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.

Reviewed for NetGalley:

The second novel in the “When in Rome” series follows the sweet, Annie Walker, younger sister of Noah, the male lead from Adams’ first novel.

Annie, the sugary, sweet florist has no experience with rhe dating world. So when her soon to be sister-in-law plants the seed of her buzzfeed famous, tough, tattooed bodyguard, Will Griffin as her dating coach, sparks ultimately fly.

Told in dual perspectives, Adams does a nice job of developing wonderful growth for amongst the main pair, while making their budding relationship realistic and adorable all the same.

Also, some of my favorite scenes were just between thr numerous quirky townspeople. I pictured a scene akin to Schitt’s Creek humor that had me eager for more.

"Holy Potato, I bet Will has all the other men in this restaurant clutching their ladies for dear life, just hoping Will doesn't decide to run away with one of them."

I'm obsessed with Sarah's writing!! She has this way of writing laugh out loud funny with characters that just pull at your heartstrings! I love when an author writes so beautifully that you feel all the feels. I'm laughing out loud, I'm cringing in embarrassment, I'm falling in love, I'm completely heartbroken, and I'm in love with the small town of Rome! Rome is full of hysterical older characters and I want to move in!

The opening scene with Annie on her disastrous date had me cringing so hard! I was a little nervous I wasn't going to love this book like the others but once I got past that section of the book I couldn't put it down! Annie is easy to relate to and root for! Will is gorgeous and broody and all the things we love in a MMC! This is a clean romance read with all the tension that I highly recommend!! I'm really hoping the next book is about James!! Can't wait to read it whoever it's about!!

Thank you Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Dell for my e-arc!

I've never read anything by Sarah Adams before but I was interested in reading When In Rome. This was a great read, but I knocked off stars for the sex scene. I'm someone that wants to have at least one scene where all the sexual tension between the two main characters in the romance novel I'm reading breaks. This one was not doing it for me. It was basically a fade to black scene.

I was excited for this one because I really enjoyed When in Rome. I related to the heroine, annie, a lot more in this one so I enjoyed that. She’s awkward & has social anxiety & she just reminded me a lot of myself. Her & Will were so cute together & I will always love a small town setting. It felt like it dragged a bit in some parts, a little slow, but overall a really sweet read!

Opinions fly in Rome, Kentucky when sweet Annie (the sister in charge of the the Swear Journal and owner of the cute flower shop) is seeing Will (the tattoo-sleeved, experienced bodyguard who is strictly business all the time)! Just wait until you see what Mabel has to say! It was so great to be back in Rome with these characters!

Similar to "When in Rome", Sarah Adams also packed some heat into this closed door, clean small town romance! The sparks were flying between these two and the ending was perfection, exactly what I hoped for. Oh, and it was fun to see so many romance book references scattered throughout, including the term stern brunch daddy!

For those of you who have already read this, did you also pick up on the hints about the next book? Will it be James? Fingers crossed!

One last thing... I don't read too many "opposites attract" trope books for a reason. Why do people feel the need to judge (or stereotype) others, especially on whether or not two people are compatible or not? This has always blown my mind. Case in point: My hubby and I were voted "oddest couple" our senior year.

Thanks to @netgalley and @randomhouse for an advance copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thank you so much to NetGalley for providing me an ARC. All opinions are my own.

This book was not for me. I had a hard time reading this book and it felt pretty drawn out. Annie Walker is a flower shop owner who is pretty sheltered and having a tough time with her love life. Will Griffin is the body guard for Amelia who is the fiancé of Annie's brother. Amelia sets it up so that Will becomes a "dating coach" to help Annie. The cover of the book was so cute and the blurb sounded sweet and fun but the book just fell really flat.

My biggest issue was the town people. You know in small town romance how there is always the town curmudgeons/peanut gallery? Well the people in this book annoyed me to no end. Honestly I put off reading after something would happen with the town people because I found myself being so annoyed and upset. Believe me every little thing that happens with Annie they all come out after with their opinions. Even Annie's own sisters undermined her so much. I know it was supposed to be frustrating and show how Annie grows throughout the book, but it was so off-putting.

I feel angry because even though Annie is naïve, I really liked her character and felt very protective of her. I feel like there will be a lot of people who relate to her feelings or feel like a late bloomer. The book has some crumbs of moments that are relatable and charming but I think it could have been stronger if there were more moments between Annie and Will and them working through their feelings and emotions. Both these characters needed therapy badly. I am glad Will's brother suggested it at least. I think the book needed more banter between Will and Annie, more pining, more heartfelt moments and less moments that tried too hard to be funny.

I don't think I will be checking out any other books in this series.

This book was adorable. I absolutely loved it! I giggled, I cried and I sighed. It was funny and sweet and romantic all in one. A big 5 stars!

I am of two minds about this book. The writing is intriguing, mellifluous, and engaging. Annie and Will are lovable and complex and their love story is enjoyable and tender. But there were multiple instances where this book angered me. Moments where the author discusses things that seem to unnecessarily praise the gender binary and gender norms like holding the door. IRL those are non issues yet for some reason this book has a whole line about how men have it rough because they don't know whether to ask if the door needs to be held...as if that's a hardship at all.
Additionally there are lines that seem like snide undercuts to people who are more sexually liberal, are part of alternate relationship dynamics (primarily casual and polyamorous relationships), and a slight at eating disorders in the "not like other girls" way. These all seem to be used as humor but the repetitive nature of some of them, the stringent adherence to no cursing worse than a$$ and $hit, plus the repeated joking about virginity like it's both a virtue and a mockable trait (and not an entirely made up concept) seemed like all these jokes were badly disguised jabs. It was upsetting to read as a queer and asexual person.
The book has so much merit and all of those instances were negligent bits that did not affect the plot so I did not understand WHY they were even included. This book was so wonderful other than that but it really HURT to see underhanded comments like that in a traditionally published book by a celebrated author.
I enjoyed the book so I'll rate it in accordance with that but the takeaway feeling after the book ended was one of deep discomfort.

This book made me swoony. Holy Cow! Somebody turned up the heat on this novel. I originally planned to start reading this in a few weeks. However, I was kind of in a reading slump so I went for it. This book single handedly got me out of my reading slump. It drew me in and never let me go until the very last pages. I fell in love with Will Griffin and Annie Walker so fast. The characters just kept getting better and better. I would suggest reading When in Rome before reading this book. There is a major spoiler. Also, I feel like certain scenes mean more once you know the other story that takes place in Rome, Kentucky. I sure hope Sarah Adams keeps writing more stories set in this cute town because I would read them all.

Annie Walker is the more reserved of the Walker sisters. She lives life conservatively and keeps to herself. This story jumps us right in with Annie on a first date that is going not so great. We then meet Will not too long after. Then the story takes off with a little meddling from the lovely Amelia. I really enjoyed how the author tied in Annie and Will's story with Amelia and Noah's. The mesh made me so invested in both love stories.

Content: a few open door scenes (fade to black still in the room), sex innuendos, references to sex, making out, abusive family dynamic talked about (past tense)

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Read if you enjoy:
Small towns
Flowers
Family
Introverts
Opposites attract
Little bit more spice than normal from this author

Thank you NetGalley and Dell Publishing for the ARC copy. All thoughts are my own!