Sophie Reads YA: Emily Wibberley & Austin Siegemund-Broka

Emily Wibberley & Austin Siegemund-Broka

Waiting On Wednesday: What's Not to Love by Emily Wibberley & Austin Siegemund-Broka

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Emily Wibberley & Austin Siegemund-Broka

Waiting On Wednesday: Time of Our Lives by Emily Wibberley & Austin Siegemund-Broka

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2019 Contemporary Romance Challenge

Review: If I'm Being Honest by Emily Wibberley & Austin Siegemund-Broka

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If I'm Being Honest
Series: None
Author: Emily Wibberley & Austin Siegemund-Broka
Published April 23rd 2019 by Viking Books for Young Readers

Goodreads Synopsis
High school senior Cameron Bright’s reputation can be summed up in one word: bitch. It’s no surprise she’s queen bee at her private L.A. high school—she’s beautiful, talented, and notorious for her cutting and brutal honesty. So when she puts her foot in her mouth in front of her crush, Andrew, she fears she may have lost him for good.

In an attempt to win him over, Cameron resolves to “tame” herself, much like Katherine in Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew. First, she’ll have to make amends with those she’s wronged, which leads her to Brendan, the guy she labelled with an unfortunate nickname back in the sixth grade. At first, Brendan isn’t all that receptive to Cameron’s ploy. But slowly, he warms up to her when they connect over the computer game he’s developing. Now if only Andrew would notice…

But the closer Cameron gets to Brendan, the more she sees he appreciates her personality—honesty and all—and wonders if she’s compromising who she is for the guy she doesn’t even want.
Goodreads

Review
I read the debut by these authors after being lucky enough to win a copy online, and knew that I would be wanting to read more from them in the future. Work got in the way a bit, but once I eventually was able to get a hold of a copy of If I'm Being Honest, I dove straight in, and really enjoyed myself. Cameron is, quite honestly, a bitch. Her reputation precedes her and she is known around school for her brutal honesty. She wants to be the best she can be, and now that she feels ready for a relationship, she sets her sights on Andrew. Andrew has been a family friend for years, and she's always liked him, but now that he's 'socially acceptable', she thinks they should get together. The thing is, Andrew doesn't like the fact that she's bitchy, especially to Paige, Andrew's new friend. While reading The Taming of the Shrew in class, Cameron sees herself in Katherine, and wants to redeem herself, starting with making amends with Paige, and Paige's brother, Brendan, whom she had given an awful nickname to years ago. The closer she gets to both Paige and Brendan, the more she realises that she's just been acting like a cow to impress her estranged father, and that being a bit different, a bit geeky, is actually a good thing, and perhaps Andrew wasn't the person for her, but rather Brendan is.

I loved Cameron! Yes, she is a bitch, but she's so unapologetic about it, it's refreshing. I think she's used it as a facade for so long that she struggled to find her real self, but the more she learnt about other people, and the more she realised that nothing she did would change how her mother or father behaved, the more we saw the real Cameron. She had so many layers, and the more she saw people like Paige and Brendan, who were on the fringes of the social ladder, but really didn't care about it, the more she flourished. The friendship in this book, particularly between Cameron and Paige, was phenomenal. They were so snarky to each other, acting as if they still hated each other when we knew they really enjoyed each other's company was refreshing. The whole Rocky Horror plot line was unexpected, but I adored it, as Rocky Horror is one of my favourite musicals!

The romance between Cameron and Brendan was dead cute. Yes, there were the complications of Cameron being the reason that Brendan had had an awful nickname, but she never knew how bad it had been, and was making amends through the early interactions. The more they were together, like with Cameron and Paige, the more they blossomed, and I felt that their romance was real, and not forced. Honestly, it's probably one of the best slow burns I've read in a long time.

After enjoying Always Never Yours so much, I was surprised to find I enjoyed this one even more, and can't wait to read their next book even more.

Dates Read:
November 30-December 1, 2019

Rating
4 Stars

2018 Contemporary Romance Challenge

ARC Review: Always Never Yours by Emily Wibberley & Austin Siegemund-Broka

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Always Never Yours
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, 2018

Rating
4 Stars