REVIEW: The Breakup Tour by Emily Wibberley & Austin Siegemund-Broka

In The Breakup Tour by Emily Wibberley & Austin Siegemund-Broka, Before Riley Wynn became a household name as a pop star dubbed The Breakup Queen, she was a budding musician in love with pianist Max Harcourt. A lot has happened in the ten years since they parted ways. Riley has a trail of failed relationships behind her but she’s currently at the pinnacle of her career. And while Max gave up chasing his musical dreams, he’s content running the family business as well as playing music for the residents each day at the retirement home. But then Riley’s new album, the one that chronicles all of her exes, song by song, launches the hit of the year. And Max finds out Until You was written about him. When she calls him to ask if he’ll play piano on the song during her US tour, how can he say no?

“How do you do it?” I ask. “How do you put your deepest, most personal feelings into a song?”
“I have to. Where else would I put them? Writing can feel like cutting out my own heart, but sometimes cutting out my heart is the only way to stop the hurt,” she says calmly.

Neither Riley nor Max expects their feelings for each other to still be so…present. And strong. It seems that a decade apart didn’t do much to stifle the connection they share–musically or personally. And as Riley’s tour is every bit as thrilling and demanding as she knew it would be, her confusion over what to do about Max is growing. He says he wants to give things another try. And she believes he’s being honest. But Riley is known as The Breakup Queen for a reason. Something always causes her relationships to fail, whether it’s self-sabotage or bad luck she’s not sure. She just knows the last thing she wants to do is hurt Max. Can she be as fearless in her love life as she is with her career?

‘If there’s one thing scarier than taking chances, it might be taking second chances.’

Whether or not you’re a Swiftie, and even if you’re not a big music fan, there’s something truly special about second chance romance THE BREAKUP TOUR with its introspective, angsty, almost poetic prose.

‘Every song is a love song if you play it with the right person.’

Emily Wibberley & Austin Siegemund-Broka (who are real life husband and wife) were the perfect authors to tackle a romance based around Taylor Swift. Not only is THE BREAKUP TOUR written with a flowing, lyrical feel to it, but the duo somehow always manages to capture the real emotions their characters are feeling–especially the raw, nearly heartbreaking ones. And where this was based around a couple who were finding their way back to each other after a decade apart, just when our heroine Riley’s music career was skyrocketing, there were oh so many incredibly moving moments between her and Max as they reconnected.

While reading Max and Riley’s story, I tried to set aside the Taylor Swift comparisons and just enjoy these specific characters and the situation in which they found themselves. It helped that the premise was such an interesting one anyway. As both a music fan *and* a romance fan, how could I not want to see how two musicians–who had once meant everything to each other–work things out when their love was still so evident? And since Riley’s newest album was an ode to her exes through breakup songs, it made for a lot of soul searching on her part and a good bit of hurt on Max’s part, having to hear Riley sing about the former men in her life every night on tour.

But for as much as Riley’s songs caused some issues for Max to overcome, they were cathartic for her. And I think that’s the beauty of Wibberley & Siegemund-Broka’s evocative writing–they made it so very clear how music can heal, can hurt, and can create a soul-deep connection between people. Music was how Riley coped with her grief and raw feelings after each relationship ended. And the fact that she could turn that into songs that millions of people could sing along to and feel those emotions right along with her? Pure magic.

QOTD: If you’re a music lover, do you prefer breakup songs or love songs?

Book Info:

Publication: Published: January 23rd, 2024 | Berkley |

A rising-star musician has a second chance at love with an old flame she remembers all too well in this swoony romance from the acclaimed authors of The Roughest Draft.

Riley Wynn went from a promising singer-songwriter to a superstar overnight, thanks to her breakup song concept album and its unforgettable lead single. When Riley’s ex-husband claims the hit song is about him, she does something she hasn’t in ten years and calls Max Harcourt, her college boyfriend and the real inspiration for the song of the summer.

Max hasn’t spoken to Riley since their relationship ended. He’s content with managing the retirement home his family owns, but it’s not the life he dreamed of filled with music. When Riley asks him to go public as her songwriting muse, he agrees on one condition: he’ll join her in her band on tour.

As they perform across the country, Max and Riley start to realize that while they hit some wrong notes in the past, their future could hold incredible things. And their rekindled relationship will either last forever or go down in flames.