Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka break into Adult with their newest romance, The Roughest Draft, a spicy story about two co-writers who loathe each other… or do they?
Two soulmates, wrenched apart
When Nathan and Katrina met at a writer’s workshop four years ago, they hit it off immediately. This led to a co-writing relationship that produced two bestsellers. After the second book, they parted ways, the last book in their contract unfinished.
Without Kat, every novel Nathan has written is a dud. He tries to sell his newest book, and his agent delivers bad news—no one wants it. Although he doesn’t need to write for money, being independently wealthy, Nathan needs to write to keep himself from going crazy. So he agrees to go back to Katrina.
Kat, on the other hand, hasn’t written at all since parting with Nathan. She can’t. She’s paralyzed, terrified, by expectations. Thankfully, her fiance, who is also her agent, has fully supported her. But now she’s sensing that support is starting to slip. He fell in love with a writer, and now that she doesn’t write anymore, Kat worries he will stop loving her. So she commits to write another book with Nathan, to save her relationship.
The two are shipped off to Florida, where they rent a house together and hunker down to write. But writing a romance with someone you hate is just as hard as you think…
This book reminded me why I read YA, not adult
I am an adult, but reading adult books has never interested me, and I think now I understand why. When reading YA, I can put up with a lot of immaturity and bad decision-making, because teenagers are inexperienced. They’re trying everything for the first time and they’re full of emotions they don’t know how to deal with. Of course they make mistakes! These two, however, are adults that still act like teenagers.
Nathan drove me crazy from page one. I think it was his entitled attitude that rubbed me the wrong way, but that problem persisted throughout the pages. Katrina was relatable at first, but as time went on and more of her issues came to light, I just kept wondering, “Why have you not gone to therapy?”
The narrative jumps back and forward between past and present, so you don’t know why they separated until near the end of the book. Once it was revealed, I lost even more respect for these characters. Their issues were not as huge as they implied, and I felt if they had simply communicated better, this whole story would have been avoided. They were unlikable characters, but not the fun kind—just frustrating.
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One upside: the prose is stunning
Over the past few years, this husband-and-wife writing team has quickly become one of my favorites. And while I didn’t enjoy this particular story, their prose never disappoints. I could highlight the whole book. Seriously. It’s beautifully written, and often very insightful. I will continue to read every YA these two write—just not their next adult.
This romance was not for me. However, readers are raving about it on every platform. It has struck a chord inside many. So if the story intrigues you, check it out! I hope it resonates with you too.
The Roughest Draft was published on January 25, 2022.
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