Book Review for The Roughest Draft by Emily Wibberley, Austin Siegemund-Broka

 The Roughest Draft by Emily Wibberley, Austin Siegemund-Broka

Paperback, 336 pages

Publication: January 25th 2022 by Berkley Books

Genre:  Romance, Contemporary Romance, Chick Lit, Books About Books

 

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

Three years ago, Katrina Freeling and Nathan Van Huysen were the brightest literary stars on the horizon, their cowritten books topping bestseller lists. But on the heels of their greatest success, they ended their partnership on bad terms, for reasons neither would divulge to the public. They haven't spoken since, and never planned to, except they have one final book due on contract.

Facing crossroads in their personal and professional lives, they're forced to reunite. The last thing they ever thought they'd do again is hole up in the tiny Florida town where they wrote their previous book, trying to finish a new manuscript quickly and painlessly. Working through the reasons they've hated each other for the past three years isn't easy, especially not while writing a romantic novel.

While passion and prose push them closer together in the Florida heat, Katrina and Nathan will learn that relationships, like writing, sometimes take a few rough drafts before they get it right.

 

My Thoughts:  Two people come together to co-write a book.  I have thought about what it would take to co-write a book with someone (I am not an author, so it is just a curiosity). How hard would it be to write your emotions into a book and have someone else want to change it, have different ideas, and critique your words?  Katrina and Nathan work together seamlessly.  They have their disagreements; they have their misunderstandings, but their book ends up a best seller.  Then the publicity starts, and their relationship falls apart only to come together years later to write another book together.

I really enjoyed seeing Katrina and Nathan work together, fight together, and figure out life together.  Their story shows how much emotions play into everything we do.  The attraction they felt when writing their first book did not disappear when they are back together to write book two.  Those emotions just grew in their time apart.  I could feel their attraction but even more I could feel the love and respect they had for each other as authors and friends.  

The Roughest Draft is an unique and fun look at co-authoring a book written by co-authors.  I would imagine some of this book is written from firsthand experience and I love that.  

**Thank you Danielle Keir at Berkley for a copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. 

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Meet the co-authors:  (Taken from their website)Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka met and fell in love in high school. Austin went on to graduate magna cum laude from Harvard, while Emily graduated magna cum laude from Princeton. Together, they are the authors of Always Never Yours, If I’m Being Honest, Time of Our Lives, and What’s Not to Love. Now married, they live in Los Angeles, where they continue to take daily inspiration from their own love story.