This book was great! I couldn't put it down! The premise was fresh and new, which is hard for me to say as I read so much each year! Sometimes it feels as though I keep reading similar stories, but this was a so original!

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC! This was my first Sarah Adams book and it will definitely not be my last. This was just the remedy I needed for the cold winter nights. A well executed faux-dating trope that I couldn’t put down. Set in small town, rural Kentucky we meet Annie our innocent, good-girl daughter of the town. But after years of being single and people-pleasing Annie decides she needs to step out of her comfort zone and find Mr. Right. But when sexy, bodyguard Will becomes Mr. Right Now Annie needs to decide whether she will continue to play it safe by being the town’s darling or will she be brave enough to find love in unexpected places. By then end of this story, I promise you’ll be signing the town’s petition for Annie and Will to live happily ever after 💕

This was cute and really funny. The spice is understated but well developed. It's nice to be back in Rome and Annabel and Will are a great couple. Amelia and Mabel were delightful in this installment. I'm excited to read the stories of the other two Walker women. Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC.

As soon as I heard Annie was getting her own book, I knew I had to get my hands on it. I didn't think I could love the town of Rome more than I did after the first book, but Sarah proved me wrong. I enjoyed getting to see more sides to this kooky town and the family I loved so much from When In Rome. Annie had already been my favorite character in this little town and I spent the whole book wishing more for her. I'm so glad we got to see her blossom and have her first taste of love. Of course, adding the sexy bodyguard to the mix doesn't hurt this story. I feel like by the end, Annie got everything I hoped for her and more. Between her trying to find love and learning to stand her ground, I just love her character even more. I just can't wait to see what comes next for these characters.

Thank you netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for allowing me to read this book. 25 pages in and I’m already squealing! Annie and Will are just so cute and the chemistry is making me blush! This book held my attention from the beginning and I feel like Sarah Adam’s books are such cozy reads that have a way of just making you feel so happy. The tension and chemistry is off the charts I just could not put this book down! I really enjoyed the pace of this book and every character in it. I loved the small town vibes is reminded me of Gilmore girls with Will and Annie being an older version of Rory and Jess! I am a sucker for romances where the bad boy falls for the good girl and this was done perfectly! I loved the depth of the characters and this book is definitely one of my favorites of 2023 so far!

3.5⭐ Clean romance, closed door scenes, slow burn.
Perfect for teens, YA romance fans, adults who like their romance light and clean, and anyone who needs a light read.

Annabel has one of the worst dates of her life when she overhears her date talking about how boring she is and bailing on her in the middle of the date. She has had enough and decides she needs a dating coach, and when her meddling soon to be sister in law interferes, she ends up with the hot bodyguard Will as her coach.

The only problem is, she has a HUGE crush on Will. He is a modern day rogue and doesn't do love or relationships. Annabel is only looking for commitment and marriage.

When sparks fly and they both have to confront what they think they want in life, they realize they both need much more.

I like a little more confidence in my female characters, but I think if you like the trope, you will enjoy it.

Thanks to netgalley for an eARC to review.

Based on the many five star reviews, I'm obviously in the minority on this one. But the entire time I was reading Practice Makes Perfect, I just kept thinking "ugh." I pushed through and finished it for the sake of writing a review, but I was very, very tempted to DNF this one.

I think the biggest issue I had was with the main character, Annie. A 30-year-old woman with a vocabulary and world experience of a third grader. Eight pages into this book she uses the term "H-E-double-hockey sticks" and I think I audibly groaned. Annie feels immature and naive the entire book and it makes you wonder how the "h-e-double hockey sticks" this woman somehow got a business and has functioned in the world for 30 minutes - let alone 30 years.

The male protagonist, Will, is a body guard and ex-military. He hates romantic relationships because of his parents bad marriage.

The concept of their opposites attract relationship has the potential to be interesting but it never is. They pretend to date under the guise that Will is going to be Annie's dating coach. But they're enamored with each other from the get-go. Annie looses all of her signature social awkwardness and shyness when Will is around (characteristics that I don't think were present for her in the first When in Rome book, btw) and Will loves how sweet and angelic she is.

I don't know, I just felt like both of these people need a looooooot of therapy. Will needs to unpack his parents marriage and how that has made him a commitment phob and Annie needs to deal with the grief of losing her parents atA such a young age.

Maybe this story would have worked if it had been a YA book, but for a romance book dealing with 30+ adults, it just didn't.

Practice Makes Perfect is the second book in the Rome Series. I loved the first book When in Rome. So I was excited to read Annie's story

This was a cute yet predictable story. A little Hallmark-ish but overall a good read.
Why do I say Hallmark-ish? I honestly wasn't expecting the whole adult virgin thing. But overall it was sweet. I loved reading more about the people who live in Rome, Kentucky and there are some very funny moments that made me laugh out loud. In my opinion this wasn't as good as When in Rome but it was still enjoyable.

So if you're looking for an adult virgin, small town, good girl and ex-military tattooed bad boy bodyguard romcom. This is the book for you. It's a quick, cute, simple, clean romance read.

Book Releases in May 2023

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine Dell for the E-ARC.
All thoughts and opinions are honest and my own.

3.5. I think? Rounded up to 4.

I don't know. I liked the premise a lot. The story was cute. Loved the small town setting. Adored the MMC. But I just didn't click with the FMC. She felt so young to me, to the point that I forgot she was an adult woman a few times. The dialogue was slightly immature.

Good tension between the two character, too.

I love this book so much. It reminds me a lot of Tessa Bailey’s book, “It Happened One Summer”, because the characters were so lovable. I had already fallen in love with the town of Rome in the first book of the series, but I honestly liked this one even more. The romance felt genuine, the relationship was sweet, and it was so cool to see Annie come into her own.

I became excited because I noticed the author seem to be sprinkling in hints about future books, like those that focus on Annie’s sisters. I will happily read any book with these characters.

I obtained a copy through NetGalley but all opinions are my own.

This book is centered on Rome, Kentucky. A small town where the main character Annie wants to start living and recurs to Will for help and since he is the "bad guy," he has the experience.

I have read all of Sarah Adams books and have become a huge fan of her writing. Everything she writes I will read. This book was no exception, I adore it. I love her writing style, Sarah can write like no other and describe mundane things so different.

I loved Annie and could sympathize with her. Her family saw a personality that wasn't there anymore and she kept portraying something Annie wasn't anymore. Will helps her on this journey to discover new things including dating.

One thing that stood out to me is that her male characters tend to fell for the main protagonist really fast (I don't find it annoying but I would wish the build-up would take more time to develop), but for PMP it took more time to develop since Will was the "bad guy" not wanting to fell for Annie. This was perfect.

I also loved Will and how he tried and failed, to stay away from Annie. My favorite moment was when Annie was trying to convince Will to help her date and another male character comes up to her flower shop.

One thing I regretted is reading this in physical format instead of ebook. (But of course, the audiobook is not ready yet!) I love Sarah's audiobooks so as soon the release drops I will be rereading the book in audio format.

Annie Walker is tired of the status quo of her boring life. Everyone looks at her like she's this perfect angel. An angel who is so sweet they couldn't possibly be the wild child who lives out their dreams. But once she makes an arrangement with the tattooed bad boy bodyguard of her soon to be sister in law, things will hopefully change. And boy do they..

This is the perfect friends to lovers, closed door, fake dating, good girl/bad boy, dual POV, small town, bookish FMC book. It was sweet and fluffy but with the perfect little pinch of “I should get therapy instead of pretending a relationship will fix everything”. Sarah Adams does a great job of building their chemistry and tension. And their banter was just perfect. I really enjoyed this one. It is going to happily sit in my top romances.

*recieved an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*
This book is probably my favorite Sarah Adams book I’ve read thus far. From chapter 3 these characters stole my heart. There were pieces of Annie I found relatable and I loved continuing my time in Rome, Kentucky with this book. I could understand Will pretty well too and the reservations about love he has. I would classify this book to be a small town romance with a bit of a slow burn. Annie is also probably my favorite sister of Noah’s (When in Rome) and I look forward to hopefully learning more about Emily and Maddison in future stories. Overall, I highly recommend this book especially if you loved When In Rome as this is a companion novel to that story but can also be read as a standalone if so desired.

Well, it would seem I am, once again, back in Unpopular Opinion Corner. I might as well just live here at this point.

So, first, I did not know that this was a spin-off of another book. I also didn't know that Sarah Adams' MO is clean, shiny, sickly sweet romances. I'm glad that there are authors who write these kinds of books because there are obviously plenty of people who like to read them. I've found that I'm not necessarily part of that group. I need a little bit more spice in my romances. I need characters who aren't total and complete cliches. I need a main character who doesn't feel wildly naive for her age.

That said, there were good things about this book. I liked that it was in small town Kentucky. I liked some of the side characters. There were a few swoony moments. Even if it was too sweet for me, the romance was pretty wholesome.

I'd definitely recommend to people who want something super fluffy and clean. But if you're looking for something with a little more flavor, this might not be it.

Thank you Random House Publishing and NetGalley for the e-ARC

If you've enjoyed Sarah Adams books before, you will enjoy this one. If you didn't enjoy Sarah Adams books before, you might enjoy this one. I've read four books by this author at this point, two prior to her getting a trad pub deal and two post, and I have to say: She's getting better!

The storytelling in PMP is a little less chaotic and immature than the past three books I've read. The characters are more rounded and real. The things that hold the characters back are more realistic. This is probably the least cheesy Sarah Adams books I've ever read. It's still firmly a Rom-Com book, but it's less Rom-COM than her previous works, and I, for one, adore that.

This was the first book of hers that I didn't find myself getting frustrated or rolling my eyes at the book because the characters were acting wildly immature, stupid, or just in ways that didn't make sense. And this excites me, because honestly, this was going to be the last Sarah Adams book that I read.

But then I liked this one! This is a solid 4 star, I liked this book, book for me! It was cute without being cringey, it was sweet without giving me a toothache, and I loved and bought into the chemistry between the two main characters.

This book is dual, first person POV and did at time suffer from what felt like wanting the same scene from both POVs. If something big happens at the end of one chapter, you can look forward to the beginning of the next chapter being heavy inner monologue going over feelings about that scene from the other's POV. It still has very chunky paragraphs that I wish her and her editor would break up more. It would help make the story feel like it flows faster and better and smoother.

We've got: virgin and introverted FMC, body guard MMC (but not protecting FMC), small town, closed door, dating coach, forced proximity if you count being stuck in a small town as forced proximity, opposites attract.

The storytelling was more . . . mature? sophisticated? refined? Writing is a skill that you have to exercise to get better at, and you can just tell that Sarah Adams is getting better with the storytelling. Especially if you started with her self-pubbed stuff like I did. Her self-pubbed stuff had poor pacing at times, repeated ideas, and just boring parts that slowed and slugged the story down. This one almost suffers from slightly slow, boring parts, but as soon as you get to the point where you're thinking "let's move this along," the story does just that. The twists and turns in this novel were delightful in nature.

I liked the arc that the FMC took, even if it was a little fast and kind of blah in the sense that nothing new happened. In theory, I liked the arc that the MMC took, but he was a massive asshole at the beginning of the book towards the idea of love and marriage. His brother, whom he raised, calls to tell him he's engaged, and our MMC can't muster up a fake congratulations? He can hate marriage without being such a tool to his own brother. And I'm supposed to buy into him being my MMC for the book??? His relationship with his brother also really confused me. I know no one is a monolith, but wouldn't it stand to reason that they'd be closer given the childhood they went through? IDK. His arc was nice, but it was drilled a little too much that he doesn't believe in marriage and love in his second scene.

Ticky Tack things that probably have to do with it being an ARC, but also probably don't:
*Will doesn't carry a gun to protect Amelia??? I find that VERY hard to believe.
*We never found out his real name and the end of the book AND I AM VERY PISSED ABOUT THIS. If you're going to make it a cute little joke throughout, at least solve the riddle for the reader at the end. I'm still miffed over not knowing WW Hale's real name from Ally Carter.
*Had this book been edited at all? I'm not trying to be mean, but the copyediting was horrendous. Missing quote marks, commas where there should be periods, extra punctuation, Ethan was never introduced formally as his brother, the reader just has to connect the dots, the fiancée goes from Hannah to Heather...

Overall, if you've never read Sarah Adams, start with this one and don't go back through her catalog because this is her best yet. If you've read her before, pick this one up ASAP because it's her best yet. I'm excited to see where Ms. Adams goes next!!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I don’t really know how to put into words how much I love this book. I adored Annie from the moment I met her in When in Rome, she’s quiet but she has fire in her soul. I related a lot to her since she’s afraid of disappointing people and she’s also just the nicest kindest person. Then there’s Will, what a dream, what a pirate, he’s been through a lot but he held up except is now terrified of love. Sarah crafts a story that feels real and you fall in love right along with them.

“Welcome back to Rome. Where no one has anything to do but complain about one another.”

Can a person die from a giddy, happy, full heart? if so I bid you farewell because THIS BOOK was everything!!! How am I ever going to move on from this?

I am obsessed with the Rome, Kentucky series. I thought nothing would top When in Rome. How wrong I was, how naive.

Practice Makes Perfect was simply… well PERFECT. It was flirty and funny and so full of heart. I am truly head over heels for it.

“Gosh. Speaking of torture. It’s nearly unbearable to look right into Will’s eyes. It’s like staring at the sun. Too powerful for mere mortals.”

✨READ IF YOU LIKE ✨
•Bodyguard meets flower shop owner
•Butterfly tattoos
•Converse and overalls
•Fake dating
•Practice kisses
•Small town romance
•Pirate HR
•Introvert + social anxiety rep
•Happy Faces, Audrey Hepburn
•Sick comfort

“Annie, the truth is, I really want to close myself off from you. But I also find myself wanting to tell you everything. What spell have you cast over me?”

Sarah Adams does it again!!! I've loved all her books, and this one is no different. I wasn't sure I could love this as much as "When in Rome" but I did! Will and Annie are so cute. Their "practice sessions" were so fun and Will did such a good job of making Annie feel comfortable and open up. I loved that he was so clearly already hooked on her from early on. I love love love when the MMC is a goner for the FMC. This is another one of those adorable, feel-good, heartwarming quick reads that Sarah is so good at delivering and it was exactly the read I needed this week. Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for this eARC copy!

4.5 ⭐️
“He smiles and again it shoots down into the pit of my stomach. Geez, what would it be like to date a man like him? All charisma and confidence. I would definitely embarrass myself.”

“Okay, but it’s adorable how embarrassed he looks all the sudden. If there was a little rock in front of him, he’d kick it.”

Sarah Adams always writes the cutest shit. For me she kind of peaked with The Cheat Sheet, though that may have been because that book hit all my sweet spots (childhood best friends to lovers, fake dating, cinnamon rolls x2, anxiety rep). But this one was pretty damn close to perfect.

The main thing that bothered me were some of the internal monologues that seemed out of place. Either Will or Annie would start having these intrusive thoughts at a moment where it feels not right, something that I felt could’ve happened like the scene after and it would make more sense.
A personal issue I have is the emphasis on Annie being a reader. I don’t know what it is but I simply cannot stand it when the FMC is a huge reader, it becomes a little too meta for me. It doesn’t affect my love for the FMC or the book, honestly, but I just don’t enjoy it at all. I also wasn’t a huge fan of Annie’s belief, for most of the book, that having a husband and kids and settling down was what was missing from her life. It honestly felt out of character for her.

Onto the good things, which are most parts of the book, Will was an absolute dreamboat. The man was a perfectly flawed character. The internal (and external) push and pull he felt for Annie was angsty, and hilarious at time, but always felt so genuine. I loved Annie’s adorableness and wanting to break out of the shell that everyone put her in. I also love the fact that she acknowledges the fact that she had a hand in allowing them to do that, but I did feel like she wasn’t giving herself enough credit, though it did make sense for her character. Their chemistry was palpable and I thoroughly enjoy Sarah’s venturing into more steamy territory, though the book would still be classified as closed-door.

MVP: Mabel OBVIOUSLY, but also Amelia (and Noah). I think I liked them even more in this book than I did in their own book lol.

(Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.)

GAHHHHHHHHHHH. I literally just finished this book and wanted to write the review while it was still fresh and I’m all up in my feelings. A bodyguard, a flower shop and Noah Walker’s sister?? Say LESS.

“I was looking for the perfect person with the perfect traits and the perfect timing, when really, all my heart actually wants is to be fully known and loved.”

🥹🥹🥹

A lil’ synopsis for ya — When the owner of the local flower shop in Rome, Kentucky, makes a questionable agreement with a tattooed bad boy, a delightful friends to lovers romance begins to bloom--from the author of When in Rome and The Cheat Sheet.

I’m gonna come right out of the gate and tell you — 5/5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I have NO NOTES (insert Nick Miller/Schmidt gif). The plot? Perfection. The characters? Absolutely endearing. The banter? The humor? The supporting cast? The ~vibes~? IMMACULATE. Truly utter perfection.

Sarah dedicates this book to the softies, the tenderhearted sweeties and the introverts who are afraid to shine. As a comfy clothed introvert myself, I’m telling you this book will make you feel so very seen. Annie is an absolute delight and her development was just a pure joy to witness over the course of this book.

I absolutely loved being back in Rome, Kentucky and if you did as well while reading When in Rome then I strongly implore you to sharpie in May 2, 2023. Cancel all your plans, prepare your comfiest clothes, pop a giant bowl of popcorn and sit down with this gem. You will thank me. Sarah Adams just became an auto-buy author for me 😮‍💨

PS: Thank you FROM THE VERY BOTTOM OF MY HEART to @netgalley and @penguinrandomhouse it for providing me with an e-ARC of this novel. I am forever grateful 🫶🏼

Read if you like…
• fake dating
• opposites attract
• sunshine vs. grumpy
• small town vibes
• being happy in general bc this book will make you smile
•closed door romance