The Roughest Draft

By: Emily Wibberley, Austin Siegemund-Broka

Narrated by: Dan Bittner, Imani Jade Powers

Length: 9 hrs and 56 mins

Publisher's summary

One of...
Amazon's Best Romances of January
Popsugar's Best New Romances of 2022
Cosmopolitan's Best Romance Novels of 2022
Buzzfeed, GMA.com, Shondaland, and Bustle's Best of January
Oprah Daily’s Most Anticipated Romances of 2022
E! News' Books to Add To Your Reading List in January
Bookbub's Most Anticipated Romances of Winter
The Nerd Daily’s Swoonworthy 2022 Releases

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 book 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.

©2022 Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka (P)2022 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"Real, raw, and heartfelt."—USA Today

"The Roughest Draft is a book about books, and a breathtaking meditation on the ways in which fiction can be a space to expose and write large our must vulnerable truths...Complex and achingly romantic, The Roughest Draft feels as if it's a palimpsest for Wibberley and Siegemund-Broka's most deeply held beliefs about writing and each other—a profound collective story inked out for all of us to find ourselves on its pages."—Entertainment Weekly

“The Roughest Draft has it all: Romance, rumor, and intrigue, and you won’t want to put it down.”—Shondaland

Great storyline, a little slow to start

I loved the story of this book but the start was a little slow. I love reading about writers and this storyline was super interesting!

Lovely

The narrators did a fantastic job! this book made me feel warm and fuzzy and have some self-realization as well. the storyline became a little predictable for me but it overall was a great read.

Loved the narrators!

Chris sucks! He’s so selfish and inconsiderate! He doesn’t love Katerina and he never did! He only wanted her because of the money she could bring him as an agent/author relationship!

In the first part of this book Katrina is being so naive about Chris’s feelings toward her, he only wants her to write the book. He wants nothing more, his comment about “what about a new wife” is just such a strong thing to say! It’s a slap in the face, just because she doesn’t want to write anymore he wants to leave her? Wow! And she is feeding into this now, saying yes to writing the book with Nathan!

Chris is a tool, I hate him!

Nathan’s douchebag character Dean is spot on for Chris! He really is an asshat.

This is very hard to read, not in the sense that it’s not enjoyable, but that their tension is so strained! It’s just very palpable and cringy right now. And we still know nothing of what’s happened in the past! I’m feeling very much like I want to read ahead and see what happened, but I’m not going to do that, choosing to stay dumb to the meat of the story!

I like Harriet!

Okay, so no cheating happened between the mains! That’s good… but I’m definitely feeling that Nathan was probably falling in real, actual love with Katrina and maybe that is why his marriage ended? I just don’t understand why Kat wouldn’t reciprocate?!? They seemed to have good chemistry… I’ll keep reading it.

I hate Chris!

I’m now about 75-80% done with the book, and I’m at the cross roads! The 4 years earlier chapter of where the decision lies to change their lives forever, and it’s heart breaking the way Nathan is talking about his wife, nothing has happened between him and Kat, but the future of wanting it to happen is in the forefront of his thoughts! He’s breaking on the beach and I’m beaming along side him. I love this book. Working along side someone who really gets you in every possible way and feeling that chemistry with them is just an undeniable truth. It has to be hard when you’ve made commitments to someone else!

Wow, Kat’s 4 years ago was so sad, Nathan confessed his love but as characters, and Kat is scared of everything she could have and lose and so she chooses to end her relationship with her best friend.

Oh man, I hate the way she let him down! That’s kinda crappy and very immature I feel. Just have the conversation with this man that you love so much, I know it’s scary and your scared for the future, of it maybe not working out the way that you planned, but if you don’t take risks you can never move forward… and now it makes sense as to why she settled for Chris all those years ago!

We’re back in the presence and I’m so happy Chris had been kicked to the curb and they can now explore their feelings for each other! And I love these scenes, they are beautifully written, it’s spicy yet tame and I’m in to it! I don’t need dirty filthy talk in every single book I read, sometimes it’s nice to really be in the moment of what is really happening. And what is actually happening is two people finally acting on their feelings. I’m loving this.

So sad, but they needed to hash out the past and really talk out their feelings! I was scared when she was at the beach thinking she was going to just give up her craft and the man she loves for fear. But she prevailed and it was wonderful.



This book was super great, the only thing I have a problem with is it just a little pretentious. It’s filled with complicated rhetorics and fancy language that sometimes the story is lost to all the words! Also……. IF I HAVE TO READ THE WORD PROSE ONE MORE TIME!!!!!

Gah, I really enjoyed this book.

Boring

The narrators were great. I found the characters annoying and not very likable. The story was pretty dull and I found myself just slogging through it, I just wanted it to end.

LOVE! Love. Love.

Even though I’m a long, long time Audible listener, this is the first time I’ve felt compelled to write a review because this book is worth it. It’s hard to put a finger on why I loved it so much ... besides the great writing and narration. It has similar themes as other books but there is something special about the characters and their absolute adoration and respect for each other ... about the love that exists even when they’re not conscious of it. I found myself wanting to slow down the narration just so the book would last longer. I want the authors to continue the characters’ stories. Too many romance novels are one-offs. Let us see what’s next for them.

Nothing New

I loved the narrators but found myself struggling to get through this book. I think the reason I never wanted to pick it up was due in part to the plot being alike so many other books I've read and there was nothing tying me to these characters, especially because I could not form a connection with either one of them. I am really sad because I wanted to love these as I've had lots of people recommend this to me :(

A book for book lovers!

Exceeded my expectations. I’m a sucker for romance about romance writers (I’m a lawyer married to a lawyer, after all), and this book was particularly brave in the topics it tackled (TW: emotional infidelity). Looking forward to reading more by this duo!

Disappointed

At first, I loved this book. Couldn't put it down. Then as I got further into it, I became more impatient for the story to unfold. When it finally did, it was extremely anticlimactic. I'm so disappointed with how the authors wrapped up this book.

Hard to digest

I’m not sure how to put this but the quality of workmanship was great … I just *felt* nothing. I didn’t fall in love with the characters. It moved very slow, I kept waiting for the shift from shallow beginning to deep ending but it barely climaxed.

Super cute

This romance is super cute. It’s beautifully written. I enjoyed the flashbacks blended throughout the story. I read this in just over 24 hours, so I would say it’s a good one.