Worth it!

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I'll be completely honest and say that "Wake Up Wanda Wiley" by Andrew Diamond is a book that I never would've picked up on my own. The cover, the genre, the premise- none of it seemed interesting to me. I am so glad that I happened upon it through BookishFirst and that I choose to read the excerpt and then was selected for a free copy.
"Wake Up Wanda Wiley" is hilarious. It's a dual perspective story told from the point of view of Wanda- a pot smoking, romance writer- and her character Hannah Sharpe - an unused character that hasn't yet fit into a novel-.
Wanda's life has been stagnant for a few years. Specifically due to her relationship with her former college professor Dirk Jaworski. Dirk is a stereotypical misogynistic narcissist. Her writing has become formulaic- writing genre romances that are no longer selling well. At the start of the novel Wanda is attempting to write a Trevor Dunwoody thriller "The President Has Been Stolen"- a series originated by Ed Parsippany. Eventually Trevor ends up at the house where Hannah resides. The two begin to talk. It's revealed that Hannah has never fit neatly into the genre romances Wanda writes so she is relegated to a house in the back of her writer's imagination. Hannah is resigned to her position but is not above working to make changes. When Austin, Dirk's colleague and Wanda's friend, announces that he's moving to California Hannah seizes the shift in Wanda to push her creator towards a change. Unlike Dirk Austin sees Wanda and respects her for who she is. Before he leaves cross country he makes his move.
This book is fast paced and full of comedic moments. It's a quick read and easy to follow. My only complaint is the difference in length of chapters. At the beginning the chapters are long for both Wanda and Hannah but as time goes on Hannah's chapters are only a few pages while Wanda's go on for a long time. Though this makes sense given the structure of the novel it's odd.