Practice Makes Perfect: A Novel (Rome, Kentucky) Paperback – May 2, 2023

Sarah Adams is quickly becoming a favorite author. This may only be my second book I've read by her, but she's got a fun way of writing witty banter and heartfelt emotion that keeps you turning the pages. While listening to this book, I found myself kicking my feet, cackling out loud and audibly sighing at all the swoon-worthy moments. I adore reading about MMC who fight the attraction and the potential of a relationship and you just KNOW they are going to fall so HARD! I think that might be one of my favorite parts of romance novels... 😍 I want to savor this series, but I also want to jump right into the third book... ugh, choices! 🤣

This was a really great book!! It is part of a series, but you don’t need to start from the beginning to understand what’s happening. I do recommend starting from the beginning though.

What a delight to take another romantic trip to Rome, Kentucky.Practice Makes Perfect is Annie and Will's story and it is so sweet, but it's layeredwith depth of emotion. This story is about self-discovery, authenticity, and acceptance.It subtly illustrates that Romance genera books have much more substance to offer the reader than just romance or spice. Speaking of spice, it's low on the spice scale, but you'll still get swept up the connection between Annie & Will.I took off one star only in comparison to When In Rome, which is a more richly developed story overall since it sets the foundation for the series.

If you're looking for a cute small town romance with little to no spice this is the book for you. It's a great little book with some really relatable characters and if you've ever lived in a small town, it is captured perfectly here witha plethora of secondary characters.The FMC Annie is fun and not as quirky as the author would have you believe but she is higjly relatable as an introvert myself. I felt like a majority of the book is from her POV and that's great but I felt that a lot of great romantic moments were missed because of this. I really wanted to know what Will's genuine reaction was to Annie's pirate romance books. Or even have Will read his favorite parts to Annie. Maybe he is caught reading the romances by Martha, the incredibly nosy yet insightful innkeeper/parental figure.We could have even had the characters visiting Annie's grandmother together to add more emotional depth to the book. So many lost moments to make this book go from average to great.Now to my rating a 3-star rating. It is not necessarily bad its just not something that amazed me. I gave it a 3 mainly because our MMC is a bodyguard but does little to no bodyguarding during a majority of the book. There are no real threats to Amelia and his jobs only purpose was just to give him something to seem like he's doing when he's not pining after Annie. I felt like this made his character kind of bland even though there is plenty of emotional growth on his side of things.As a side note we also never get introduced to the rest of Amelia's security team, which doesn't make sense because it would have helped with developing Will's whole notion of being stuck in a small town and itching to get out. He basically never has any conversations about this other than his initial annoyance at the assignment. I mean who is guarding Amelia when Will is everywhere Annie looks? It is also implied that Will would be her top personal protection agent but he never consults with the rest of the team to coordinate her security in public places like at the farmers market where there would be a ton of potential threats?Just a lot of inconsistencies*SPOILERS AHEAD*This did not end up being a 2-star simply because it is a rarity in contemporary romance books nowadays when the characters don't end up married with several children in the epilogue and I really respected the author for that. She kept the characters personalities consistent and did not marry them simply because it is expected. Plus the whole part of Annie's self discovery in the book is that she doesn't have to live up to everyone's vision of who she is/should be.I'm going to try more from this author just to see if she can be more consistent with her characters backgrounds, especially if it's essential to the plot.

Let me start by saying that this book was what I needed right now. I've read somewhat heavy books during this month and I was looking for something sweet and cozy for me to read. Practice Makes Perfect delivered that.After an awful date, and determined to find a husband, Annie finds herself in a "fake dating/he teaches me the ways" relationship with the ever so beautiful, kind, charming and sexy Will. Will, is Annie's sister-in-law EPA (Executive Protection Agent = bodyguard) and because of his upbringing doesn't want anything to do with all the things Annie wants. What could go wrong if both of them are clear in the fact that they don't want the same things?The story is simple, not an over complicated plot. This book was a warm hug, a book that made me feel giddy and excited. I laughed and cried. Both Will and Annie are just great for each-other.I just think that where this book shines for me was with Annie and Will as individuals. They both found out throughout the book that maybe the things they believed they wanted were not 100% true, they grew individually and learned new things about themselves while yes, simultaneously falling in love. I loved their chemistry, and Will…omg he was just the cutest flirt ever. They communicate, and they are comfortable with each other which allows them put all their cards on the table. Also, NO MISCOMMUNICATION TROPE IN THIS BOOK, which is a win for me, 100% of the times.Loved their banter and how Annie purposely said Will’s name incorrectly, it never failed to make me laugh. The supporting characters like Mabel and Hariette also had me laughing. and AMELIA? OMG !! she is AMAZING.The only thing I didn't particularly like was Annie's sisters. Noah? perfect! But Emilia and Maddie, they seemed a little bit of mean girls and I just didn't appreciate how they treated Annie. I feel like they never tried to get to know her, and put her in a box where she felt shame to be who she wanted to be. They do get better, but I just didn't enjoy the moments where they teased Annie.I really really enjoyed this book and all the warm and fuzzy feelings it gave me. I had a lot of fun! Is a super cute, super fast read that its just cute and a great time!! A simple, beautifully executed story!