2018 Contemporary Romance Challenge
ARC Review: Always Never Yours by Emily Wibberley & Austin Siegemund-Broka
10:00
Series: None
Author: Emily Wibberley & Austin Siegemund-Broka
Published May 22nd 2018 by Speak
Goodreads Synopsis
Shouldn't a girl get to star in her own love story?
Seventeen-year-old Megan Harper is about due for her next sweeping romance. It's inevitable—each of her relationships starts with the perfect guy and ends with him falling in love . . . with someone else. But instead of feeling sorry for herself, Megan focuses on pursuing her next fling, directing theater, and fulfilling her dream college's acting requirement in the smallest role possible.
So when she’s cast as Juliet (yes, that Juliet) in her high school’s production, it’s a complete nightmare. Megan’s not an actress, and she’s used to being upstaged—both in and out of the theater. In fact, with her mom off in Texas and her dad remarried and on to baby #2 with his new wife, Megan worries that, just like her exes, her family is moving on without her.
Then she meets Owen Okita, an aspiring playwright inspired by Rosaline from Shakespeare's R+J. A character who, like Megan, knows a thing or two about short-lived relationships. Megan agrees to help Owen with his play in exchange for help catching the eye of a sexy stagehand/potential new boyfriend. Yet Megan finds herself growing closer to Owen, and wonders if he could be the Romeo she never expected.
In their fresh and funny debut, Emily Wibberly and Austin Siegemund-Broka break down the high school drama to find there's always room for familial love, romantic love, and—most importantly—self-love.
Goodreads
Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher. This in no way impacted on my view.
I won a copy of this book by the authors on twitter, and was I happy for that! This book, as a debut, blew me away, and I think that without that giveaway, I might not have discovered both authors, due to their being no UK publisher.
Megan has been crossed in love before - every time she thinks she's found the perfect leading man, he just happens to fall for someone else. She's done with that, and wants a sweeping romance of her own. Throwing herself into school, and her future of directing at college, she finds herself cast as Juliet in the upcoming production of Romeo and Juliet. That wasn't part of the plan, she'd just wanted a small role to fulfil the requirement for her application, but Megan decides to go with the flow, even though she really isn't suited for the limelight. Megan later becomes close to aspiring script-writer Owen, and in return for helping her get close to the cute set designer, Megan will help him in his characterisation of Rosalind, whom she identifies with. But, is it really the other guy she wants, or has she been waiting for Owen
I really enjoyed the characters in this book. All of them seemed real, and flawed, and exactly like I would imagine them to be. Megan was unabashed in her flirtiness, and still she hardly saw the attraction between herself and Owen until towards the end. The slow burning friends to lovers trope is one I'll always love, and in this book, it was done perfectly! Yes some parts of the plot were predictable, but that didn't take away from any of the enjoyment, and I can't wait to see what's next from these two authors.
Dates Read:
June 1-3, 2018Rating
4 Stars
