Here for the Drama

Kate Bromley (Talk Bookish to Me) delivers a smart, funny theater-nerd rom-com with wonderful witty banter in her second novel, Here for the Drama. At the expense of her own budding career, aspiring playwright Winnie has spent the past five years being a brilliant assistant to feminist theater icon Juliette Brassard. Winnie starts to question where her decisions have led her when Winnie and Juliette--along with Winnie's fellow assistant Roshni--hop over to London for a restaging of one of Juliette's plays.

Curly-haired, caffeinated and compassionate Winnie is a highly entertaining narrator. Her whip-smart rejoinders sometimes confuse people, but she's (mostly) comfortable in her own skin. Though she's agreed to a few British blind dates to help jump-start Juliette's playwriting mojo, Winnie takes matters into her own hands when she falls for Liam, Juliette's handsome, nerdy nephew. Their romance escalates quickly but believably; Winnie is confident when it comes to guys, but has a much harder time setting clear boundaries with Juliette.

Meanwhile, Juliette is butting heads with both her estranged sister and the director of her restaged play; Winnie's long-widowed dad is selling the family home back in New York; and Winnie is waffling about entering a playwriting contest she really wants to win. Some self-reflection and Roshni's straight-talking, friendly perspective go a long way toward helping Winnie straighten out her tangled priorities. While Winnie's personal crises make for a fun, compelling story, readers will cheer when she learns to keep the drama on the stage--where it belongs. --Katie Noah Gibson, blogger at Cakes, Tea and Dreams

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