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.

Really enjoyed this book! The story was fresh and something I haven't read before. The mystery throughout the book had me hooked to find out what the conflict was. The characters were very well developed and I immediately liked Nathan and Katrina. The setting that repeats and the moments they felt sparks in were all well written. The clear passion between the two characters who would rather stay away from each other was palpable. This is the first book I've read by the authors and finding out their personal background made this book even better.

Didn't love this as much as I thought I would. I liked the premise, two authors co-writing, but it was just soooo slow. It took me a week to get through the first 100 pages.

I liked this story, but it would be a secondary purchase for my public library. I was frustrated with the main characters just not talking to each other leading to years of separation.

Oh my heart! For fans of Emily Henry, this one is for you as it felt like a mash up of the best parts of both Beach Read and PWMOV, but also so unique in its own way.

I absolutely adored the premise of this story! Co-authors with a tumultuous history who are basically forced back together to write another book after a fall out four years ago… how fun is that? Plus, what made this more intriguing was the fact THIS book was cowritten by a husband-wife partnership! The irony in it all made it much more fascinating to read because I kept thinking “is this at all what the experience is like for the actual authors to write together?”.

First, I really enjoyed the writing and prose. The story was told from both Katrina and Nathan’s POV, with some flashbacks to the past thrown in as well. There were so many great moments and dialogue that were really profound and touching that I found myself rereading, plus I liked that both Katrina and Nathan’s perspective had their own voice to it which was nice to read.

For the plot itself, I enjoyed several aspects. One was of course seeing and understanding Katrina and Nathan’s journey— both as co-authors/ work partners and as individuals. With the partnership storyline, I was of course SO curious to know what the heck happened four years ago to cause the two to part ways. As for their individual stories, seeing how they each fell in and out of love for different reasons and at different points in their life was so interesting and I really appreciated how it was written.

My only minor issue with the book is that even though truths came out and thjngs got resolved, I feel like a lot of it was chalked up to lack of communication. I get the characters had a hard time grasping past feelings and situations, but I think because of those past misunderstandings, it made some of their behaviors in the present a bit hard to get on board with.

Overall, I really enjoyed this adult fiction debut by these authors and would highly recommend for any romance lovers out there!

I loved the idea of looking at the process of co-authoring a book, especially when the partnership has gone south.
Unfortunately, this book didn't quite work for me. I'm a big fan of strong female protagonists, and Kate came off as weak to me. And, as a fan of second chance romances, I was looking for more, well, romance. I recommend checking this book out as the things that didn't work for me could be personal preferences.

Thank you to Berkley for this copy that I won in a giveaway.

Enjoyed this romance a lot. The elements of writing, of the romance tropes of a little bit of both friends to lovers and enemies to lovers was clever. The multiple perspectives was delightful and the conflict's conclusion was so satisfying. Really enjoyed this story and these fully realized and charming characters.

Powerful, moving, and beautiful. SUCH A GOOD STORY! I loved every moment I got to spend unraveling Kat and Nathan’s story. The switch back and forth between present and past was genius. I was absolutely drawn in and read this book in one sitting.

Nathan and Katrina co-wrote a best selling book, but that was three years ago. They left that experience on bad terms, but what happened that left them so angry with each other? This book takes us on the journey of figuring that out as Nathan and Katrina reunite to write another book to fulfill a contractual obligation with their publisher.

I love books about books, and I put The Roughest Draft in that category since it has a focus on two people writing a book. I felt a part of their writing process, and that’s something I enjoyed. The author definitely built great chemistry between Nathan and Katrina, and I kept reading because I needed to know both what happened that caused them to have such a tumultuous relationship and to see how it played out.

I found the ending to be somewhat predictable, but with a romance I almost expect that so it didn’t take away too much of my enjoyment. My biggest (but still not too big) issue with the book is the author’s use of a dual timeline to explain their past and how it affects their current relationship. For most of the book I found that their interactions were so similar in the past and present at times I would forget which timeline I was in.

Overall I really enjoyed the ride that this story took me on. If you are a rom-com aficionado, I think this will be up your alley.

Thank you @netgalley for this ARC.