Book Review: "The Roughest Draft" by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka

In this latest collaboration between married writers Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka, two writers face a challenge even worse than writers’ block.

Katrina and Nathan met at a writers’ program and immediately felt a creative connection. They became a writing team, and their second novel catapulted them into fame. But as soon as that book was done, they ended their partnership without explaining why, and they’ve not spoken since then. Did they have an affair? Was there jealousy? Abuse? Creative differences? No one knows, except them.

Now, with various pressures (financial and otherwise) mounting, they’re forced to collaborate on one more book as per their contract. They never expected they’d have to go back to the house in Florida where they wrote their last book, and confront all of the issues that tore them apart in the first place.

Will creative magic strike again? Can they find a way to talk through all of the things they’ve never said to one another, and come out stronger? What would a happy ever after look like for them?

This is the first foray into “adult” fiction for real-life married writers Wibberley and Siegemund-Broka, who’ve written YA romances to this point. I thought they did a good job here and I was invested in the characters’ story. I just felt the pacing was uneven, and at times I just wanted to skim the book until it got moving again.