Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for this advanced copy.

When I’m Rome was one of my favourite romcoms of last year and I think Practice Makes Perfect will make the list this year too!
This book follows Annie as she is attempting to get into the dating world and improve her confidence and love life. Who better to help her than bodyguard Will?
This is such a sweet and fun romcom. It has great characters with lots of witty banter and fun relationships. I love the setting of the town of Rome and its eclectic mix of residents. I can’t wait to read the next book in the series and visit this small town again.

Another fabulous small town, heartwarming, feel good romcom from Sarah Adam’s!

This was the sweetest, funniest, most tender book I have read in a while.

Full of profound moments, smart and witty dialogue, it made me smile like a fool the entire time I was reading. The small town setting was just perfect, the residents hilariously annoying at times, but everything was so cosy.

Flower shop owner Annie and bodyguard - sorry, Executive Protection Agent - Will start off with the cutest friendship, which turns into dating lessons, then into love.

I loved that Will was big on consent, just a big, tough guy who is a softie on the inside. He had a difficult childhood, and although he could definitely have used some therapy, I like how he eventually acknowledged what happened and did his best to move past it.

Annie did seem a little immature at times, considering she was almost 30 - but she lost her parents at a young age and hasn't fully acknowledged just how much that loss has affected her. Her character development was lovely, both herself and Will learned some very important lessons along the way and found comfort in each other. The intimate vulnerability they shared was beautiful.

This is a closed door romance, but Annie is a pirate smut loving gal and I loved that Will fully embraced her hobby.

Practice Makes Perfect was the first book I've read by this author, but I will definitely be reading more!

I read “When in Rome” at the end of 2022 and thought that there was no beating it. I raved on social media that I had found my book of 2022 quite literally on December 30th, but then along comes this book.

This author baffles me in the best way. I’ve read all of her books now and they’ve always been cute and enjoyable but When and Rome and Practice Makes Perfect … just hits different. It’s as if Adams has come into her own, and damn. Her writing has come on leaps and bounds since books such as "the cheat sheet" and " the match", and I don't mean that in a patronising way!! There are just more layers in her recent two books and I am living for it.

This book was perfection. I loved both Annie and Will from the get go. Annie's character is one I think a lot of us will be able to relate to. I've recently come across the term of "good girl trauma" and this is Annie to a tee, and me for that matter. The perfectionist sibling that lives her life trying to meet the expectations and percieved way of life others paint, in turn holding her real self back. I loved watching Annie figure out who she is and what she wants, and the role Will played in that. Furthermore I enjoyed reading Will's journey of redefining what love is and how we are deserving of it.

I love that there’s no unnecessary drama, and I love Mabel.

I thought Noah was up there as a book boyfriend of the century but I think Will has taken the crown on that one. A boy full of green flags... how refreshing!

This book was cute, funny, had chemistry for days, and a decent plot. once again a relatively fast timeline but well paced within the book and the epilogue gave us a look into their future. I loved that we got to see Noah and Amelia’s relationship develop even more in this book and now I’m thinking boom three is Maddie’s one?! I like the subtle set ups!

Fantastic book, thank you Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me an arc copy in exchange for a voluntary and honest review

2.5

i LOVED annie as a character because she reminded me of me. babe is a complete introvert & reads books like yours truly! she was a very relatable character and that’s what i loved about her. now let’s talk about will. i really liked his character, the bad boy trope is a classic which i very much enjoy. also this man has tattoo’s which i mean- 🤭 they were both very good characters.

i very much liked the idea of the plot, bodyguard x flower shop owner, you can’t tell me that doesn’t sound adorable because it does. i thought it would be a very enjoyable read for me and to my disappointment, the book did slightly disappoint.

i enjoyed the first half of the book and thought the rest would be as good but for more than twenty percent of the other half of the book the plot felt really bland. i wasn’t as interested any more and i didn’t really care to know what would happen next but i kept on reading. at seventy percent it did start getting better which i was very happy about. in the end, the book wasn’t horribly bad but it also wasn’t amazingly good.

This book was incredible! Will and Annie's relationship was one of the most beautiful and pure relationships I've read about in a LONG time. It is a small town romance set in Rome, Kentucky, I loved the small town aspect so much! The small town setting really made the story even better, the meddling townspeople and funny characters really added to the story. This book has made me want to read everything on Sarah Adams' backlist as I also loved The Cheat Sheet by her. This book will definitely be added to my favourites and I will be purchasing a physical copy when it's released. There is literally nothing about this romance that I didn't absolutely love, it exceeded all expectations.

A really cute storyline. That is very sweet and well written. I enjoyed reading this suspending disbelief for a little while and just enjoying the storyline.

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 Headline Publishing for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.)

Practice Makes Perfect is the second book in the When in Rome series (all standalone stories, but connected), and it’s the first I’ve read by Sarah Adams. I absolutely loved it and couldn’t turn the pages quick enough, and I’m really glad I’ve already got a copy of the first book waiting for me.

Set in the small southern town of Rome, Kentucky, each book in this series focuses on the lives and loves of a Walker family sibling. This time it’s Annie’s turn and, as the youngest of the family, she feels like she’s got quite a lot to live up to when it comes to her brother and sisters. Annie is sweet, kind, and seemingly innocent, never rocking the boat and successfully keeping the peace in her family. She owns a florists in town, and has so far been a bit unlucky in the romance department. Cue tall, hot ex-military man Will, who returns to the town to offer his bodyguard services to Annie’s soon to be sister-in-law Amelia.

What comes next is an addictive, enjoyable romance that I couldn’t wait to unfold. Annie and Will both have different emotional issues, but they’re dead set on helping each other through it. I don’t want to spoil anything, so I’ll just say that their journey is worthy of lots of mental swooning, and their electric interactions are so fun to read. Each of them grows and evolves realistically, and I don’t think I could pick a favourite character even if I tried (Will might just have an edge, though, which obviously will require much more research on my part).

I loved the small town setting of Practice Makes Perfect; it reminded me of Stars Hollow from Gilmore Girls, full of eccentric characters and everyone meddling in each other’s business. The writing is also really compelling, which makes it so easy to get swept away in Rome and all its extremely likeable inhabitants. I can’t wait to learn more about Annie’s two sisters, Maddie and Emily, and I hope their future books won’t take too long to hit shelves.

Practice Makes Perfect is the perfect book for any fans of contemporary romance and small town life, and I just wish it had been longer. I’m already wondering what happens to the Walker family next, so I’m going to go back and start with Noah’s story while I wait. I’ve read my fair share of romance books this year, and Practice Makes Perfect is definitely one of the best. Highly recommended.

4.5/5.

I was thrilled to recieve a copy of this book Sarah Adams is a romance genius and I didn't know if I could enjoy a book as much as I did with cheat sheet and yet here it is and I loved it just as hard! Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me access to this title.

I absolutely love the premise of this book and I am so excited to acquire it for our lication. I love how our main character is a florist and has a pop star sister. I think that’s a very cool aspect. I can’t wait to read and see how her relationship blossoms with someone she least suspects in the process. Nothing like a hotb”bodyguard” to help save the day! Very excited for this cute read. I know readers will love this book as well! A fun story to get lost in! Perfect for spring!