I'm convinced Sarah Adams can't write a bad book. I have read many, and they're all amazing.

Practice Makes Perfect is the second book set in Rome, Kentucky, following Annie and Will. Annie is the owner of a flower shop, and Will is the hot tattooed bodyguard for Annie's superstar sister-in-law (read When In Rome for that story). Annie wants to settle down and get married, but dating isn't easy for her. The opportunity is presented for Will to be her "dating coach."

This book is a super cute rom-com with closed doored spice that is still surprisingly steamy.

*Thank you to Random House Publishing and Netgalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review! *

This is my second Sarah Adams book and I have to admit this one let me down a little. I liked the characters and wanted to root for them but there was never really a chance to root. The conflict wasn't strong enough and I never felt like they needed to fight for their relationship. On a positive note, I very much enjoyed the author's writing style.

I have completely fallen in love with this book. It was absolutely wonderful and I did not want it to end. This was my first book I've read from this author and it won't be the last that's for sure, I have already bought two more!
I knew this book was going to be 5 stars right from the beginning and to be honest, I knew it when I found out about the book months ago! This book was just amazing and I loved both Annie and Will so much. Annie was the sweetest character in any book I have read and has the kindest soul, she deserved the world. Will was just, wow, I adored his character, the way he treated Annie, the way they both communicated with each other, it was just perfect.
This was such a sweet book. I loved it! I hope Emily and Maddie get their books next.
Thank you to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Oh my goodness, this book!

I absolutely loved watching Annie and Will fall messily into love as well as themselves.

This books if for all the people who feel deeply, love tenderly, and are forever hopeful while ALSO being for all those who build walls to keep people out, bury themselves in distractions, and stopped feeling a long time ago.

That dichotomy was perfectly executed and I adored watching Sarah weave two characters who seemingly are polar opposites realize that they are likely much more alike than they realize and that sharing the vulnerable stuff is always rewarding, even when it’s hard and scary.

I cried a few times, laughed a lot, and just like with all of Sarah’s books I felt deep heavy feelings while simultaneously remaining in a warm glow of hope and safety.. how!? How does she do that!?

All in all- I loved and adored this good girl/bad boy, bodyguard, romance reader, tattoo lover, opposites attract story with my whole heart!

This was super cute and happy!! It has the classic Sarah Adams vibes. I would have preferred a bit more depth to it but it was light hearted and fun!

For a couple of months I have just been craving a book that would hit me in the feels and get me excited about reading again. And while I have read some great books, THIS is the one that got me! I absolutely adored everything about it. Wouldn’t change even one little tiny thing. It’s probably my new fave of Sarah’s 💕

Adams’ give us her signature sweetness with tons of laughs and all of the swooning.

What to expect::
•Meddling small town
•Opposites attract
•Teach me how to date
•Stern brunch daddy bodyguard
•He takes care of her
•Working through past grief to find yourself
•Great family updates
🔥Closed door

I absolutely cannot wait to return to Rome, Kentucky!!

Wow! I truly loved Practice Makes Perfect! I was instantly drawn in from the beginning and finished it in one day. Will and Annie were so cute! I loved their relationship, and I felt the book did a great job of showing healthy communication between both characters. I also loved being back in Rome, KY and seeing Amelia and Noah again. Sarah Adams is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors and I'm eagerly looking forward to her next book!

Sarah Adams’ new small town romance novel, Practice Makes Perfect, is sugar and spice and everything nice!

You guys, I don’t know that I have ever loved a fictional setting more than the tiny town of Rome, Kentucky and its wonderful cast of quirky characters. I adored them in the author’s last book, When in Rome, and couldn’t wait to visit them again in this new book. One of my favorite parts of When in Rome was Noah’s close relationship with his sisters, so I was thrilled that this new book would focus on one of them.

Annie Walker is a shy, romance reading, bookworm, who also runs the town’s flower shop. She is the epitome of the “girl next door” and her sweet personality has led the townsfolk and her siblings to nickname her Angel Annie. While the nickname is meant as a term of endearment, it makes Annie feel like she always has to behave in a certain way so as not to disappoint anyone.

When we first meet Annie, she is on a mission to meet her perfect match, a proper respectable husband whose life will mesh nicely with her own. Unfortunately, having had little experience with men, Annie is awkward around most men her age, and according to her most recent date, she’s also downright boring. Annie knows all she needs is some practice with dating and flirting, and so she turns to the one man, who surprisingly enough, doesn’t make her nervous at all, Will Griffin, the sexy, tattooed bodyguard of Noah’s wife, Amelia, who also happens to be the town’s resident pop star.

In many ways, Will really is perfect for the job. He’s a serial dater with no interest in a real relationship, so there’s no danger of either of them forming an attachment to the other. He also clearly has plenty of experience, and the fact that Annie is comfortable around him is a bonus. There’s just one problem – Will is secretly attracted to Annie and if anyone could make him rethink his decision to be in a relationship, it’s definitely her. He can’t resist Annie’s charms though and so he agrees to mentor and fake date her.

I can’t even express how much I love the chemistry between Will and Annie. Their “lessons” were just so adorable and sexy, and I especially loved how Will sees Annie in a way that no one else in the town or even her own family sees her. As much as I enjoyed watching the romantic relationship blossom between them, it was the emotional connection between them, and especially Will’s encouragement of Annie to be who and what she wants to be that really took this story to the next level for me.

Highly recommended for fans of small town, opposites attract romances!

Read if you like:
😂 Great Opening Lines
💕 Romances
🔀 Opposites Attract
⛅️ Grumpy x Sunshine
💐 Fake Dating
🏘️ Small Town Romances
2️⃣ Dual POV

“It seems to me, Annie, that you are just waiting for someone to give you permission to be yourself out loud.”

I absolutely loved the dynamic of Annie a girl seen as perfect and angelic by everyone including her siblings in the small town and Will the sexy bodyguard, I mean EPA… who is the bad boy with a reputation for being a playboy. This is the ultimate opposites attract with grumpy sunshine vibes.

I loved how Annie was always teasing Will by calling him different variations of what Will could be short for. Their dynamic was so effortless and I loved the slow burn of their fake dating/dating teacher/student vibes.

If you are looking for a closed door but sweet and swoon worthy romance, I highly recommend picking this one up!

“But the thing about quiet people is, we’re only quiet because our brains are so busy overthinking everything.”

Thank you Random House & Dell Books for my ARC of this one in exchange for my honest review!

absolutely loved it! this book was so funny, i literally caught myself laughing out loud multiple times. and while it wasn’t my usually spicy read, it was still so good! the perfect rom-com, i felt like i was reading a movie! (does that make sense!?)
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the book follows annie & will; annie owns a local flower shop in her small town and will is a bodyguard (or epa as he likes to call it) who is assigned to guard annie’s famous sister in law. i don’t want to give away too many details but basically will agrees to help annie with her dating skills because she’s so awkward! like really i got second hand embarrassment just reading and of course they fall completely in love with each other!
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i will recommend this book from here on out to anyone who wants all the love and laughter because this book has it all. seriously annie will forever be one of my favorite characters, she was so funny! her inner monologue were just the best.
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im so glad i got the opportunity to review this book from net galley; thanks so much! & sarah i will definitely be reading more from you!
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The amount of love I have for this book is indescribable. SARAH ADAMS DOES IT AGAIN! How does she pull on my heart strings like this? I was so captivated and enthralled in this story- ugh I loved this so much. I am having a book hangover from this. I cannot stop thinking of Annie and Will.. and just the sheer perfection of this novel. I will never not recommend this to everyone- one of the best reads of 2023!

I adored Annie and Will’s love story. As a shy introvert, I felt so deeply for Annie and her struggles to be seen as a grown woman and not the sweet, docile child raised by the town. And oh boy, was Will Griffin swoon worthy! This was a really fun read.

“Heaven will undeniably be made up of flowers.”

If there is one thing that Sarah Adams is good at its writing love stories that are precious and tender. Stories about characters who deal with real and difficult things but they’re still stories that feel warm, happy, and sweet. (Nobody tell Annie I said that) And characters who are always careful with each other in a way that make her books feel good to read. Gosh, I loved this one.

I don’t really want to share any specific reasons I connected with this book because it feels too vulnerable but it’s definitely one of those books where I’ll be avoiding any negative reviews. There will inevitably be a few that say mean things about Annie and I’ll feel like they’re saying them about me. I thought I lived a lot of miles away from Sarah but based on some of Annie’s thoughts I kind of feel like Sarah might be my backyard neighbor who has been spying on me my whole life.

And Will. I loved his character arc and how he sees Annie. Actually sees her. He doesn’t see the person he assumes she is or the person he wants her to be. He just sees her. And I will love him forever for it. ♥️

Things to love:
- Dual POV
- Off the charts chemistry - 🔥 but not 🌶️
- Cinnamon roll MMC
- Good girl/bad boy
- Adorable and hilarious banter - the letter in the flower shop scene has a permanent home in my brain now

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the eARC!

Content: The romance in this one is just the tiniest bit steamier than her others and a few of my closed door only friends might find that this pushes their boundaries a little so just a heads up on that! Mild language, mentions: death of parent, abuse, dementia.

Sarah Adams does it again with a super enjoyable romcom! I found myself laughing all the time! I really liked the dynamic between the couple and the small town antics!

This book gave me Schitt’s Creek and Gilmore Girls vibes in the small town feel. It was really great to see Annie grow and mature.

Overall a great, fun romance! I will continue to read Sarah Adams romance!

I’ve been a fan of Sarah Adams for years and love her OG books so much! While I liked When in Rome last fall, it felt very different from her original writing/storytelling and, sadly, this book is more of the same.
However I know this will be a #bookstadarling so I’m definitely in the minority which is ok.


💐Minor Spoilers ahead!💐
Annie runs the flower shop in small town Rome, Kentucky and is depicted as angelic and wholesome but terrible at dating. This is obviously problematic since she wants to settle down. Amelia (from When in Rome) convinces her to practice dating with her tattooed, “bad boy” bodyguard, Will. Instead of actually fake dating they just have a major case of Insta love/ lust(?) while smothering their past hurts that keep popping up. Both need lots of therapy!

-I never felt connected to either main character and I was disappointed there really wasn’t any fake dating. There was a lot of “I don’t want to settle down.” “Well I do, so I guess we want different things” Then lots of 💋🤦🏻‍♀️
-The bad boy/good girl trope was really cliche, and it felt like Annie changed a huge part of herself for a man, which I’m never a fan of! I didn’t buy her transformation.
-There was also a dig at people who go to church (described as wearing fancy clothes and judgmental) which I didn’t appreciate.
-I know Sarah has more books planned with Annie’s sisters and I’m hoping her old spark is back with those books!

Practice Makes Perfect by Sarah Adams is a sweet, small-town, romantic comedy that will give you all the feels. Annie, our FMC, is the epitome of sweet and innocent, and a proverbial ray of sunshine. Will, our MMC, is….. like an M&M. Hard exterior but sweet on the inside.

Annie has a date that goes horribly wrong so her soon to be sister-in-law sets her up with Will as her practice dating coach. Will is a bodyguard, I mean Executive Protective Agent (EPA), to the SIL, Amelia, and he is used to a certain lifestyle that he is not going to find in Rome, Kentucky, a town of 250. Annie has lived in Rome all her life and wants to get married and start a family. Their goals couldn’t be future apart, or could they?

I absolutely loved the sweet moments in this book. There were some tear jerkers as well that made me pull out the tissue box (read: my T-shirt) and so many lines that I had to highlight that I loved. I would definitely recommend this book! 10/10!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the eARC! All opinions are my own!

I was given an Arc copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Oh my goodness! This was my first Sarah Adams book and now I want to go read all her others! This was such a light hearted feel good romance! No spice but fade to black scenes and it couldn’t have been more perfect.

Annie is the perfect youngest sister. She’s sweet and kind and everyone calls her Angel Annie…that is until a rugged tattooed bodyguard shows up and turns her world upside down in the best way!

I loved her relationship with Will. I especially loved how she finally stood up for herself and everyone loved her even more for it!

5/5 stars and I will be recommending this book!!

Yes. Just yes.

This book is the second one revolving around Rome, Kentucky, and omg I am absolutely obsessed with Annie and Will. I loved them separately and together. I loved their growth and personalities. And I’m glad I got to see some of my favorite characters again. I cannot wait until the next one!

“Practice Makes Perfect” is the perfect follow-up to “When in Rome.” This story follows sweet and introverted Annie Walker, as she is determined to fill a gaping hole in her heart. Her solution? Marriage and babies of course! Enter Will Griffin, the adventurous anti-relationship bodyguard of Amelia (from “When in Rome). Desperate to become less boring and nervous on dates, Annie enlists Will’s help. Over time, the develop a wonderful relationship. The thing I loved the most about this book, was the two main characters had such healthy communication. The “miscommunication trope” is tired and old, and it doesn’t exist in this book! “Practice Makes Perfect” is a happy, cheesy, feel-good rom-com, and I loved it! I’ve read two other books by this author and her writing and stories get better each time.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC so I could provide my review!

A return to Rome, Kentucky! I loved When in Rome, and Practice Makes Perfect is just as good. The charming town with some eclectic townsfolk, the chemistry between Will and Annie, the teasing, their friendship, the ending. Two thumbs up!

Thank you Random House/Ballentine and NetGalley for the e-ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.