As a lover of small-town romances and When in Rome, I thoroughly enjoyed Practice Makes Perfect!

It provides a different take on the fake dating trope by having anti-relationship bodyguard Will coach inexperienced/in search of a long-term relationship floral shop owner Annie. I liked the romantic tension that built the two characters through their sessions and looked forward to scenes where the two were together.

Practice Makes Perfect is funny, and I loved the awkwardness of Annie’s first date with the banker right off the bat. I laughed throughout the book.

If you enjoy a small-town closed door dual POV romance that will make you laugh, this is the book for you!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the eARC.

Sarah Adams does it yet again: Practice Makes Perfect is… well, perfect! 💐

Annie, the youngest Walker sibling, is tired of being known in Rome, Kentucky, as "Angel Annie."

After her first date in years goes downhill fast, she enlists Will, Amelia's charming bodyguard and globally-recognized tattooed bad boy, to show her the dating ropes so she can find a husband and live happily ever after by 30.

Will has spent his adult life chasing adventures, not relationships, and so he can't understand why he's drawn to the sunshiny flower shop owner, and when she asks him to help her get better at dating, the man who doesn't do relationships can't seem to stay away from the girl who ONLY does relationships.

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Much like When In Rome, Practice Makes Perfect is a story you can’t wait to get lost in!

Annie and Will's relationship is everything, and their "will they or won't they" back & forth made for the sweetest slow-burn romance. Filled with tender moments and plenty of laughs from the town of Rome — which is a character in and of itself — this book is a cozy summertime romance that I couldn’t put down, and even now that it's over, it isn't likely to leave my mind anytime soon.

Do yourself a favor and add Practice Makes Perfect to your TBR, and get ready to visit Annie & Will at the flower shop on May 2nd! 💐💕

A massive thank you to Sarah Adams, NetGalley, and Random House for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This is very much a book 2 that reads as a book 2 with info-dump summaries of sections from book 1 that probably don’t matter to the story but leave you feeling like you’ve missed something.

I found myself skim reading at the 13% mark and decided to call it. I think I just got kicked out of the story too many times.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC.

<b>“Do you like me, Will?” I hold her gaze and squeeze her fingers as her words tug the truth from me like they always do. “Yeah, I do, Annie. Do you like me?” “Yeah. Against my better judgment.”</b>

Annie & Will. William! I mean, Wilson. Wildon! Tender sweetheart of a man 🫠Romance readers will be reading this with hearts in their eyes! My face hurts from smiling so much. Like obscene surge of butterflies that rush through your stomach! <u>THIS BOOK IS CATNIP FOR THE SOFTIES!!</u>Buy it five times. And then read it ten times. Consecutively.

Ps. DID YOU SEE IT?! James and… 👀 chapter 39. Is it true?!

🌸 THINGS AND STUFF 🌸
-dual pov
-opposites attract
-Audrey Hepburn in funny face
-friends who pine
-bodyguard & florist
-small town romance
-historical romances of the piratical genre
-nicknames
-joint grocery shopping excursion
-first date anxiety
-dating coach: the bad boy tutoring the good girl
-banana print pajamas
-stern brunch daddy: dude who looks scary is actually all soft and sweet to the person he loves
-oh no, you’re wounded (sick)!
-#IsThisAKissingBook: closed door but this one is HAWT. Spicy. Somebody call 911. IM ON FIRE. It’s still a pg-13 show. “Will hooks his finger under my chin and tilts it up. Before he says anything else, he bends down and kisses me. Long and slow. It’s not an obscene kiss, but it’s so tender my stomach quivers. My heart swoons.”

Thank you Penguin Random House for an advanced copy!

Song: Magnolias by Leon Bridges

Set in Rome, Kentucky, Annie Walker owns a flower shop and has always been known as the innocent and sweet little sister of her whole small town. It makes sense, considering that said whole town raised her after her parents died. But she’s in her late twenties now and is struggling to find fulfillment. Knowing her parents’ perfect love story, she thinks she’ll find contentment in marriage. The hard part is that she feels socially awkward, an introvert who doesn’t date well or much at all. Enter Will Griffin, bodyguard (excuse me, executive protection agent) of her pop star future sister-in-law, Amelia. Amelia cooks up a scheme to have Will coach Annie in dating. Practice could make perfect, right?

I loved When in Rome and a big reason was the Walker siblings, so I was excited to read Annie’s story. It delivers the same heartfelt, feel-good, lightness as the first title on this world. I liked Will and Annie. He made her braver. She made him more vulnerable (in the good, open kind of way). There were quite a few cameo moments with well-loved characters. The girls are still having Audrey Hepburn movie nights. The siblings are still having game night. The town is as invasive as ever.

I really enjoyed this book, but I did feel Annie was a little naïve (she grows) and Will was very closed off (he grows, too). The ending felt a little rushed, with the growth and change coming too much too soon with very little time spent exploring/overcoming their relationship hurdles on-page. Nonetheless, I had a lot of fun reading about Annie and Will and look forward to seeing their cameos in whatever comes next (Madison and James, anyone?).

🚪 Two non-descriptive, fade-to-black scenes.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 4.5/5 (5⭐️ on GR)

Thoughts: 💭

Welcome back to Rome, Kentucky!

For those that read When In Rome, Practice Makes Perfect is set in the same little town. We now get a glimpse into the life of Noah’s shy baby sister, Annie, who has had enough of being the angel of the family and failing awkwardly at dating.

With the help of Amelia’s tattooed body guard, Will agrees to be her dating coach to get her out of her shell and help her gain more confidence with dating. Now you may wonder, how bad could this arrangement possibly turn out….. it may even lead to town wide petitions 🤣

Safe to say I love anything Sarah Adams writes and have already preordered my paperback copy only halfway in to reading this one!

Sarah is the 👑 Queen of closed door romances and I will forever recommend her books. I can’t wait to hopefully see more stories come out of the little town of Rome, Kentucky (allllll the Stars Hallow vibes 🥰)

𝑹𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒊𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆…

🌼 Dual POV
🌸 Acquaintances / Friends-ish to Lovers
🌼 Fake Dating
🌸 Small Town
🌼 Closed Door Romance
🌸 Sunshine FMC
🌼 Flower Shops
🌸 Tattooed Body Guards
🌼 Dating Coach

Thank you @authorsarahadams @netgalley and @randomhouse for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Make sure to add this one to your preorder list and mark your 📆 Publication date is May 2nd, 2023!

Fake dating, forced proximity, and friends to lovers

Great simple romance read without a lot of smut. Literally the smallest romance sex scene I’ve read in a while.

Sarah Adam’s is a decent romance author however I felt like this book was a slow burn. It felt like it was going to heat up about 30% in and then the steaminess dropped off until the last 3 chapters.

Will and Annie made a great couple both having reservations and coping mechanism but ending up together anyway.

Practice Makes Perfect is the PERFECT spring romance! Sarah Adams has done it again. I think this might be my second favorite book of hers, after The Cheat Sheet. I loved Annie and Will and the charming town of Rome, Kentucky so much, I couldn’t help but smile all the way through. This is truly happiness and sunshine in a book. I can’t wait to spend more time with these characters in the next 2 books of the series!

Reading vibes:
-bodyguard romance
-grumpy (with a cinnamon roll core) x sunshine
-pining. So much pining!
-AMAZING tension/chemistry 😍
-lots of focus on family (plus we get so much more of Amelia and Noah from the first book!)
-he takes care of her
-sweet banter & texting
-Annie’s alternatives for swear words were so darn cute 🥰
-the nosy busybodies of Rome made me laugh 😂

PMP is definitely going down as one of my top reads of 2023 so far. If you’re a romance fan (especially closed door/fade to black), add this to your tbr immediately!

RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I want to give this book a hug! It’s so sweet and cute and relatable!

I love the “practice dating” trope. I don’t know what about it is so appealing, but I love it. And I love that Practice Makes Perfect doesn’t beat us over with the trope.

Will and Annie are such delightful characters, and watching them grow into their relationship was a delight. Their inner conflicts were present but not excessive (which I whole heartedly appreciate— to date or not to date gets real old real fast.)

My only complaint about this book is the juvenile jokes in the grocery store— putting condoms, menstrual pads, and diarrhea medication in a shopping basket isn’t funny or embarrassing. And it’s really not a complaint about the book as much as society should just… get over itself. People use those things regularly and it’s not funny or a joke, it’s just part of life. /rant

Anyway, PMP has some seriously delicious tension between Will and Annie, and Will is my favorite type of sad dude who doesn’t believe he is capable of/ doesn’t deserve love, and I really enjoyed seeing both Will and Annie come into their own.

I received this arc through netgalley for review, this is my own opinion.

There's a whole lot to love about "Practice Makes Perfect." The chemistry between Annie and Will practically jumps off the page, it's funny and sweet. Even though it's a "clean" romance, it is seriously steamy. This is entirely enjoyable start to finish. I look forward to recommending it.

I believe I might have found a new favorite author, and definitely and auto-buy! This book gave me all the romance, banter, and spice! I will be remembering this book for a long time to come. I am actually going to host my first bookclub once the title is released!!!

Practice Makes Perfect by Sarah Adams 💐

Sarah Adams had me at the dedication page! I knew I was going to love this book after reading this ❤️:

This one is for the softies.
The tenderhearted sweeties.
The introverts who are afraid to shine.

I’m embarrassed to admit that this was my first book by the author, Sarah Adams. I’ve already purchased When in Rome and The Cheat Sheet and can’t wait to read them! While Practice Makes Perfect can be read as a standalone, I wish I would have read Wen in Rome first!

Practice Makes Perfect focuses on Annie and her quest to find love. Set in a small town, everyone knows everyone and their business. Annie owns a flower shop, named after her mother who passed away (along with her father) when she was young.

After a disastrous first date, Annie enlists the help of her future sister-in-laws EPA (aka Bodyguard), Will, to serve as her dating coach. Will loves Annie the way she is and doesn’t want her to change who she is, so he agrees to help her in her quest to find her soulmate.

I absolutely adored BOTH Annie and Will and felt such a strong connection to Annie. The supporting characters were so well developed and added so much to this amazing story.

The cover of Practice Makes Perfect is just stunning and bright and perfectly dictates Annie’s personality to me. I also love how it gives off bodyguard/florist vibes! 💐

I highly recommend this book if you like:
💐Dual POV
💐Opposites attract
💐Small town romance
💐Lovable main characters
💐Equally as lovable (and funny) supporting characters

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Dell Romance, Sarah Adams, and NetGalley for a gifted ARC!

Posted on Goodreads on March 11, 2023: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/144922955?ref=nav_profile_l
Posted on Instagram (full review) on May 2, 2023: https://instagram.com/nobookmark_noproblem?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
Posted on Instagram (mini review) in March 2023: https://instagram.com/nobookmark_noproblem?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Okay, Sarah Adams has done it again and I think that this may be my favorite yet!! Annie is like my literary spirit animal and I just adore her and all the characters. It was wonderful to return to Rome and see the characters again and get a follow up on Noah and Amelia. This book had me feeling all the feels, from laughing out loud to tears. Absolutely adored this one, like all of her books.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dell Books for the chance to read this ARC copy.

📚Practice Makes Perfect
✍️Sarah Adams
📖Contemporary Romance
⭐ ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

Sarah Adams… you little minx. You have done it again. I AM OBSESSED WITH WILL AND ANNIE’s STORY!

Practice Makes Perfect picks up several months after When In Rome ends. With Noah and Amelia’s wedding coming up, Amelia brings her bodyguard, Will, back to town to help keep the paparazzi at bay leading up to the wedding.

Annie (Noah’s youngest sister) owns a Flower shop in the little town of Rome, Kentucky. She is on the hunt for a husband so she can settle down and fill the missing hole in her heart. Unfortunately… She is not thriving on dates and needs a little help. One day Amelia suggests that Will gives Annie some lessons in dating. It is a flawless plan. Annie is not interested in a bad boy who never wants to settle down. Will is not interested in the marriage life and picket fences.

Lessons start off pretty great… But are the butterflies supposed to be real on fake dates? As time passes… the feelings get greater. They are both well aware of each other's feelings, but they also know that is all they are. Feelings… because they knew what they were getting into when they started this plan.

Can Will just walk away after a month when his time is up?

This book gave me butterflies… I was swooning and constantly smiling. I love Sarah Adams writing… She is definitely one of my all time favorite authors.

Thank you Sarah Adams for giving me the opportunity to read this book on Netgalley!!

Practice Makes Perfect was a quick adult romance read with lovable main characters surrounded by a cute southern town full of busybodies. Annie and Will both have childhood trauma they need to work through and complete opposite idea of what they want out of life, but they soon realize what they thought they wanted, may not be what they need, The Stars Hollow esque town of southerners with good intentions cause some hiccups and comic relief throughout the book and might have been my favorite part. For it to be a book two set in the same town, it could easily be read on it's own with no background, which is nice. I enjoyed the read and it was exactly what it needed to be: cute, quick, fun, and lighthearted.

Oh I loved this one. Must go back and read the first of course but I’m invested. What a sweet and quirky community and a satisfying romance.

I love love and Sarah Adams! She writes the most perfect loves stories without making them corny (or should I say, just the right amount of corny)! So happy to read more about Rome and the fun people who love there! Highly recommend added to your TBR list!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

This was the cutest romance she has written to date. I am completely in love with it. Sarah never lets me down so I knew this was gonna be a hit and she didn’t disappoint

OMG, this book had me smiling and giggling the whole time. I am ready to live in a small town, own a flower shop, and fall in love with a super sweet body guard. Annie and Will were so perfect for each other! Annie is a socially awkward (secret spicy) bookworm who is ready to settle down and start a family and Will is the adventure seeking, covered in tattoos, bad boy (secretly super sweet) who can't imagine ever being in love or in a serious relationship. Couldn't recommend this book more, it was seriously AMAZING!

I really enjoyed When In Rome, so when I heard there was a second book, I was so excited. I knew I would also fall in love with Practice Makes Perfect, and boy was I right. It was such a cute, fast paced read. I absolutely love all of the characters in these two books. Also the small town of Rome, Kentucky is one of my favorites. Overall, I rated this book a 4.5 stars out of 5.

I really loved Annie’s character. In the first book, I could tell she was the quiet sister who wasn’t quite understood. I was immediately intrigued by her character. In this book, we finally got to see who Annie really was which I was happy to see. I also enjoyed seeing her character growth throughout the story.

Will… well let’s just say he is one of the most perfect book boyfriends. I loved getting to see him open up to Annie. I felt they really understood each other and helped each other overcome the problems that they were having. He was also so sweet to her, and their moments together were so cute. I also liked that he loved her for who she was instead of wanting to changer her.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for this Arc.