't think I will remember this book.

Fun concept, but the execution was just ok for me. I felt like the main conflict was very predictable and the characters were fairly flat. It was enjoyable while I was reading it, but not memorable.

I really enjoyed this one. It’s about two co-authors who hate each other, but are contractually obliged to write another book together after not speaking for four years. Why have they not spoken? You learn that through the course of the book with alternating timelines between present day and four years ago.

I thought the characters were great. And I love an enemies to lovers (and boy did they hate each other), but I don’t think I’ve ever read a friends-to-enemies-to lovers? So that was fun for me. Most of the negative reviews seem to be in regards to emotional cheating (which is not my fav), so if that’s not your jam, avoid this book!

Romance: 💜💜💜
Steam: ⭕️ (like one half scene)
Trope: friends-to-enemies-to-lovers, bad timing
TW: emotional cheating

Thanks so much to NetGalley and Berkeley for providing me a copy of this book for review! The Roughest Draft is out now.

The Roughest Draft provides an interesting insight into the mind of writers with a fun and complex romance. But the conflict felt flat and overall, it isn’t a memorable read. This is a story that will remind a lot of readers of Beach Read by Emily Henry, but for me it didn’t provide the same dreamy escape.

Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka have a great writing style, and I like the parallel between them as co-authors and Katrina Freeling and Nathan Van Huysen in the book. However, I wish the protagonists had as much charm as their friends. The dialogue helps to develop their personalities, but some humour would have brought a memorable levity to the dynamic.

The book contains flashbacks that slowly reveal why and how Katrina and Nathan stopped writing and stopped talking. There were times where this was confusing, as the flashbacks are in the same setting as the present-day timeline. I think this is one of the reasons the book felt like it held the same tone from start to finish. Still, it’s paced nicely, and the romance progresses at a realistic rate.

Katrina and Nathan’s chemistry is a highlight in The Roughest Draft. Their forced proximity allows for tension and passion to build as they work together, and I enjoyed the window into their relationship and friends, writers, and more. Overall, an okay read!

The cover of this book drew me in, add the hype on bookstagram, and I was so pumped to read this one. I love a book about the book writing process - bonus points when it's a love story. Katrina and Nathan's story was so fun to read.

They were famous for writing books together.. but one day their luck ended and they had to go their separate ways.. Katrina Feeling and Nathan Van Huysen were writers who wrote NY Times hits.. Almost all were best sellers and it looked like there was no way to go but up.. But after their best success, they parted ways and their lives fell apart. After 3 years they are forced to reunite and work in one more book.. Only problem is their lives have changed. They go back to the Florida town that helped spark their creative juices in the past. They hope they can at least it can happen one more time.. they need it to happen.. As the writing begins they can barely work together and as time passes they get into a groove.. they become close again. They remember the past and hope the future can be better. A lot is riding on this and Katrina and Nathan, have to decide to invest in themselves and in their careers.. or can they have both? Such a cute story. Of hope and love. Facing the past and forging forward.. the writing is very good and this was a 4 star read for me. I want to thank Netgalley for my copy of The Roughest Draft, for an honest review. It was a pleasure to read and review.. I hope you enjoy it too!!’

A really emotional, beautifully written romance. I was in love with this one since first hearing of the premise, and it surpassed expectations! I love Wibbroka's YA books and look forward to what they write next in the adult space.

Looking for your Valentine’s Day read? I got you.

💘THE ROUGHEST DRAFT is adorable and meta - this is a book about two authors falling in love, written by two authors who have fallen in love.

DOES IT GET ANY MORE ROMANTIC THAN THAT?!

💘I also highly rec this if you are as obsessed with Emily Henry as I am and are impatient for Book Lovers to come out. Very similar energy.

This book also touches upon the vulnerability that comes with being a writer, and how personal writing becomes when you fall in love. Aka: this is a must read if you are a writer.

Thank you to my besties at @berkleyromance for the free copy. Being a Berkley influencer is truly my Bookstagram badge of honor.

Thank you first off to BerkIey Publishing Group for allowing me to read this ARC, thank you NetGalley for housing this e-book on your site for me to enjoy, and thank you to the authors, Austin Siegemund-Broka and Emily Wibberley for writing this book and sending it out into the world!

I really wanted to love this book but it fell short for me. The preface, ex-coauthors/love interests uniting once again to craft a stunner of a novel seemed like a wonderful concept, but what I didn't envision sadly was how unlikeable these characters would be. I found them childish, leaping from one bad decision to another, never seeming to understand why things were turning out the way they were. Always the victim never the problem, etc.

On a happier note I throughly enjoyed the character of Harriet, who I came to see as the voice of reason in this novel. She had no problem being blunt as hell and telling Nathan straight up what he needed to hear. I also give bonus points to any book which gives mention of a library or book store and I loved Forewards, the bookstore that Katrina is visiting once again when this book begins.

I also enjoyed learning more about the behind the scenes work that goes into publishing and setting up/maintaining writing deals and carrying out promotion; I definitely do not know a lot about this area, just being a reader myself. I realize a lot of work goes into writing, publishing, and selling a book and for that alone I give credit to all who have helped this novel to succeed. I am only sorry that I didn't clique with the book as much as I had hoped.

I think this was an interestingread for me. I love Emily and Austin they are such an amazing writing duo and I was hesitant going into this book because it's their adult fiction debut. I was very pleasantly surprise to see that they were able to shift their writing for an older audience, a lot of author are now flipping between Young Adult and New Adult/Contemporary and not everyone can separate they're writing for the two. The Roughest Draft was very good and Had me feel a bit sophisticated while read it. Though the book did seem reminiscent to Beach Read by Emily Henry, I did like all the major differences making this book a bit more deeper than just two writers struggling not only with writing new novel but also they're relationships going beyond "Do I like you?" to "Hey we use to be together, we're not now we're with other people, and we need/want to find our way back to one another ". I really enjoyed this and will always keep an eye out for anything new this duo comes out with!!!

As is the case with every #Wibbroka book I read, The Roughest Draft gave me all the feels. It was so fun to read an adult novel from this power couple and I hope they do more in the future.

I've been a fan of Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka since their first YA release. With every book since, my love for their writing and stories has grown. I've been so excited to read their adult debut, and I'm happy to say I really enjoyed it.

The Roughest Draft is a really charming story. I loved the focus on two writers who connect in way that's akin to soulmates. It's really interesting to see how their relationship grows and shifts throughout the book and I really liked the use of flashbacks — they really helped to connect pieces of Nathan and Katrina's story.

Nathan and Katrina are both really intriguing characters. There is some sense of mystery to their relationship that plays out throughout the book and always leaves a sense of curiosity throughout the book. I was engaged the whole way through and really liked the way things wrapped up.

Like their past books, Emily and Austin write with such passion and it jumps through the pages. It's a known fact that I'm going to love their writing and this book is no different. While I was originally cautious about their adult debut since my love of their YA books is so strong, I really think they've solidified their writing and story telling in any genre and for any audience.

My only qualm is that I wish there was just a bit more romance. Things were very slow throughout the book and while I love that the focus was on their writing partnership, I wish there was just a bit more reaction to the tension between them, and instead, things only played out romantically towards the end. If things happened a bit sooner, I think this book would have been a true 5 star read for me.

I still really enjoyed this one and I can't wait to read their next adult rom-com!

Thank you to Berkley Romance for giving me a chance to read this book. This was a quick and easy read that took me less than a day to finish. The two main characters in this book are Katrina and Nathan, who met randomly at a writers' conference, and wrote a book together. The book they wrote together became a bestseller and skyrocketed them to fame in the literary world, but the same could not be said about their friendship. They ended up going their separate ways, and you could say the separation was less than amicable. Now, they are back to writing another book together, with all the years of things unsaid and feelings repressed between the two of them. This is a good book to read if you love the enemies to lovers trope, or more specifically, if you like friends to enemies back to friends to lovers. This is definitely a slow burn, and the tension mounts throughout most of the book. It is a huge relief when the pair finally admit their feelings to each other, and when they finally kiss. Chris, their literary agent turned Katrina's fiance, is super slimy, and you can't help but dislike him most of the story. There aren't too many other secondary characters in this book, although the two have a mutual friend, Harriet, who brings comedic relief to an otherwise serious plot.

3.5 Stars!!

Lack of communication makes me a little bit miffed!

THE ROUGHEST DRAFT by EMILY WIBBERLEY and AUSTIN SIEGEMUND-BROKA was a really nice story and one that kept me reading. I was immediately drawn into this one and really enjoyed the premise of two authors trying to write a book together. I really liked what this author duo did with this book. It was a little bit different and the chemistry for me shined through their relationship to the fictional characters on the page.

The present story was much more preferred by me than the past. They seemed quite similar and almost lost me but I’m glad that I finished reading.

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Emily Wibberley; Austin Siegemund-Broka, and Berkley Publishing for my digital reviewer copy. Would recommend it!

When I read the description for this book I got super excited - ex-coworkers with forced proximity? Sign me up. When I started reading, I really enjoyed the then and now style of story telling - I was looking forward to unravelling what exactly went wrong between Katrina and Nathan. Unfortunately, I found the middle of the book sagged. There just wasn't enough meat to the story - it was also where the narrative went a little off the rails for me. It got a little too forcefully profound. Nathan in particular kept trying to make every small moment into something profound - it was over the top and really took me out of the story. I did enjoy the ending, but it was a long journey to get there.

I have mixed feelings about this book. While I really liked the overall premise of the book, there was one element that kind of annoyed me. I feel the author waited much too long to reveal the reason for the rift between the main characters. By the time it was finally talked about, I feel like it was anti-climactic.

That said, I did enjoy the read.