Wake Up, Wanda Wiley

Wanda Wiley is an author, and she's stuck. Stuck in a dead-end relationship with narcissistic Dirk, stuck in her writing, stuck in a pot-induced fog.

Hannah Sharpe is a runaway character. She's never really fit in any of Wanda's books, so she's been stuck in an abandoned farmhouse for years. Nothing ever changes in the farmhouse, until the day Trevor Dunwoody appears. Trevor is the one-dimensional, bang all the girls, shoot first and ask questions later action hero from a political thriller that Wanda has been tasked with ghostwriting. He's ended up in the farmhouse because Wanda is just as stuck on his novel as she is on her own writing. He has no idea he's a book character, so Hannah has to help him see how things are in their world. She enlists Trevor's help to break Wanda out of the fog, so that they can move on as characters and Wanda can - hopefully - move on in her life.

This is a pretty creative plot idea, or at least it's one I've never seen before. It was a quick read - I devoured it in one sitting, about an hour or so. The writing is clever, and there are moments of humor and moments where I just felt sad for Wanda's inability to break free of the jerkface Dirk. (Does she break free? I'm not telling. Read the book.) I wouldn't really call it a romantic comedy, because I'm pretty sure a comedy wouldn't feature a narcissistic abusive boyfriend, and that's what Dirk is. Is it great, lofty literature? No. Is it an enjoyable book that I'm glad I picked up? Absolutely. I'd like to read more of Mr. Diamond's work now.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book from Bookish First. All opinions here are mine, and I don't say nice things about books that I don't like.