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The Write Off
Not yet published
Expected 7 Apr 26Two rival authors are forced to confront a decade of love and heartbreak on the campus where it all started in this captivating debut romance by Kara McDowell.
It’s been thirteen years since Mars Darling first met West Emerson on a bench outside their writing class. What started out as a friendly rivalry turned into a best friendship and then, for a brief time, a romance. Now over a decade later, as Mars stands at their college campus as a once-esteemed YA fantasy author, ready to take on a book festival, she comes face to face with West—the muse behind her infamous trilogy’s heartthrob hero, the man who betrayed her in the worst way.
Mars is determined not to let her comeback tour be ruined by the fact that West is also at the festival as an author. But the longer they are on the campus that holds so many shared memories, the more time they have to untangle their past, and Mars starts to question if maybe it’s not only her writing career that deserves a second chance.
Told in two unfolding timelines—Mars and West’s frenzied college days where they grapple with their undeniable connection, and their tension-filled present of heartache and familiar yearning—this charming romance shows that while you can’t rewrite the past, it’s never too late to chase your happily ever after and get back the one that got away.
It’s been thirteen years since Mars Darling first met West Emerson on a bench outside their writing class. What started out as a friendly rivalry turned into a best friendship and then, for a brief time, a romance. Now over a decade later, as Mars stands at their college campus as a once-esteemed YA fantasy author, ready to take on a book festival, she comes face to face with West—the muse behind her infamous trilogy’s heartthrob hero, the man who betrayed her in the worst way.
Mars is determined not to let her comeback tour be ruined by the fact that West is also at the festival as an author. But the longer they are on the campus that holds so many shared memories, the more time they have to untangle their past, and Mars starts to question if maybe it’s not only her writing career that deserves a second chance.
Told in two unfolding timelines—Mars and West’s frenzied college days where they grapple with their undeniable connection, and their tension-filled present of heartache and familiar yearning—this charming romance shows that while you can’t rewrite the past, it’s never too late to chase your happily ever after and get back the one that got away.
400 pages, Paperback
Expected publication April 7, 2026
2 people are currently reading
5593 people want to read
About the author
Kara McDowell
6 books428 followersKara McDowell is the author of romcoms for teenagers and adults, including her upcoming adult debut THE WRITE OFF. Coming from Berkley in Spring 2026.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
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November 30, 2025Dear Reader,
As a girl who’s been vicariously falling in love since I read Anne of Green Gables at 10 years old, I’ve had my fair share of “book boyfriends.” (A term I’ve always known in my soul, even if I didn’t have the words for it until recently.) I’ve fallen in love with Gilbert Blythe while studying at Queen’s Academy, Mr. Darcy while touring Pemberly, and Gus Everett while spending the summer at the beach. I’ve fallen in love with immortals, royals, and winged Fae. I know what it’s like to walk into a bookstore and feel butterflies in my stomach at the possibilities.
In short, I come by my fandom honestly, and I’m fascinated by the way fan spaces have evolved since I was a teenager spending my weekends in homemade merch at a midnight release party. Now, fan interactions happen online, and an artist’s lore is almost as important as the art itself. Entire careers are built on a foundation of self-mythology. 2020s pop culture thrives on it, and after one too many late-night internet deep dives, I got the idea for The Write Off.
We know what it looks like when a pop star breaks up with her boyfriend. Instead of love songs, she writes breakup songs. But what would happen if it was a best-selling fantasy series instead of pop music? Enter Mars Darling. When she accidentally makes the hero of her fantasy series a carbon copy of her first love, she turns him into the internet’s favorite book boyfriend. It’s mortifying and romantic and inspiring—right up until the moment Mars and West’s relationship implodes and she’s left broken hearted, alone, and with two more books to write.
In some ways, The Write Off is a fictional story about a fictional story. (I can’t say it doesn’t get a bit meta.) More importantly, I set out to write characters who feel real, even if that makes them a little messy. Mars and West’s story is one that embraces the angst and thrill of first love and second chances. It takes them more than a decade of art and love and loss to work through the mess, but when they do, every day of yearning was worth the wait.
For the devoted fangirl in me who duct taped a picture of one of my first “book boyfriends” to a plain white t-shirt because I couldn’t afford the real thing—putting this book into the world is a dream that was also worth the wait. Thank you for taking a look. I hope you find a little something that feels like falling in love.
Love,
Kara McDowell
P.S. Find me on IG or TikTok at @karajmcdowellbooks to find out what's next
As a girl who’s been vicariously falling in love since I read Anne of Green Gables at 10 years old, I’ve had my fair share of “book boyfriends.” (A term I’ve always known in my soul, even if I didn’t have the words for it until recently.) I’ve fallen in love with Gilbert Blythe while studying at Queen’s Academy, Mr. Darcy while touring Pemberly, and Gus Everett while spending the summer at the beach. I’ve fallen in love with immortals, royals, and winged Fae. I know what it’s like to walk into a bookstore and feel butterflies in my stomach at the possibilities.
In short, I come by my fandom honestly, and I’m fascinated by the way fan spaces have evolved since I was a teenager spending my weekends in homemade merch at a midnight release party. Now, fan interactions happen online, and an artist’s lore is almost as important as the art itself. Entire careers are built on a foundation of self-mythology. 2020s pop culture thrives on it, and after one too many late-night internet deep dives, I got the idea for The Write Off.
We know what it looks like when a pop star breaks up with her boyfriend. Instead of love songs, she writes breakup songs. But what would happen if it was a best-selling fantasy series instead of pop music? Enter Mars Darling. When she accidentally makes the hero of her fantasy series a carbon copy of her first love, she turns him into the internet’s favorite book boyfriend. It’s mortifying and romantic and inspiring—right up until the moment Mars and West’s relationship implodes and she’s left broken hearted, alone, and with two more books to write.
In some ways, The Write Off is a fictional story about a fictional story. (I can’t say it doesn’t get a bit meta.) More importantly, I set out to write characters who feel real, even if that makes them a little messy. Mars and West’s story is one that embraces the angst and thrill of first love and second chances. It takes them more than a decade of art and love and loss to work through the mess, but when they do, every day of yearning was worth the wait.
For the devoted fangirl in me who duct taped a picture of one of my first “book boyfriends” to a plain white t-shirt because I couldn’t afford the real thing—putting this book into the world is a dream that was also worth the wait. Thank you for taking a look. I hope you find a little something that feels like falling in love.
Love,
Kara McDowell
P.S. Find me on IG or TikTok at @karajmcdowellbooks to find out what's next
November 26, 2025
4 stars 🌟 what a sweet second chance 🥹 this really took me through the ringer but i have no regrets and i absolutely loved westmargot 📖🍊🌸 they were meant for each other, even if it took them 10+ years to figure it out 😊
one of my favorite things about this was the way that margot healed her relationship with her writing ❤️🩹 i think the author did a great job about portraying her emotions from beginning to end and by the epilogue, it truly felt like she made a drastic shift in her mentality towards her work 🥲
sometimes the amount of times over they saw each other over the years and something happened got a bit annoying but it all came together in the end (AND THE RED VINES AT THE MOVIE PREMIERE GODDDDD west is my dream man im sorry)
a special thank you to netgalley and berkley for the arc in exchange for an honest review!
one of my favorite things about this was the way that margot healed her relationship with her writing ❤️🩹 i think the author did a great job about portraying her emotions from beginning to end and by the epilogue, it truly felt like she made a drastic shift in her mentality towards her work 🥲
sometimes the amount of times over they saw each other over the years and something happened got a bit annoying but it all came together in the end (AND THE RED VINES AT THE MOVIE PREMIERE GODDDDD west is my dream man im sorry)
a special thank you to netgalley and berkley for the arc in exchange for an honest review!
December 10, 2025
Big thanks to Berkley Romance for the ARC of this one! This was my first by this author and will definitely not be my last! The story follows two writers who met in college as English majors. Mars is the author of a wildly successful YA romantasy series and West writes Literary Fiction. As a former English teacher and English major myself, so many of the details surrounding their college years were so fun for me, including descriptions of classics that I absolutely did not enjoy either! The book follows Mars and West over the course of their college career and post college as they fall in and out of love. This book was the perfect second chance romance with a slow burn. The tension between the two characters was incredible and despite all of the miscommunication between them. I could see that they were perfect for each other! The timeline goes back and forth between college, in between, and present day when they are seeing each other after many years apart at a book convention at the alma mater. This book was so great and I really loved every detail. It is perfect for all romance lovers, but especially people who love second chance and enjoy some fun literary details. Five stars all around! LOVED IT!
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December 30, 2025Almost didn’t pick this one up because, come on, Mars and West? The names of the main characters almost put me off of this one, but I should’ve known by now not to underestimate Kara McDowell. The Prince & the Apocalypse was a fresh surprise; now with her adult romance debut, McDowell shows she can make the transition just fine.
The Write Off is a deeply affecting, enemies-to-second-chance romance told in parallel timelines of two authors who fell in love in college and reunite 10 years later at a literary festival held at their alma mater. West in particular has a long journey, but he makes his amends pretty spectacularly. Read on for:
🗣️ Believable communication issues
🫣 Petty revenge attempts gone wrong (but not too wrong)
💔 Long stretches of mutual yearning
🥰 A litfic MMC who respects the FMC’s popular romantasy from the jump
📖 Reading between the lines
Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
The Write Off is a deeply affecting, enemies-to-second-chance romance told in parallel timelines of two authors who fell in love in college and reunite 10 years later at a literary festival held at their alma mater. West in particular has a long journey, but he makes his amends pretty spectacularly. Read on for:
🗣️ Believable communication issues
🫣 Petty revenge attempts gone wrong (but not too wrong)
💔 Long stretches of mutual yearning
🥰 A litfic MMC who respects the FMC’s popular romantasy from the jump
📖 Reading between the lines
Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Kara McDowell's THE WRITE OFF is an absolute masterclass in second chance, dual timeline, and kisses in the rain!
I loved so much about this. It's deeply relatable as an author, but beyond that the doubts and anxiety that Mars has not just about her writing career but her relationship with West felt so well-articulated and true to her character. Meanwhile, West is delightfully layered and so very human.
Their romance is messy in a perfectly imperfect way that feels so true to two people who are absolutely meant for each other but can't seem to get their timing right. It was the kind of push/pull that makes second chance so rewarding to read, and KD's line level prose is full of must-highlight lines.
If you enjoy getting your feelings hurt while you swoon, this one will be perfect for your spring reading list!
I loved so much about this. It's deeply relatable as an author, but beyond that the doubts and anxiety that Mars has not just about her writing career but her relationship with West felt so well-articulated and true to her character. Meanwhile, West is delightfully layered and so very human.
Their romance is messy in a perfectly imperfect way that feels so true to two people who are absolutely meant for each other but can't seem to get their timing right. It was the kind of push/pull that makes second chance so rewarding to read, and KD's line level prose is full of must-highlight lines.
If you enjoy getting your feelings hurt while you swoon, this one will be perfect for your spring reading list!
December 8, 2025
I was lucky enough to be allowed to read an advance copy of THE WRITE OFF and I’m so glad I did! Romantic, funny, and surprising in the best ways, THE WRITE OFF is a meta love story about two writers who can’t seem to quit each other. Told in dual timelines, we follow Mars and West as they fall in love and loathing from their college days to the present when they’re appearing in a conference together. I was so eager to find out what happened in the past to bring the two characters to be enemies, yet the chemistry and palpable longing had me rooting for them each step of the way. Full of romantic tension, wit, and heart, THE WRITE OFF is my new favorite rom com- perfect for fans of Emily Henry. I’m jealous of past Nikki who got to read this book for the first time; it’s that good!
Review of advance copy received from Goodreads Giveaways
West and Margot (Mars) meet freshman year and are want-to-be writers, and over the span of 13 - 15 years of them writing books, they have been together, broken apart, fueded, and journaled about by journalist. Both hurting each other somehow. I love the banter, heartsick, and frustrations that both deal with to finally get to the end game... to be with each other or not?
November 29, 2025
THE WRITING STUFF HIT A LITTLE *TOO* CLOSE TO HOME SOMETIMES LOL BUT I LOVED HOW THEY GAVE EACH OTHER NOTES AND WROTE EACH OTHER INTO THEIR WORK WHETHER CONSCIOUSLY OR NOT -- IT WAS JUST SO ROMANTIC!
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews