The Roughest Draft

I'm genuinely conflicted about this book - on one hand, I think it's a very interesting read, and the other I think it doesn't always work.

It is very interesting in the sense that it is written by a married couple, and the plot is about the dissolution of a partnership, and them coming back together only to realise they were in love with each other. Given that we are reading a romance novel, it doesn't really come as a surprise. But I feel like the authors wanted us to see it as such, which is the “doesn't' always work” part.

I think life imitating art is a fun concept to play around with, and this book does good job of that. But what it doesn't do a good job of is convincing me these two should really be together. Just because the two of you work well together, doesn't mean the two of you should be together. We don't really see them interacting much with each other outside the confines of their writing partnership, and if more of such scenes were included I feel like this book would've had a stronger impact.

So I'm not sure if I should rate this as a 2.5 or a 3 star book, because at the end of the day I did enjoy this book at some level.

I think this book also felt a bit like a fan fiction of the authors' lives and romance. Which is something that put me off it.

Can we please reserve the cartoon covers for light, swoony romance?!? Because this was definitely not that. It struck me more as literary fiction with some romantic elements thrown in and I did not enjoy the reading experience at all. I read the first few chapters, saw the direction it was going in and quickly skimmed the rest. I am so happy I didn't spend time finishing this book.Much like [b:People We Meet on Vacation 54985743 People We Meet on Vacation Emily Henry https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1618913179l/54985743.SX50.jpg 67832306], this is a story about two people who have been in love with each other for years, during which time they are in relationships with other people. The difference between the [b:The Roughest Draft 57933316 The Roughest Draft Emily Wibberley https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1622091718l/57933316.SX50.jpg 77336310] and [b:People We Meet on Vacation 54985743 People We Meet on Vacation Emily Henry https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1618913179l/54985743.SX50.jpg 67832306], is that the former spends a lot of time on the MCs relationships with other people. Thus, we are forced to reckon with the betrayal of their love and it really dulled the “romance” of the book for me. If this book had been marketed as literary fiction, I would have gone in with different expectations and probably enjoyed it for what it was. As it stands, I am a moody reader who was hoping for light, swoony romance and was instead hit with this. I just wish this book had been marketed as what it was

This book tells us the story of Katrina and Nathan, co-authors of two successful novels with a severed relationship, who are forced to re-join to write a last romance.

The story unfolds through the two POV, in the present and in the past, allowing us to closely observe the characters' connection. I found the story to be well-written, bringing out Katrina and Nathan's chemistry, emotions, struggles, and insecurities.

I would like to have been able to see more of their relationship, besides their ability to write together. I really enjoyed the book but realize, as I write this review, that the characters could have been more developed. There is little about Katrina and Nathan beyond their work, we don't know what they like, what unites or separates them.

Overall, it was enjoyable reading.

Did they? But didn't they?

Co-writers, Nathan and Katrina ended their partnership four years ago for reasons unknown to the public or to those closest to them, coming as a shock after their two bestsellers. The two haven't even talked to one another in those four years until they team up to write one more book together to end their contract. They agree, grudgingly, as Katrina feels responsible for caring for her and her fiance's failing finances and Nathan's not selling books on his own.

The Roughest Draft is about the feeling behind the words, figuring out that fiction can be real, that if you finally say what you mean, it can be beautiful.

The reader is left in the dark in the beginning and we don't know what happened between them. It's torture, you learn in bits and pieces about their relationship as friends or possibly something more. And then you find out and you're struck, you yearn for them to figure things out. They know each other so well, every part of their being. And they write to each other, hiding behind their words, showing only parts of their true feelings. When it all comes out, whew.

This book was great, you could feel the tension between the characters, it practically leaps off the page. What I didn't expect was it to be a little bit raunchy. I brought this book to read while subbing for middle school and I was like um... That being said this book is awesome, both characters have a great arc, finding themselves but also each other. I appreciate Katrina's real struggle with depression and anxiety as well as Nathan's willingness to admit that he didn't necessarily know what love was.

I definitely recommend!