Spotlight: The Write Off

Mars Darling has always dreamed of being a novelist. She talks to imaginary people and creates fantasy worlds (with sexy immortal heroes) in her head. She takes her undergraduate writing class very seriously.

West Emerson can’t quite relate to Mars’s enthusiasm for the course. West is just here for class credit. But it isn’t long until Mars learns that West can write—so well, in fact, that he beats Mars out of a spot in a coveted creative writing seminar.

What starts out as a friendly rivalry in the classroom turns into a best friendship. And then—for a time that felt all too brief—a romance.

Thirteen years later, Mars and West aren’t on speaking terms. Until they find themselves face-to-face, back on their old college campus. Mars became the YA romantasy writer she always dreamed she would be. And West is a literary fiction powerhouse. Is a reunion at an on-campus literary festival some form of poetic justice? Is it the perfect setting for a second draft? Can the pair rewrite their love story, or is this the end of the book?

Purchase The Write Off 

"The Write Off is the perfect romance for anyone with a love for books! Kara McDowell has crafted a second chance romance that captures not just a beautiful love story, but an honest look at relationships in the bookish community and how they impact authors. I found myself applauding the relatability just as often as I was swooning! If you have ever wondered what it's like to be an author, The Write Off is a must read!"

—Falon Ballard, USA Today bestselling author of Toe to Toe

“The Write Off is a second chance love story that is just as swoony as it is beautifully devastating. I was hooked from the very first page, and I couldn’t put it down for a single second. Let it be known: Kara McDowell is creating absolute art.”

—Julie Olivia, USA Today bestselling author of If It Makes You Happy

“Laced with nostalgia and electric chemistry, The Write Off is an intimate second-chance romance that captures the delicious ache of two beautifully flawed people who can’t help but orbit each other. Kara McDowell deftly weaves past and present into a story pulsing with yearning and forgiveness, delivering a hard-won love you can’t help but root for.”

—Ali Brady, USA Today bestselling author of Battle of the Bookstores

© Kendyl Hawkins

Kara McDowell writes romantic comedies for teens and adults including The Prince & the Apocalypse, One Way or Another, This Might Get Awkward, and others. She lives with her husband and three sons in Mesa, Arizona, where she divides her time between writing, baking, and wishing for rain.

Visit Kara at her website and on Instagram.

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